Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Actions

Finn becomes a good guy because he can't murder innocents as a stormtrooper. Rey refuses to sell BB-8 because she's not a mercenary tool. Ren has embraced the dark side—to the point of murdering his own father—but he still feels doubts that he can't quite shake, and he hesitates when he shouldn't.

What the characters do defines who they are...even if it's running away like Han does before finally returning to face the music.

Clothing

The bad guys in Star Wars tend to stick to primary colors: black and white for the stormtroopers, really black for the officers, and None More Black for Kylo Ren. Even Phasma's chrome duds have the air of absolute to them.

The heroes, on the other hand, are a little scruffier around the edges, with jackets and tops that reflect a real sense of personality. Poe gives Finn his jacket because it suits him, for instance, while Leia comments on Han's new jacket. (Notice how Finn strips off his stormtrooper uniform in the desert, signaling his change from bad guy to good.)

Even Jedi Luke and potential Jedi Rey—who wear white just like all good guys should—are clothed in rough, homespun threads, unlike the First Order with their military neatness and fascist uniforms.

Clothes make the man, as they say, and in this case, that applies to women, droids, and Wookiees, too.

Relationships

Finn finds Rey, and the two become the first real friends either has ever known. Han laments the loss of his son and tries to win him back. Even Ren feels the pull of mama and papa before snuffing it out by making a Dad Kebab on Starkiller Base.

The heroes are defined by the relationships they have and the relationships they seek, while the villains have no real friends or family, only rivals.