Imperial stormtrooper

The Imperial Stormtroopers are fictional soldiers from George Lucas' "Star Wars" universe. Originally known as "Clone Troopers" and portrayed as the fighting force of the old republic, they were supplanted as stormtroopers at the formation of the Galactic Empire, and are featured in the original Star Wars trilogy (Episodes ', ', and ""). Stormtroopers come to be the personal army of Emperor Palpatine and of his commanders, carrying out the will of their superiors without question. They typically come in large collective volumes of different organizational sizes from squads to legions, and for some their armor and training is modified for special operations and environments.

History

In ', the troopers were cloned from bounty hunter Jango Fett, to be the Army of the Republic in the Clone Wars. Towards the end of the Clone Wars, the troopers enacted Order 66 at the command of Chancellor Palpatine, attacking their Jedi generals. The clone troopers were given new armor and weapons, and reorganised into the Stormtrooper Corps of the Empire – as seen in '.

Initially, the stormtroopers served as the army of the Galactic Empire, putting down revolts and establishing imperial authority. [Star Wars Battlefront II, LucasArts] After one such revolt on Kamino, Fett clones throughout the army were slowly replaced by non-clone recruits to reduce their susceptibility to manipulation. One of the few stormtrooper legions to remain "pure" (completely composed of Jango Fett clones) throughout the era of the Empire was the fictional 501st (also called "Vader's Fist").

After the Empire had been stabilised and an Imperial Army/ Imperial Navy established, the stormtroopers became the Emperor’s personal army and were stationed on Imperial bases and cruisers to ensure absolute loyalty and obedience to Palpatine, as well as on the Death Star and Death Star II. They maintained these roles until the Empire’s destruction.

Organization

Imperial Stormtroopers are independent of the Imperial Navy and the Imperial Army chains of command. They have their own command structure, ranking system and support facilities. Imperial Stormtroopers are stationed on Imperial Navy craft and on Imperial Army bases to ensure the absolute loyalty and obedience to the Emperor.

Each stormtrooper is assigned a number for tactical purposes and to reinforce the Imperial ethic of . TK-421 was the number of the stormtrooper whose armor Luke Skywalker wore aboard the Death Star, for instance.

pecialized stormtroopers

Within the film series, a number of specialized stormtrooper units are seen, those include:
*"Sandtroopers" seen on the desert world of Tatooine during the events of ,
*"Snowtroopers" seen in the assault on Echo Base in ' on Hoth, and in the video games ', ', ', ' and ' on the Nintendo 64,
*"Imperial Scout troopers" who were seen in .

Within the extended universe media such as games and comics, a number of specialized stormtrooper units are seen. The Marvel produced comics of the 1970s and early 1980s featured blackhole troopers. Other specialists have included commandos and troopers equipped to work in outer space. Others such as the Beach Troopers, are for comical effect. Appearing only briefly in , they are clad in a Speedo and the trademark stormtrooper helmet. In , they are also wearing life jackets. Fact|date=April 2008

tormtrooper armor

The troopers' most distinctive equipment is the white battle armor they normally wear, which was inherited from their time as clone troopers. The complete 18-piece armor set completely encases the body and typically has no individually distinguishing marking outside of rank. This armor is known as Phase III armor. In certain situations, stormtroopers will sometimes wear camouflage armor to help them blend in with different environments.

Some literature indicates that stormtroopers also are issued olive green uniforms to wear when off duty Fact|date=July 2008.

Use in popular culture

*During the January 1, 2007 Tournament of Roses Parade, the largest conglomeration of Imperial Stormtroopers ever marched in step. The 2007 Grand Marshal was George Lucas. The Stormtroopers were all part of the 501st Legion international fan costuming group.
*Many fandom conventions (particularly gaming conventions such as Origins Game Fair and Gen Con) have security personnel wearing Stormtrooper uniforms.
*The Stormtrooper effect, a common cliché in action movies, was named after these soldiers and their poor marksmanship.

Behind the scenes

*In the commentary for Episode II, George Lucas says that the Imperial stormtroopers were "always meant to be clones," and that children's' mistake of thinking they were actually robots was the primary motivation for a specific scene within Episode II Fact|date=July 2008.
*In a 2005 Q&A session with Lucas in which he says that some stormtroopers are clones, and others are conscripts Fact|date=July 2008.

Notable stormtrooper officers

*Kyle Katarn

ee also

*Clone troopers
*Emperor's Royal Guard
*""
*501st Legion (Star Wars)

References

External links

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** databank|category=organization|subject=scouttrooper|text=Scout troopers
** databank|category=organization|subject=snowtroopers|text=Snowtroopers
** databank|category=organization|subject=blackholestormtroopers|text=Blackhole stormtroopers
** databank|category=organization|subject=stormcommandos|text=Storm Commandos
** databank|category=organization|subject=coruscantguards|text=Coruscant Guards
** databank|category=organization|subject=seatroopers|text=Aquatic assault troopers
** databank|category=organization|subject=radtroopers|text=Radiation troopers
** databank|category=organization|subject=spacetroopers|text=Space troopers
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