Shoretroopers, also known as coastal defender stormtroopers or the coastal guard, represented a specialized branch of the Galactic Empire's stormtrooper corps, trained and outfitted for combat in tropical zones. Those stationed on the planet Scarif were specifically called Scarif stormtroopers. These troops formed the Coastal Defense Division and were led by sergeants, who commanded squads of regular stormtroopers. A unique characteristic was the temporary nature of their positions and ranks. Globally, shoretroopers were relatively rare, as few Imperial installations existed on tropical or coastal worlds, limiting opportunities for their deployment.
The top secret Imperial security complex on Scarif housed many coastal defender stormtroopers, who patrolled the beaches and bunkers of the facility. Del Meeko, who later joined Inferno Squad, served as a shoretrooper on Scarif before becoming a TIE fighter pilot. During the Battle of Scarif in 1 BBY, shoretroopers fought against the Rebel Alliance; many perished when the Death Star destroyed the complex to eliminate the remaining Rebels.
Around 0 ABY, shoretroopers encountered Rebel leaders Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker after their crash landing on an ocean planet, leading to conflict.
During the New Republic Era, shoretroopers served within an Imperial remnant. They were also deployed to Morak in 9 ABY to safeguard the mining facilities from rebel and insurgent attacks.
During the Cold War between the Resistance and the First Order, Agent Terex of the First Order Security Bureau displayed a shoretrooper helmet aboard the Carrion Spike, alongside helmets of an Imperial Royal Guard, an AT-AT pilot, a death trooper, and others, as well as a custom set of armor. The First Order military also employed mountain troopers whose armor resembled that of the Imperial shoretroopers.
While stationed on Scarif, shoretroopers used both the E-11 medium blaster rifle and the enhanced E-22 reciprocating double-barreled blaster rifle. They also carried the C-25 fragmentation grenade, a powerful grenade used to destroy SW-0608, an Imperial cargo shuttle that the Rogue One team utilized to bypass the Empire's Shield Gate in orbit above the world. Other gear included a zap rod-like baton and the E-11P blaster, a blaster pistol with water-sealed cooling vanes and sand filters, carried in a holster when not in use.
Shoretroopers had at least three distinct ranks, each identified by unique markings on their shoretrooper armor. Standard shoretroopers wore sand-colored armor with a red band on the right arm and a white stripe on the left shoulder guard. Squad leaders had a sand blue stripe along the top of their breastplates and shoulder guards, along with a kama attached to their belt. Captains had mostly blue breastplates, a small plate of armor on their left side, a sand-colored right shoulder guard, and a left shoulder guard that was entirely sand blue except for the white stripe. Stripes of sand blue and yellow were also present further down the same arm. They also featured limited or no upper leg armor, facilitating quicker movement, similar to scout troopers.
On Niamos, some shoretroopers were equipped with an unidentified Blaster Pistol. This variant displayed a white line across the upper breastplate, a red band on the lower-right arm, a bag on the upper-right leg, and white shoulder armor with two black stripes on the left shoulder. They held the rank of lieutenant or higher, enabling them to command KX-series security droids. Shore troopers guarding the Niamos Courthouse used a stun baton and the same unidentified Blaster Pistol, and featured a white band with two black lines on the edges on their upper-left arm, and a red band on their lower-right arm, suggesting a policing/security role.
Despite their armor having enhanced capabilities compared to standard stormtrooper armor, its strength was not significantly improved, as demonstrated on Scarif. Shoretroopers also utilized different armor configurations and weapon loadouts based on their operational environment. The Heavy Shoretrooper variant specialized in heavy weapons and carried additional ammunition. Another specialized type was the shoretrooper sniper, trained for long-range combat.
The first glimpse of the shoretrooper appeared in the teaser trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a Star Wars standalone film, on April 7, 2016. Their official name was revealed in the third episode of The Star Wars Show on May 25, 2016.
According to Production Designer Doug Chiang: "Glyn [Dillon] based the color scheme on the [WWII fighter] Messerschmitt, with a tannish base color accented by elegant blue and orange patches. This reinforces the connection to Episode IV and its World War II-era technology, vehicles, and colorations. The shoretrooper is a wonderful blend of all these requirements into something new."