Rose Tico Rose Tico was a female human who served in the Resistance as a maintenance worker during their conflict with the First Order , whom Tico had hated since she was a child . Tico ' s sister , Paige , was a gunner in the Resistance . Biography . Early life . Rose Tico and her older sister Paige grew up Hays Minor , a impoverished mining colony in the Otomok system . The First Order forced her people to mine their planet ' s resources to feed their war machine , then shelled them to test the results . Having lost everything they had to the First Order , Rose and her sister joined the Resistance to avenge their homeworld . Helping Poe Dameron . After being transfered to the Resistance cruiser " Raddus " , Rose spent a long time reading through how it worked . Another mechanic named Laszlo mocked her by saying she never did any hard work , just sat there and read . Paige then told her to go to sleep , but Rose continued , stating that she had to keep reading as some commands even were in Calamarian . When First Order ships appeared and Poe Dameron was trapped outside the ship with the hangar door being unable to open , Rose helped him by figuring out the problem and opening the door . Everyone thanked her and in the end , all the reading paid off . Evacuation of D ' Qar . Rose Tico and her sister were both active fighters in General Leia Organa ' s Resistance . Her older sister Paige was a gunner on the Resistance bomber " Cobalt Hammer " , which served as part of Cobalt Squadron . While Rose was a mechanic , both siblings were very close ; they each wore matching pendants around their necks at all times . Paige died in the Battle of D ' Qar , which greatly upset Rose , who was aboard the " Raddus " during the evacuation . She was stationed in the " Raddus " escape - pod bay to prevent any deserters from escaping during the ensuing battle between the First Order and Resistance fleets . Finn , in an attempt to warn Rey of the critical danger that the Resistance now faced , attempted to leave the " Raddus " and make contact with her by stealing one of the escape pods . When Rose caught Finn trying to escape she was initially flustered at meeting a " Resistance hero , " not realizing his intent to leave . When she did finally notice his packed bag , she stunned him with an electro - shock prod , put him on a cart and attempted to drag him to the brig , believing him to be one of many attempting to desert in light of the overwhelming odds the Resistance was facing . When Finn came to , he tried to convince her that he was not merely a deserter but was trying to warn his friend of the direness of the Resistance ' s situation , pointing out the fact that the " Raddus " would be tracked by the First Order through hyperspace , chasing them down until they ran out of fuel and were destroyed . Rose realized that the First Order must be using a tracking device aboard the " Supremacy " . With Rose ' s knowledge of mechanics and Finn ' s knowledge of First Order ships , the two devised a plan to shut down the tracking device and allow the " Raddus " to escape into hyperspace . They informed Dameron of their plan to infiltrate the " Supremacy " , although they did not know how to decrypt the ship ' s computer codes to be able to gain access to the ship itself . Dameron called Maz Kanata , who referred them to a " master codebreaker " that they would be able to find on Cantonica . Canto Bight . Without permission from acting commander Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo , Finn , Rose , and BB - 8 took a ship and traveled to the casino city of Canto Bight . While Finn marveled at the superficial beauty of the city , Rose understood the darkness hiding underneath . She pointed out that many of these rich people and gamblers had come into their fortunes by selling weapons and goods to the First Order , or otherwise had profited from war and the suffering of others . She also pointed out to him the blatant abuse of the fathier s and their child caretakers , expressing a desire to shatter their hollow and selfish town . Rose and Finn continued to search for the " master codebreaker , " and thought they had identified him by the pin he wore on his lapel , but they were arrested by the Canto Bight Police for parking their ship on a private beach . While in prison , they met a mysterious figure who claimed to be able to get them onto the " Supremacy " undetected . Rose and Finn politely declined . The man shrugged it off and proceeded to open the door of their cell with a lockpick . Now free , Finn and Rose escaped through the sewer system of the city , emerging in the fathier stables . There , Rose secured the allegiance of the young slave Temiri Blagg by showing him her Resistance ring , which she then gave to him before they released the animals and the herd stampeded through the city , leaving a wave of destruction in their wake . Riding one of the fathiers out of the city , Finn and Rose attempted to reach their ship , but the police destroyed it before they could reach it . The mysterious slicer suddenly returned with BB - 8 aboard a stolen vessel , rescuing Finn and Rose once again . " Supremacy " . The slicer decided to help the duo infiltrate the First Order after Rose offered him her gold pendant as a down payment . As promised , his hacking skills were impressive , and they passed through the " Supremacy " radar undetected . They stole a set of First Order uniforms from the supply rooms and sneaked through the ship until they reached the tracking mechanism . The slicer used Rose ' s pendant as a conductor in order to hotwire a door panel ; he returned it to her afterward . The door opened , but the trio was quickly surrounded by First Order forces . Once captured , the slicer made a deal with the First Order to secure his freedom , allowing the " Supremacy " to spot the fleeing Resistance shuttles and begin firing on them . Rose and Finn were taken before Captain Phasma and General Armitage Hux , the latter of whom recognised Rose ' s medallion as being from the Otomok system and took the opportunity to taunt her , mocking her home system as vermin . Refusing to be cowed , Rose bit his hand hard enough to draw blood , humiliating the general in front of his troops and leading him to call for their execution . Deeming death by firing squad to be " too good for them , " Phasma summoned a pair of stormtrooper executioners instead . Before they could be executed , however , Vice Admiral Holdo jumped the " Raddus " to hyperspace right through the First Order fleet , splitting the " Supremacy " . The blast briefly knocked Finn unconscious , whereupon Rose began dragging him towards a nearby shuttle , before he regained consciousness . But their way was barred by Phasma and a squad of stormtroopers , who immediately opened fire on them . Suddenly , a rogue AT - ST began firing on Phasma and her stormtroopers . The pilot of the rogue walker was revealed to be BB - 8 when the armor of the walker was removed . Rose took cover as Finn engaged Phasma with a Z6 riot control baton , ultimately besting his former superior , who plunged into a fiery pit . In the ensuing chaos of the " Supremacy " destruction , Rose and Finn escaped with BB - 8 aboard a stolen First Order shuttle . They took the shuttle to Crait , where the remainder of the Resistance forces had retreated at an abandoned Rebel Alliance base . As their shuttle was being pursued by two TIE fighters , the Resistance assumed all three craft to be hostile and began closing the base doors . Rose and Finn managed to pilot their shuttle into the hanger just before the doors shut , resulting in critical damage to the shuttle , before they were met with a barrage of blasterfire from the Resistance members . To prove they were not First Order , the duo showed their hands , prompting their comrades to cease fire . Battle of Crait . Rose piloted a ski speeder during the Battle of Crait . The speeders were relics left in the base from the days of the Rebel Alliance and so were in a state of serious disrepair . Having no other option , Rose and several other pilots , including Finn and Dameron , flew the speeders towards the First Order ' s battering ram cannon in order to prevent them from entering the base and destroying the last of the Resistance . The majority of the speeders were destroyed by AT - M6 fire . When Dameron ordered the squadron to retreat and fall back to the base , Finn refused to retreat with them , instead deciding to fly his speeder into the cannon in an attempt to destroy it . Rose crashed her speeder into his in order to stop him from doing so and save his life , though she badly injured herself in the process . Before falling unconscious , Rose told her friend that they had to fight for what they loved instead of just fighting what they hated , and kissed the dumbfounded Finn . Finn dragged her back to the base in order for her to receive medical aid . She was transported onboard the " Millennium Falcon " , with the few remaining survivors of the Resistance who survived the Battle of Crait , with Finn watching over his unconscious friend . Behind the scenes . Rose Tico was portrayed by Kelly Marie Tran in the 2017 " Star Wars " film . Tran ' s casting in the film was first announced on February 15 , 2016 . The first photo of Rose was released during The Last Jedi panel at Celebration Orlando on April 15 , 2017 . Rose ' s surname of Tico was revealed by " " on May 23 , 2017 . Rose was named after Maz Kanata ' s original name during the pre - production of , which was a tribute to director J . J . Abrams ' and production designer Rick Carter ' s late teacher Rose Gilbert . " The Last Jedi " director Rian Johnson conceived Rose because he realized that having Poe go with Finn to Canto Bight would have been boring . " It was just these two dudes on an adventure , " he said . " I knew something was wrong when I looked at their dialogue and realized I could interchange any of the lines . There wasn ' t conflict between them . So I realized I had to come up with something else . Finn needing somebody else to go with who would actually challenge him and push him and contrast with him was where Rose came from . " He did not envision Rose with a specific ethnicity , auditioning Caucasian actresses and women of color for the role . " We saw a lot of talented actresses of a very broad range — but honestly , it was more about finding Kelly , " he recalled . " There was something about Kelly that had that kind of genuine oddball nature and a real sweetness to her . She has the most open heart of anyone I ' ve ever met and I knew that was going to shine through onscreen . " Tran had never seen a " Star Wars " movie until she got the part : she was more of a fan of other series like " " or " " . She attributes the fact she landed the part to this oversight , explaining " I didn ' t have this expectation of what I thought this person should be like ; I wasn ' t trying to model her after someone I ' d seen in a movie . " Carrie Fisher inspired Rose and Paige ' s crescent necklaces . Johnson tweeted in response to a fan inquiring about the idea that , " In rehearsals Carrie grabbed my arm and told me with great urgency that we needed ' space jewelry . ' I thought that was a fabulous idea . So . " Despite the critical success of " The Last Jedi " at the box office , Tran received online racist attacks over her portrayal of Rose Tico including vandalism to her character ' s Wookieepedia article and far - right vlogger tweet attacking her physical appearance . This attracted coverage from several news media including and . In response to criticism likening Tico to Jar Jar Binks , the official Star Wars Facebook page defended the character ' s contribution to the story plot . Attorney Anthony Nguyen described Tran as the first " woman of color " to be cast in a leading role in the " Star Wars " franchise , while journalist Nicole Karlis commented that attacks on Tran reflected a fear of women who defied sexist stereotypes .