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Star Wars: The Force Awakens: ‘TR-8R’ Stormtrooper’s name revealed by Disney after he becomes a meme

There's a reason he gets to use a 'Z6 Baton'

Christopher Hooton
Friday 08 January 2016 12:13 EST
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(Disney)

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If any bit part Stormtrooper was going to become a meme from The Force Awakens, you’d have thought it would be the one voiced by Daniel Craig.

But no, it was the guy who couldn’t conceal his anger at Finn’s disloyalty and wielded a Lightsaber-resistant baton.

Quickly nicknamed ’TR-8R’ after his one line in the film, “Traitor!”, you might have thought the Stormtrooper was a hastily-tacked-on addition - hence his apparent lack of backstory.

But no, he is actually named FN-2199 and he’s firmly part of Star Wars canon.

‘His name is FN-2199, but his friends call him “Nines.”’ the official Star Wars website wrote in a new blog.

‘As detailed in Greg Rucka’s excellent book Before the Awakening, Nines trained and served on a squad with Finn (then FN-2187) in the First Order. That explains why he seems just a little extra angry upon seeing Finn during the attack on Maz’s Castle. You can see FN-2199 in the image below by Phil Noto from Before the Awakening — he’s the trooper seated in the background with red hair. Who’d have thought?’

That fancy baton wasn’t just added to shift more merchandise either.

'There’s a reason that Nines gets to use an awesome weapon (which is called a Z6 baton),' the blog continues. 'He’s riot control, and part of an elite squad that enforces order or squashes uprisings. While their weapons are non-lethal in theory, the Z6 can definitely cause harm or kill an opponent when used with brute force. Look, if a lightsaber can’t cut it, you know it ain’t good news.'

FN-2199’s time in the sequel trilogy was short-lived however, as you may remember Finn was saved from him thanks to a bolt through the trooper’s chest from Chewie’s bowcaster.

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