Did directorJ.J. Abramsname one of the newStar Wars: The Force Awakenscharacters after his love for theBeastie Boys? That certainly seems to be the case.io9have the first photos of an X-Wing pilot whose name is Ello Asty. Hisalienform was revealed via a new Black Series action figure, and he is part of the Resistance and friend to Poe Dameron. While we don’t know much about this unique looking alien species just yet, it’s clear that he has a license to ill.
Ello Asty’s image was leaked via various concept art images prior to the reveal of his Black Series action figure. But this is the first time we’re hearing his official name. And if you take a long, hard look at that name, you’ll recognize something very familiar about it. It’s the name of the 1998Beastie Boys' album Hello Nasty, with the H and N removed. Need further evidence this character’s is based on the rap group’s seminal album? ATwitteruser going by the name of Yakface has translated the Aurebesh writing on his helmet. It says ‘Born to Ill’.
This isn’t the first timeJ.J. Abramshas shown his love of theBeastie Boysin a movie. He also used the song Sabotage in the 2009Star Trekfranchise reboot. The character is described by the officialStar Warsdatabase as a skilled if occasionally reckless X-wing starfighter pilot for the Resistance. It’s expected that his role isn’t very big. His species is Abednedo. In theBeastie Boyssong ‘Shadrach’, the group references the Judaeo-Christian parable of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Maybe this will make you more accepting of the character’s name. Or maybe not. Even harder than learning to love a new character in theStar Wars universeis getting used to and accepting some of their names. Because some of these monikers are truly bizarre, sometimes off the wall, and often just plain ridiculous (Jar Jar Binks, we’re looking directly at you). This is continuing to be the case withStar Wars: The Force Awakens. The names of several main characters were released earlier this year to get fans both old and new familiar with them, and accustomed to hearing them said out loud.
Thus far, we’ve metFinn and Rey, names which aren’t too outlandish, and have, over time, won over Star Wars fanatics. Poe Dameron has taken a little longer to get used to. People seem okay withKylo Ren. BB-8 is a perfectly fine name for a droid. But Captain Phasma has raised some eyebrows, and it recalls some of the more disliked aspects of the prequel trilogy. General Hux is boarding on generic. But Supreme Leader Snoke is certainly laughable, and will be until we better understand the character. And Maz Kanata also sounds like it was pulled from theprequels.
Ello Asty isn’t the only character to get a name based on one ofJ.J. Abrams' many loves. Captain Phasma, played byGwendoline Christie, is named in honor ofDon Coscarelli’s 1979 cult classicPhantasm, because the iconic orb in that movie looks just like her new silver Stormtrooper armor. And it was just recently revealed that Finn’s technical “name,” as far as the First Order is concerned, is FN-2187, which he apparently used to create the nickname Finn. What do you think? Do you love or hate thatJ.J. Abramshas just named a character after theBeastie Boys?
