Paige Tico, affectionately called Pae-Pae by her sibling, was a human female who worked as a gunner on a MG-100 StarFortress SF-17 for the Resistance during their conflict against the First Order. She was the sister of Rose Tico, who was a maintenance worker in the Resistance. During the evacuation of the Resistance base located on D'Qar, Tico's bomber engaged the First Order Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought named Fulminatrix and successfully obliterated it using the bomber's explosive payload. However, the resulting detonation consumed the bomber, resulting in Tico's death. Her ultimate sacrifice enabled the Resistance fleet to escape the system of D'Qar.
Paige Tico entered the world circa 6 ABY on Hays Minor, an impoverished mining settlement situated within the Otomok system. She had at least one sibling, a younger sister by the name of Rose Tico. She, Rose, and their parents, Hue and Thanya, were raised on Hays Minor. After personally witnessing the brutality inflicted by the First Order on their homeworld within the Otomok system, both Paige and Rose departed the Otomok system and enlisted in the Resistance.
The First Order had arrived on their planet to extract its ores, disregarding the impact on the inhabitants of Hays Minor. Observing the planet's devastation, she and Rose sabotaged First Order vessels, but their actions had a minimal effect on halting the strip mining. Their parents advised both sisters to join the Resistance, which they subsequently did. Later, they were horrified to discover that the First Order had blockaded and destroyed the planet. Driven by a desire for retribution, they resolved to strike back, but Leia Organa dissuaded them, arguing that remaining with the Resistance would be more effective than pursuing a personal vendetta.
As a soldier within the Resistance, Paige excelled as both a gunner and pilot. Having survived several missions, she developed superstitions, often wrapping her snowgrape-shaped Haysian smelt medallion around the struts of her cannons for good fortune. During periods of inactivity between bombing missions, the two sisters frequently discussed their aspirations to explore the galaxy.
In 34 ABY, during the evacuation of D'Qar, Paige's bomber, known as the Cobalt Hammer, engaged the First Order's Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought Fulminatrix, which was under the command of Captain Moden Canady. When Paige received the order to release her bomber's proton bombs, she quickly ascended from her bomber's hold to the bombardier station, where she assumed control to release the bombs. However, a laser cannon blast from a First Order TIE Fighter struck the Hammer, causing her to fall from the ladder and lose consciousness.
Upon regaining consciousness, Paige realized that the Resistance was in peril. Unfortunately, the control mechanism for releasing the proton bombs remained at the top of the ladder. Recognizing that she lacked sufficient time to return to the cockpit and activate the bombs using the control, Paige kicked the ladder to dislodge the control and bring it within reach. After several attempts, the control fell into the abyss, but Paige managed to catch it. Subsequently, Paige released the proton bombs, which impacted the Fulminatrix, resulting in the destruction of the ship and the death of Captain Canady and his crew. Knowing that escape was impossible but understanding that her sacrifice would safeguard the Resistance, Paige closed her eyes and embraced her fate as the flames engulfed the Hammer.
Ultimately, Paige's sacrifice enabled the Resistance fleet to successfully evacuate D'Qar's system permanently, although the First Order eventually pursued them. Paige's sister, Rose, was deeply affected by her death. In a brief eulogy at the end of Paige's journal, Rose recounted her sister's role in the battle, praising her as a hero who had perished and vowing not to allow the First Order to destroy the Resistance, promising to find a way to defeat them.
When Rose witnessed Finn attempting to "escape" from the Raddus, she incapacitated him and attempted to bring him before the Resistance as a coward, driven by the grief over her sister's death during the battle. However, she was eventually convinced that Finn was not trying to escape.
One year following the Battle of Crait, as part of her new responsibilities leading the Engineering Corps of the Resistance to counteract any new advancements made by the First Order, Rose developed a custom proton bomb named the "Paiger" in honor of Paige's heroic sacrifice.
Paige shared an exceptionally close bond with her younger sister, Rose, since their childhood, experiencing a sense of incompleteness when separated. Upon joining the Resistance, Paige insisted on being assigned to the same ship as Rose. The two sisters frequently sat together at Paige's gunner station during transit to and from missions. Paige believed that Rose underestimated her own abilities and importance within the Resistance, often providing her with moral support.
While Paige harbored resentment towards the First Order's leadership for the destruction of her homeworld and their other atrocities, she did not extend the same animosity towards the First Order soldiers and pilots. She believed that many of them were individuals like herself, thrust into a situation from which some would have desired to escape, a conviction that was reinforced by the stormtrooper Finn, who defected from the First Order and aided the Resistance in destroying Starkiller Base.
Paige possessed a deep fascination with fathiers, considering them to be the one creature she most desired to see in person. At her suggestion, the crew of the Hammer used imaginary stables of fathiers as markers in the crew's card games. Paige also expressed a desire to witness a live fathier race. Although she never had the opportunity to see a fathier or a race, her sister Rose had the chance to see and ride one during her mission with Finn to Canto Bight.
Paige Tico was brought to life by Vietnamese actress Veronica Ngo in Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi. Tico was initially revealed in the Behind The Scenes video for The Last Jedi, which was released on July 15, 2017 during the D23 Expo. Director Rian Johnson subsequently verified Paige's presence in the footage via Twitter.
In an earlier version of the film's script, which featured a different depiction of the evacuation of D'Qar, Paige was intended to die after releasing the proton bombs over the Fulminatrix in Finn's arms, who would have been the gunner of the Cobalt Hammer instead of being hospitalized aboard the Raddus. Concept art depicting the planned scene showed Paige's final moments, in which she would have left a bloody handprint on Finn's heart, echoing FN-2003's bloody handprint scene from Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, including how Finn pulled her lifeless body from the bomber inside the Resistance hangar, but director Rian Johnson ultimately omitted the scene in a later revision of the script, explaining that "he couldn't pay it off."