The Imperial Guard, also designated as the Emperor's Guard, the Sith Honor Guard, and the Dark Honor Guard, constituted an elite force of warriors serving as the personal protectors and enforcers for the Sith Emperor of the reconstituted Sith Empire. Established prior to 3959 BBY, membership in the Guard was exclusively for non-Force-sensitive individuals mentally bonded to the Emperor. This bonding resulted in unwavering loyalty, with each Guardsman prepared to sacrifice their life in service to the Sith ruler. Their combat skills were so formidable that even members of the ruling Dark Council held them in awe. Imperial Guard warriors underwent comprehensive training in diverse weapons and combat techniques, making them a formidable challenge for even a single Jedi or Sith. During the Great Galactic War, Cold War, and Galactic War against the Republic, the Guard executed the Emperor's directives on battlefields across the galaxy. Despite knowing the Emperor's intention to consume all life in the galaxy, the Guard remained steadfast, though they could not prevent the Order of Revan from invading the moon Yavin 4 and disrupting the Emperor's rest. Following Vitiate's departure from the Imperial throne, the Guard was restructured, later incorporating Force-sensitive members.
Drawn from the ranks of the Imperial Military, the Imperial Guard was an exclusive group of soldiers, typically composed of individuals lacking Force-sensitivity. Candidates were selected from the most skilled non-Force-sensitive warriors within the Sith Empire. Occasionally, Force-sensitives, such as Guardsman Xarovit Tovar, were admitted. Potential Guardsmen were presented to the Sith Emperor and subjected to a mental link with the Sith ruler. This process instilled unwavering loyalty, making them incapable of betrayal and integral to his power base. Fully prepared to die for the Emperor, they executed his orders without hesitation. They served as protectors of the Sith Sanctum, the Sith Order's headquarters, and the broader Imperial Citadel on the Empire's capital planet Dromund Kaas, as well as the Sith Academy on Korriban. However, they were also deployed wherever the Emperor deemed necessary. The ruling Dark Council had no authority over or knowledge of the Guard's operations.
Imperial Guard members were distinguished by their armored robes in the color red, complemented by crested helmets. They employed a range of weapons suited to the situation. In harsh environments, Guardsmen wore variations of standard Imperial soldier's armor, distinguished by stark white coloring and red markings, setting them apart from typical infantry. The electrostaff was their primary weapon, but they were also proficient with blaster rifles and other armaments, making them formidable opponents regardless of their chosen weapon. The signal range 47.2 was exclusively used by the Imperial Guard, and their transmissions were heavily encrypted.
The Emperor personally selected the locations for the Guard's academies, choosing worlds saturated with the dark side of the Force to facilitate his influence and connection with future Guardsmen. Candidates endured a rigorous training program overseen by veteran Guardsmen, including regular deathmatches among initiates. The indoctrination process involved presenting candidates to the Emperor, where they were compelled to submit to his will. Iven resisted this process longer than any other candidate, but his mind shattered upon finally breaking. Those who survived emerged as highly skilled killers, bound to the Emperor's will. Service in the Guard was lifelong. When Guardsmen became unfit for active duty, they were appointed as training commandants for the next generation, eventually being killed by the recruits whose skills surpassed their own. As an instructor at the Imperial Guard Academy on the moon Yavin 4, Commandant Iven had a candidate kill rate exceeding 80%.
The Guard also underwent extensive martial arts training, ensuring they were more than a match for both Jedi and Sith. Guardsman Lassicar personally eliminated six Jedi and over two dozen Sith Lords during his career, as well as a highly trained team of agents from the Strategic Information Service, the Republic's covert intelligence agency. The Guard's reputation inspired fear even among the Dark Council, and many Sith preferred surrendering to the Guard rather than resisting their master's enforcers. While not Force-sensitive, Guardsmen could draw strength from the Emperor's power when in close proximity.
The Imperial Guard, also recognized as the Emperor's Guard or the Dark Honor Guard, were initially established by the Sith Emperor following the founding of the reconstituted Sith Empire in 4980 BBY. By 3959 BBY, they were a common and feared presence on Dromund Kaas. Upon discovering the Empire's existence, Jedi Knights Revan and Malak attempted to assassinate the Emperor within the Imperial Citadel, unaware that the Guardsman assisting them was leading them into a trap. The Guardsman, a female Sith pureblood named Yarri, had informed the Emperor of the impending attack, allowing him to easily defeat and corrupt the two Jedi, though Revan was later redeemed by the Jedi Council.
In 3950 BBY, the Sith Lord Scourge alerted the Emperor to a conspiracy among the Dark Council. Consequently, the Emperor summoned seven innocent members and two guilty Councilors to his chambers, executing them while dispatching the Imperial Guard to eliminate the remaining three traitors and their power bases. The purge was highly effective, with the Imperial Guard overwhelming the Councilors' defenses and massacring all within, including Darth Nyriss and her co-conspirators. However, shortly after, the Guard failed to prevent Scourge, Revan, and their allies Meetra Surik and T3-M4 from infiltrating the Citadel's core. The Sith Lord and two powerful Jedi Masters surprised the Guardsmen and fought their way into the Emperor's chambers. While their attack failed, it prompted the Emperor to take further precautions against death, initiating the transfer of his consciousness between host bodies, with the current host known as the Emperor's Voice.
After the spirit of Naga Sadow was eliminated from Yavin 4 by the Emperor's agents around 3756 BBY, the Emperor seized control of the moon, and the Guard established an academy there. This academy also safeguarded the Temple of Sacrifice, a Sith structure containing the Emperor's failsafe in case his Voice was killed. During the Great Galactic War against the Galactic Republic, the Imperial Guard continued to protect the Imperial Citadel. Following the reclamation of Korriban from the Republic in 3681 BBY, the Guard also became the defenders of the Sith Academy. Furthermore, the Imperial Guard oversaw the machinery within the Academy used by the Emperor to create his Children, ensuring his plans remained undisturbed.
Guardsmen protecting the Academy and the Dark Council's chambers were known as the Dark Honor Guard, with individuals like the cyborg Naman Fal stationed there after the Great War's conclusion in 3653 BBY. Several Imperial Guardsmen also participated in the second Battle of Bothawui in 3671 BBY, fighting alongside the Imperial Military under Grand Moff [Zellos] to destroy the deflector shield generator guarded by Jedi Master Belth Allusis and his small force of Republic defenders.
Throughout the ensuing Cold War, the Guard continued to protect the Emperor and enforce his will. As conflict resumed, Guardsmen were deployed across the galaxy to execute his commands. During this galactic conflict, some Guardsmen were also Sith Lords: Xoc'dal, Xheoch Den, Djanistak, Chanigresh, Feldrax Kar, Toreshi Xach, Sendesh Xaq, and Doshcra Vael all wielded two lightsabers and served as high-ranking commanders of Imperial forces. A group of Guardsmen led by Lassicar were dispatched to the icy planet of Hoth around 3642 BBY to prevent the Jedi Knight known as the Hero of Tython from obtaining the plans for the Emperor's Fortress, but their initial efforts were thwarted by the Knight and the soldiers of the Republic's 301st Infantry. The mission failed when Lassicar and the remaining Guardsmen were killed in battle with the Knight within the ruins of the Star of Coruscant dreadnaught.
When the Knight boarded the Emperor's space station with a Jedi strike team led by Master Tol Braga, Commander Trahg led his Guardsmen and the Sithspawn Harrower assassins in defending the station. Trahg and many of his men were killed by the Hero and Jedi Knight Kira Carsen, but the Jedi reached the throne room, where the Emperor dominated their minds and corrupted them as he had Revan and Malak. The Hero broke free from the Emperor's control and escaped the station because the Guardsmen believed the Knight was still a servant of the Emperor. As the Emperor orchestrated an Imperial assault on the Republic prison world of Belsavis, Imperial Guardsmen were sent on multiple missions to the planet. Commander Calum was tasked with retrieving the six Sith Lords known as the Dread Masters from their imprisonment, and Commander Vorel led an attempt to recover technology of the ancient Rakata species that had once inhabited the world.
The Imperial Guard also participated in the Battle of Corellia, with Commander Tainor, the head of the Imperial Guard, directing his Guardsmen in supporting the Imperial offensive in the Axial Park district. General [Hesker]'s forces assisted Darth Decimus in the battle for Axial Park and the storming of the Enclave of Corellia's native Green Jedi, and Commander Jastal's forces battled the droid army of the Czerka Corporation in the Incorporation Islands district. Guardsmen Churnis and another Guardsman were assigned to Moff Alvon Zamar during his survey of Imperial resources on the Corellian battlefront, and several Guardsmen assisted the Emperor's First Son and the Children of the Emperor in securing the fortress known as Guardian Hold Four on Corellia.
Dozens of Guardsmen accompanied the Emperor to the Dark Temple near Dromund Kaas's Kaas City when the Hero of Tython embarked on a mission to confront the Sith ruler. The warriors fought to prevent the Jedi Knight from entering the Dark Temple. The Knight's companions engaged the Temple's defenders from multiple directions to draw them away from the Hero's path, though one attacker was pinned down in the access tunnels until the Knight rescued them. Despite the Guard's efforts, the Emperor's Voice, his host body and vessel for his consciousness and power in the Force, was defeated, and the Emperor's essence retreated to Yavin 4. The commander of the academy there, Commandant Iven, was tasked by the Emperor and agents of the Emperor's Hand with protecting the moon.
After the Emperor's defeat, the rogue Sith Lord Darth Malgus formed his own New Imperial Guard when he declared his New Empire on Ilum, choosing the Chagrian Chondrus Berani to lead them. Unlike the true Imperial Guard, some members of the New Guard wielded lightsabers in combat, and their armor featured darker hues and black markings to distinguish them from their Sith Empire counterparts. This insult, along with Malgus' seizure of the Emperor's throne, motivated the Imperial Guard to help fight the New Empire on Ilum. However, the Guard gradually withdrew from Imperial affairs. Despite the Empire's upper echelons learning that the Emperor sought to eradicate all life in the galaxy, the Emperor's protectors remained unfazed.
Later in the war, the mad Force-user Revan and his Order of Revan invaded Yavin 4, seeking to restore the Emperor to physical form to kill him permanently. The Guardsmen under Commandant Iven were nearly wiped out by the Revanite forces, the academy was ruined, and Iven's sanity crumbled as he failed to prevent the Revanites from intruding on his master's sacred ground. A coalition of Imperial and Republic forces, seeking to prevent Revan from resurrecting the Emperor, discovered the academy and captured Iven. His interrogation revealed a Sith artifact in the Temple of Sacrifice that could restore the Emperor's strength.
By 3630 BBY, the Sith Empire maintained an "Imperial Honor Guard," repurposing the name and armor of the former Emperor's Imperial Guardsmen in service to the Sith Empire. This guard, unlike its predecessor, included more Force-sensitive members such as Darth Ben'hade. This group was not linked to Vitiate.
The Imperial Guard debuted in the webcomic Star Wars: The Old Republic, Blood of the Empire, with their role as protectors of the Imperial Citadel being their only known function. Drew Karpyshyn's 2011 novel The Old Republic: Revan expanded on the Sith Empire's backstory, naming the Imperial Guard and providing additional history. The Guard appeared throughout BioWare's and LucasArts' video game Star Wars: The Old Republic as mission-givers, sentries on Imperial worlds, and enemies to Republic characters on high-level planets.
Some Imperial Guardsmen on Korriban are called "Dark Honor Guard(s)," but they are generally referred to as either the Imperial Guard or the Emperor's Guard throughout the game. The Digital Expansion Star Wars: The Old Republic: Galactic Strongholds introduced "Conquest Commanders" who are Imperial Guardsmen and Sith Lords. The Digital Expansion Star Wars: The Old Republic: Shadow of Revan expanded on the Guard's training and presence on Yavin 4. Shadow of Revan also features Xarovit Tovar, a Conquest Commander for Yavin 4 wearing Guardsmen armor, despite the Imperial Guard's separation from the Empire.