Did Captain Phasma Wear Beskar? How Her Armor Connects To Palpatine
The silvery armor worn by Gwendoline Christie's Captain Phasma in the Star Wars sequel trilogy may bring to mind The Mandalorian’s Din Djarin, but it actually hides a connection to Emperor Palpatine. One of the most compelling things about Star Wars is that nearly every significant detail is ultimately given a backstory, and Phasma’s chrome-finished armor is no exception. While it may not actually be beskar, the truth is no less interesting, and may in fact shed light on beskar itself.
Captain Phasma is an intimidating character first introduced by Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with a commanding presence and armor like polished chrome. Ultimately, her role in the saga was short-lived, meeting her demise in a duel against the former stormtrooper, Finn. While her understated part in the Star Wars: The Last Jedi felt like a waste to some viewers, her character is given a much deeper exploration in the canon novel, Phasma, which explains how she came into possession of such uniquely intimidating armor.
Phasma’s armor appears very similar to Mandalorian beskar, as it effortlessly deflects a blaster bolt fired by Rose Tico in The Last Jedi. While The Mandalorian shows that the remnants of The Empire are in possession of beskar, this is not canonically what Phasma wears. Instead, the origin of her armor is more interesting than simply being stolen Mandalorian metal. She actually wears a metal called chromium - the same material used to make the highly reflective spacecraft built on planet Naboo. Naboo’s spacecraft are shown prominently in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, with a striking visual appearance, contrasting sharply with most other vehicles in Star Wars. The metal in Phasma’s armor was salvaged from one very specific spaceship, though — a Naboo yacht formerly owned by none other than the Sith Lord, Emperor Palpatine. Phasma wears it proudly as a symbol of the past power of the Galactic Empire.
The full backstory is given by Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary as well as the novel Phasma. The yacht itself was one of Palpatine’s favorite spaceships and, after his death, it fell into the hands of the First Order’s General Brendol Hux. Above Phasma’s homeworld, the war-torn planet of Parnassos, the yacht was damaged by the planetary defense grid before crashing to the surface. Phasma would go on to salvage chromium from the vehicle's bodywork, using it to forge her superior-quality armor in one of Parnassos’abandoned mining stations.
Interestingly though, Star Wars hasn’t given any details about what beskar actually is, beyond the fact that it’s a metal alloy used by skilled Mandalorian smiths to make armor. With the polished look of Din Djarin’s armor, it’s entirely possible that beskar is made with chromium metal. After all, chromium is a metal used in the real world too, and is an essential component of stainless steel. If the Star Wars universe contains the same chemical elements found in reality, there’s every chance that the Mandalorian armorers might be working with the same metals as the shipbuilders of Naboo.
While Captain Phasma in Star Wars may not canonically wear the armor of a Mandalorian warrior, there’s no doubt that any Mandalorian would find much to respect about her. Some viewers have even speculated that a young Phasma may appear in a future season of The Mandalorian, which would help explain how her presence in the Star Wars sequel trilogy feels so much like a villainous inversion of Din Djarin. As for what metals the Mandalorians truly use to make beskar, that’s likely to remain a secret, both from the characters in Star Wars and from the audiences watching them.