Main Characters
open/close all folders
Aliana Beniko/Darth Amorosa
"May the Force serve you well."
The last of the Sith Lords, Aliana becomes wrapped up in the First Order-Resistance War when she inadvertently gets a scavenger she'd befriended involved and kidnapped to Starkiller Base. When she goes to rescue her, she ultimately puts herself on the First Order's radar, giving her no choice but to join the Resistance fully.- Adventurer Archaeologist: Aliana has a passion for history and knowledge, especially regarding the Force. She has amassed a large collection of Jedi and Sith holocrons from spending her spare time searching ruins and making rare deals in the Outer Rim. She has the locations of more Jedi and Sith temples than the New Republic and First Order combined.
- Affectionate Nickname: Rey calls her "Alie" during their time spent together on the Fury and continues to call her that when they become a couple.
- Ambiguously Brown: While very clearly a black woman in design, the nature of the Star Wars universe means the language to evoke human ethnicities isn't used. In the narration, Aliana's skin color is mentioned only twice in the entire story. Once by Rey when admiring her beauty, and again by Aliana herself when ruminating on how the First Order would kill her on sight.
- An Arm and a Leg: Kylo Ren cuts off Aliana's right leg below the knee after she throws her lightsaber at a Knight of Ren about to kill Rey.
- Anti-Hero: Unscrupulous, in Aliana's case. Being a Sith Lord means she lacks many of the principles and restraint that the Jedi has, and she makes the promise to Kylo Ren that she will kill him. Never once does the thought of redemption cross her mind, and her ultimatums to the few who do ultimately decide to defect from the First Order tend to be "side with me or die."
- Aliana also slaughters people with reckless abandon on Canto Bight, demonstrating to Poe that her method for dealing with the corrupt is rather simple: Eradicate them.
- Arc Words: "Through Passion I Gain Strength." Aliana repeats these words of the Sith Code when she stops the superlaser on Starkiller Base, and it ultimately serves as the reason she is so powerful. She loves those she considers family, especially Rey, so completely that when she channels that passion it fills her with the Dark Side's power.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Aliana is actually highly respected by First Order Stormtroopers after humiliating Kylo Ren. They've nicknamed her "Amorosa from Human Resources" despite her not actually being a member of the First Order in any capacity. The Resistance (sans some of the Admirals) also respects her a great deal for being able to pull off clutch saves and prevent catastrophic mission failures.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Aliana's attempt to stop the superlaser on Starkiller Base. She can only hold it for a few seconds, and doing so causes her to become so exhausted that she can no longer fight at all and needs to spend up to an entire day recovering. This means she can't possibly pull off a stunt like this very often and that the Resistance shouldn't rely on it. Aliana even describes doing so as "gambling with billions of lives."
- Badass Bookworm: Aliana is extremely well read and is known to study the Force as well as history, philosophy and politics.
- Badass Normal: Played with. By the standards of a Force User, Aliana is the weakest Force-Sensitive in the cast. Most other Force Sensitive characters (Luke, Rey, Kylo Ren, Finn, and Snoke) are stronger in the Force than she is. But she is far more well-trained and practiced and has access to more learning material than all of them combined, which is why she so frequently outplays them.
- Berserk Button
- Threatening Rey, as Kylo Ren learns the hard way on the Fury.
- Aliana has a particularly sensitive nerve whenever Leia tries to suggest that Snoke is responsible for Kylo Ren's villainy, often pointing to the attack on her and her mother and the severe lightsaber wound she suffered from Ren while he was still a Jedi, making it clear that Kylo Ren was a self-entitled psychopath long before Snoke got his claws in him.
- If you're a Jedi, you shouldn't touch her. Rey is the sole exception to this rule.
- Never insult Aliana's mother. Leia learned this the very hard way.
- Character Catchphrase: "May the Force serve you well."
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Aliana has a habit of always putting the safety of Rey and her friends before her own.
- Continuity Nod: Her last name implies she's a descendant of Lana Beniko.
- Counterpart Comparision: To Kylo Ren
- Aliana is a descendant of a Sith Lord and is strong in the Dark Side of the Force. However, she has a much more grounded philosophy about the Force than any of the Knights of Ren partially because she was raised that way by her mother, Darth Mayrik. As a result, she isn't drawn to the First Order because to her the First Order represents the weakness of the old Sith Order to achieve strength and power through force of will rather than truly earning it. Aliana doesn't seek out power, she already has it. And there's nothing the First Order could possibly offer her that she doesn't already have. This runs counterpoint to Kylo Ren, who is universally portrayed as a floundering Dark Jedi who, while becoming more powerful as the series carries on, is nonetheless trounced repeatedly by Aliana and a properly trained Rey and his go-to strategy to just seek out more power to compensate continues to fail.
- Aliana and Kylo Ren are both infatuated with Rey, but treat her very differently. Ren views Rey as a prize to be won and seduced to the Dark Side. While Aliana views Rey as a friend and only wants her to be safe and happy, regardless of her own feelings on the matter.
- The Cutie: Typically when interacting with Rey, who she carries a strong torch for.
- Dark Action Girl: Female, Sith, and most definitely capable of kicking ass.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Demonstrates a use of the Dark Side that, while volatile, is nonetheless capable of being a force for good.
- Death Seeker: After spending a decade with little meaningful human contact, Aliana has shown to be rather casual about her own death. While being afraid of dying at the hands of someone she cares about, any other incident that might risk her life is something she approaches with disregard. She isn't used to being around people who care about her, and so is surprised when her readiness to sacrifice herself alarms her friends and girlfriend.
- In Chapter 18, Aliana realizes that her newfound friends, especially Rey, are Worth Living For.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Aliana has very fond memories of her mother, Darth Mayrik.
- Disappeared Dad: Aliana's father is nowhere to be seen, with Aliana explaining that Darth Mayrik didn't feel the need to keep him around and left after becoming pregnant.
- Girliness Upgrade: While already a particularly feminine character, Aliana was somewhat androgynous when the story began. She had an unkempt hairstyle and rather brash, tomboyish mannerisms that were consistent with the character. However, after readers started to express happiness at Aliana being feminine, Orchard decided to write more of that. So Aliana's previous androgynous mannerisms were recharacterized as a public face she wears for intimidation, and when in the company of her friends and her girlfriend she has a much more traditionally feminine approach to her. Her design was also altered to be less angular and more rounded.
- Good is Not Nice: Aliana is nice for a Sith Lord, but she's still Sith to the core. She has no problems punishing traitors and enemies, and when push comes to shove will advocate making sacrifices for the greater good.
- Good Is Not Soft: Aliana embodies this to a T. She ultimately has a strong moral center especially where her friends are involved, but is extremely ruthless toward her enemies and frequently employs extortion and terrorism against the First Order.
- Heroic Sacrifice: When fighting Kylo Ren aboard the Supremacy, Aliana sees Rey being overwhelmed by one of the Knights of Ren and, without hesitation, throws her lightsaber to deflect the Knight's killing blow. Kylo Ren then slices off her right leg and runs her through with his lightsaber. Thankfully she survives long enough for Rey to carry her back to the Fury for medical attention.
- Hidden Depths: Has been suffering PTSD after the death of her mother at the hands of a Jedi Master.
- Hopeless with Tech: In spite of the power and skill she possesses as a Sith, she suffers from extreme tech illiteracy, needing Poe's help to get a shuttle to lift off and struggling to open a fuel converter for half an hour while not realising it's locked.
- The "I Love You" Stigma: Subverted. When Rey stops the Falcon in the middle of empty space and demands to know why Aliana is so concerned about her and believing that she has some ulterior motives, Aliana flat out says “Because I love you.”
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: After cutting off Aliana's right leg, Kylo Ren then stabs her through the gut with his lightsaber onboard the Supremacy, critically wounding her.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Aliana’s main desire for Rey. She comes to love her dearly, but only wants Rey to be okay physically and emotionally and do what makes her happy, which is why she never actually pursues her.
- Karma Houdini: Aliana manages to avoid the negative concequences of all of her actions. From threatening random people, to electrocuting Leia, and even publicly murdering multiple people with several witnessess around.
- Like Mother, Like Daughter: Like her ancestor Lana, Aliana is a Sith who ends up falling in love with another woman who is also a Jedi.
- Lineage Comes from the Father: Inverted. The entire Beniko family is matrilineal.
- Marriage among the women of the Beniko family is rare, with only a few dozen instances throughout their legacy. In most cases, a mate is briefly taken for the express purpose of having a child and is then abandoned. Aliana's father was one such example.
- Meaningful Name: Her Sith name is "Amorosa" which means "Loving." Throughout the story, her selfless love for Rey and their friends remains her primary motivation for being involved in the war.
- Mercy Kill: Beheads Lor San Tekka with her lightsaber to spare him a half hour of dying painfully from a chest wound.
- Noble Demon: A Sith Lord and Dark Side user that can't be dissuaded from either, but she is very honorable and kind nonetheless.
- Parental Substitute: 2V-R8 became the closest thing to a parent Aliana had during the nine years she was left to fend for herself after her mother was murdered.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Aliana is alright with doing terrible things for a practical purpose.
- Signature Scent: Cinnamon and Roses
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Aliana's eyes are a bright red, colored from their natural light brown by the Dark Side of the Force. After being mortally wounded by Kylo Ren, the Force grows weak in her which causes her eyes to fade back to brown.
- Supporting Protagonist: During Part 1 and 2, when Rey’s growth and training take the forefront of everyone’s focus and Aliana’s presence changes how she develops from canon.
- Take That!: When advising Rey on building her lightsaber, Aliana advises against using a kyber crystal, as they're often finicky and fussy when it comes to who wields them. She then explains that her lightsaber uses a Qixoni crystal for stability and focusing power.
- Trauma Button
- Thanks to watching her mother Darth Mayrik be killed in front of her by Luke Skywalker when she was just a child, Aliana has a deep-rooted fear of Jedi Masters but especially him. Though she brings Rey to Ahch To herself to be trained in the ways of the Jedi and stills acts snarky whenever she can, deep down she's terrified of being around Luke. If he so much as touches her on the shoulder, she either roundhouse kicks him in the face or whips out her lightsaber in defence.
- Aliana loved her mother so much, that ten years later her death still brings her to tears. She's been grieving and unhealthily coping for a decade, and despite having a multitude of answers for why the Jedi killed her mother it's later revealed that she still doesn't know why. That she's grasping at straws to make sense of the senseless.
- Undying Loyalty: To Rey. Nothing short of Rey's express desire otherwise will stop her from rushing to her side. This is ultimately what makes it impossible for both Kylo Ren to tempt her into joining the First Order.
- The Unfettered: Of the "Prioritizes ruthlessly" variety, in Aliana's case. Being a Sith , she is very often cut-throat and direct in her approach and doesn't hesitate to kill antagonists, as well as people who purposely make the galaxy miserable for their own gain like the war profiteers on Canto Bite. She is also not much for appeasing politicians or faction leaders, which makes her a contentious figure in the Republic's Senate and she will gladly use threats if it'll get the ball rolling and the politicians off their asses.
- Unkempt Beauty: Aliana generally wears her hair unkempt and unstyled, often not even bothering to comb it most of the time. In illustrations, this is seen as having it sticking out at odd ends. In spite of this, her hair is frequently remarked on by Rey as being one of the things about her she finds the most beautiful.
- Considering that Aliana is revealed to have had over seventy romantic partners in less than ten years, it's likely this is a deliberate choice.
- Weakened by the Light: Aliana is an unusual Force user. Where most Force users are attuned to both the Light Side of the Force and the Dark Side of the Force, Aliana is ONLY attuned to the Dark Side of the Force. Her attempts to make use of abilities attuned to the Light often result in failure.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Aliana is a lot more heavily travelled than most of the other characters and has spent much of her life immersed in the seedy underbelly of the galaxy. As such, she can read people extremely easily and predict their movements, and hands down some surprisingly sagely advice to Poe.
Rey
She's beauty, she's grace, she's a lesbian in space!
A scavenger from Jakku that turns out to be extremely strong in the Force who is wrapped up in the Resistance-First Order war because of Darth Amorosa. She goes on to learn the ways of the Jedi and the Sith to master her powers.- Ambiguously Gay: Rey has very strong feelings for Aliana, and is attracted to her almost immediately upon meeting her. Though unlike Aliana, she never explicitly labels herself as such and seems to show zero romantic or sexual interest in any men around her.
- Subverted in Chapter 30 where Rey has an epiphany, thinking of all the women she finds attractive (Rose, Holdo, Talon) and how she never looked at Finn or Poe the same way.
Rey: Alie... I'm gay.Aliana: (giggling wildly) Well I sure hope you are. We've been dating for seven months, you silly goober.Rey: (pouts) Don't be mean! This is a major revelation for me! Besides, even if I didn't know I liked other women, I knew I liked you.Aliana: Awww, I feel so hypothetically special. - Extreme Doormat: Rey never argues against Aliana, and doesn't seem to have any goals or ambitions outside of "making Aliana happy". She's also completly absorbed all of Alianas philosophy and her general attitude in general, content to not forming her own outlook on life and to just follow Alianas lead.
- Good is Not Nice: Rey starts off the story as a relatively happy person, but she slowly becomes this trope as she turns into a much more grumpy and bitter person towards everyone who isn't Aliana as the story progresses.
- Heroic BSoD: When Aliana is critically injured, Rey flits back and forth between near-catatonia and breaking down into tears for the next several days.
- Karma Houdini: Rey murders a city guard in public, and faces zero backlash for this.
- One-Woman Army: By the time of the fight on the Supremacy, Rey can fight two Dark Jedi on her own and even kills Snoke. And before then she trashes Kylo Ren in record time and displays a mastery of Force Lightning.
- Only One Name: Rey doesn't know her last name, as she never knew her parents and they were killed five years after leaving her to Niima the Hutt.
- Subverted as of Chapter 35, where she and Aliana get married and she starts to go by "Rey Beniko."
- Satellite Love Interest: Rey doesn't have anything going on in her life story wise that doesn't revolve around Aliana and their romance.
- Screw Destiny: The Force is constantly trying to use Rey as a vessel to bring Kylo Ren back to the light, and she consistently disregard it at every turn. She lets Aliana block the Force Bond, she ignores the arguments presented by Luke and Leia, and she resists any and all attempts by the Force to separate her from Aliana.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: On Coruscant, Leia wants Rey to dress in white Jedi robes to appease the Senate, but Rey refuses and chooses an outfit far more comfortable and in darker fabrics. She also undoes her hair and lets it hang free. She does this specifically because she doesn't want to embody the typical Jedi like Luke because she doesn't want to be a Jedi like them.
- Surpassed the Teacher: It's seen as an inevitability that Rey's power will eclipse Aliana, something the Sith is looking forward to.
- Techno Wizard: Rey has an unnatural talent for technology, and is able to craft fighters out of speeders and fabricate luxury cybernetics in her own workshop. Her work often surpasses professionals, and she's the main engineer in charge of maintaining the Resistance's ships.
- Trauma Button: After being tortured by Kylo Ren, having her mind probed is a seriously distressing experience for her. This is ultimately why she is terrified of Kylo Ren when he appears using the Force Bond despite thrashing him in battle twice.
Supporting Characters
Finn
An ex-Stormtrooper who is picked up by Aliana alongside Rey on Jakku and brought to the Resistance. Quickly became fast friends with Rey and Aliana. Later turns out to be Force Sensitive.
- Ambiguously Bi: Early in the story he has feelings for Rey, and then unceremoniously enters a relationship with Poe later on.
- Child Soldier: Finn didn't have a choice in joining the first order.
- Demoted to Extra: Despite being showcased so prominently early on, Finn's appearances become more and more spotty as the story continues.
- Made a Slave: Implied. Finn notes that Aliana: looked like a Stormtrooper. Or rather, every Stormtrooper he’d ever seen with their helmet off, minus the mandatory buzz-cut. As Aliana and Finn are both Black, this carries some heavy connotations.
- Our Mages Are Different: Finn eventually rejects training as a Jedi or Sith and decides to instead use the Force to augment his Marksmanship and improve the cohesiveness of his squad. Aliana agrees to train him in more specialized abilities that would further that goal, such as Battle Meditation.
- Satellite Character: Finns existence revolves around Rey and Aliana.
Poe
A brash resitance pilot who is saved from the ships wreckage by Aliana.
- Ace Pilot: Poe continues to be the best pilot in the resitance.
- Convenient Coma: Poe conveniently misses the millennial falcon flight scene because he was still in a coma at the time.
- Satellite Character: Poes existence revolves around Rey and Aliana.
Lord Talon
- The Mole: Turns out to actually still be a member of Aliana's Sith order working under cover to build a Sith fleet.
- Mysterious Past: Subverted. When the question of how another Sith is in the galaxy, Talon explains that she was briefly trained by Mayrik and Amorosa.
- Not as You Know Them: While named for the Star Wars: Legacy character, the design and characterization is vastly different. Unsurprising, as both Orchard and Turkleson have a long-standing dislike of how Talon is written and designed in everything she has ever appeared in.
- Talon's general design has a lot more armor and a cloak, bearing closer resemblance to Darth Atroxa than her namesake.
- Old Friend: Of Aliana. Talon respects her and recognizes her title as Dark Lord of the Sith.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Talon helps Rey because she's off duty, assuring Rey that she should conclude her business and leave before she's back ON duty.
Tahleea Beniko
- Good Parents: Aliana speaks very highly of her mother
- Missing Mom: Aliana's mother is dead at the start of the story.
- One-Woman Army: Mayrik is stated to be both extremely strong in the Force and extremely well trained. She was able to hold her own against Luke Skywalker in his prime and was rumored to have fought Darth Vader at one point. She was only killed because she was distracted trying to ensure her daughter's safety.
- Secret Legacy: Mayrik was friends with Mon Mothma, and did a lot of critical work that helped establish and reinforce the New Republic. Mothma was unaware that she was a Sith Lord until Aliana told her this.
- Sympathetic Slave Owner: Technically a slave trader/transporter. Any blame that Mayrik would have received for participating in slavery gets firmly shoved on Rey's parents. This ensures that Mayrik gets away from the action relitevly unscathed while remaining sympathetic to the reader. To quote the text: Mayrik wasn’t the one who sold her into slavery. Her parents did.
- Warts and All: Despite Mayrik's dark past, Aliana and Rey love her unconditionally.
Leia
- Irrational Hatred: Leia hates Aliana simply because of her sith heritage.
Antagonists
Kylo Ren
A Dark Jedi who leads the First Order.
- All Men Are Perverts: Kylo has rather gruesome fantasies about how he'd like to punish Rey and Aliana for defying and humiliating him. This flies right over Rey's head, but Aliana is keenly aware of it.
- Boisterous Weakling: Kylo Ren is extremely strong in the Force (an actual blood test proves it) and lords his bloodline and family legacy over others, but his actual mastery of the Force is so weak due to never completing anything close to a Padawan's level of training. He's even referred to as a "Jedi Padawan" at one point in the story. This is in stark contrast to Aliana and Rey, the former being a well-educated and highly trained Sith Lord and the latter being taught directly by the former.
- Manipulative Bastard: For all his failings everywhere else, Kylo Ren proves to be surprisingly talented at manipulation, managing to push Rey to the breaking point before Aliana blocks their connection and keeps him out of her head.
- Memetic Loser: Kylo Ren fails in direct confrontation with Rey and Aliana, losing nearly every fight against them. It eventually reaches the point where he just isn't considered a threat compared to the First Order as an entity.
Luke Skywalker
Kylo Ren's Jedi Master.
- Broken Pedestal: Luke being revealed to have killed Aliana's mother destroys his image in Rey's eyes.
- Grumpy Old Man: Luke is definitly this when Rey and Aliana meet up with him for the first time.
- Redemption Equals Death: Luke redeems himself by sacrificing himself to save Aliana.
