TK-710 was the designation given to a male human stormtrooper in service to the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War. During 0 BBY, a year, he was stationed on the first Death Star battle station when the Millennium Falcon, a YT-1300 light freighter, was captured by the station's tractor beams. TK-710, along with fellow stormtrooper TK-421, was assigned to guard the entrance of the ship's in Docking Bay 327 as a scanning crew inspected the interior of the vessel. The crew of the Falcon ambushed the scanning crew, then disguised themselves as the crew in order to trick TK-710 and TK-421 into entering the ship, where they were subdued and had their armor stolen.
During the Galactic Civil War, TK-710 was the designation for an Imperial stormtrooper. While stationed aboard the first Death Star battle station in 0 BBY, a year, TK-710 had a security level of Zeta. The Death Star was in the Alderaan system at the time, with the mission to destroy the rebel-aligned planet of Alderaan as a demonstration of Imperial power. Soon after the planet's obliteration, the YT-1300 light freighter known as the Millennium Falcon was brought into Docking Bay 327 on the Death Star via tractor beams. After the freighter was searched by stormtroopers, Captain Edmos Khurgee, the hangar's commander, withdrew the remaining search teams, leaving TK-710 and TK-421 as a minimal guard at the entry ramp.
A scanning crew was dispatched to the vessel with a large equipment box to scan for lifeforms; however, Chewbacca and Han Solo ambushed and stunned them before they could start, causing a loud crash that the troopers ignored, assuming the scanning crew had dropped their box. Solo then impersonated a crew member and requested help from TK-710 and TK-421 with the equipment. The two troopers glanced at each other, unaware of the fate of the scanning crew, and were not surprised that the scanning crew needed help after dropping their equipment. They proceeded up the freighter's boarding ramp, walking into a trap set by Solo and his ally Luke Skywalker.
Once the pair was on board, Chewbacca, Solo, and Skywalker ambushed them. TK-710 and TK-421 reacted quickly, reaching for their weapons, but Solo was faster and fired his blaster pistol twice. The fight was brief, and the incapacitated stormtroopers fell as hard as the scanning crew, completely unaware of what had happened. After giving Skywalker the choice of armor, Solo and Skywalker stripped the two troopers of their armor. The troopers' unconscious bodies were then safely hidden in the Falcon's smuggling compartments.
With the troopers subdued, Solo donned TK-710's stormtrooper armor, and Skywalker took TK-421's. These disguises enabled them to move undetected through the Death Star in a successful effort to rescue Princess Leia Organa of the Rebel Alliance, who was being imprisoned.
During their journey through the Death Star, the disguised pair was encountered by the repair droid MSE-6-G735Y. The droid recognized the troopers' armor and noted that someone other than TK-421 was wearing his armor, but Chewbacca scared the droid away before it could act. The Empire later discovered what had happened to TK-710 and TK-421 when TK-421's body was found hidden in a crawl space.
TK-710 was equipped with stormtrooper armor, an E-11 medium blaster rifle, and an N-20 Baradium-core thermal detonator.
TK-710 made his debut in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, part of the original trilogy. An uncredited extra played the character in a scene filmed between May 19 and June 1, 1976 at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, England, specifically on sound stage 3. Stephen Bayley, who played TK-421, stated that he never knew the name of the extra playing TK-710, but described him as an older gentleman who he believed had died by 2016.
The short story "Of MSE-6 and Men," written by Glen Weldon for the anthology From a Certain Point of View, published on October 3, 2017, revealed the stormtrooper's canon designation as TK-710. The Star Wars LINE Webtoon by Hong Jac Ga, which began on April 10, 2015, refers to TK-710 as "TX-4120"; however, LucasBooks executive editor Jennifer Heddle has stated that the comic series has ambiguous canonicity, so this article considers the designation from From a Certain Point of View to be correct.
In Star Wars Legends, the character first appeared in the novelization of A New Hope by Alan Dean Foster on November 12, 1976. The stormtrooper was eventually designated TK-422 in Legends as part of the 1998 Special Edition Limited expansion set for the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. This designation was also used in canon in the English release of "The Rise of the Rebellion and the Battle of Yavin," an entry in De Agostini's Star Wars Encyclopedia series, originally released in Spanish on March 9, 2021. This article prioritizes the narrative source "Of MSE-6 and Men" over the non-narrative "The Rise of the Rebellion and the Battle of Yavin."
Solo, Skywalker, and Chewbacca are described in Randy Thornton's Episode IV: A New Hope Read-Along Storybook and CD from February 10, 2015, as knocking out guards and stealing their uniforms after agreeing to rescue Organa, which contradicts the film. The Skywalker Saga, a 2019 adaptation of the films by Delilah S. Dawson, describes Solo and Chewbacca knocking out two stormtroopers who boarded the Falcon for inspection while the ship appeared empty, also contradicting the film.
Jack Mitchell's The Odyssey of Star Wars: An Epic Poem, released September 28, 2021, states that Solo fired three shots at the troopers, while the film only has two audible shots, and then has Chewbacca strip them of their armor, contradicting the description in A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy, a September 22, 2015 adaptation of A New Hope by Alexandra Bracken, which states Solo and Skywalker stripped the armor. Due to the artistic license taken in adapting A New Hope for The Odyssey of Star Wars, this article considers the closer adaptation in The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy to be accurate.
Tony DiTerlizzi's 2014 adaptation of the original trilogy, The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight, states that the stormtroopers knocked out by Skywalker and Solo had remained on the Millennium Falcon after it was searched, rather than being called up by Solo as in the film. Chris Trevas's illustration "The Folly of TK-421" depicts one of the blaster bolts heard in A New Hope coming from TK-421's weapon while Chewbacca grabs TK-710; however, this contradicts the May 4, 2017, Star Wars: A New Hope junior novelization by Ryder Windham and The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy, both of which state Solo fired twice to take out the troopers. This article assumes the narrative sources to be correct. The LINE Webtoon depicts TK-421 and a second trooper referred to as TX-4120 searching the ship rather than standing guard, with Solo grabbing one of their legs from within a smuggling compartment before Obi-Wan Kenobi activates his lightsaber. Pol Treidum's aide then attempts to contact both stormtroopers over comms and fails instead of Treidum seeing the disguised Skywalker.
TK-710 appears in a cutscene in the 2022 non-canon video game LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which adapts the events of the film. In the scene, he and TK-421 carry the scanning crew's crate on board the Falcon while Vader is still speaking with Khurgee. The officer reacts in shock, but Vader remains oblivious to the sound of blaster fire from within the ship, followed by one of the troopers being thrown onto the boarding ramp before being dragged back inside by Chewbacca. Solo then starts to disembark in TK-710's armor, but is quickly pulled back on board before Vader sees him. Still unaware, Vader departs with a confused Khurgee.