A complete guide to every easter egg and reference to the Star Wars universe in Rogue One.
This article contains majorStar Wars: Rogue Onespoilers.
But there are also many familiar sights that will make you cheer with joy.
Luckily for you, weve decided to compile a list of all the easter eggs and references inRogue One.
What will you find here?
References to other canon things as well as allusions to stories and characters from the Legends canon.
Thats all theStar Warsbooks, comics, video games, and more.
Rogue Onewas originally called Destroyer of Worlds when it was first pitched by ILMs John Knoll.
Like every otherStar Warsfilm before it,Rogue Oneopens in space.
That planet is called Lahmu, and its actually its second appearance inStar Wars.
The first was intheRogue Onetie-in novel,Catalyst, by James Luceno.
Director Orson Krennics ship is a Delta-class T-3c shuttle and its used as a transport by the Empire.
This is the shuttles first appearance.
It may remind you of the Lambda-class T-4a shuttle, which first appeared inReturn of the Jedi.
Krennic, played by Ben Mendelsohn, first appeared inCatalyst, as well.
He was one of the key men responsible for the Death Star project.
When the Republic became the Empire, Krennic became the Director of Advanced Weapons Research of the Imperial Military.
It was not common for an Imperial officer to wear a cape, though.
Krennics black stormtroopers are called Death Troopers.
They were the special unit of Imperial Intelligence.
Theyre not the first stormtroopers to sport black armor.
The Death Troopers carry blaster rifles similar to the E-11 as well as SE-14 pistols.
Theres a brief shot where one of the Death Troopers picks up a stormtrooper doll from the ground.
This is likely a nod to Reys Rebel pilot doll inThe Force Awakens.
Galen Erso, played by Mads Mikkelsen, first appeared inCatalyst.
Starkiller was Darth Vaders secret apprentice during the Jedi Purge.
Gerrera later formed an extremist rebel group known as the Partisans that operated out of the planet Jedha.
Gerrera was originally created by George Lucas while developing the unproduced live-action TV seriesStar Wars: Underground.
Before Lyra goes back to try and kill Krennic, she gives Jyn a necklace with a kyber crystal.
While rare and beautiful, kyber crystals are most often used as weapons.
A kyber crystal was the main component of a lightsaber as well as the Death Stars superlaser.
This is why Krennic needed Galen to continue his research on kyber crystals to finish the weapon.
But Foster didnt make up this rare gem.
Blue milk makes an appearance in an early shot of the Ersos home on Lahmu.
Its in the kitchen while Lyra is grabbing stuff to make their escape.
Blue milk first appeared inA New Hope.
Its from the mammary glands of a Bantha.
As pointed out by one of our commenters (thanks!
), Wobani is an anagram for Obi-Wan.
Clever little nod there.
The vehicle Jyn is being transported in at the beginning of the movie is a HAVw A6 Juggernaut.
It first appeared inRevenge of the Sith.
K-2SO is a KX-series Secuity Droid, also known as an Imperial enforcer droid.
Enforcer droids actually made their first appearance in the mobile gameStar Wars: Commander.
Youll recognize the moon Yavin IV as the headquarters of the Rebel Alliance.
The fourth moon was first introduced inA New Hope, of course.
Youll recognize several faces in the Rebel briefing room.
She would later become the first chancellor of the New Republic.
Shes played by Genevieve OReilly inRogue One.
OReilly played Mothma inRevenge of the Sithas well, but the scene was cut from the film.
Mothma first appeared inReturn of the Jediand was played by Caroline Blakiston.
Hes played by Ian McElhinney inRogue One.
You might recognize McElhinney fromGame of Thronesin which he played Barristan Selmy.
Dodonna was originally played by Alex McCrindle inA New Hope.
Last is Bail Organa, played once again by Jimmy Smits.
He first appeard as the senator from Alderaan inAttack of the Clones.
He is the adoptive father of Princess Leia Organa.
Bail perished on Alderaan when it was destroyed by the Death Star.
Before Bail Organa leaves for Alderaan, Mon Mothma suggests that he reach out to his Jedi friend.
That Jedi, of course, is Obi-Wan Kenobi, who is first introduced inA New Hope.
Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, youre my only hope…
The stone-faced Rebel general in the briefing room is named Draven, played by Alistair Petrie.
This is the characters first appearance.
Bail mentions a Captain Antilles at one point.
I mean the blue coat he wears while on Hoth.
Even if its not a reference, its a really cool jacket.
Fulcrum was a common name for Rebel spies and informants in theRebelsanimated series.
I dont need to remind you who they are, right?
Chopper, the droid fromRebelsmakes an appearance in the Rebel base on Yavin IV.
Its a blink and youll miss it cameo.
Hera is captain of a Rebel starfighter unit called Phoenix Squadron on the show.
She might have become a general since then.
Cassian and Jyns ship is a UT-60D gunship, or a U-wing.
This is the first appearance of the ship on screen.
X-wings and Y-wings were first introduced inA New Hope.
This is basically the same plan the Rebels had to sneak onto Endor inEpisode VI.
And it can also be seen earlier in the Yavin hangar.
This most likely means that Hera and the rest of the crew of the Ghost fought in the battle.
Of course, that all depends on who is still alive at this point in the war.
Three fighter squadrons fight in the Battle of Scarif: Blue, Red, and Gold.
There are a few references here.
Lets start with Blue Squadron.
This squadron first appeared in the current canon in theVader Downcrossover comic from Marvel.
InRogue One, the squadron is led by General Merrick in his first appearance.
In the novelization, this change is not reflected.
Luke flies for Blue!
Both Red and Gold Squadrons were first introduced inA New Hopeduring the Battle of Yavin.
Like in that movie, Red Squadron is made up of X-wings and Gold is made up of Y-wings.
Both of these characters first appeared inA New Hope.
Both of these character died during the attack on the Death Star.
Simple: the last Red Five died in the Battle of Scarif.
When Jyn and Cassian are going through the archives on Scarif, they mention a project called Darksaber.
Before Maul, it was owned by Pre Vizsla, leader of Mandalorian group Death Watch.
A young Carrie Fisher was created with CGI, although its Ingvild Deila playing the actual role.
Leias aboard the same CR90 corvette fromA New Hope, too.
The ship is called Tantive IV.
I could go into more detail about these, but I dont really want to.
Okay, fine: they both first appeared inThe Empire Strikes Back.
The Empire
The Death Star first appeared inA New Hope.
Its the Empires planet-destroying superweapon thats the size of a moon.
We first see the Death Stars construction at the end ofRevenge of the Sith.
These bad guys really shouldstop building these giant superweapons… One hit with a proton torpedo and… (to be continued inA New Hope).
Grand Moff Willhuff Tarkin was brought back to life forRogue Onethrough the magic of CGI.
Peter Cushing first played the man in charge of the Death Star inA New Hope.
Tarkin dies at the end of that movie, blowing up with his battle station.
Hes played by Guy Henry in this movie.
He also appeared inRevenge of the Sith, played by Wayne Pygram in very heavy make-up.
I dont have to tell you Darth Vader is in this movie.
All of those trailers did that for you.
His armor looks darker and more polished in later movies, and his chest plate is different.
Vader is once again voiced by the great James Earl Jones.
Its Spencer Wilding in the actual suit, though.
VADER HAS A CASTLE ON MUSTAFAR.
What to tackle first?!
The castle in that draft was located on the planet Ton Muund, the administrative center of the Empire.
In the Legends timeline, Vader also had a castle on Coruscant.
(Kidding about that last bit.)
Vaders castle on Mustafar, the planet where Anakin Skywalker dueled with his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Those robed acolytes are at least slightly reminiscent of the Acolytes of the Beyond from the novelAftermathby Chuck Wendig.
Its a stunning first shot of Vader.
Very cruel joke, Steve.
Interestingly enough, Vader uses his one-handed combat style from his later appearances.
InA New Hope, Vader uses the samurai-inspired two-handed dueling style while fighting Obi-Wan.
Maybe Vader was taking it easy on the old man?
For the sake of having a complete document, TIE fighters appear inRogue One.
Theyre the main class of starfighter in the Imperial fleet.
But there is one pop in of TIE fighter we havent seen before.
Its called the TIE striker and this is its first appearance on screen.
Its also not unlike the TIE interceptor from current canon.
AT-STs appear during the terrorist attack on Jedha.
These Imperial walkers first appeared inThe Empire Strikes Backduring the Battle of Hoth.
AT-ACTs are a variant of the AT-ATs fromThe Empire Strikes Back.
First, we have the shoretroopers, who were equipped for combat on tropical environments such as Scarif.
They used E-22 blaster rifles as their weapon of choice.
Then theres the tank troopers, who patrolled the streets of Jedha City with their Assault Hovertanks.
The armor Jyn puts on to infiltrate the Citadel on Scarif belongs to an Imperial technician.
Basically, a maintenance worker.
Its the first Star Destroyer we see in the entireStar Warssaga.
Jyn bumps into none other than the scummy Ponda Baba and Cornelius Evazan.
Theyre the two criminals that pick a fight with Luke in the Mos Eisley cantina inA New Hope.
Read more about kyber crystals in the Prologue section.
The temple was a sacred to those who followed the teachings of the Church of the Force.
Well get to the church in a minute… make a run at say that five times fast.
The Journal of the Whills was a concept created by Lucas while drafting the scripts forStar Wars.
The Journal of the Whills wouldve connected the fictional world ofStar Warsto the real world.
Hence, A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
This is absolutely bonkers stuff.
Chirruts awesome weapon is called a lightbow.
This is an invitation for one of you guys to investigate!
Saw Gerreras Partisans can be seen playing Dejarik in their hideout.
Its that weird chess game first introduced inA New Hope.
Several other droids from theStar Warsuniverse make appearances in the film.
An MSE-6-series repair droid appears during the Battle of Scarif.
A GNK power droid can be seen in the Yavin base.
An Imperial probe droid is floating around Jedha at one point, too.
This could be a reference to Lukes T-16 skyhopper which Luke mentions inA New Hope.
I used to bulls-eye womp rats in my T-16 back home.
They could also be talking about a model of hyperdrive first introduced inThe Phantom Menace.
There are a couple of new alien species in the film.
Bistan, the gunner in the U-wing during the Battle of Scarif, is a Iakaru.
Pao, who also fought in the battle of Scarif, is a Drabata.
Finally, Weeteef Cyubee, the little grumpy-looking alien, is a Talpini.
I still dont really see it, but Im a nice guy, so now its on the list.
John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek US.
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