Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Ranking The New Characters Worst To Best

3. Finn

For the first time in the saga's big screen history, we finally got our first good look at what life is like for a stormtrooper, backstory of the Jango Fett clone army notwithstanding. Forcibly taken as children from families they'll never know and raised to be obedient, loyal, yet ultimately disposable killing machines, nameless soldiers like FN-2187 haven't been spotlighted in the films before, existing simply as tools of the Empire - and now The First Order - and nothing more. By injecting the character of Finn into the series, audiences have been given a unique perspective from which to view The Force Awakens. Aside from showing us how despicably far The First Order is willing to go to fill their ranks, his existence demonstrates how good can always surface from within despite all the circumstances around doing their best to hold it back, with the inner strength within him that allowed him to overcome his conditioning standing in stark contrast to his former nameless allies who hunt him down or call him "traitor" upon the sight of him. Finn starts off the film as a blank slate, driven by the innate desire to do good even as his own fears try to keep him in check, telling him to keep running and never look back. What works most about his character is being able to watch John Boyega whittle away at and define Finn's persona over the course of the film, taking that blank slate and painting a portrait of the character that is equal parts brazen and insecure, going from wannabe do-gooder to legitimate hero by film's end.