Poe Dameron is part of a trio of new characters that came along with The Force Awakens when it debuted in 2015. His entry into the Star Wars Universe feels like a world away now that The Last Jedi is at our doorstep. He’s a hotshot pilot that everyone was charmed by. He crashed onto our screens as a lovable rogue that had a sense of right and wrong built into the very foundation of his DNA. Coming from a Rebel background, it’s only natural that he came into the Resistance once his excellent piloting skills had been developed. Some fans immediately began to pair Finn and Poe together as a potential couple because of their onscreen chemistry. And although there hasn’t been any official confirmation from the actors or the director of The Last Jedi, there’s been no denial either.

But because Poe has been incredibly popular, whether you think he’ll end up with Finn or not, he was given his own comic book series. It showed readers his adventures leading up to The Force Awakens, and the enemies that he faced as the leader of Black Squadron. It revealed plenty about the pilot, so here are 15 things you never knew about Poe Dameron.

15 HIS MOTHER

During the Star Wars: Shattered Empire comic series, readers were introduced to Shara Bey, an A-Wing pilot in the Rebel Alliance. She joined the Alliance alongside her husband as they both were horrified at what the Empire were doing to the galaxy. She was involved in the Battle of Hoth and the Battle of Endor.

But she and her husband had a child, Poe, who lived with Shara’s father during the war away from the fighting. Once she returned and they were a family again she taught Poe how to fly when he was six years old in her old A-Wing. A set of skills that Poe honed as he got older and put them to use in service of the Resistance. She died unexpectedly two years later.

14 HIS CONNECTION TO THE FORCE

A huge part of Poe’s story in the beginning of The Force Awakens was that he was tasked with finding Luke Skywalker. He’d already managed to find Lor San Tekka on Jakku and had even tracked down the map to Luke, but he actually already had a connection to the Jedi that’s more personal than you might think.

Years before The Force Awakens, Poe and his parents moved to Yavin 4 to have a peaceful existence away from any of the conflict with the remnants of the Empire and the Rebel Alliance. Luke gave Poe’s parents the root of a Force-sensitive tree that grew in the original Jedi Academy to plant on Yavin 4, continuing the Force’s growth throughout the universe. Maybe Luke will mention it during The Last Jedi.

13 HE SPEAKS DROID

When we were introduced to Poe during The Force Awakens, one of the first characters we see him interacting with is the lovable BB-8. The two even have conversations back and forth because Poe understands the droid binary language. Whilst other pilots hear a series of beeps and whistles before having the translation come through their display, Poe just understands it all.

He seems to be quite fond of droids throughout the comics that he’s featured in. Poe even strikes up a friendship with C-3PO and some astromech droids. But his relationship with BB-8 was the closest out of the group. He even solely trusted the smaller droid when he suspected there was an Imperial spy on his team. It seemed like he trusted droids more than people, until he met Finn anyway…

12 HIS PARTNERSHIP WITH C-3PO

Although C-3PO might be shown as a hapless droid who finds himself frequently in the middle of danger, he actually can be extremely useful. Poe Dameron knows this after all the help that the Protocol droid gave him on numerous occasions. Dameron’s life was saved several times thanks to C-3PO, after General Organa promoted the droid to being the Resistance’s Spymaster.

Poe, BB-8 and Oddy Muva were being targeted by gangsters, and were surrounded. Their situation was looking quite bleak until C-3PO turned on several droid spies that he had in the area that forced the gangsters to let the three Resistance fighters go. If it weren’t for the droid, Poe wouldn’t have lasted that long. Did we mention that he even helped the pilot root out a spy on their team? C-3PO deserves more credit.

11 HIS MENTOR

Three words: General Leia Organa. The iconic Princess was obviously promoted to heading up the Resistance once the First Order reared its ugly head. But there’s a particular pilot that stuck out during his missions and planning attacks on the First Order -- Poe Dameron. Leia saw something of Han Solo in him, and began to mentor the young fighter pilot so that he would head in the right direction.

That also included grounding him when he became a little too reckless. She was the one to instill in him the sense of responsibility that comes with leadership. Especially because he’s in command of his own team. Being grounded might not be what Poe has in mind for his career, but ultimately, Leia always has his best interests at heart.

10 HE'S A TERRIBLE LIAR

Because of the nature of the Resistance, Poe and his team became quite close on the various missions and battles they took part in. They became a dysfunctional family that protected each other and looked out for one another, including the droids. So obviously, they got to know each other very well…

His own team described him as a “bad liar”. Which shouldn’t really be a trait that a Rebel operative should have given they may be tasked with important secrets…like where the map to find Luke Skywalker is. If he’s a terrible liar, we can’t help but wonder how he managed to keep it a secret that he knew there was a traitor on his team. At least he had it covered when it mattered.

9 HE BROKE INTO A PRISON

Never mind breaking out of prison, Poe Dameron can break into one. Whilst Poe and his team were searching for Lor San Tekka, their journey led them to the prison city of Megalox. The team had to break in to look for Tekka or find information on his whereabouts from the leader of the city, Grakkus the Hutt.

Hutts are notoriously greedy and manipulative, and Grakkus was no different. He pitted Dameron and another Imperial agent against each other in an attempt to get the best deal out of the two factions. Ultimately it backfired and ended up causing a riot across the prison. This forced all parties to bail and try to escape. So within the space of one mission, Poe broke in and out of a prison city. Pretty impressive.

8 HE'S NAMED AFTER A TOY BEAR

No, ‘Poe’ isn’t named after Edgar Allen Poe, the critically acclaimed Gothic author. But he’s actually named after a toy bear. J.J. Abrams mentioned that his daughter had a stuffed Polar Bear, called ‘Po’. And Abrams thought that “there was a kind of sweetness to, and a charm to that name.” It’s an incredibly sweet sentiment. Not unlike the character himself.

His last name, Dameron, actually comes from someone working on The Force Awakens itself. Abrams said that the name originated from his assistant, Morgan Dameron. He said that the name has a Star Wars feel to it. Whilst other characters like Rey have literal translations tied to their name (Rey means King in Spanish), Poe Dameron has quite a touching meaning behind his name.

7 KES DAMERON

Who? Only Poe’s Rebel Commando father of course. Three months after the Battle of Endor, Kes and his wife Shara decided to leave the Rebel Alliance, choosing to move to Yavin 4 so they could raise their son away from the conflict. In Poe’s Logbook, an extract sees him talk to BB-8 about his memories on Yavin 4.

Specifically, he mentions that he was the toughest, but kindest soldier ever. And although he and his mother were pilots, his father’s feet were “Made for boots, not flight pedals”. He also talks about hiking through jungles with him and he wouldn’t even be sweating as Poe was exhausted. Kes wouldn’t even camp in a tent, he’d just sleep underneath “waterfalls or in the giant fronds of jakaw trees”. A soldier through and through.

6 HIS NEMESIS

TK-603 managed to survive his career as a Stormtrooper in the Empire. He even managed to build a new life for himself as Terex. He began the Ranc Gang on Kaddak, committing crimes across the planet. He joined the First Order, still loyal to the foundations of the Empire. But his missions kept putting him against Poe Dameron.

He kept failing to beat Poe and his team, he decided to undertake a mission of his own, completely unsanctioned. He went off the grid to try and bring them into the First Order. That failed spectacularly, and he blames Poe for the misfortunes in his life. He has a scarred appearance alongside his thin moustache, screaming that he’s a stereotypical villain. Captain Phasma brought him out of the mines he was sentenced to, so he can cause trouble for Poe in the future.

5 SPY

Terex, the Imperial Agent, had such a vendetta against Poe and Black Squadron that he managed to manipulate his way into the life of one them. He turned a member of Black Squadron into a spy so that he could get classified information to stay ahead of the Rebels. It caused Poe quite a lot of distress knowing that one of his team had been turned.

After managing to rule out several suspects, Poe discovered that Oddy Muva was the individual feeding Terex information. To Oddy’s defence, Terex had kidnapped his wife, Sowa Chua, and used her to blackmail Oddy into being his spy. It was that whole operation that saw Terex arrested by his superior, Commander Malarus. Ultimately, the Imperial Agent’s goal to overachieve brought his own downfall.

4 DEMOTED

When we first met Poe Dameron in The Force Awakens, the impressive pilot holds the rank of Commander. He’s in charge of his own squadron, and clearly holds a spot amongst the leadership of the Resistance. Until now that is.

In the run up to the release of The Last Jedi, there’s been plenty of products, toys and announcements involving the characters. A Lego set revealed that Poe would now have the rank of ‘Captain’, two ranks below his original role as Commander. It looks like Poe will do something or disobey someone, that leads to a punishment of demotion. Maybe he’ll butt heads with the new leader played by Laura Dern, Admiral Holdo, and she decides to make an example out of him. We’ll have to wait and see.

3 DEATH

Don’t worry this isn’t a prediction, it’s highly unlikely they’d kill him off during The Last Jedi (or is it?). This is actually a plot point that was originally meant to take place during The Force Awakens. It was meant to show us how brutal and unforgiving the Galaxy had become in the wake of the First Order.

Originally, the hotshot pilot with incredible skills was meant to impress audiences with his prowess in the opening of the film, only to be killed soon after. That is until J.J. Abrams changed his mind once Oscar Isaac came on board and he changed the longevity of Poe’s role. Thankfully they didn’t kill him off earlier, otherwise The Force Awakens could have looked a lot different.

2 HIS PLANET OF BIRTH

Oscar Isaac was originally born in Guatemala and since the shooting location for Yavin 4 was Tikal, an ancient ruined city in the country, the actor decided that it was fitting for Poe to have been from the planet. Shara Bey and her husband moved to Yavin 4 when they left the Rebel Alliance, where Poe grew up in the luscious jungles.

His parents were given the root of a Force-sensitive tree. They planted it near the house they built for themselves. When Poe accidentally singed the tree via the fumes of a podracer, his father made him care and nurture for it, and he grew to respect it. The root itself is from a tree that grew in the original Jedi Academy on Coruscant.

1 JEDI TRAINING

What if The Last Jedi is Poe Dameron? Don’t worry, we’re joking. When the writers were originally coming up with the script for The Force Awakens, they went through several different versions of Poe Dameron’s character. He originally just had the name ‘John Doe’ as a placeholder, until they settled on Poe Dameron. But before he was an incredible pilot, he was a Jedi.

But obviously that got in the way of where the story was headed, so he was changed to a Bounty Hunter. He even had a Wookiee sidekick, but that may have seemed to on the nose for a new trio of main characters. They finally settled on the role of a pilot. We’re glad they stuck with that, it’s hard not to be impressed by Oscar Isaac’s rogueish charm.