Stormtrooper Rebellion

Tropes and genres
Synonym(s)	Stormtrooper Culture, Stormtrooper Defections
Related articles on Fanlore.

The Stormtrooper Rebellion is a common trope used in Star Wars: The Force Awakens fanworks, wherein FN-2187's defection from the First Order inspires a rebellion among the Stormtroopers. It informed fanon and tropes associated with the character of Finn, and also expanded fanon on Stormtroopers.

Perhaps the first fanwork to use this was the tumblr post by scottsredhoodie a Not!fic speculating on the reprecussions of Finn's actions on other Stormtroopers. The trope began with a fanfic called The Story of Finn, written by Lullabyknell two weeks after the release of The Force Awakens, inspired by this post. This story went on to inspire many other stories that expanded on the trope, and it is common to see elements of the Stormtrooper Rebellion trope in later sequel trilogy fanworks. Many later fanworks do not have any tags denoting them as Stormtrooper Rebellions fics.

It should also be noted that many early and formative works using the trope may not be included in the Stormtrooper Rebellion tag on Ao3. A variety of tags have been used for this trope and not all of them are synned to the Stormtrooper Rebellion tag. Some Stormtrooper Rebellion works can also be found in the Revolutionary Finn or Stormtrooper Culture tags.

Instead of organizing around a single tag, many early readers of this trope followed a series of links at the beginning and end of Stormtrooper Rebellion fics posted on Ao3, to find other works that inspired that story or were inspired by it.

Overview

Stories using the Stormtrooper Rebellion trope, or influenced by it, often feature many of the following elements:

• Stormtrooper daily life and social structure. This can also include references to or depictions of reconditioning or other punishments. Stormtrooper cadets (aka children) may also appear.
• The reaction of other Stormtroopers to the news of Finn's escape, or their reaction to propaganda designed to discredit Finn and label him a traitor.
• The development of coded language and rumor as outlets to express political views.
• The subversion of First Order propaganda machines for resistance use. This can include Stormtroopers working to destabilize the First Order from within.
• Superior Officers taking action to suppress growing dissent. However executions and other punishments often have the opposite effect and encourage more resistance and defections.
• The taking of names as a symbolic step toward beginning a new life. Individuals may also attempt to find lost family, or their planet of origin.
• Groups of defectors, as units (the Stormtrooper equivalent of families). These units may choose to be actively involved in the Resistance after their defection. Finn may also be depicted as the Commander of a Resistance unit comprised of former Stormtroopers.
• Captain Phasma defecting to the Resistance.
• Former Stormtroopers using the skills and knowledge they gained within the First Order to bring about the regime's downfall. Many works extend to the Resistance's final battle with the First Order.
• Former Stormtroopers attempts to integrate into the Resistance. This is often a difficult transition, with other defectors and Resistance members supporting former Stormtroopers.

Many of these elements also featured in popular fan theories about how a canon Stormtrooper Rebellion could develop before the end of the sequel trilogy .

Comments & Reactions

Extract from the Introduction to The Story of Finn, in Francesca Coppa's The Fanfiction Reader (2017):

[Fanfiction] is written in a community, collaboratively, in a network; the idea of Finn becoming a legendary figure whose story, spread from person to person, sparks a revolution was taken up by Lullabyknell and others and has since inspired a whole universe of stories. [...] It is also a story about race. Finn is overtly framed as a figure of liberation, the founder of an underground railroad, with fandom collectively emphasizing the degree to which FN-2187 is an escaped slave, his number-not-name evoking the numbers given to those who worked in forced labor camps. In the larger genre of stormtrooper stories, names are an important theme.

On the appeal of this trope:

I don’t usually read anything with an OC as the protagonist (it’s just a personal preference). And then I found the stormtrooper rebellion fanfics, and that went straight out of the window. Because these fanfics are fantastic. They’re about whole groups of people realising that they are people, that they can make choices and have friends and take a stand. Generally speaking, the Star Wars films are about one or two people who dictate the outcome of a war for everyone – these fanfics are (mostly) about a huge group of people who are almost never talked about in the films finding their autonomy, questioning everything they’ve ever known and then saying ‘no’.

There was an expectation in fannish spaces that there would be some type of Stormtrooper Rebellion in canon before the trilogy concluded. In fact one discarded draft script for Episode IX, Duel of the Fates did include Finn leading a Stormtrooper rebellion. Ultimately that was not to be the case.

Comments following the Trilogy's conclusion:

funny how in almost every reylo episode ix fanfiction finn is given a romantic arc with either poe or rose and he’s leading a stormtrooper rebellion. almost as if reylos care about his character and his arc which was woefully done in TROS

Example Fanworks

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

Fanfiction

• The Story of Finn by lullabyknell, widely considered to be the first fanfic to employ this trope. This gen story, featuring a host of OCs was very well received. The Story of Finn inspired many other fanworks which expanded upon the trope.
• Tomorrow (there'll be more of us) by dimircharmer, The resistance is starting to get stormtrooper defectors. Finn helps them out.
• Have you heard by peradi, "I heard FN-2187 was a Stormtrooper." Finn sparks a revolution.
• Sanitation by GemmaRose, Inspired by Finn's rescue of Poe, another stormtrooper rescues a different prisoner.
• A Rose by Any Other Designation (Would Still Be Required to Pledge Loyalty to the First Order) by Margo_Kim

Fanart

• 

  Rebel Finn, featuring stormtrooper cadets, by Tumblr user worth-three-portions (2018)

• Star Wars Manga by worth-three-portions, inspired by @thatlightsaberlesbian's alternative plot idea for Episode VIII. (Dec 2017)
• Finn leading the Stormtroopers revolt by u/TheRealMoustachu (July 2019)

Meta

• no but like imagine finn as the stormtrooper messiah(archived link) is a 2015 tumblr post by Sunshinetrooper, that inspired LullabyKnell to write their fic. (26 December 2015)
• okay but seriously: what if Finn is the revolution by cumaeansibyl (Jan 11 2016)

Archives & Links

• Stormtrooper Rebellion works on Ao3