First Order stormtrooper armor was the standard armor of the stormtroopers of the First Order, a military junta inspired by the ideals of the former Galactic Empire. Noted for its stark white appearance, First Order armor was derived from the respective designs of its predecessors; the Phase I and Phase II models of clone trooper armor and the set of armor used by the Imperial stormtroopers of the past.
First Order stormtroopers wore stark white armor, the design of which drew inspiration from that of the foregone Republic clone troopers of the Clone Wars and the Imperial stormtroopers of the Galactic Civil War. Like its predecessors, the armor was worn over a black body glove. The First Order, during its conflict with the Resistance and its supporting government, the New Republic, sought to have the recognizable and once-feared stormtroopers once again lead the charge against the former enemies of the Galactic Empire.
Pauldrons were added to stormtrooper armor to mark officers.
The design of past stormtrooper armor was improved upon, adding at least greater flexibility through an updated joint design. Individual sets of armor were linked to First Order trackers. One stormtrooper captain, Phasma, wore her own distinctive stormtrooper armor polished in chromium as a representation of power. Other specialized stormtroopers, such as flametroopers and snowtroopers, wore a variant of the First Order stormtrooper armor representing their specializations. To denote rank, commanding stormtroopers wore color-coded pauldron armor plates.
The stormtrooper helmets had a glossy betaplast finish, which required constant cleaning. They were also equipped with a smoke filtration system and an external tank hook-up, although the helmets could not filter toxins. Aside from providing standard protection for the wearer's head, the stormtrooper helmet had both communication and targeting systems for the foot soldiers, although quadnoculars were required for any enhanced imaging. Also within the helmet was a near-constant stream of data projected across the lenses: telemetry, firing solutions, atmospheric conditions, everything up to and including the ammo count for the blaster rifle. An ID tag would pop up whenever one trooper looked directly at another, the in-suit computer able to read friendly identifications.
Stormtroopers wore white armor over a black body glove.
The same stream of data could also show the exact distance between the wearer and, for instance, their allies or an objective. FN-2187 once could see that Slip was exactly 29.3 meters back. The helmets contained polarized lenses and night vision, but lacked advanced imaging gear in order to keep the helmet's weight down. The armor was immune to fire.
The armor was strong enough to withstand the strength of a Wookiee, according to Captain Phasma, the commanding officer of the First Order's stormtrooper legions. Archex derived a sense of belonging and purpose from the armor that he wore as a stormtrooper, prior to deserting the First Order military.
The signing of the Galactic Concordance in 5 ABY marked the end of the Galactic Civil War with the New Republic claiming victory over the Galactic Empire. In the aftermath of the war, the Empire was further reduced in power through severe reparations and a disarmament policy imposed by the Republic. As a result, the mobilization of stormtrooper forces and the production of their armor were strictly forbidden by the treaty between the two powers.
The First Order inherited one of the galaxy's most enduring symbols of military might—the white-armored soldier.
In the galaxy's Unknown Regions, however, a number of former Imperials regrouped and ultimately formed the First Order. Eager to reclaim the Empire's legacy by challenging the Republic's sovereignty over the galaxy, the First Order secretly violated the treaty's stipulations and engaged in a vast rearmament program, resulting in the production of a new set of armor for a new generation of stormtroopers. As a result, the First Order appropriated the tradition of the white-armored soldier that began with the clones who fought for the Republic. The appearance of First Order stormtroopers, as well as their Imperial precursors, further morphed the clone army's legacy from a symbol of honorable defense into a "faceless" icon of fascism. In the ensuing First Order-Resistance War, stormtroopers wore their armor in battle against enemies of the First Order, chiefly the Resistance, and to enforce its conquest of the galaxy.
Dok-Ondar, who owned a den of antiquities on the planet Batuu, also came to acquire a suit of stormtrooper armor through means he refused to elaborate upon. During the First Order's operations on Batuu, a First Order re-education facility was established under Lieutenant Gauge to brainwash local citizens into obedient servants of the regime, which the stormtroopers saw as a way to counter Resistance propaganda. Made to believe he had signed up to join the regime, the first patient, an Azumel named Seezelslak, was under the impression he would be made into a stormtrooper with armor of his own, although he suspected he would look odd in armor. When a droid repair technician infiltrated the facility with Ondar's stolen armor and the help of Seezelslak's other allies, the brainwashed Seezelslak assumed the technician had also joined up and complemented their appearance in stormtrooper armor, only for the technician to break the bar owner out and destroy the base. After the escape, Seezelslak recovered from his re-education with Ondar's help.
For Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, director Rian Johnson subtly changed the stormtrooper armor seen onscreen from its previous appearance in The Force Awakens. The changes included changing the color from a creamy white to a toned-down off-white with a very slight grey tint, and altering the shape of the black "mouth" on the helmets to make them look meaner and more skeletal.
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