Donnie Yen Ji-dan is one of the most prolific figures in cinema today. He is an actor, director, choreographer, and producer. In addition to this, he is a champion martial artist (possessing a 6th Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo, a Black Belt in Judo, as well as a Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and dancer. He has embodied the iconic roles of Ip Man in the influential Ip Man film franchise and Sky in the cinematic landmark Hero. He has been an innovator and emblem of action filmmaking and thankfully for us all, he brought his talents to Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Chirrut Îmwe was one of my standout characters in Edwards’ 2016 film. Not just because I am a huge Donnie Yen fan, but because he was wonderfully different and connected Star Wars to some of its cinematic roots. Everything about Chirrut, his dress, fighting style, belief and discipline, all nodded back to the great films of Akira Kurosawa. Now, that some supplemental materials have come out about the incredible character we compiled some of the most interesting moments and facts about Yen’s intriguing character. Here are our top 5 interesting facts about everyone’s favorite Guardian of the Whills: Chirrut Îmwe.

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5. Yen Designed Much of Chirrut Himself

Director Gareth Edwards gave Yen freedom to flesh out much of Chirrut’s character. This included his fighting style, some lines, and most notably, his blindness. It has been noted that this was influenced by the character Zatoichi. The character is a blind samurai and masseur featured in Japanese television and cinema. Yen and Edwards worked Chirrut’s blindness into the narrative in several ways but most predominantly in his theme of vision. Baze Malbus expressed this, stating “Don’t mistake his blindness for a lack of vision.” Chirrut’s blindness is attributed to his remarkable attention to detail, noting Jyn Erso’s necklace and the settings of Cassian Andor’s gun. No doubt observational skills acquired and honed as a Guardian of the Whills, Chirrut offers them all a lesson in observation, trust, and honesty.

4. Chirrut Was Born Blind

With the little information we had on the new characters in the film, it was easy to fill in the blanks on their backgrounds. It was easy to mythologize Chirrut and the source of his blindness having been the result of a trauma of some sort, however, we now know he was born blind. This is a wonderful thing as it illustrates blindness, not as a negative like it would be if it were the consequence of battle, but as something common and normal as blindness in our world is. The character is reframed from a blind warrior to a warrior who happens to also be blind. The character and his interactions with others speak to how we all view people with physical challenges, most of the time they are underestimated.

3. Chirrut Clashed With Hondo Ohnaka

One of the most exciting events to enter the Star Wars canon about Chirrut is an interaction he shared with fan favorite pirate Hondo Ohnaka! Marvel Comics’ Galaxy’s Edge #3 shows us a glimpse of the warrior monk doing his duty before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Caught in the middle of removing a statue from the holy grounds Chirrut protects, Hondo’s partner fires at Chirrut underestimating his abilities seeing as he is blind. After seeing a demonstration of Chirrut’s combat prowess Hondo explains that the statue will help him learn more about how his parents died. Upon hearing this, Chirrut lets the pirate, and his co-conspirators go.

2. Chirrut Was Born On Jedha

One of the most fascinating locations that have been introduced to the Star Wars universe in the Disney era is Jedha. In a lot of ways, it mirrors our holy cities. In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story there are groups in various forms of regalia with ritualistic instruments. It is clear that there is not only an abundance of belief-based rituals, but it is also clear that these have taken on a great many variations. It is easy to see how Chirrut’s belief in the Force and his connection with it became so strong growing up in such an environment.

1. Yen Created A Unique Martial Art Specifically For Star Wars

Donnie Yen’s contributions to the Star Wars universe are already wonderful with Chirrut. But reaching a little deeper, Yen created something amazing in the process of creating the character with Edwards: a unique martial art. In an interview with BBC, Yen stated, “I was nine years old when I started martial arts, and I studied many different styles of martial arts. Every movie, I would create a unique martial art for each movie. For example, in Rogue One, my character Chirrut, I designed a bit of martial arts specifically for Star Wars.”

Thank you for coming on this journey as we learned more about one of Star Wars’ greatest characters! Do you think we missed any interesting facts that would have been on your “Top 5” list? I hope you had fun and may the Force be with you!

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