Captain Phasma
Clint
In character, takes place in an open field
@zr2011: The same Phasma who dragged out a fight with the janitor? What skills?
Wasn’t that a deleted scene? And even still, one gal with a blaster isn’t taking Hawkeye out with a blaster
She didn't drag it out. She was winning the whole time and would have killed Finn if not for plot, basically. This is the original scene and this is the deleted one.
And just because he was sent to do janitor duty doesn't mean Finn isn't skilled. First Order Stormtroopers believe that any job that benefits the First Order is not beneath them, so Finn having janitor duty doesn't automatically mean he wasn't a skilled stormtrooper, which these quotes below talk about.
Routinely praised by Phasma, said to be "top of his combat classes", said to have "great potential" and "remarkable promise", and is a "highly skilled stormtrooper":
"All of you should take your example from FN-2187," Captain Phasma said.
Before the Awakening
"You have great potential, 2187. You are officer corps material. "
Before the Awakening
After the second multiforce battle simulation, Captain Phasma singled out FN-2187 for praise in front of everyone who had participated. She had him stand and face the debriefing-and there were hundreds of them there that time, all the pilots and stormtroopers and instructors; it felt like everyone. She talked about his skill and his efficiency and his ruthlessness, how all the trainees could learn something from watching FN-2187.
Before the Awakening
At last she said, "FN-2187, your targeting was exemplary. According to the simulation, you fired your weapon only thirty-six times, scoring kills with thirty-five of those. You deployed one explosive, which resulted in the achieving of the objective and another six enemies killed."
Before the Awakening
She sighed. She'd had such hope for FN-2187. He had shown such remarkable promise. He had shown the capacity to be special.
Before the Awakening
FN-2187 proves to be a highly skilled stormtrooper -- at least during simulations.
The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary
While FN-2187 performs at the top of his combat classes, the ever-present First Order propaganda never really takes hold of his heart.
The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary
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He was trained from birth in a training regiment that's been described as a "more well-rounded combat education than training in the past" that produced "stormtroopers more dangerous than their Imperial predecessors":
Out of necessity, the First Order enforces a far more regimented approach to training to ensure excellence across its reduced stormtrooper ranks. First Order stormtrooper training emphasizes improvisation and counter-insurgency operations, as well as guerrilla tactics. No longer tasked with ensuring loyalty to a dominant galactic government, these soldiers instead need to know how to claw their way back to power. This mind-set has created a more well-rounded combat education than training in the past.
Star Wars The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary
FN-2187 was trained since birth to serve the First Order as a stormtrooper, but a skirmish on Jakku awakened his conscience and drove him down a different path, one that proved both heroic and dangerous.
Members of this new generation of stormtroopers are trained from birth, growing up with unit designations instead of names and fed a steady diet of First Order propaganda to ensure absolute loyalty. Where the Empire opted for numbing routine, the First Order’s training simulations and live-fire drills encourage improvisation on the battlefield, making these stormtroopers more dangerous than their Imperial predecessors.
StarWars.com Databank: First Order Stormtroopers
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Finn further proves he's the best in his class by beating Zeroes, a stormtrooper in three seconds, two stormtroopers in under a minute, Nines after participating in several spars earlier, and Slip:
Finn manages to stomp Zeroes, one of the best of the First Order Stormtroopers who had defeated all enemies prior, in a spar:
The person who remained longest on the floor was Zeroes. He went four bouts without falling, and then FN-2187 was called and ended his run. The force pike gave Zeroes reach and he went in strong, but FN-2187 had his shield and he quickly discovered that, when he angled it properly, he could redirect a jab in almost any direction he wanted. Zeroes tried attacking four times-low, low, low, and then high, driving the pike with both hands toward FN-2187's heart.
FN-2187 blocked, angling the shield to his right so that when the blow glanced off, Zeroes was off balance and overextended. FN-2187 spun on his toes in the opposite direction, brought the mace in his other hand around low, and caught Zeroes just above the knee, sending him sprawling.
"Win!" shouted one of the instructors.
Before the Awakening
Finn humiliates another Stormtrooper from the FO group in three seconds:
It was the start of FN-2187's own streak, however. The next trainee to go at him was from a different cadre, the FO group, also armed with a mace and shield. The fight lasted three seconds. FN-2187 feinted an overhead blow with the mace, and when his opponent brought his shield up to parry it, he hit him instead with his own shield and knocked him flat.
Before the Awakening
Finn defeats two other Stormtroopers from the FO designation in less than a minute, despite just prior taking part in two other spars:
His next two opponents were also FO designations, another with a force pike and one with a shield and sword. The second of those took the longest, almost a full minute, before FN-2187 managed to knock away his opponent's shield, and then it was a simple matter of waiting for an opening and striking at the right time.
Before the Awakening
Finn, despite taking part in several spars prior, manages to defeat an enraged Nines, who was a highly skilled First Order Stormtrooper:
Then it was Nines's turn, with his vibro-axe and shield, and if FN-2187 had thought Zeroes was angry when he'd lost, Nines seemed to start out that way. Nines began with a swipe straight at FN-2187's head, and the next thing 2187 knew Nines had rammed into him, body to body, their armor clattering as he was pushed back along the training floor. It took all his strength to keep his feet, to keep from giving Nines another opening with his axe, and finally FN-2187 dropped his shield altogether and used his free hand to take control of Nines's wrist. They spun in place, and FN-2187 slammed his shoulder into Nines's chest, sending him off balance long enough to create distance between them. Before he could recover his discarded shield, though, Nines was launching at him again, and FN-2187 was using his mace with both hands, knocking away Nines's attacks as quickly as they came. He could feel his heart pounding inside the armor, the echo of his breathing as it grew labored. The thought occurred to him, unexpected and shocking, that Nines thought this was real, not an exercise, not training.
The vibro-axe fell again, slashing at his arm, and FN-2187 skipped back. The two of them began to circle. Nines feinted with the axe, then swung the shield and nearly caught him in the side, but FN-2187 managed to get the mace up to parry just in time. He saw the follow-up coming before Nines launched it, knew the axe was slashing in again, and that time, instead of stepping away from it, FN-2187 stepped forward and under Nines's guard. The mace was in the wrong position, its heavy head toward the floor, so FN-2187 used its pommel instead, smashing it into Nines's helmet. The other trooper went sailing onto his back. He laid still, dazed for a moment.
Before the Awakening
Finn casually defeats Slip, although Slip was somewhat injured from a prior spar:
Slip lunged, and FN-2187 blocked him easily, sending the tip of the pike off his shield and to the left. Slip followed, unable to stop himself in time, almost at full reach and obviously off balance. FN-2187 stepped back, giving him room to recover. Again he glanced at the instructors. One of them, he thought, was frowning.
FN-2187 swung his mace in an easy arc, putting no real power behind it, all but telegraphing the move. Slip barely got his parry in place in time and failed entirely to launch a riposte. They circled. Another glance at the instructors, and both were frowning. Slip tried to flip his grip on the pike and made a staff-end swing that FN-2187 ducked before he'd even thought about it. He had another opening and almost took it but for some reason found himself unable to.
It struck him, then, that if he were to lose, Slip would be left to face whoever went next.
It struck him, too, that whoever Slip fought next wouldn't care that he was already hurt, that another injury might be too much for him.
You're one of us, FN-2187 thought.
He attacked with the mace, an upswing that Slip blocked but without any strength behind it. The parry blew through Slip's guard and sent his hands and the pike high, almost over his head, leaving his middle exposed. FN-2187 stepped forward, leading with his shield, pressing rather than striking while at the same time bringing his left leg forward, behind Slip's right. It took almost no discernible pressure; suddenly, Slip was on his back and FN-2187 was standing over him, and the instructor was shouting.
"Win!"
Before the Awakening
Credit to @wollfmyth209 for the Finn quotes.
Without his signature bow and better arrows in this fight, I don't see how he's closing the distance to attack her with his sword or dodging her blaster, since his best speed feat to my knowledge is fighting and somehow getting Black Panther in a choke hold, who's own speed feats aren't much better than Phasma's here. As you can see, she's fast enough to react to a blaster bolt deflecting around inside a room quick enough to bring her cape around and block it, either on her cape or her arm guard:
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