We first met Rey in The Force Awakens, and she went from living life as a junk trader to becoming a Jedi Master when The Rise of Skywalker rolled around. However, you may have heard a few negative reviews regarding Rey, and you may wonder why she’s so disliked.
Rey was disliked because she was a character who let the plot carry her. Her backstory was contradictory, as we first thought she came from nobody special, only to discover her Palpatine identity in The Rise of Skywalker. Her character arc also lacked.
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Who is Rey?
Rey was the protagonist in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. Rey’s parents knew of their daughter’s Force sensitivity. And as a result, they tried to conceal her by living and working as junk traders on the planet Jakku.
However, when 34 ABY rolled around, we came to know Rey as an orphan whose skill-set included mechanics, piloting, and the ability to survive on her own. She eventually got herself tangled up in the First Order-Resistance War and discovered her Force sensitivity.
Rey briefly served as Luke Skywalker’s apprentice before his death in 35 ABY. She then completed her Jedi training as Leia’s apprentice.
![Star Wars The Last Jedi, Luke's 2nd Lesson [Full Scene HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yepMuMoAKpA/0.jpg)
Soon after, Rey also discovered her true heritage as Palpatine’s paternal granddaughter. Palpatine sought Rey’s body to use as a vessel to house his consciousness and attempted to persuade her to join the dark side.
She almost succumbed, but when Kylo Ren renounced his allegiance to the dark side, Rey instead chose to resist Palpatine’s influence. Rey managed to vanquish her grandfather thanks to the spirits of past Jedi aiding her, but died in the struggle.
Kylo Ren, known once more as Ben Solo, sacrificed himself when he transferred his life force into Rey. This allowed Rey to return and begin her life as a Jedi Master, and she adopted the surname Skywalker in the process.
Did Fans Dislike Rey Because of Her Backstory?
One major issue with Rey was her backstory. The overview you read about her in the above section is her official backstory, but in The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren stated that Rey’s parents were no one.
While fans were surprised, this wasn’t farfetched, as Anakin Skywalker had no father. Then Rey discovered her heritage as a Palpatine, which in many ways, recycled Luke Skywalker’s storyline in The Original Trilogy.
It also stunted Rey’s character arc. Luke discovered his Sith heritage in The Empire Strikes Back, which allowed his arc to further develop.
This wasn’t the case with Rey. And many fans not only found this contradictory, but they also felt the writers weren’t entirely sure what to do with her character.
Was Rey a Boring Character?
Let’s look at the Original Trilogy, where Luke Skywalker’s character was literally taking the classic Hero’s Journey. You can see this in A New Hope, where Luke has a calling, then he refuses the call before crossing the first threshold and eventually entering a series of trials.
This gave Luke a full arc, and the character-driven nature of the Original Trilogy led Luke to confront Darth Vader. Fall back to the Prequel Trilogy, where Anakin Skywalker faced an intense internal struggle that led him to the dark side.
Luke also faced this intense internal struggle, especially in Return of the Jedi, where the dark side appeared to be slowly embracing him. We saw this come to a climax when Palpatine showed Luke the second Death Star’s power, causing the Jedi to attack the Emperor.
Luke’s internal struggle continued as he fought Darth Vader in that climactic scene and for a second, he contemplated killing his father. However, he managed to bring Vader back to the light side as Anakin Skywalker.
This ended both Luke’s and Anakin’s intense internal struggles with choosing good versus evil, but it came at an intense cost. Anakin died shortly thereafter, having spent the previous 23 years (19 BBY to 4 BBY) living in a clunky suit.
Rey Was a Stereotypical Hero
Although Rey had her own internal struggle during the climax of The Rise of Skywalker, she also faced too many situations where she made the obvious choice. This is far different from what we saw with Luke and Anakin.
For example, Luke abandoned his Jedi training and took off for Cloud City, something that was against his better judgment. Anakin made a plethora of mistakes, though there were times when he made the right call.
He did the obvious thing in reporting Palpatine’s true identity as Darth Sidious to the Jedi Council. However, he also betrayed the Jedi not long after. In Attack of the Clones, he went to rescue his mother. But when she died, he murdered an entire village of Tusken Raiders.
Rey didn’t make enough of these decisions. And while she has some complexity, her lack of decision-making makes her more of a flat character. These are characters that have no real internal conflict, and they can be stereotypical of a specific archetype.
Rey isn’t completely flat. She has some internal conflict, and will at times surprise the viewer.
But she pales when compared to Luke and Anakin, given their intense internal struggles, their multifaceted personalities, and the fact they will make decisions that keep you on the edge of your seat.
Conclusion
Rey had a rather contradictory backstory, as it’s mentioned she came from nobody at one point, before she discovered her Palpatine heritage in The Rise of Skywalker.
This contradiction made it sound as though the writers didn’t really know what to do with her. And as a result, it prevented her from enjoying the same type of character arc we saw from Luke and Anakin Skywalker.
Rey was also more of a flat, instead of a round, character. This gave her a one-dimensional personality. Luke and Anakin were more unpredictable, and this made them more rounded, and more unforgettable, than Rey.
Sion Fawkes has been covering Star Wars since January 2022, expanding his expertise in Star Wars Canon, Legends, and MCU. When not writing, you can find Sion in the gym or running trails. He also likes watching sports and listening to audiobooks.