Matt the Radar Technician

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Character
Name: Matt
Occupation: Radar Technician
Relationships:
Fandom: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Saturday Night Live
Other: Parody, crack!ships
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Matt the Radar Technician is a fanon character and alias for Kylo Ren originating from a Saturday Night Live sketch from January 2016, where Adam Driver played Kylo Ren as a reality show participant in "Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base."[1]

In the sketch, which is a parody of the show Undercover Boss, Kylo Ren poses as a radar technician named Matt and works in Starkiller Base to learn what his First Order employees think of him. He wears a blond wig, safety vest, and giant aviator glasses to disguise his appearance. While working on the base, he fails at basic technical tasks and at subtlety when he asks staff how they like the boss. There are also outtakes which fandom as a whole considers adorable.[2] The character is of dubious canon, given that a "radar technician" has been referenced in some official comics and the costume Matt wears has also appeared in official materials.[3]

In 2020, Adam Driver hosted SNL again was in another Undercover Boss-style segment: Undercover Boss: Where Are They Now - SNL. The sketch calls back to Matt, but this time Kylo goes undercover as Randy the Intern.

Fandom

Star Wars fandom has created action figures,[4] cosplay,[5] and video game mods[6] of Matt. The character is also featured in quite a lot of fanfiction, frequently featuring in Kylo Ren/Hux fic (as Kylo, Matt, or both names) and in Rey/Kylo Ren fic. It's also common to put Matt in Reader-Insert fic.

Despite the sketch being clear that Matt is merely a disguise for Kylo Ren, making it a variant on Same-Actor Crossovers, and not an existing person already on Starkiller Base that Kylo Ren is assuming the identity of, fandom occasionally treats Matt as being a character separate from Kylo Ren. This has led to the creation of "Kylo Ren is Matt the Radar Technician" as a tag on AO3 to clarify the difference between those fics and fics where Kylo Ren and Matt are separate characters.[7] In Kylux fic featuring Matt as Kylo Ren's alias, Hux not knowing that Kylo Ren is Matt is a frequent trope.

Crossover

By far the most common pairing for Matt is the crossover pairing of Clan Techie/Matt the Radar Technician (also known as "Techienician"[8]). Clan Techie is a minor character in Judge Dredd played by Domnhall Gleeson, who also plays Armitage Hux. In Star Wars fandom, particularly among people who ship Kylux, this is known as an adjacent pairing or "Kylux Adjacent," meaning a pairing of characters other than Kylo Ren and Armitage Hux who are played by Adam Driver and Domnhall Gleeson.[9] Tumblr user jeusus is frequently credited with being the person who brought the pairing into prominence and indeed they have both posted about the ship[10] and frequently drawn the pairing.[11]

Example Fanworks

Misfits [1] by hollycombLength: 19,917Status: CompleteGenre: Clan Techie/Matt
Matt (short temper, disturbing fixation on Kylo Ren, snores) and Techie (night terrors, excessive jumpiness, "creepy" eyes) have both become notorious for driving their bunkmates to request a room change. General Hux is tired of processing the admin work they create. He assigns them to bunk together. They’ll either deal with it or lose their jobs.
The Small Thins [2] by SilentialLength: 2,498Status: Complete
“I was half inside a console, hidden behind a comm bank from the door. I heard it open and a pair of boots came inside.”

While it may have been a little odd to talk about work while he was buried inside him, if it made Techie happy, it made Matt happy. Honestly he was elated Techie wanted to open up and share this with him at all. "Who was it?”

“Lord Ren.”

“Oh.” Stars above, this wasn’t for Techie, this was for him.
Don't You Know Who I Am? [3] by YlevihsLength: 4,879Status: Complete
General Hux and Matt the Radar Technician end up having casual sex because Kylo doesn't realize that Hux hasn't realized who he is.
Pass Me The Kerosene [4] by tobemadeofglassLength: 2,944Status: Complete
Rey doesn't figure this thing between she and Matt will become a regular occurrence, but now that it is, she'll be damned if she lets it end.

Links & Resources

References

  1. ^ Star Wars Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base - SNL on YouTube, accessed 2016-06-19.
  2. ^ Outtakes From SNL Kylo Ren Undercover Boss Sketch Funnier Than the Sketch Itself. Also, we love Matt the Radar Technician by Teresa Jusino, posted 2016-01-22, accessed 2016-06-19.
  3. ^ Remember Matt the radar technician? He’s referenced in a new ‘Star Wars’ comic, posted 2019-09-01, accessed 2019-12-06.
  4. ^ "Matt" the Star Labor Radar Technician bootleg action figure...revealed! by Scott Tolleson x 2BitHack on spankystokes.com, posted 2016-01-20, accessed 2016-06-19.
  5. ^ Matt the Radar Technician Cosplay posted on 2016-02-09, accessed 2016-06-19.
  6. ^ Matt - Radar Technician, Archived version on NexusMods, accessed 2019-12-06.
  7. ^ "Kylo Ren is Matt the Radar Technician" Tag, accessed 2019-12-06.
  8. ^ "Techienician" tag, accessed 2019-12-06.
  9. ^ "Kylux Adjacent" Tag, accessed 2019-12-06.
  10. ^ Response to an anon ask, Archived version posted by jeusus 2016-02-04, accessed 2019-12-06.
  11. ^ jeusus' "Techienician" tag, Archived version, accessed 2019-12-06. Archived 2021-11-15.
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