Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens

*Star Wars*: Episode III *Revenge of the Sith*
(release order)

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> When it came to doing the helmets for the creatures, I thought it'd be nice to do some Aurebesh in a calligraphic way, as if they'd scrawled on their helmets like the young G.I.s and Huey pilots in Vietnam.
>
>
>

”

—Co-costume designer Glyn Dillon on Instagram

***Star Wars***: **Episode VII** ***The Force Awakens*** is a 2015 film directed by J.J. Abrams, and written by Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt. It is the first part of the *Star Wars* sequel trilogy and the seventh installment of the Skywalker saga.

## Use of Aurebesh

### Poe's quadnoculars

When Poe Dameron uses his quadnoculars to spot the incoming squadrons of stormtroopers headed towards the village, Aurebesh characters appear on the display, including the words "LOCK", "SCAN" and "DUP" (the rest of the text has no particular meaning).

"Lock""Scan""Dup"
### Resistance flight helmets

*The decals on the flight helmets worn by the Resistance pilots were designed by costume designer and concept artist Glyn Dillon, who decided to add Aurebesh inscriptions in a calligraphic way, as if the pilots had scrawled on their helmets like the young G.I.s and Huey pilots in the Vietnam War.*

Poe's first helmet, the one he wears on Jakku, has "ROÆHAL" stenciled onto it. This is best seen in the shot where he sits in his cockpit and says, "I see them." If you have a good television, you might barely be able to decipher another inscription on the back of the helmet, seen in the shot after his X-wing is hit by enemy fire at the beginning of the film: It says "POE".

*"ROÆHAL" is a reference to "Ro & Hal", the sons of Glyn Dillon. According to Dillon, director J.J. Abrams "had asked me what it said when I was trying to sneak it under the radar, and when I told him it was my boy's* [sic] *names he kindly gave his blessing."*

The side of Poe's first helmet says "Roæhal"
Poe's *second* flight helmet, which has a different color scheme, also has "ROÆHAL" printed on it. This can be seen during the Battle of Starkiller Base: Immediately after Ello Asty yells "I'm hit" and is killed in a fiery explosion, there is a quick shot of Poe looking out the window of his cockpit, and the inscription is seen. If you go frame by frame, you can see that the back of this helmet also says "POE"; however, it is not visible at normal speed.

The side of Poe's second helmet also says "Roæhal", while the back of the helmet says "Poe". Freeze-frame image.
During the Battle of Starkiller Base, Jessika Pava's flight helmet says "NAO".

*The name on the helmet is a reference to the main character of Dillon's 2012 graphic novel* The Nao of Brown*.*

"Nao"
During the same battle, Nien Nunb's flight helmet says "SW".

"SW"
The aforementioned Ello Asty, seen during the battle, wears a flight helmet that says "BORN TO ILL" on one side and "ELLO ASTY" on the other side. The character's name is similar to the Beastie Boys album *Hello Nasty*. Fittingly, the first inscription is similar to the title of the rap group's debut album *Licensed to Ill*.

*Knowing that director J.J. Abrams liked to use Beastie Boys songs in his films, Glyn Dillon added the Aurebesh inscriptions "Hello Nasty" on one side of Asty's helmet and "Born to Ill" on the other side. During the breakdown process where the helmet was made to look old, the H and N in "Hello Nasty" were rubbed off, resulting in the character being named Ello Asty.*

"Born to ill""Ello Asty"
### Resistance starfighters

When Poe goes outside to check on his damaged starfighter at the beginning of the film, there is a shot where his back is turned, where "ES" can be seen painted on the hull, vertically, next to the burning engine. After he gives the map to BB-8, as he says, "I'll come back for you", the words "RESCUE", "OTHER SIDE" are printed on the opposite side of the ship (although the word "side" is very faded and hard to decipher).

Later, when Poe spots BB-8 at the base, the word "RESCUE" can be seen printed on the *Black One*.

When Black Squadron is getting ready for departure to Starkiller Base, in the first shot of the scene, Snap Wexley is doing maintenance on his X-wing, and "ES" is stencilled vertically on the back of his starfighter, on both sides of the engine.

### Ration pack

Aurebesh characters can be glimpsed on the ration pack that Unkar Plutt gives to Rey after she first returns from a scavenging hunt. A photograph from *Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia* reveals that it says "PORTION", but only the last two characters can be clearly deciphered on-screen in this shot. If you look closely, you can see the shape of the other characters, but they are difficult to read. The characters are seen more clearly when she pours the content into the bowl, although they are upside-down and tiny, so you're going to need a good television to decipher it.

### Rey's flight helmet

The inscription on the side of the pilot helmet that Rey puts on while sitting in front of her home on Jakku reads "RÆH".

"Ræh"
### *Finalizer* monitors

During the escape from the *Finalizer*, after Poe and Finn exchange names, there is a quick shot of a monitor on the bridge of the First Order Star Destroyer, which says "PANEL OCK" and "CHHK".

### First Order armbands

An unidentified bridge officer who informs General Hux that Poe and Finn have taken out their turbolasers, wears a commemorative armband which reads "HA*[image ends]*".

The cuff-title on the uniform worn by Lieutenant Mitaka, the unlucky officer who reports to Kylo Ren about FN-2187's role in BB-8's escape, reads "POWER".

Ha*[obscured]*"Power"
### First Order hologram

As Captain Phasma and General Hux are discussing FN-2187's actions, a hologram of a young Finn says "FN-2187" (with the characters mirror-inverted, because the hologram is seen from behind).

### Map to Skywalker

When BB-8 projects a piece of the map to Skywalker aboard the *Millennium Falcon*, in the second shot of the holo-map, the name "FLYTE" appears next to a planet.

When R2-D2 projects the rest of the holo-map at the end of the film, the names "TATTOOINE" *[sic]* (erroneously listed twice), "SULLUST", "ENDOR" and (in the final shot) "WIEHER" appear on the map.

### Spectator's hat

When a group of people are gathered outside Maz Kanata's castle, watching the destruction of the Hosnian system, a human spectator on the right side of the screen, on Han Solo's left, is wearing a black hat with an Aurebesh inscription. The letters are very faint, but it seems to read "FEIG".

### Resistance pilot life vests

The life vests worn by Poe Dameron and other Resistance pilots, read "PULL TO INFLATE". The text is upside-down, to make it easier for the pilot to read.

Life vest worn by Resistance pilot Yolo ZiffVest inscription, zoomed in and rotated 180 degrees
### Medic's armband

Major Kalonia, the physician tending to Chewbacca's wound, wears an armband which reads "MED", short for "medic".

The same armband can be seen on one of the medics who take care of an injured Finn at the end of the movie.

### Starkiller Base monitors

As Starkiller Base begins to charge its superweapon by draining the energy of a nearby star, the monitor in front of the officer that initiates the draining says "SCAN 482" (the rest of the text is not legible).

The big monitor inside the room where Finn forces Phasma to lower the Starkiller's planetary shield shows lots of Aurebesh text. The first readout, seen when Phasma is in the middle of lowering the shield, translates to (note that a lot of the text is so small that it can only be deciphered on a good television screen):

After Phasma lowers the shield, the readout translates to:

When an unidentified First Order officer informs General Hux that the superweapon will be "fully charged in thirty seconds", the computer screen in front of the officer says "ENERGY STORE" (again, this may not be discernible on every television/computer screen).

### Resistance hologram

Aurebesh can be seen on the Resistance's hologram of Starkiller Base, including "PRECINCT 47" (where the thermal oscillator is located) and "MGB PORT" (the rest of the text has no particular meaning). Note that the text is barely readable, and may not be discernible on every television/computer screen.

### Resistance base monitor

After Tabala Zo says, "Their weapon will fire in two minutes", a data screen behind Admiral Statura says "POWER", "A B C D", "R", "LOC-HV" and "!".

## See also

 *Star Wars*: Episode VII *The Force Awakens* on Wookieepedia

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1  Glyn Dillon (@glyn\_\_dillon) on Instagram: This is a new promotional poster for 'The Last Jedi' - I like it because they usually have Poe facing the other way... (September 6, 2017). "This way you get to see my boys names in Aurebesh ("Ro & Hal")." (backup link)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2  Glyn Dillon (@glyn\_\_dillon) on Instagram: Back on The Force Awakens I came up with the decals for the rebel helmets (which is why my two boys are on Poe's helmet). (September 29, 2017). "JJ had asked me what it said when I was trying to sneak it under the radar, and when I told him it was my boy's *[sic]* names he kindly gave his blessing. Because of this I thought it'd be nice to sneak some Beastie Boys references on one, because of JJ's fondness for getting their songs in his films. So when it came to doing the helmets for the creatures, I thought it'd be nice to do some Aurebesh in a calligraphic way, as if they'd scrawled on their helmets like the young G.I.s and Huey pilots in Vietnam. So on the custom made helmet of this big guy, we did BORN TO ILL on one side and HELLO NASTY on the other (both Beastie Boys albums)... (and of course 'Born to ill' is like the famous Full Metal Jacket BORN TO KILL helmet). Then I forgot all about it... some time later I heard that the CFX dept were referring to this creature as 'Ello Asty' and I realised that the H and the N had been rubbed off in the breakdown process. Tim Shanahan and his team do the most amazing work. They can make everything look as old and lived in as you like, using lots of clever tricks, artistry and good old fashioned elbow grease (as well as real grease). It's one of my favourite depts because really they're the last process on the production line, they're the icing on the cake. And it was in that magic breakdown process that the H and N were lost... and Ello Asty was christened." (backup link)
3. ↑  Glyn Dillon (@glyn\_\_dillon) on Instagram: Ten years ago today The Nao of Brown came out. If you still haven't got a copy, it's about time.!. "Well spotted" (backup link) (screenshot)
4. ↑ Alderman, Naomi (November 22, 2012). The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon – review. *The Guardian*. “Nao is a charming half-Japanese woman with a bob and cute shoes, who works in a shop selling Japanese ephemera.”