First Order
i	i i
Flag	Emblem
Type	Fascist military dictatorship
Founded	21 ABY (in secret)
Publicly formed	29 ABY
Dissolved	35 ABY
Supreme Leaders	Snoke (–34 ABY) Kylo Ren (34–35 ABY)
Hidden ruler	Darth Sidious
Headquarters	Mobile (the Supremacy, later the Steadfast)
Home territory	Unknown Regions
Military	First Order military (stormtroopers, navy)
Came from	Galactic Empire
Main enemies	New Republic · Resistance
Preceded by	Succeeded by
Galactic Empire	Final Order

The First Order was a fascist military dictatorship in the Star Wars galaxy, introduced in the 2015 film The Force Awakens. It was built in secret from the remains of the Galactic Empire after the Empire's defeat, hidden deep in the unexplored Unknown Regions of space.

The First Order was ruled by a Supreme Leader instead of a senate or a king, and it had no fixed capital planet. Its leaders commanded the Order from giant warships that moved from place to place. Although most of its members never knew it, the First Order was secretly controlled by Emperor Palpatine, the Sith Lord everyone believed had died at the Battle of Endor.

In 34 ABY, the First Order used its superweapon, Starkiller Base, to destroy the capital of the New Republic in a single strike. It then invaded and conquered much of the galaxy. One year later, the Resistance defeated the Order's hidden masters at the Battle of Exegol, and people across the galaxy rose up and brought the First Order down.

After Emperor Palpatine died at the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Empire fell apart. The Empire lost its final battle against the New Republic over the desert planet Jakku in 5 ABY. But Palpatine had planned for his own death. For years he had secretly sent ships, scientists, and supplies into the Unknown Regions, a huge unexplored part of the galaxy, so that a new and stronger Empire could be born there someday.

Following this plan, a group of Imperial officers, warlords, and their fleets escaped into the Unknown Regions instead of surrendering. Leaders like Grand Admiral Rae Sloane and Commandant Brendol Hux wanted to build something purer and stronger than the old Empire. Over many years, these survivors built hidden shipyards, bases, and factories. They also kidnapped children from distant worlds and trained them from birth to become a new generation of stormtroopers. In 21 ABY, the scattered Imperial holdouts joined together and officially became the First Order.

A mysterious being named Snoke rose to lead the First Order as its Supreme Leader. Snoke was strong in the dark side of the Force, and his followers knew secret routes through the Unknown Regions that kept the Order alive. What no one knew was that Snoke was not really in charge. He was an artificial being created by Palpatine, who had survived death in a cloned body on the hidden Sith world of Exegol. Through Snoke, Palpatine controlled the First Order from the shadows while his cult, the Sith Eternal, built him a massive secret fleet.

Snoke also turned Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, to the dark side. Ben took the name Kylo Ren and became Snoke's apprentice and enforcer.

In 29 ABY, a group of star systems that wanted a stronger central government left the New Republic and publicly joined the First Order. This made the Order an official government and started a tense standoff known as the Cold War. The First Order kept building its military, which broke the peace treaty it had signed, but the New Republic's senate refused to believe the Order was a real threat.

Leia Organa disagreed. She founded the Resistance, a small private military, to watch the First Order and prepare for war. Meanwhile, both sides raced to find the missing Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Snoke feared that if Skywalker returned, a new generation of Jedi would rise to fight him.

In 34 ABY, the First Order fired Starkiller Base, a superweapon built inside an entire planet, and destroyed the Hosnian system. The New Republic's capital, senate, and home fleet were wiped out in moments. The Resistance struck back and destroyed the superweapon, but the damage was done. With the Republic gone, the First Order's fleets spread across the galaxy almost unopposed.

The Order chased the few surviving Resistance ships across space. During the chase, Kylo Ren killed Snoke and took his place as Supreme Leader. At the Battle of Crait, Luke Skywalker sacrificed himself to help the last members of the Resistance escape. Under Ren's rule, the First Order conquered world after world and punished any contact with the Resistance as treason.

In 35 ABY, Palpatine revealed that he was alive and offered Kylo Ren command of the Sith Eternal's enormous new fleet, the Final Order, if Ren killed the Jedi apprentice Rey. Instead, Ren turned back to the light side and became Ben Solo again. Allegiant General Enric Pryde, an old Imperial loyalist, pledged the First Order directly to Palpatine.

At the Battle of Exegol, the Resistance and a huge fleet of ordinary citizens defeated the Sith forces. Rey destroyed Palpatine forever, and Finn and the Resistance destroyed Pryde's command ship, trapping the Sith fleet on Exegol. News of the victory spread, and people on Bespin, Endor, Jakku, Coruscant, and countless other worlds rose up against their occupiers. Without its leaders or its promised fleet, the First Order collapsed.

The First Order had no separation between its army and its government. The Supreme Leader held absolute power and handed authority down to generals and officers known as High Command. Under Kylo Ren, a Supreme Council of generals and admirals helped plan the conquest of the galaxy.

The First Order's military was smaller than the old Imperial military, but its technology was better. Its navy was built around Resurgent-class Star Destroyers, designed to remind people of the feared Star Destroyers of the Empire. Its stormtroopers were taken as children, given numbers instead of names, and trained their whole lives to fight. Because of this training, First Order troopers were more skilled and more loyal than the Empire's soldiers had been. The Order also developed frightening new technology, including hyperspace tracking, a giant siege cannon, and Starkiller Base itself, which could destroy entire star systems from across the galaxy.

Life inside the First Order was strict and controlled. Citizens were taught a twisted version of history in which the Empire was a golden age that rebels and terrorists had destroyed. Propaganda filled the airwaves, disloyalty was punished with public executions, and even speaking badly about the Supreme Leader was a crime.

The Order's relationship with the old Empire caused arguments inside its own ranks. Older officers like Enric Pryde wanted to bring the Empire back exactly as it was. Younger leaders like Armitage Hux and Kylo Ren believed the Empire had failed because it was flawed, and that the First Order should become something newer and purer instead.

The First Order was created for The Force Awakens (2015). Director J.J. Abrams said the idea came from the production team asking what might have happened if Nazi officers who fled to Argentina after World War II had secretly started working together again, building a group that admired the fallen regime and wanted to finish its work. Costume designer Michael Kaplan gave the Order's uniforms sharp, angular shoulders inspired by the fashion designer Thierry Mugler.

• First Order on Wookieepedia
• First Order on Wikipedia