Chirrut Îmwe — Star Wars The Black Series #36

Overview

Red Line #36 is Chirrut Îmwe — a Guardian of the Whills, a blind warrior monk who serves at the Temple of the Kyber on Jedha, and one of Rogue One’s most compelling characters. Chirrut is Force-sensitive in the sense of being attuned to it, but not a Jedi — he has no lightsaber, no formal training, no institutional affiliation with the Order. What he has is a specific quality of faith: the certainty that the Force is present and that orienting oneself toward it is sufficient, regardless of formal training, regardless of what others might call ability.

The paired Chirrut and Baze Malbus (#37) are the Rogue One wave’s natural display pair — two characters whose entire on-screen relationship is defined by Baze’s sceptical pragmatism and Chirrut’s serene conviction, who protect each other across the film and die together in the Scarif transmission dish sequence. Two releases for each — 2016/2017 Red Line originals and 2021 Galaxy Collection updates — provide both eras of production. MSRP $19.99.

The Character

Chirrut Îmwe’s specific philosophical position in the Star Wars universe is interesting precisely because the franchise rarely interrogates faith without resolving it into Jedi-or-Sith certainty. Chirrut believes in the Force without being its instrument in the way Jedi are — he doesn’t move objects, doesn’t see the future, doesn’t project the Force outward. What he does is move through the world as though the Force is arranging things for those who trust it, which functionally looks like extraordinary combat ability, spatial awareness in darkness, and a calmness that reads as either wisdom or madness depending on how the battle is going.

His death on the Scarif beach — walking through the firefight repeating “I am one with the Force, the Force is with me” until he reaches the master switch, takes one more shot, and falls — is the specific scene that produces the emotional climax of Rogue One’s Scarif act. Baze’s death seconds later, completing Chirrut’s mantra as he goes, is the two-character arc’s conclusion: the believer died for the cause; the sceptic died repeating his partner’s prayer.

The Donnie Yen portrait is pre-Photo Real and approximates the specific features of his face at display distance. The figure’s quality benchmark is the combination of the portrait, the specific costume accuracy of the Guardian’s robes, and the accessory quality.

Accessories

Lightbow (the crossbow-like blaster weapon specific to Chirrut, not a Force weapon but a ranged blaster he operates with extraordinary accuracy despite his blindness) and battle staff (the wooden staff he uses for close combat, which he handles with the same assured competence as the lightbow). Both accessories are central to the character’s combat style.

The lightbow specifically is one of Rogue One’s more interesting weapon designs — visually referencing archaic projectile weapons while being a modern blaster, which suits a character whose entire approach is ancient discipline applied to modern problems. Articulation: 19 points via the standard Red Line scheme.

Both Black Series Chirrut Releases

Chirrut Îmwe (2016/2017) — this figure: The original Red Line Rogue One release. Chirrut Îmwe (2021): The Galaxy Collection update with improved production quality and updated Donnie Yen portrait. The 2021 version is the current display recommendation for portrait accuracy.

The Guardian Pair Display

Chirrut and Baze Malbus (#37) are the most naturally paired figures in the Red Line wave — they are narratively inseparable, they are consecutive numbered figures, and displaying them together tells a complete story without any additional context. Chirrut staff in hand, Baze with his heavy repeating cannon, both facing the same direction: the Rogue One display’s emotional heart.

For the complete Scarif beach team: add Jyn Erso (#22), Cassian Andor (#23), and K-2SO (#24) and the complete Rogue One team is present.

Secondary Market

The Red Line Chirrut holds above-retail secondary market prices. The 2021 GC update is the preferred display version but doesn’t eliminate demand for the Red Line original. No production variants documented.

Verdict

The Galaxy Collection Chirrut (2021) is the display recommendation for improved portrait quality.

Buy the Red Line #36 for: the original Rogue One wave configuration at consistent production quality with the rest of the Red Line Rogue One figures (#22-27 and #37); the matched Red Line pair alongside Baze Malbus #37; or Red Line sequence completion.

The Guardian of the Whills Tradition

The Guardians of the Whills are a religious order dedicated to protecting the Temple of the Kyber on Jedha — specifically the kyber crystals that power lightsabers and the Death Star’s superlaser. The irony is structurally important: the most holy objects in the galaxy, which power both the Jedi’s weapons of peace and the Empire’s weapon of mass destruction, are protected by a small order of warrior monks on a moon no one outside the Temple circuit thinks about.

Chirrut and Baze were both Guardians before the Empire occupied Jedha and dissolved the order. They remained on Jedha afterward — Chirrut as a street-level Guardian without official status, Baze as a mercenary who stays where Chirrut stays. The occupation that destroyed their institutional role didn’t remove their personal commitment, which is the specific quality Cassian Andor recruits when he encounters them in the film’s Jedha street scene.

Chirrut’s Blindness and the Force

The specific question of how Chirrut navigates combat without sight — and the film’s answer — is relevant to understanding the figure’s accessories. His lightbow shooting requires an awareness that transcends vision; his staff fighting requires spatial mapping that blind practitioners can certainly develop but which the film presents as something beyond ordinary martial arts. The film is deliberately ambiguous about whether Chirrut is Force-sensitive in a technical sense or whether his faith simply produces the outcomes faith produces. The figure’s unseeing expression is the visual representation of that specific ambiguity.

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Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Red Line. Related: Baze Malbus P3-37 | All Chirrut Îmwe figures | Rogue One | Jedha scene.