TR-8R the Stormtrooper — Animated GIF clip of TR-8R the First Order stormtrooper from The Force Awakens

TR-8R the Stormtrooper

2015viral videoclassic

Published October 3, 2026

TR-8R the Stormtrooper, also known as Tray Tor or TR8-T0R, is the baton-wielding First Order riot trooper from Star Wars: The Force Awakens who screams 'Traitor!' at Finn before dueling him. The 2015 film clip spawned months of spinning-baton video edits and the character got official attention from Lucasfilm the following year.

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Overview

TR-8R, sometimes spelled TR8-T0R or Tray Tor, is the fan nickname slapped on a riot-control First Order trooper who gets about ten seconds of screen time during the Takodana battle in The Force Awakens1. The joke writes itself: his one audible line is a bellowed 'Traitor!' aimed at Finn, so fans turned the designation TR-8R into both a mock serial number and the shorthand name for the character2.

The meme itself skews toward video edits rather than captioned image macros. Because the trooper spins his Z6 riot baton in a tight flourish before clashing with Finn's lightsaber, remixers looped that twirl against pop songs or dropped him into unrelated action scenes3. Image jokes tend to lean on the single-word insult, pairing a screenshot of the baton pose with text that casts anyone who switched sides, flipped a stance, or bailed on a group as the Finn figure in the shot4.

Origin & Background

Platform
The Force Awakens (film) / YouTube and Reddit (viral spread)
Date
2015

The character appears briefly during the First Order raid on Maz Kanata's castle in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which hit theaters in December 2015. He confronts Finn, shouts 'Traitor!' and goes a few rounds with a Z6 baton before Han Solo blasts him off-screen1. The in-universe designation is FN-2199, nicknamed 'Nines,' and Greg Rucka's prequel novel Before the Awakening establishes that he trained alongside Finn (FN-2187), which is why he singles him out so personally1.

The TR-8R nickname did not come from Lucasfilm. Fan sites were playing with the pun within days of the film's premiere, and the StarWars.com news post later acknowledged it as a nickname 'lovingly dubbed' by the internet1. A December 22, 2015 writeup at Dork Side of the Force documented the gag early, flagging that no official source confirmed the TR-8R designation and that the joke was simply fans retrofitting his insult into a serial number2.

How It Spread

After the movie opened in December 2015, discussion of the riot trooper lit up 4chan's /k/ board and 8chan's /tv/ board, with threads praising the design and his melee weapon loadout against mostly blaster-armed troopers4. On Reddit, a thread on r/StarWars asking about his name climbed to 3,293 points at 88% upvoted, which is where a lot of casual fans first picked up the FN-2199 and 'Nines' details from Before the Awakening4.

The clearest viral moment is a December 23, 2015 YouTube upload from a user named Arby, which syncs the trooper's baton twirl to Dead or Alive's 'You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)'3. The clip set the template for a wave of follow-up edits that swapped in different songs and kept the spinning gesture as the punchline. By early 2016 the nickname was common enough that StarWars.com ran an official explainer titled 'Meet FN-2199, a.k.a. TR-8R, the Stormtrooper Behind the Meme,' revealing that the voice came from Skywalker Sound editor David Acord and the stunt performance from Liang Yang1.

As a classic Star Wars character meme, TR-8R is still cited whenever a stormtrooper gets a bigger-than-expected fan reaction, and the single-word 'Traitor!' shout is still used as a reaction clip for defection jokes2.

Timeline

2015-12-18

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in US theaters, introducing the baton-wielding riot trooper who yells 'Traitor!' at Finn[1].

2015-12-22

Dork Side of the Force publishes an Easter-eggs post noting that fans have started calling the trooper TR-8R[2].

2015-12-23

YouTuber Arby uploads a video setting the trooper's baton spin to Dead or Alive's 'You Spin Me Round'[3].

2015-12

4chan /k/ and 8chan /tv/ threads praise the character; a Reddit r/StarWars thread about his name reaches 3,293 points at 88% upvoted[4].

2016

StarWars.com publishes an official explainer confirming the FN-2199 'Nines' designation, naming voice actor David Acord and stunt performer Liang Yang[1].

Frequently Asked Questions