The Night Troopers represented the remaining stormtrooper contingent under the command of Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo, known as "Thrawn," during his period of exile on the extragalactic world of Peridea. They formed the bulk of his military forces. Following the Liberation of Lothal in 1 BBY, they were stationed on the _Imperial I_-class Star Destroyer Chimaera, under the leadership of Thrawn and his Captain of the Guard, Enoch. This occurred after the intergalactic traveling purrgil, answering the call of Jedi Ezra Bridger, seized Thrawn's Star Destroyer.
The magick of the Great Mothers empowered all Night Troopers, imbuing them with an unnatural resilience. While most soldiers were living, the magicks allowed deceased Night Troopers to be resurrected from death as reanimated corpses. The Night Troopers exhibited unwavering loyalty to Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo "Thrawn," readily giving their lives for him, and continuing to serve him even in undeath. Alive or dead, these soldiers represented a terrifying force associated with death.
These Night Troopers were originally stormtroopers of the Galactic Empire aboard the Chimaera. They found themselves marooned on Peridea, located in a faraway galaxy, after a group of purrgil forcibly transported the ship through hyperspace during the events of the Liberation of Lothal.
Around 9 ABY, a substantial contingent of Night Troopers escorted Thrawn within the main hangar of the Chimaera as the Grand Admiral greeted the arrival of Nightsister ally Morgan Elsbeth alongside her mercenary hires: the fallen Jedi Baylan Skoll and his apprentice, Shin Hati. By this time, the Night Troopers had domesticated a howler indigenous to Peridea and considered the planet largely hostile. They possessed limited, recent information regarding the whereabouts of the fugitive Jedi, Ezra Bridger.
The pursuit of Bridger was reignited when Shin Hati discovered the location of Ezra and Sabine Wren. Two assault teams of Night Troopers were deployed via a pair of LAAT/le patrol gunships, attempting to surround the two errant rebels. However, due to the unexpected arrival of Tano and the absence of Skoll, the stormtroopers were defeated, incurring significant losses before the gunships were recalled under Thrawn's orders.
While the majority of Night Troopers escaped Peridea aboard both the Chimaera and the Eye of Sion, some volunteered to delay Bridger, Tano, and Wren. Though the three Jedi readily defeated the stormtroopers, they were surprised when the Great Mothers performed a ritual, resurrecting the fallen troopers. The Jedi were compelled to flee the undead Night Troopers, with Ezra and Sabine narrowly surviving an encounter with two zombie Death troopers from Thrawn’s guard. However, upon departing Peridea, Thrawn commanded the Chimaera to bombard the Nightsister fortress, eliminating the remaining Night Troopers within.
The Night Troopers wore standard stormtrooper armor, though it was heavily damaged. Cracks were filled with gold and grey details, and strips of red fabric adorned the armor. Their ranks also included TIE Pilots whose helmets featured red markings. Additionally, two death troopers from Thrawn’s guard, similarly adorned with red cloth strips and damaged armor filled with gold, participated in the escape from Peridea. The Night Troopers utilized weaponry such as the E-11 medium blaster rifle, the E-11D blaster carbine, and the SE-14r light repeating blaster. After being subjected to the Chant of Resurrection, the animated corpses of fallen Night Troopers could wield their weapons with virtually no loss of precision.
For transportation, Night Trooper formations were deployed into combat using LAAT/le patrol gunships. Thrawn's forces also succeeded in taming Howlers as mounts. The repaired Chimaera, serving as their headquarters, also functioned as a transport for Night Troopers. TIE fighters, piloted by Thrawn's starfighter pilots, were also available to his forces.
The Night Troopers made their debut in "Part Six: Far, Far Away." During filming, several actors portraying Night Troopers posed for a photograph with Eman Esfandi, who played Ezra Bridger. Esfandi shared the image on his Instagram account following the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. He also posted a picture of himself wearing Bridger's stolen Night Trooper armor.
The official StarWars.com Databank states that the Great Mothers "animated" all Night Troopers, implying the entire legion consisted of undead soldiers. However, "Part Eight: The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord" clearly confirms that not all Night Troopers are undead, and that the re-animated soldiers were significantly more difficult to defeat and did not stay down after sustaining fatal injuries. Therefore, this article interprets the Databank's use of "animated" to mean that the soldiers were "energized" by the Great Mothers, granting them the superhuman resilience also mentioned in the Databank. This interpretation is reinforced by Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy.