At the beginning of the movie Star Wars: The force Awakens we see an old man that gives to the rebel Poe Dameron a map to find Luke Skywalker.
His name is Lor San Tekka.
When Kylo Ren arrives, the old man says to him that he knows him, he knows his story, etc.
Who is he?
According to the Star Wars wikia, Lor San Tekka lived in the Western Reaches of Jakku about 29 years after the Battle of Jakku, which took place approximately one year after the Battle of Endor. He was a follower of the Church of the Force, a religion that based its faith on the ideals of the Jedi.
Further information about him from his official entry in the official starwars.com databank entry:
A legendary traveler and explorer, Lor San Tekka is a longtime ally of the New Republic and the Resistance. After the Battle of Endor, San Tekka helped Luke Skywalker recover secret Jedi lore that the Empire had tried to erase, and Leia Organa hopes the old scout can now help find her brother. Following decades of adventure, San Tekka retired to live simply on Jakku, where he follows the dictates of the once-forbidden Church of the Force. But his retirement is fated to be anything but peaceful.
As to how he came to be in possession of the final piece of the map that would lead to Luke, exactly, that may be revealed in later films.
I also think that he may be an Alderaanian expatriot. In TFA he states to Poe, about Leia, "...to me she will always be royalty." Unless he is stating it figuratively, because of his connection to the Church of the Force, it rings of a deeper loyalty or fealty that would only be expressed by someone of Alderaanian descent.
Wedge Antilles?? They tried to get the actor that played Wedge to appear in Episode VII , but he turned it down, saying that that role was to small and it would bore him. That would make sense as Lor has only one scene. Also Wedge, always survived so he has seen, first hand, the power of the force.
I'm reasonably sure that no matter who the character is now that it was originally intended to be Wedge Antilles. The dialogue fits and it would have made good storytelling for later in the film (I'm not going to spoil things for people though).
There choice to not simply recast Wedge is a good one (as it allows Lawson a way back in if he pulls his head out of his behind) and opens the world to an entirely new character that can be explored in different films though.
I thought (but now think I'm wrong) that he might have turned out to be General Madine - about the right age -30 years, bearded. I think it was the way that the text scroll said "an old ally..." as though we ought to have known who he was.
My guess is Crix Madine but he may have simply been someone that Luke fought alongside in the Rebellion. It could be an original character that isn't all that important to the bigger picture. He just plays his role and dies.
