Shadow trooper

Shadow troopers, alternatively spelled as shadowtroopers, were a specialized variant of stormtroopers in the service of the Galactic Empire. Comprising highly trained, elite shock troops, shadow troopers served as a menacing fighting force that possessed a fanatical loyalty to the Empire, as well as an unswayable dedication to the Imperial cause. While the troopers tended to attack in hordes to overwhelm their enemies in combat, they were highly suitable for missions requiring cunning rather than brute force thanks to their stealth equipment.

Shadow troopers wore distinguishing black suits of experimental stealth armor made from stygian-triprismatic polymer, which allowed them to avoid sensors. Their imposing armor was coupled with a portable cloaking device, which provided optical camouflage by rendering the well-armored soldiers almost completely invisible as they moved around, giving the troopers the ability to appear out of thin air and surprise their enemies. Shadow troopers' specialized armor could also be adorned by the Imperial crest on the left chest, as well as a black pauldron placed on the right shoulder.

Like standard stormtrooper helmets, the armored helmets worn by shadow troopers featured heat dispersion vents and gray or blue-tinted exhaust filters located on each side of the face. In the same manner, shadow trooper helmets were equipped with a direct speaker placed between two induction filters on the chin section. The helmet's eye lenses and mouth area were also gray in color.

Outfitted with a wide range of survival equipment, weapons in shadow troopers' arsenal included E-11 medium blaster rifles, DLT-19 heavy blaster rifles, T-21 heavy blasters, and flash grenades. They could also be equipped with jetpacks. Some shadow troopers used a holster as well as chest or belt pouches to carry their equipment, all in black.

Shadow troopers served the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War against the Rebel Alliance. They were based on their clone shadow trooper predecessors, a variant of the clone troopers deployed by the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars. According to Admiral Gial Ackbar of the Rebel Alliance, shadow troopers were elite soldiers who were not to be underestimated.

Shadow troopers were first mentioned in the current Star Wars canon in Star Wars: Force Collection, a 2013 digital card game by Konami Digital Entertainment. Although the launch of Force Collection predates the Star Wars canon reboot of 2014, Lucasfilm Story Group member Leland Chee confirmed that the game was kept updated to fit with canon. As such, digital cards representing shadow troopers, which were originally titled "Shadow Stormtrooper," were later changed to "Shadow Trooper" in keeping with the nomenclature used in the new canon media, beginning with Hot Toys' sixth scale shadow trooper collectible figure released in March 2015.

Black-armored stormtroopers equipped with cloaking devices originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity. Known as "shadow stormtroopers" or "Blackhole stormtroopers," they first appeared in "Gambler's World," a Star Wars comic strip written and penciled by Russ Manning and published from March 12 to September 8, 1979. Additionally, the 2008 Legends video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed introduced gray-armored stormtroopers with blue-lit plating who also possessed cloaking devices, identified as "Shadow Troopers."

Shadow troopers made their first appearance in the current canon via the video game Star Wars Battlefront, which was developed by EA DICE and released on November 17, 2015. In addition to being an unlockable appearance customization in Battlefronts multiplayer modes, shadow troopers only appear in the game's survival mode, where the player can play as one of two rebel troopers stranded in an area surrounded by Imperial forces. Shadow troopers are part of incoming enemy waves that the rebels must hold off until their extraction. The same scenario can be played in various locations on the planets Hoth, Sullust, Tatooine, and the Forest Moon of Endor.

A June 16, 2015 article revealing the survival mode of the then-upcoming Star Wars Battlefront on the official Electronic Arts website renders the trooper variant's name as "shadowtrooper" with no space between the words, a spelling choice that is present in some of the later sources, even though the game itself favors the two-word version. Star Wars: Stormtroopers: Beyond the Armor, a reference book released on October 24, 2017, is also consistent with Battlefronts spelling, except for one instance of "shadowtrooper" as a single word.

According to Dennis Brännvall, associate design director for Star Wars Battlefront II that was launched on November 17, 2017, shadow troopers were not included in the sequel game due to the addition of another black-armored stormtrooper—the death trooper.

Released on December 29, 2017, Bandai's "Onmitsu Shadowtrooper" collectible figure reimagines the soldier in Japanese-style armor. While "Onmitsu" means "secret service" in Japanese and is also used as an alternate name for ninja of old, the figure includes a sword and two kunai blades along with a stylized blaster.

The 2021 non-canonical LEGO Star Wars Battles mobile game features the Imperial Dropship, which carries two standard stormtroopers into battle and is piloted by a shadow trooper. The dropship itself is based on a LEGO set, which also includes a shadow trooper pilot.

• LEGO Star Wars Battles