Stormtrooper

At the dawn of the Galactic Empire, the first generation of stormtroopers consisted of cloned soldiers who served the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars. Under the leadership of the Jedi Knights, clone troopers fought the droid armies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems across the galaxy. Though they were loyal to the Jedi as well as the Republic, the clones were secretly programmed to obey Order 66, a military directive authorizing the complete liquidation of the Jedi Order.

With the exception of a handful of survivors, including Jedi Generals Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, most of the Jedi were killed by their own troops at the command of Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith who controlled the Galactic Senate through his public persona of Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine. With the Empire claiming the galaxy was brought from chaos to order during to its rule, one account of the origins of the name "stormtrooper" was that it came from the troops emerging from the "storm" of galactic history. Another origin came from the final days of the Republic Era: with clone shock troopers enforcing law on the Republic capital of Coruscant and taking the role once held by the Senate Guard, onlookers began to refer to the soldiers as "stormtroopers."

Re-named "stormtroopers" and assigned their new role by the Emperor himself, the clone troopers enforced Palpatine's reign during the early years of the Imperial Era No longer beholden to the authority of Jedi officers who exercised restraint in warfare, the clones utilized brutal tactics under the leadership of Imperial officers and Governors, suppressing dissent and imposing the New Order over the known galaxy as the first generation of Imperial stormtroopers. Immediately, the Empire moved to remove sedition within its legislative branch, as clones were deployed to carry out the Senatorial arrests, rounding up a total of sixty-three senators who were subsequently claimed to be Jedi sympathizers.

The end of the Clone Wars, however, fulfilled the sole purpose behind the creation of clone troopers. Although Palpatine had supported the Kaminoan government's clone trooper program during his final years as Supreme Chancellor, his priorities shifted away from the expensive cloning production after becoming the Galactic Emperor. The Prime Minister of Kamino, Lama Su, maintained that the clone troopers possessed unrivaled combat skills and discipline. In addition, Lama Su believed that his clones were critical to the security of the fledgling Empire. Despite this, Governor and Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin was confident that the Empire would be better served by a force of non-clone recruits and conscripts, which he saw as a cost-effective way to enforce order in the galaxy. In addition, the clones' accelerated aging process, limited shelf-life, and original purpose as soldiers to the Republic were further incentives for the Empire to decommission its clone units in favor of natural-born humans.

Although Governor Tarkin supported conscription and recruitment over cloning, clone troopers were initially retained by the Imperial Army that replaced the Grand Army of the Republic, but rumors spread throughout the ranks that the cloning facilities on Kamino had been shut down.

In the days following the end of the Clone Wars, Vice Admiral Edmon Rampart sanctioned the creation of an Elite Squad of non-clone human soldiers, led by the former Clone Force 99 marksman CT-9904 "Crosshair." Rampart envisioned enlisting human soldiers and having them train under skilled clones would be the best way to generate loyal soldiers without the cloning program. The squad included four highly skilled recruits enlisted to be the first wave of such soldiers. The individuals traded in their names for numbers, becoming ES-01, ES-02, ES-03, and ES-04 and undertaking early missions to eliminate insurgents throughout the galaxy, in particular, pursuing the now-rogue Clone Force 99, Crosshair's old squad-mates. The squad's success during their missions proved the potential of an enlisted army to Tarkin, who allowed Rampart to continue secretly enlisting more non-clone recruits under Project War-Mantle. Though Tarkin supported the project, he believed that clone troopers would continue to remain essential until the new army had been fully formed.

With the development of the new Imperial war machine under Project War-Mantle, a new armor model was produced to be used by the enlisted recruits. Massive stockpiles of this armor was stored on planets such as Barton IV in preparation for the influx of future non-clone recruits in the Stormtrooper Corps. Clone commandos were deployed as instructors to the enlisted troopers, who were assigned the designation of TK stormtroopers. During the first year of the Empire's reign, a secret training facility had been set up on Daro, where fifty clone commandos were tasked with training the first 1,000 TK stormtroopers. In order to fully cease clone production, Rampart destroyed all of Kamino's cloning cities with his fleet of Venators. The continued recruitment of non-clone troops and the destruction of Kamino was kept secret from the Imperial Senate, with the latter incident being covered up as the result of a cataclysmic storm.

Stormtroopers in armor very close to the eventual final design were deployed to the planet Mon Cala, where they engaged the native Quarren and Mon Calamari in the Empire's planetary invasion. Also involved in the operation were clone troopers from the last Kaminoan batch, with the newly deployed clones having been assigned to Darth Vader and the Inquisitorius as a disposable death squad: the Purge Troopers. Recruited stormtrooper soldiers were also deployed in the place of clones to worlds like the Outer Rim planet Thabeska, the moon of Raada, and the former Separatist planet Desix. Desix in specific saw a large number of TK troopers move into occupy its lands after a clone trooper squad claimed Desix City for the Empire, with that squad's commanding officer, Clone Commander Cody, watching in silence as the new soldiers took control. Cody had hoped to open diplomatic talks with planetary governor Tawni Ames, only for her to be executed at the order of the new Imperial governor, Grotton. Having also taken part in the enslavement of Kashyyykk, Cody was unable to justify the Empire's actions and soon abandoned the Imperial Military. Rampart would take Cody's defection as further proof that clones could not be trusted.

With funding for the recruitment project secured and preparations well underway, all that remained to be done was for the clone army to begin its gradual decommissioning. To accomplish this, Rampart proposed the Imperial Defense Recruitment Bill to the Imperial Senate, which would see the Imperial Military officially transition from a clone army to a recruitment-based force. Though many in the senate saw the creation of a new army as unnecessary, many others supported the idea, especially after the destruction of Kamino meant that fresh clone troopers could no longer be produced to protect the Empire. Due to an inability to reach an agreement, the Bill was tabled multiple times. However, testimony from senator Riyo Chuchi exposed Rampart for his treason and ultimately led to his arrest, seemingly shelving the Bill once more. Immediately after, however, Palpatine appeared before the Senate and expressed his belief that clones could no longer be trusted to form the entirety of the Imperial Military due to the incident on Kamino. With this development, the Senate passed the Bill. The passing of the Bill and the start of mass mobilization jeopardized the future of the clone stormtroopers, who still comprised the bulk of the Empire's forces during the early Imperial Era. Though the bill proposed pensions for the clones as they would gradually be rotated out of military service as they aged, many troopers wished to continue their military service.

As the years passed, clone stormtroopers gradually became less and less common as many were either killed in action or rotated out of military service as they aged. As a result, the ranks of the Stormtrooper Corps swelled with conscripts and volunteers, who sought to carry on the legacy of the clones that had been glorified through wartime propaganda. By the later Imperial Era, it was rumored the Stormtrooper Corps had been established within the Imperial Army by a group of former clone commandos. Nonetheless, several clones remained in service to the Galactic Empire during its later years despite their advanced aging, with some becoming instructors in the Imperial Academy, while a smaller number remained in active duty such as Sergeant Crest and Torrent, who was still active following the Battle of Yavin.

During the Emperor's reign, stormtroopers were used to bring any remaining Separatist worlds into line. As time passed, stormtroopers replaced Imperial Army troopers—the main infantry force of the early Empire, often consisting of local planetary defense forces conscripted into the Imperial Military—as mainline combat troops and security forces. Becoming the Empire's foot soldiers, the white armored troopers served as the backbone and centerpiece of the Empire's ground forces With a lack of jobs and opportunity in the wake of the Clone Wars, posterity would later come to criticize an "aimless generation" as complicit in abetting the rapid militarization and recruitment of the Imperial war machine: with an entire generation growing up under Imperial rule, a number of recruits had been indoctrinated into Imperial thinking since their childhood and thus joined with the Stormtrooper Corps willingly.

Additionally, some stormtrooper recruits were people from disfranchised worlds who, by future Padawan Ezra Bridger's reading of the situation, wanted to be part of something bigger than themselves and thus willingly joined the Empire. Bridger, however, was disturbed people from his own homeworld of Lothal would join with the Empire that had so changed their world. Conscription also existed and resulted in people from occupied planets being pressed into the corps. Stormtrooper Corps training turned those who became stormtroopers into loyal followers of the Empire's will; while some stormtroopers would desert over the Empire's history, the Stormtrooper Corps was full of loyal Imperial soldiers who would kill any rebel they spotted, no matter the background from which they joined the corps.

Informal Commander-in-Chief Darth Vader often coordinated the stormtroopers' operations in the field whenever his personal presence was required, with the troops addressing him by the title of Lord. The commitment the stormtroopers displayed to Vader bordered on worship. Although he had a rapport with his stormtroopers, Vader was still willing to execute the troops under his command as he did with many other subordinates. During Rae Sloane's time as a junior officer, a joke spread throughout the ranks that Vader only kept stormtroopers on the bridge of his starships to drag out the bodies of those he executed. However, the joke lost all humor quickly, as the cyborg's wrath became all too real for many of his subordinates.

Per their swear to demonstrate absolute loyalty to the Empire in the Emperor's name, stormtroopers carried out some of the worst crimes committed by the Empire. Ultimately, stormtroopers came to represent the face of the Empire, but the soldiers were opposed by a growing rebellion that sought to restore democratic rule to the galaxy. On Lothal, the local stormtrooper garrison opposed the Spectres rebel cell before the Spectres joined with the larger rebellion.

The Battle of Scarif was the first major rebel victory of the Galactic Civil War, between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Following the Rebel victory at Scarif, Lord Vader commanded a battalion of stormtroopers, who served him loyally, to capture Princess Leia Organa's Alderaanian corvette Tantive IV over Tatooine. Additionally, Stormtroopers were also used to arrest dissidents on numerous worlds including Akiva and Zeitooine, while they were also deployed to other conflicts the Empire found itself in; stormtroopers and Imperial machines quickly put down a long-lasting uprising on Koshaga, fought on the frontlines of the Mandalorian Civil War, engaged the Dreamers and their man-eating pets, and combated members of the Grysk Hegemony during the Imperial–Grysk conflict.

As the Galactic Civil War dragged on, the Stormtrooper Corps accelerated its training to ensure the Empire had more troops at its disposal. For service in the Galactic Civil War, stormtroopers saw action against the Rebellion forces during engagements like the Battle of Garel, the Battle of Atollon, the Battle of Hoth, the Mid Rim Retreat, and the Battle of Ab Dalis. Although desertion from the Stormtrooper Corps was rare, the actions the Empire carried out during a mission on Aleen were so horrifying three stormtroopers deserted the Imperial Army. Additionally, stormtroopers who served under Admiral Gratloe joined their officer's rogue faction of the Empire in the Kudo system, only for their faction to come into conflict with the 204th Imperial Fighter Wing.

Around the same time, an entire legion of Palpatine's best soldiers, many stormtroopers among them, later served in the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY. As stormtroopers fought on the ground of the forest moon against Rebels and Ewoks, others were stationed aboard the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station before it was destroyed. In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Rebel General Han Solo led an assault against a surviving Endor outpost staffed by stormtroopers, while stormtroopers on Imperial capital world of Coruscant fought in the planet's civil war that began directly after the deaths of Palpatine and Vader at Endor.

At some point, a stormtrooper was consumed by the Sarlacc in the Great Pit of Carkoon on Tatooine, leaving the soldier to be digested within the same stomach wherein the bounty hunter Boba Fett was imprisoned. The trooper was vital for Fett's escape, as he used a breathing apparatus from the soldier's armor for oxygen before escaping. Although disorganized in the wake of the Rebel victory at Endor, Imperial loyalists rallied around high-ranking officials, such as Grand Admiral Rae Sloane and Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax. The Alliance, having declared itself the New Republic, deployed armed forces to root out the remaining Imperial strongholds on distant worlds, like Uyter, Naalol, and Akiva.

During the Iron Blockade, stormtroopers in the Anoat sector suppressed any knowledge of Palpatine's death, only to be met by an Uprising that sought to liberate the sector. During the conflict, Joval Rykk was a ten-year veteran of the Stormtrooper Corps, though he felt no loyalty to the Empire. By this time, stormtroopers were taken out of Academy training early to fill up Imperial ranks. As the war continued, many stormtroopers were captured and sent to the New Republic capital of Chandrila as prisoners of war. On one occasion, the New Republic public relations official Olia Choko personally stopped New Republic soldiers from parading stormtrooper prisoners through the streets of Hanna City. Later, stormtroopers fought during the liberation of Kashyyyk and the Battle of Jakku, the Empire's final stand in 5 ABY.

The Empire formally capitulated to the New Republic after the defeat of its loyalist forces on Jakku. With the death of Counselor Rax and Sloane's escape to the Unknown Regions, Grand Vizier Mas Amedda represented the Empire at the signing of the Galactic Concordance. The terms of the peace treaty included the end of hostilities between the Empire and the New Republic, the dissolution of the Imperial government, and the prohibition of the recruitment and training of stormtroopers. Additionally, the Empire was forced to dismantle its network of Imperial Academies.

However, not all of the Imperial remnants adhered to the treaty's conditions. Although some stormtroopers, such as Terex and Corlac, deserted their posts, the remaining Imperial forces on Jakku continued to fight for several months, refusing to accept the Empire's defeat. Terex only abandoned his life as a stormtrooper because he felt that, when the Empire had fallen, order had fallen. Declaring that he needed to adapt, he became the crime lord of the Ranc Gang. Alternatively, a former Imperial going by the name "Sentinel" joined the Hunters of the Outer Rim competition, where he donned stormtrooper armor and hoped to relive what he deemed the glory days of his service. While he seemed to be a stormtrooper who refused to accept the defeat of the Imperial regime, that was nothing more than an on-stage persona designed to draw attention.

In the years that followed the civil war's conclusion, all that seemingly remained of the former Galactic Empire were the mercenaries many stormtroopers had become—known as "Remnant Stormtroopers"—and the warlords they served under, clinging to the last vestiges of Imperial power in the Outer Rim Territories, where the New Republic held little influence. Despite the restrictions that the New Republic imposed on the defeated Empire, stormtroopers retained their battle-worn armor, making them look like an undisciplined mercenary force. Nevertheless, some of these mercenary troopers worked alongside more pristine stormtroopers, who were still regarded as "Remnant Stormtroopers" but worked directly as part of the remnants of the fallen Empire. In particular, stormtroopers served with Imperial remnants like the remnants on Morak and Moff Gideon's faction, which contained an entire army's worth of stormtroopers. Gideon's remnant was also secretly part of a wider network of Imperial holdouts operating under the Shadow Council and awaiting the return of Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo "Thrawn."

By 9 ABY, Gideon's remnant controlled an Imperial base on the planet Nevarro that was staffed by a platoon of stormtroopers and other Imperials. A mercenary group of Remnant Stormtroopers also acted as security for an Imperial Remnant safe house in Nevarro City, where they also served as bodyguards for "the Client" and Doctor Penn Pershing. The Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin killed many stormtroopers while rescuing the Force-sensitive foundling Grogu, whose DNA Gideon's remnant sought for use in creating an army of Force-sensitive Gideon clones who would be deployed to restore Imperial rule. In the aftermath of Grogu's rescue, Djarin's Mandalorian tribe was nearly wiped out by the Imperial remnant, which occupied the city with its mercenary stormtroopers.

When Djarin returned to Nevarro with his allies to kill the Client, the Imperial and his personal stormtrooper guard were instead killed when Gideon ordered his personal guard of death troopers to fire into the city's cantina, wiping out the entire stormtrooper squad. Gideon was then reinforced by a battalion, composed mostly of pristine stormtroopers from the Imperial base, to recapture "the Child" from Djarin. As the battle unfolded, mercenary and pristine stormtroopers would fight side-by-side against the Mandalorian and his allies, who were forced into the sewers. Nevertheless, they ultimately triumphed over the stormtroopers, but their victory came at the cost of the Ugnaught Kuiil and IG-series assassin droid IG-11, the latter having sacrificed himself to take out a stormtrooper platoon.

Although he had lost control of Nevarro, Gideon escaped the planet to lead his remnant from his Class 546 Cruiser, aboard which many stormtroopers and Imperial officers were stationed. A force of Gideon's stormtroopers, stationed aboard a Gozanti-class Assault Carrier, were lost when Djarin joined forces with Bo-Katan Kryze's unit and captured the carrier. The remnant maintained control of Nevarro's Imperial base until Djarin returned for repairs to his ship, the Razor Crest. The Mandalorian and his allies infiltrated the base to detonate it, fighting past the stormtroopers to escape in time. As he fled with his jetpack to protect Grogu, his allies, Magistrate Greef Karga, former shock trooper Cara Dune, and "the Mythrol," escaped from a squad of scout troopers and then Outland TIE fighters aboard a Trexler 906 Armored Marauder, taking out all but two of the starfighters until Djarin arrived in the Razor Crest. After Djarin took out the two fighters, he and Grogu departed for Tython.

Unaware that one of Gideon's agents, a Mimbanese worker undercover on Nevarro, had placed a tracker on the Razor Crest, Djarin ended up leading Gideon to Tython, where the Mandalorian was involved in a standoff with former bounty hunter Boba Fett and Master Assassin Fennec Shand over Fett's armor, which Djarin had acquired on Tatooine, while Grogu mediated and made contact with Luke Skywalker. Landing in two Imperial transports, a detachment of stormtroopers under a Stormtrooper Commander engaged the three outlaws in a skirmish, which saw the stormtroopers suffer heavily causalities before retreating. However, a missile from Fett's armor, which the former hunter reclaimed from the Razor Crest, destroyed both fleeing transports, wiping out the surviving stormtroopers. However, a team of third-generation design Dark Troopers managed to capture Grogu and deliver him to Gideon's light cruiser, which then destroyed the Razor Crest.

Returning to Nevarro aboard Fett's Slave I starship and recruiting Dune to the new mission to rescue Grogu, the Mandalorian and his allies recruited former Imperial sniper Migs Mayfeld and infiltrated the Morak Imperial remnants, which were based out of a refinery working to refine rhydonium to use against the New Republic. Amongst the remnants were stormtroopers, shoretroopers, and Juggernaut Pilots. Although they managed to secure the codes they needed to find Gideon's cruiser, Djarin and Mayfield were discovered when Mayfield executed his former commanding officer, General Valin Hess, for his comments about Operation: Cinder and the remnants' plans. Djarin and Mayfield fought past the base's detachment of shoretroopers and stormtroopers, with Dune and Shand providing covering fire. Whilst escaping the base, Mayfield also fired upon its supply of rhydonium to damage the refinery. Allowing Mayfield to stay on Morak, Djarin and his team recruited Lady Bo-Katan Kryze and attacked Gideon's cruiser.

Aboard the cruiser, Shand, Kryze, Dune, and Mandalorian Nite Owl Koska Reeves fought past its stormtrooper complement, which included a garrison and platoon, and captured the bridge. Djarin, meanwhile, rescued Grogu and defeated Gideon in combat, inadvertently claiming the Mandalorian Darksaber in the process. The sudden arrival of Skywalker also wiped out Gideon's Dark Trooper platoon, leaving the Moff to be taken to the New Republic to answer for his war crimes. However, Gideon was be extracted before making it to trial and hid out in a hidden base on Mandalore. Meanwhile, the people of the now-independent Nevarro reported Gideon's occupation, including the role stormtroopers played, to the New Republic, with such statements convincing New Republic pilot Carson Teva that a wider Imperial conspiracy was growing in the Outer Rim. In the specific case of Gideon's remnant, however, the Moff and his faction would meet their end when a united force of Mandalorians under Kryze retook Mandalore.

The return of Thrawn promised to galvanize the Imperial remnants. While many Imperial remnants were secretly allied under the Shadow Council, their forces lacked proper leadership and remained divided by the council's squabbling, with Captain Gilad Pellaeon specifically holding back efforts to unite by promising Thrawn would soon return. According to Pellaeon, Thrawn's return was imminent and could mobilize their military strength, which would also give fellow council member Commandant Brendol Hux time to complete Project Necromancer. However, since the Liberation of Lothal, Thrawn had remained trapped in exile in another galaxy, where he remained on the planet Peridea with a grouping of stormtrooper forces thanks to the actions of the Jedi Ezra Bridger and the Purrgil star whales. Over the years, Thrawn's stormtrooper forces would dwindle considerably until there was only a single legion's worth of troops. However, the Imperial remnant also allied with the Great Mothers of the long since fallen Witch Kingdom of the Dathmiri, whom Thrawn found slumbering within a Dathomiri fortress. After discovering the three Nightsisters, Thrawn and his forces also began rebuilding their Star Destroyer, the Chimaera, as part of a plan to return home with their aid.

The Great Mothers energized Thrawn's stormtroopers, who became inhumanely persistent and adopted the name "Night Troopers," which was similar to the "Nightsister" name used by the Dathomiri. The Night Trooper legion was placed under Captain Enoch, who served as leader of Thrawn's personal guard. Beyond energizing Thrawn's living soldiers, the Great Mothers also had access to the Chant of Resurrection, which would enable them to reanimate any soldier who died. However, no Night Trooper was ever resurrected in front of Bridger, who avoided the Nightsister fortress and made a life for himself among the Noti. Two of Thrawn's death trooper guard were reanimated at some point. Through the Great Mothers, Thrawn reached out to his former servant Morgan Elsbeth, who was at the head of her own group of forces in the main galaxy, to deliver them all from their exile, promising the Great Mothers he would bring them and cargo from their catacombs to the main galaxy with him.

Assembling a massive Hyperspace transport ring dubbed the Eye of Sion through Imperial loyalists at her old factory on Corellia, Elsbeth led her forces, among them mercenaries Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, on an intergalactic hyperspace journey to the other galaxy after a skirmish with former Jedi Ahsoka Tano, her Mandalorian Padawan Sabine Wren, their droid Huyang, and New Republic forces. With a captured Wren, Morgan and her allies united with the Great Mothers, Thrawn, and his stormtroopers on Peridea. As per his agreement with the Great Mothers, Thrawn directed his troops to bring the Great Mothers' cargo into the Chimaera over the course of what Elsbeth predicted would be three local days. With their arrival, Elsbeth's forces fell under Thrawn's command, with Enoch exercising command over the starfighter units. Allowing Wren to venture into the wilderness to find Bridger, Thrawn also prepared two squads to follow Skoll and Hati to ensure Wren and Bridger were killed, declining Elsbeth's suggestion to send more soldiers because of his low numbers. In time, Tano and Huyang would also arrive above Peridea with a purrgil pod, although Thrawn, who entered into his command center under the guard of two Night Troopers, had Enoch call off a starfighter attack to play the long game and avoid wasting their few resources.

Two Night Troopers continued to stand guard in Thrawn's command center as the Great Mothers found Tano's position in the debris field around Peridea, giving the Eye of Sions under Enoch's command a chance to fire on her position and flush her out of hiding. While their fighters again pursued Tano's T-6 shuttle, which was heading far from Thrawn's position anyway to reunite with Wren, Hati reported Bridger's position and led the local Bandits of Peridea against the mobile Noti tribe, while Skoll departed his apprentice's company in pursuit of a great power connected to the Mortis gods. Dispatched on Thrawn's order and arriving after the bandits had been taken out, the two prepared Night Trooper squads—Team One and Team Two—arrived on LAAT/le patrol gunships and reinforced Hati, surrounding Bridger and Wren under the . Quickly falling under Hati's command while Thrawn kept watch from afar via a droid, the stormtroopers ignored Bridger's attempts to negotiate and engaged Wren, Bridger, and the newly-arrived Tano. Without Skoll's assistance, Hati and the Night Troopers were overwhelmed by the three Jedi, forcing Thrawn to withdraw his troops and the starfighters pursuing the T-6, currently piloted by Huyang. The Night Troopers abandoned Hati, who fled on her howler mount.

Having judged his forces' skirmish against Tano and company a success because it delayed the Jedi, thereby giving his troopers time to finish the cargo transfer to the Chimaera, Thrawn ordered the Eye of Sion into position—as the massive hyperdrive ring could fit around the Chimaera to deliver all aboard from exile—and dispatched two TIE fighters to engage Tano's T-6 shuttle. That attack grounded the shuttle—forcing Tano, Wren, and Bridger to race for the Nightsister fortress on howlers—and was reported to Thrawn, who prepared for their incoming ground assault. A grouping of Night Troopers, all of whom were honored to do so, volunteered to stay behind in the name of ensuring Thrawn's escape, which Thrawn took as a sign of their loyalty to the Empire, whereas Elsbeth—who had been formally initiated into the Nightsister tradition by the Great Mothers as the Night Troopers finished the cargo transfer—saw it as an example of their personal loyalty to Thrawn. Told they had the "blessing" of the Great Mothers by Elsbeth and ordered to let no-one through, those Night Troopers remained in position for Tano, Wren, and Bridger.

With Enoch and Elsbeth by his side, while the room remained guarded by two Night Troopers, Thrawn ordered the Chimarea to aerially bombard the incoming Jedi, all of whom managed to survive. With their enemies closing in, the Night Trooper volunteers were dispatched to the fortress's lower levels and engaged the Jedi, who tricked the stormtroopers into drawing themselves out and thus took out the entire force. The corpses of the volunteers, however, were reanimated by the Great Mothers' use of the Chant of Resurrection, much to the shock of the three Jedi, who were unable to injure the reanimated soldiers. The reanimated stormtroopers cracked their own bones as they arose and let out a number of undead groans in pursuit of the Jedi, who sealed the undead behind heavy doors the Night Troopers needed to cut their way through. To protect the Chimaera, Thrawn's two undead death troopers kept Wren and Bridger from the departing destroyer's hangar at the top of the fortress while Tano dueled Elsbeth. The zombified death troopers managed to hold off Bridger and Wren as Thrawn, taking command of the Eye of Sion from its bridge with Enoch and the Great Mothers at his side, began his departure.

LS-757 and another Night Trooper were stationed in the Chimaeras hangar when Wren, who managed to unlock her Force-sensitivity in the battle, and Bridger finally bested the death troopers. Moving to the edge of the hangar, both stormtroopers rushed to defend the Chimaera but quickly assumed they were safe because of the distance between the starship and the fortress. Wren, however, helped Bridger cross the divide with a Force push; LS-757 and the other trooper were unsure if the Jedi had made the jump until he leaped up from his landing place, quickly throwing the second trooper from the Chimaera before Wren shot LS-757 from her distance below. Meanwhile, the zombified Night Troopers had broken through the last of the doors and joined Elsbeth in attacking Tano, whom Wren stayed behind to help. The undead soldiers stayed back as Elsbeth engaged Tano atop the tower until Wren revealed herself; as the apprentice distracted the undead Night Troopers, Tano finished her duel with Elsbeth and slayed the Nightsister, whose death was felt by the Great Mother Klothow and thus reported to Thrawn.

With the distance between the Chimaera and tower only having increased, Bridger was unable to go back for his friends and could only watch their battle with the zombie Night Troopers until an officer contacted LS-757 with news of incoming reinforcements. Bridger reacted quickly and took the trooper's suit of armor. While the news came as a shock to Klothow, Thrawn ordered the Chimaera to bombard the Nightsister fortress below, which was destroyed and took the undead Night Troopers with it. Wren and Tano, however, managed to escape when Huyang arrived in the T-6 in time. However, after Thrawn delivered a final message to Tano, the Eye of Sion and attached Chimaera would ultimately escape into hyperspace before the T-6 could catch up. Thrawn and his forces were thus delivered out of exile and returned to the main galaxy; while Bridger managed to slip away in LS-757's armor aboard an Eta-class shuttle previously used by Hati and Skoll, the Chimaera made its way to the Nightsister planet of Dathomir with the Great Mothers and their cargo safely aboard. While the appearance of a figure in stormtrooper armor did cause concern before he revealed his face, Bridger, meanwhile, made his way to Home One and met up with the New Republic.

Opinions on the combat skills of stormtroopers and their overall quality varied to some degree both during the Empire's reign and after it collapsed. Commander Alecia Beck praised the stormtroopers, calling them the Empire's "keenest weapon." Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi once noted the accuracy and precision of their blaster shots, while former Padawan turned rebel leader Kanan Jarrus mocked stormtroopers as soldiers with poor aim. Stormtrooper TD-7556 claimed it was the standard issue E-11 blaster that hampered a stormtrooper's aim in his mockingly written final report before deserting, while Clone Captain Rex regarded the stormtroopers themselves as the problem. Agent Alexsandr Kallus defended the stormtroopers for their allegiance to the Empire, but Rex took the opportunity to disparage them as an inferior class of soldier relative to the genetically engineered clone troopers they replaced.

During the earliest days of stormtrooper recruitment and training, Clone Commando Sergeant Hunter of Clone Force 99 noted the apparent ineffectiveness of the recruits at the time, with clone commando Gregor claiming he purposely avoided teaching the new soldiers everything he knew. Thinking about rebel propaganda that portrayed Imperial servants as poor shots, fleet logistics liaison Arvira of the Imperial Navy claimed that some stormtroopers should indeed spend more time practicing their targeting drills. Tasu Leech, a pit fighter and rising star in the criminal underworld during the Galactic Civil War, was aware of claims about poor stormtrooper marksmanship and used them to mock a shoretrooper holding a blaster to his head, putting his life on the line in the name of mocking his captor. The shoretooper responded by headbutting the bounty hunter, retorting that their aim with the strike was direct, before being killed by the defecting Imperial Lieutenant Beilert Valance.

In truth, the overall difference in stormtrooper aim and training varied between individual troopers across the galaxy. While a majority of troopers across the galaxy possessed an overall good aim, with Imperial specialist Ralsius Paldora stating that stormtroopers hit 77 percent of their targets, rebel propaganda and the soldiers who demonstrated lackluster aim created the joke that all troopers possessed poor marksmanship. The joke outlived the regime itself. Following the Imperial Era, Din Djarin, himself a skilled Mandalorian warrior trained since a young age, held stormtroopers in low regard relative to Mandalorians, being unimpressed by Migs Mayfeld's military background despite Ranzar Malk's assurance that the Imperial veteran was skilled in marksmanship. Mayfeld, an ex-sniper who participated in Operation: Cinder, retorted that he was not a stormtrooper. Axe Woves, another skilled Mandalorian warrior who supported Bo-Katan Kryze, mocked the remnant stormtroopers of Gideon's remnant, joking that they lacked true marksmanship.

The stormtrooper became a symbol of the Empire across the galaxy, resulting in their blank armor persisting as a representation of the regime after its fall. On Tatooine, citizens celebrated the death of Palpatine and later fall of the Empire. In the liberated spaceport city of Mos Eisley, the helmets of stormtroopers were left on pikes by 9 ABY. After the space station's destruction in the Battle of Endor, the ruins of Death Star II settled within the waters of Kef Bir, a moon in the Endor system. As the years passed, the armor of deceased stormtroopers remained abandoned within the ruins, growing dirty with age and water damage. In the New Republic's Adelphi Base lounge, stormtrooper helmets were included amongst the war trophies the Adelphi Rangers kept above their bar.

Stormtrooper armor did get a new purpose on the former Imperial world of Plazir-15, where the elected monarchy's secruity detail wore former stormtrooper gear, albeit without helmets and with planetary robes. One Ewok also wore a stormtrooper helmet while fighting in the Ewok Civil War. Nevertheless, the armor remained a symbol of the Empire and its ideals for the galaxy at large over the following decades. By 28 ABY, stormtrooper helmets and armor were collected by individuals like the New Republic senator Ransolm Casterfo, who had an interest in Imperial "artifacts." Several of Casterfo's Centrist senators, including Ormes Apolin and Fatil also admired and collected Imperial uniforms and armor. In addition, Imperial armor and other artifacts also sold at markets on Chrome Citadel. Stories of how the stormtroopers treated the Nikto species were passed down as a warning of Imperial xenophobia.

The Imperial remnants that retreated to the Unknown Regions reorganized themselves as the First Order, achieving one of the Emperor's objectives—to destroy the Empire and then rebuild it—under the Contingency. Defying the Galactic Concordance, the First Order recruited and mobilized new stormtroopers. The new stormtroopers were influenced by the ideas of Brendol Hux, a former commandant at the Arkanis Academy. The First Order's stormtroopers were equipped with sleeker armor and powerful weaponry. Among the Order's agents was Terex, who had served as an Imperial stormtrooper. The former Imperial Stormtrooper Commander Ruthford, who had been at the disposal of the Emperor's Fist during a battle against the Benathy, served as a captain in the First Order. Captain Ruthford would find himself seeing the Benathy once again, although this time he served under the grandson of Lord Vader, the warlord Kylo Ren.

Unlike their predecessors, the majority of stormtroopers were non-clone recruits. Imperial cadets were shipped off to Imperial Academies, and subjected to rigorous training programs in order to produce highly trained shock troopers fiercely loyal to the Empire. Cadets could be as young as thirteen standard years. Although they were a somewhat rare sight, women were not prohibited from serving in the ranks of the stormtroopers. During training, female cadets were placed in all-female units. Unit Forn was an all-female unit at the Academy for Young Imperials on Lothal. All stormtroopers swore themselves to the Emperor and his will, with the expectation to follow all orders without question in the name of serving the Empire and Palpatine himself.

Learning to obey all orders without concern was a part of stormtrooper training. Stormtroopers were trained to disregard fallen comrades in battle and to press on, no matter the cost, even when the odds were stacked against them. In fact, those who were selected for stormtrooper training had to undergo extra reconditioning. This had the effect of dehumanizing the cadets, who came to refer to themselves by their operating numbers rather than their names. One such cadet was Ames Bunkle, an acquaintance of Zare Leonis. Minister Pitina Mar-Mas Voor of the Imperial Coalition for Progress regarded stormtroopers as brainwashed agents who were not as efficient as her division.

Stormtrooper recruits trained in numerous conditions, including jetpack scenarios. Among other things, cadets would train to fire blasters, and Imperial specialist Ralsius Paldora noted that stormtroopers hit 77 percent of their targets. Cadets also learned to pilot Imperial walkers and the ruthlessness it took to become a stormtrooper. Cadets who attended Imperial Academies also underwent simulated obstacle courses in the Well, which were designed to test their strength, agility, reflexes and intelligence. Such courses and tests of skill became increasingly difficult over time, and accountability for losses were harsh.

While cadets attended the academy, they wore white uniforms and specialized helmets, similar to the standard stormtrooper or pilot gear. Aside from their basic training, many cadets were also assigned other non-combat duties on base. Such duties offered cadets the opportunity to gain experience over their peers, and were often presented as rewards for excellent performance during training exercises.

As cadets were being evaluated, the officers in charge were often instructed to take note of performance that might denote an affinity for the Force, and report it to one of their superiors. Cadets who met this special criteria were taken by the Grand Inquisitor and forcibly inducted into Project Harvester, a top secret Imperial program based on Arkanis. Cadet Zare's older sister, Dhara Leonis, was one known subject of Project Harvester. Another prospective subject was Jai Kell, who managed to escape due to the help of Ezra Bridger.

Stormtrooper and other Imperial cadets also assisted in law enforcement operations. Following a spate of rebel activity on Lothal, Imperial cadets there were used to search homes and streets for illegal activities, detain the children of fugitives, and to raid smugglers. During these law enforcements operations, some cadets, like Nazhros Oleg came to flout their new-found powers; a trait that was encouraged by some officers, like Captain Piers Roddance. Some prospective officer cadets, like Leonis and Oleg were also given the chance to lead adult stormtroopers in these raids. Cadets also had their backgrounds investigated for any sign of criminal connections and other subversive activities.

The clone troopers who survived the Clone Wars continued to wear the Phase II clone trooper armor after becoming the first generation of stormtroopers. The armor consisted of white plastoid plates attached to a black body glove, no longer featuring the various color patterns that the clones had adopted after growing more individualistic under the Jedi Order's influence, although some units such as the Imperial shock troopers still wore their armor with the distinctive red markings of the Coruscant Guard.

The first non-clone stormtroopers, designated as TK stormtroopers, were given an updated version of the Phase II armor as the Galactic Empire shifted toward enlisted and conscripted personnel at the expense of clone soldiers. Like its template, the TK stormtrooper armor was a set of white armor components worn over a black body glove. In addition to various aesthetic differences between the two armors, the TK helmet lacked the T-shaped visor of its Phase II predecessor and the earlier Phase I clone trooper armor.

Phase II was ultimately phased out after the creation of stormtrooper armor, causing large stocks of clone armor to be recycled as most clones entered retirement, having been replaced by natural-born soldiers. Stormtrooper armor was a common sight throughout the galaxy; its stark white appearance served as a symbol of the New Order in contrast to the clone armor that represented honor and defense during the Clone Wars.

Stormtrooper armor was a distinctive set of white armor that was intended to instill a sense of order and security in loyal subjects and a sense of fear in the opponents of the Empire, while also providing the soldiers with an extended range of survival equipment and temperature controls. It also gave limited protection against blaster fire; in certain cases, stormtroopers continued to breathe after being shot by an E-11 medium blaster rifle. Stormtrooper armor was not without the limitations common to most types of armor, however. The plates made running slightly harder and offered reduced protection against large scale pulse detonations and blunt weapons. Stormtroopers also had a utility belt and a grappling hook attached to it.{ Regardless, the armor was effective in mitigating most primary and secondary dangers in most combat scenarios.

The helmet provided cranial protection, filtered air, and contained enhanced vision, communication systems and an effective HUD (heads up display) that could help locate threats, aid in navigation, and to help alert the wearer.

Rank was determined by a color coded pauldron worn over the right shoulder, with orange or red representing the rank of commander, black indicating an enlisted trooper, and white representing a sergeant. Sometimes on the pauldrons they had specific symbols distinguishing who they were serving, exemplified by Grand Admiral Thrawn's troops, who had a stylized chimaera symbol on their pauldrons.

The E-11 blaster rifle was the standard issue weapon of stormtroopers, although the first generations—primarily clone stormtroopers and TK stormtroopers—used Clone War-era weapons such as the DC-15A blaster carbine. Stormtroopers also occasionally utilized the SE-14r light repeating blaster, the DLT-20A blaster rifle, the T-21 light repeating blaster, the RT-97C heavy blaster rifle, the E-22 reciprocating double-barreled blaster rifle, or the DLT-19 heavy blaster rifle, especially for long range engagements. They could also use scatter guns, and MPL-57 grenade launchers. Some stormtroopers were trained to handle HH-12 rocket launchers or the T-7 ion disruptor rifle.

Outside of combat and security details, stormtrooper officers wore black dress tunics, caps, and boots, as well as code cylinders, rank insignia plaques, officer's disks conform to the standards of the Imperial Navy.

In addition to the standard stormtroopers, the Empire had specialized stormtrooper forces assembled to operate in different environments or roles. Once a trooper was specialized to their role, their physiological conditioning was so strong that one would rarely want to change what division they were in. Stormtroopers in mechanized battle armor armed with heavy handheld cannon were present at the Battle on Sevarcos.

• : The clone troopers who had previously fought in the Clone Wars for the Republic served as the first generation of stormtroopers.
• : Well-trained soldiers who were recruited as the first enlisted Imperial troopers.
• : Early recruits who were trained by clone commandos to be the eventual replacements of clone stormtroopers.

• : Stormtroopers that were equipped with scout trooper armor, blaster carbines, as well as oversized vibroknives. Cave troopers were also equipped with low-light vision gear to help them see in the darkness and had rappelling cables.

• : Stormtroopers more commonly known as that were trained and equipped to operate in coastal and tropical regions. They were notably deployed on Scarif.
• : Stormtroopers more commonly known as that were trained for frozen environments and wore a special mask and a kama that both resembled the equipment worn by the 21st Nova Corps on Mygeeto during the Clone Wars.
• : stormtroopers also trained to operate in extremely volcanic environments.
• : Stormtroopers with armor modified to operate on desertworlds like Tatooine., or , were sandtroopers that utilized dewbacks as mounts.
• : Stormtroopers trained to operate in forested environments.

• : Stormtroopers that were equipped to operate in extremely high temperatures, and were trained to fight on volcanic worlds like Sullust. They were equipped with reinforced leg armor, black pauldrons, and respirators connected to a backpack.
• : Stormtroopers trained and equipped to operate in aquatic environments and wore white armor.
• : Stormtroopers trained for zero-gravity environments with armor designed to breathe in space. Spacetroopers were used to patrol parts of the first Death Star.
• : Stormtroopers trained for amphibious combat.
• : Stormtroopers that were equipped with black armor and respiration tubes that were charged with defending Fortress Vader on Mustafar. They were commonly referred to as Lava Troopers.
• : Stormtroopers that wore waterproof capes and additional armor and equipment. Notably deployed on Mimban.

• : Stormtroopers that specialized in mortar weaponry.
• : Stormtroopers that wore standard armor and were equipped with Smart Rockets and SE-14C blaster pistols. They sometimes were not equipped with helmets.
• : Stormtroopers equipped with incendiary weapons.
• : Specialized stormtroopers that wielded large rotary blaster cannons and were equipped with black pauldrons. There were also for desert operations, for coastal and tropical regions, and for cold weather environments. Heavy snowtroopers were sometimes also equipped with small black pauldrons.
• : Stormtroopers that were equipped with heavy combat armor and electrostaffs.
• : An elite specialized class of stormtrooper that wielded flamethrowers.
• : Also known as Rocket troopers, were stormtroopers equipped with Jump Packs or jetpacks. One variant of jumptrooper was equipped with standard stormtrooper armor and a jump pack, while another variant used specialized armor equipped with jetpacks and respirator tubes. The officers of this variant maintained an orange left shoulder pad to indicate rank. There was also another variant of jumptrooper with more sophisticated armor, consisting of a control panel on the chest, respirator tubes, and black markings. There also existed , , and variations.

• : Stormtroopers that utilized C-PH patrol speeder bikes to police the city streets of occupied worlds.
• : A branch of the Stormtrooper Corps that was harshly trained and were considered to be one of the toughest branches of Imperial Military. They were equipped with snowtrooper-like armor, as well as fur and magnetic boots. They were assigned to protect various Imperial cargo, and were deployed to combat zones.
• : A variant that wears a pauldron and carries thermal detonators.
• : Stormtroopers that were equipped with standard armor and batons. They took down their opponents with extreme ferocity.
• were specialized stormtroopers equipped with missile launchers and wore a red emblem on their shoulder pads.
• : Stormtroopers that wore lighter armor and used speeder bikes to patrol the perimeter of the Imperial garrisons they were assigned to. They were equipped for long periods of time without support and high maneuverability. Scout troopers were also conditioned to operate with a partner whenever they could.
• : Stormtroopers that wielded grenade launchers and wore a red pauldron along with a black bandolier across their chest.
• : Stormtroopers that were pulled from standard stormtrooper ranks which wore a blue pauldron over their shoulder, had a visor attached to their helmet, and had a black bandolier across their chest plate.

• : Elite black armored stormtroopers with specialized training and classified augmentations to make them "beyond human." They served under Imperial Intelligence and were deployed as bodyguards to a number of upper-level figures, such as DirectorOrson Callan Krennic, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Lord Vader and Moff Gideon. They were also given special assignments such as guarding shipments of large kyber crystals. They were equipped with SE-14r light repeating blasters, C-25 fragmentation grenades, and E-11D blaster carbines. Death trooper specialists were equipped with a black pauldron.
• : Stormtroopers that were armed with heavy weaponry and wore stormtrooper armor with distinctive red markings, similar to those of Republic clone troopers who served as in the Coruscant Guard during the Clone Wars. It was not uncommon for Imperial shock troopers to be equipped with Clone Wars era shock trooper armor.
• : Elite stormtroopers in black heavy armor that helped enforce Imperial law in the Anoat sector. They were lead by the formidable CommanderBragh during the Iron Blockade.

• Purge Troopers (Inquisitorius): Stormtroopers that assisted Lord Vader and the Inquisitors in hunting down Jedi survivors after Order 66. Trained as expendable deathsquads, they were activated after the Great Jedi Purge. While the initial deployment of Purge Troopers was actually the last batch of clone troopers, later generations of Purge Troopers were instead handpicked from the Empire's stormtrooper legions. Perspective Purge Troopers were picked for their loyalty and aptitude before being trained to combat Force-sensitives.
• : Elite stormtroopers in black armor that were also equipped with cloaking devices and used deadly T-21 light repeating blasters.
• : elite stormtroopers in the Imperial Special Forces division also known as SCAR troopers.
• : Elite stormtroopers that were part of the special forces of the Stormtrooper Corps, and were trained to deal with extreme combat situations.

After the fall of the Empire, remaining stormtroopers who continued to champion the Imperial cause or became mercenaries became known as "Remnant Stormtroopers." Pre-existing stormtrooper variants existed amongst the remnant forces, but specific variants could emerge as new trooper types during the post-Imperial period. Gideon's Imperial remnant would make use of Phase-III Dark Troopers—advanced battle droid units who took the human element seen in stormtroopers and prior Dark Trooper models—and "Imperial armored commandos," who wore beskar armor and were far more accurate shooters than standard stormtroopers.

• : a legion of stormtroopers who remained active on the extragalactic planet Peridea in exile. Incredibly loyal to Grand Admiral Thrawn, they possessed extensively damaged armor that was held together with red strips and golden and grey pieces.

Thirty years after the Battle of Endor, variants of the former Galactic Empire's armed forces would exist under the auspices of a new organization known as the First Order. It utilized new stormtroopers and variants, such as the megablaster heavy assault troopers, riot control stormtroopers, snowtroopers, and flametroopers.

Stormtroopers, as depicted in the early drafts of Star Wars and envisioned by Ralph McQuarrie, were to wield lightsabers and hand-held shields. George Lucas, when composing background information for licensees in 1977, stated that females did exist in the Stormtrooper Corps, although there were few stationed on the Death Star. He suggested that they were numerous in other units. McQuarrie's original stormtrooper design would later be used as inspiration for the TK stormtrooper armor seen in Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The 501st Legion fan group makes use of stormtrooper armor to appear at public events and charitable causes.

In Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, an actor playing a stormtrooper accidentally hit his head on a doorway. In the Star Wars Special Editions, a sound was added for the purpose of comedy. Over the years the accident turned into a tradition by making actors hit their heads on doors in the Star Wars films. Laze Loneozner actor Anthony Forrest played the Stormtrooper Commander who was mind tricked by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine, earning him a cult following amongst Star Wars fans like the 501st Legion. Within canon, the stormtrooper who bumped his head and the trooper who was mind tricked by Kenobi were confirmed to actually be the same individual, TD-110, whose real name was established as Wanten.

Stormtroopers share a name with Imperial German Sturmtruppen, which in English translated to Stormtroopers, special troops who were tasked in the last year of World War I with mounting fierce infantry assaults on Allied trenches in an attempt to break the stalemate on the Western Front. The Nazi party would later use "Sturmabteilung" as the term for its paramilitary force in an effort to call back to the specialized troops of the German Empire. When designing the stormtrooper, McQuarrie purposely drew on Nazi imagery. The stormtrooper design also has the imagery of moving skeletons, with the stormtrooper helmet invoking the imagery of a human skull in specific.

A stormtrooper by the name of "Tagged" appears in the Star Wars Rebels skin pack for Minecraft. In Stuart Beattie's script for an Obi-Wan Kenobi feature film, the Inquisitor Reva led a squad of ten Stormtrooper Marshals that were the equivalent of the U.S. Marshals. They were clone trooper veterans that still had their biochips in them and they never missed a shot. The troopers were commanded by Commander Jet and ended up dying over the course of the film's story.

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