Stormtrooper armor was the standard armor worn by the stormtroopers, the elite shock troops of the Galactic Empire. A white plastoid composite worn over a black body glove, the armor represented some of the best in the Empire and was dreaded by rebel freedom fighters.
A full set of stormtrooper armor
Developed by the Imperial Department of Military Research, stormtrooper armor was the standard issue armor of the Imperial Army's Stormtrooper Corps, and was manufactured on planets such as Gilvaanen. It was introduced sometime after the conclusion of the Clone Wars, and was intended to replace the Phase II clone trooper armor. It was made up of 18 individual, overlapping plastoid composite plates and synth-leather boots which allowed for mobility, while also dispersing energy, protecting the wearer from glancing and low power blaster bolts. A reinforced alloy plate ridge assisted the user's upper thigh, and a sniper position knee protector plate over a wearer's left knee helped improve accuracy when crouching. While most armor was fitted for humans, other forms were manufactured to fit other body types. A soft click would inform the wearer of whether or not they had correctly attached the armor.
Stormtrooper armor was capable of protecting its wearer in extreme environments, including deserts, forest, icy wastelands, and limited exposure to the vacuum of space. The armor's torso plating featured environmental controls on its midsection, its black body glove was vacuum-sealed and made of a smart material that could adjust to the wearers body heat and external temperature. Though a rebreather pack was required for extended use in environments that lacked a breathable atmosphere or to filter potent toxins. Troops in the field were allowed additional ammunition and comprehensive survival equipment, with backpacks that could feature field communicator sets, mortar launchers, and blaster components.
It was a punishable offense to utilize the armor's internal cooling options in noncritical situations due to its power drain, however many Imperial cadets still attempted to do so. Stormtroopers were also expected to remain in uniform at all times, with the rule considered essential for maintaining the public trust and representing the Empire in a positive, professional manner. By wearing one's armor, one represented the Empire, not the individual.
A stormtrooper deployed on Mustafar using an external breath mask connected to an oxygen tank
Its reinforced combat helmet featured an integrated comlink, audio pick-up, two artificial air-supply hoses, and a broadband communications antenna powered by a single power cell. The helmet, affectionately known as "buckets" by Imperials but derisively known by that name by rebels, featured built-in filtration systems that extracted breathable atmosphere from polluted environments and could accommodate an external breath mask which would filter more complex particulates and fumes. The helmet's visual processor assisted the wearer in seeing in darkness, glare, and smoke, though it limited the wearer's field of vision.
A stormtrooper using an extended communications unit attached to the helmet
When firing a blaster, the helmet's visor polarized against the glare. A built-in heads-up display also provided targeting diagnostics, power levels and environmental readings at the corner of the wearer's eyesight, and one could access data on various military subjects and civilian organizations on the helmets display. In addition, motion sensors alerted the wearer to any enemy the soldier might have missed. Seeking to discourage nonessential chatter, which was strictly off-limits while on-duty, stormtrooper helmets recorded everything that was said by the user, sending it to monitors to review after downloading the data off of the armor's memory. However, many stormtroopers engaged in idle conversation anyway.
Two Imperial stormtroopers in full armor
Utility belts were equipped with a variety of features including a compact toolkit, power packs, energy rations, and a holster for an E-11 medium blaster rifle. The belts may have also featured a backup C1 personal comlink, macro binoculars, and a grappling hook. One BlasTech N-20 Baradium-core thermal detonator was given to each trooper, and was placed on the back of their utility belt. The controls to the detonator were not labeled, to prevent enemy troops from using them. While detonators were not usually used within ships or bases, troopers carried a full complement of such field gear to be prepared for any situation.
Higher ranks were signified with a color coded pauldron worn over the right shoulder. The rank of commander was represented with an orange pauldron, though one soldier who served under the Grand Inquisitor had his colored red. Black identified enlisted soldiers. Several black pauldroned stormtroopers accompanied Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin to the planet Lothal, and later came aboard his flagship, the Sovereign, to serve as reinforcements when it was infiltrated by a band of rebels. White pauldrons represented the rank of sergeant. Blue pauldrons were used to identify stormtrooper snipers.
Stormtroopers fall to incoming blaster fire penetrating their armor.
Though the Empire and the wearers of the armor had pride and faith in it, Stormtrooper armor had the same limitations as most other types of armor and could not always be successful in completely protecting the wearer. Clone Wars veterans Kanan Jarrus and Captain Rex had low subjective opinions of its quality and ability to protect the wearer from harm, with the latter explicitly calling it "garbage" in comparison to the armor worn by clone troopers. Stormtrooper armor was designed to diffuse incoming blaster bolts to keep most hits from being lethal. However, in practice, blaster bolts could kill a stormtrooper despite their armor, especially if the enemy fired with a good aim.
The joints of stormtrooper armor also posed an obvious weak point for an attacker, which one stormtrooper recognized while on duty. The stormtrooper's statement was rebuked by a Purge Trooper for openly revealing a weakness to possible enemies. Some primitive melee weapons were able to exploit the limitations of the armor; the arrows and spears used by Ewoks during the Battle of Endor could hit the gaps in the armor, and a gaderffi stick wielded by Boba Fett during a skirmish on Tython, the latter of which was capable of delivering enough blunt force to shatter the armor with a strong enough blow.
The white armor of the Stormtrooper Corps became a symbol of Imperial might and domination.
Following the Proclamation of the New Order, the former Republic's clone troopers became the first generation of Imperial stormtroopers. The clone stormtroopers continued using their Phase II clone trooper armor while enforcing the rule of the new regime, while an early stormtrooper armor of an different design was worn by the "TK-troopers," enlisted stormtroopers who were trained during the early months of the Age of the Empire. Stormtrooper armor close to the final design was also seen at the invasion of Mon Cala in 18 BBY at the same time as TK trooper armor. Eventually, a standard armor design for stormtroopers was settled upon, with their armor becoming a symbol of the Imperial Era.
Indeed, the stark white stormtrooper armor ended up being a perfect summation of the authoritarian empire that leveraged greater and greater control over the galaxy over the course of its reign. Across the entire galaxy, as the Empire employed ruthless and violent control over its subjects, the Stormtrooper Corps served as a force of faceless minions who brought about sorrow and destruction, all while being heralded as a force who maintained order. A key factor in instilling the fear with which the Empire ruled was the stormtrooper helmet, which served as an implacable mask that hid the soldier's face and voice. In the end, every planet across the Empire came to recognize stormtrooper armor as a sign of Imperial oppression.
In the early rebellion against the Galactic Empire and subsequent Galactic Civil War, stormtrooper armor was used by the Empire's Stormtrooper Corps in opposition to rebels cells, which combined into the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and any non-Alliance rebel cells that also resisted the Empire. The Force-sensitive Ezra Bridger, a young rebel of the Spectres crew, enjoyed collecting Imperial helmets, including stormtrooper variants. His fellow Spectre, the Mandalorian Sabine Wren, liked to paint collected Imperial armor. On one occasion, Spectre Kanan Jarrus lent her a captured stormtrooper helmet on the promise she would just look at it, yet she decided it looked too bad to not be modified with a paint job. As stormtrooper armor covered the user's entire body, anti-Imperial agents, including members of the rebellion, were able to disguise themselves behind enemy lines with captured gear.
The cracked and battered stormtrooper armor of a Night Trooper
After the fall of the Galactic Empire in 5 ABY with the Battle of Jakku, certain Remnant Stormtroopers of the Imperial Remnants active in the galaxy wore battered, dirty armor, while others wore pristine and clean gear. One Ewok donned a stormtrooper helmet during the Ewok Civil War. The Night Troopers, a legion of stormtroopers who disappeared with Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo "Thrawn" into exile after the Liberation of Lothal in 1 BBY, continued to wear stormtrooper armor that grew damaged over their exile. The armor was repaired with red ropes and a mix of gold and grey materials. Thrawn's Captain of the Guard, Enoch, wore a unique face plate on his helmet. During the New Republic Era, some stormtrooper armor was painted with the symbol of the pirate Warbird gang as the armor worn by a pirate.
Many different pieces of armor and cloth could be added on to the standard stormtrooper uniform. One such example was the wet-weather gear stormtrooper, that wore wet-weather capes and an additional armor plate on the forehead. Desert stormtroopers, magma troopers, and many other environmental variants carried backpacks, ammo packs, pauldrons, E-11 holsters, on top of regular stormtrooper armor.
Stormtrooper armor exhibits minor aesthetic alterations over the course of the original trilogy. According to Pablo Hidalgo of the Lucasfilm Story Group, these differences stem from the production design of the films and do not reflect in-universe updates like the distinct phases of the clone troopers' armor. Its stylized depiction in Star Wars Rebels likewise does not represent a separate in-universe model.
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