Rey

Every generation has a legend – and every legend needs a hero.

The parallels between Rey and the young hero we met nearly forty years earlier a hard to miss. Both orphans on a desert planet, both gazing off to the horizon—one into a binary sunset from his uncle’s farm, the other donning a discarded helmet from a war fought before she was born. Both missing something. And both set on an unexpected path by a chance encounter with droids.

From the moment we first meet her on screen, we see Rey’s warmth and good-heartedness, rescuing BB-8 from another scavenger who only wanted the droid for parts. We see her resourcefulness and toughness, scraping out a living in the harsh Jakku desert while calling a junked walker home, and standing up to Kylo Ren. And we become familiar with her lingering longing for family, even after Maz Kanata tells her that the belonging she seeks is ahead of her.

And so we follow Rey as she finds a home with the Resistance, learns surprising truths about her origins, and decides to forsake the destiny of her heritage in favor of forging one of her own.

Judging from the amount of Rey cosplayers at events like Celebration, the popularity of the character at Galaxy’s Edge, and the heartwarming number of little Reys we see out there, plenty of Star Wars fans love this new heroine. If you’re one of them and can’t get enough of the plucky scavenger-turned Jedi, check out our hand-picked collection of books and comics about Rey!

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