Rey’s biological parents are Dathan and Miramir, two “nobodies” who lived as junk traders and hid her on Jakku to protect her from Emperor Palpatine, to whom Dathan is genetically tied.

On-screen reveal

In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker , it is revealed that:

  • Rey’s father is Dathan, a non–Force-sensitive strandcast (genetic offspring/clone) of Emperor Palpatine.
  • Rey’s mother is Miramir, who lived with Dathan in obscurity and helped hide Rey on Jakku.

Both parents are shown briefly in flashbacks/vision-style scenes, where they refuse to give Rey up and are killed while trying to keep her location secret.

“Nobody” vs Palpatine’s bloodline

The sequel trilogy plays with the idea that Rey comes from “nobodies” while still tying her to a major legacy:

  • In The Last Jedi , Kylo Ren tells Rey her parents were “nobodies,” junk traders who sold her for drinking money, reinforcing the idea that her importance is not about bloodline.
  • The Rise of Skywalker reframes this by revealing Dathan’s origin as a failed Palpatine strandcast, making Rey biologically connected to Palpatine but raised from a family who chose an ordinary life and rejected his power.

Expanded canon clarifies that, biologically, Rey is descended from Palpatine via Dathan, but thematically her true legacy is the courage and sacrifice of Dathan and Miramir rather than Palpatine’s Sith lineage.

In-universe family status

Looking at it from inside the story world:

  • Palpatine calls Rey his “granddaughter,” but some official analyses and tie-in material argue this is more a manipulative label than a clean family relationship, since Dathan is a strandcast rather than a traditional son.
  • Many modern discussions of canon emphasize that Rey’s key emotional “family” is the found family she builds with characters like Leia, Finn, and others, and that her choice to adopt the name “Rey Skywalker” reflects that chosen legacy, not her bloodline.

Fandom and forum discussion angle

Online forums and fan debates have gone through several phases:

  • Pre– Rise of Skywalker , there were intense theories that Rey was a Skywalker, Kenobi, or Solo, driven by clues in The Force Awakens and classic “mystery parent” setups.
  • After the reveal that she’s effectively Palpatine’s descendant, some fans praised the “nobody-to-legacy” twist, while others felt it undercut The Last Jedi ’s message that anyone, regardless of lineage, can be a hero.

As of the mid-2020s, newer material continues to flesh out Dathan and Miramir’s backstory, but the core answer remains: Rey’s parents are Dathan and Miramir, self-chosen nobodies who died to keep her safe, with a complicated genetic link back to Emperor Palpatine.