Everything We Know About 'Rogue One's Jyn Erso

We’re in a glorious Star Wars renaissance where monologues about sand and political meetings have been replaced with strong female protagonists and a structural return to the glory days of A New Hope. Enter the lead of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Jyn Erso, who looks every inch a badass and another beacon to the era of feminist Star Wars. But when you think about the sole impression of the rebel from the Rogue One teaser, you have to consider what do we actually know about Jyn Erso thus far? Because it may not be a lot, but it’s plenty to speculate on.

I mean, one thing to be certain about is that the character is in the hands of Academy Award nominee Felicity Jones, and that’s a good start. It isn’t that you can’t go wrong with newcomers — the fresh faces in Force Awakens are proof of that — but it’s comforting to know Jones is the one joining the team here.

Still, we only have scraps to go by thus far, but in case you’re curious, I’ve collected everything there is to know about the Star Wars new girl. (Um, mild spoilers ahead in case you don’t want to know anything about her for some reason.)

She Has A Bit Of A Criminal Record

Jyn's rap sheet is certainly extensive: the trailer alone lists "forgery of imperial documents," "possession of stolen property," "aggravated assault," and "resisting arrest." This gives us the sense that our girl is a rebel with a capitol R, but it also implies that Jyn perhaps isn't a part of the official rebellion at the start of the film. It's possible that she takes on Han Solo-esque role as an anti-heroine, who, once she's captured by the Alliance, is sort of enlisted to use her talents as a trade-off. Truth be told, doesn't look free as a bird when she shows up initially, so it isn't crazy to imagine she's just doing this to return order to the Republic.

She’s Been On Her Own Since The Age Of 15

This chick hasn't been chilling on her uncle's place in Tatooine as a moisture farmer, she's been fending for herself for a long time. That actually places her a little closer to Force Awaken's Rey, which is interesting when you consider Jyn is also a brunette with a British accent and we still don't know wanything about Rey's parentage. Hm....

She Is Decidedly Not A Jedi, Though

I mean, OK, it's not impossible, but this is a time when most of the Jedi are supposed to be wiped out, and to be honest, Rogue One is mainly a Jedi-free film that just happens to be set in the Star Wars universe. Girl knows her way around a blaster, though, so we're going to assume she sticks with the title of "soldier" and nothing more.

Her Mission Is To Steal The Death Star Plans

At this juncture in Star Wars history they're still testing out the death star, so Mon Mothma enlists Jyn to figure out how to destroy it. Isn't she going to be annoyed to find out that it's literally a matter of flying down a long corridor and zapping the exposed destroy button?

That Said, She's Closer Contemporaries With Luke, Leia, Han, And The Original Trilogy

If you want to place where Rogue One falls, it's between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Now, unless this film spans over like 20 years (in which case Jyn is either really bad at her job or the Empire is really slow with construction) it's safe to assume that this takes place a hot sec before A New Hope. So again, I'm not saying she's definitely Rey's mother, I'm just saying the timeline would definitely allow for this to be a possibility.

Mads Mikkelsen Plays Her Father

That's one thing we do know about Jyn's family is that her father is played by Hannibal's own Mikkelsen, because Mikkelsen confirmed it on Thursday during an interview with Sky News. There's a rumor that he's the scientist that constructed the Death Star, but we'll have to wait and see on that one. It's also fair to assume that considering Jyn has been on her own since she was 15 she may not have the best relationship with her father, but Mikkelsen also asserted that his character is "actually not a bad guy." Double hmmm....

I guess we'll have to wait and see what Jyn is really like, but honestly? I have a good feeling about this.

Images: Walt Disney Pictures (1); LucasFilm; Giphy (6)