When “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” debuted in 2015, the unimaginable happened: we actually came to like a Stormtrooper. With his blood-stained helmet, the morally conflicted FN-2187 (or Finn) has since become an instantly recognisable character in the sprawling Star Wars franchise.
Photo: Daniel Joe Lai via Facebook
Recently, Finn’s been seen walking around the streets of Hong Kong, to the delight of many. Photos and videos of the beloved Stormtrooper have been flooding social media, with some netizens posting gleeful selfies with the “white soldier” and others sharing sneaky shots taken apparently without his knowledge.
Photo: Shayne Yeung via Facebook
The Galactic Empire must not pay well, as one person explained the Stormtrooper was asking for cash in exchange for selfies, to the horror of his fellow netizens. All jokes aside, it’s not completely surprising, considering that: a.) plenty of street performers do this and b.) tis the season of lai see.
Turns out, the bloke under that buckethead is a blogger called Bo Johnson, from Chicago. He’s been travelling the world for a while now, Stormtrooper costume in tow, and entertaining passersby with a lightsaber duel or two. Despite some netizens rather pettily complaining that the police should be called over Johnson’s request for tips, it seems that Hongkongers are thrilled to meet him, for the most part.
Here he is, looking a little overdressed for a yoga class at one of the Central piers:
Posing with a lightsaber under the Ferris Wheel at the harbourfront (the inaccuracy of which we’ll forgive because it’s such a cool shot):
Trying to place a call in a PCCW phone booth:
Taking the MTR:
Screenshot: Bo Johnson via Instagram
And apparently charming some local monks, a.k.a. O.G. Jedis.
Check out the full video of Johnson’s Hong Kong trip here:
Got a tip? Send it to hongkong@coconuts.co
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