Clone trooper/Legends



"If you sharpen a knife to its limits, you run the risk of cutting your own hand. The knife has no choice but to be as sharp as you made it."

- Kal Skirata

Clone troopers were bred and trained to serve as the Republic's first ever military during the conflict that came to be known as the Clone Wars. Born and raised in the stilt-cities of Kamino, the clone troops, trained and drilled since birth, came to be regarded as the best military force ever to have existed in the galaxy's history. This was not only due to their unrivaled training, but also to their unwavering loyalty to the Galactic Republic and its leader, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

Commissioning and the genetic template


The origins of the clone troopers can be traced back to the days before the debacle on Naboo, when it was commissioned by the the Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas in the name of the Galactic Republic. With the mysterious death of Sifo-Dyas, however, the project fell under the supervision of a mysterious man known only as Tyranus.

After a series of stringent tests, Tyranus selected the famed Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett to serve as the army's genetic template. When the Kaminoans suggested creating the army using a Force-sensitive donor, Tyranus quickly squelched the idea. Before iniating the gestation process, the Kaminoans tampered with Fett's DNA, selecting behavioral genes having to with such qualities as loyalty, aggression, independence, and discipline. This resulted in soldiers more obedient and more reliable than unaltered ones would've been. Only a small batch of one-hundred clones, which came to be the Advanced Recon Commandos, did not undergo these gene modifications. While it is often rumored that the clone's swift execution of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's Order 66 was a result of genetic programming, the truth is that it was due soley to their ingrained loyalty to the Republic.

The Kaminoan's first foray into exploring Fett's DNA resulted in the creation of twelve prototype clones, only six of which managed to survive the gestation process. The clones, which would served as the infamous Null-class ARC troopers during the Clone Wars, were the results of an enhanced Fett genome. The expermient, however, was perceived as a failure by the Kaminoans due to the low birth-rate and no further such clones were created. The six that did survive were prevented from operating in the field due to their extreme independence and presumed unpredictability. As a result, they remained loyal only to their training sergeant, Kal Skirata.

Training


As the clones matured, Fett took a hiatus from his bounty hunting career in order to oversee the training of his soldiers. Fett personalized the clone's training regimen, and even had a hand in designing their armor. In order to make them available to the Republic as quickly as possible, all of the clones underwent genetic modifying specifically designed to hasten the growth process. As a result, each clone aged at twice the rate of a normal human. By the age of ten, a clone would be physically fit and ready for combat. Clones that displayed an unusual or abnormal amount of individuality and independence were often reconditioned or reassigned. Clones that did not meet the Kaminoans exacting standards more often than not found themselves mysteriously disappearing in the late hours of the night. This was the case with a company of clones whose vision was not quite 20/20.

All clone troopers received basic training in core military skills, such as weapons handling, marksmanship, and other essentials. The Advanced Recon Commandos received highly-specialized training from Jango Fett himself, while their counterparts, the Republic Commandos, received training from a group of former Mandalorians and Journeyman Protectors, which Fett dubbed the Cuy'val Dar. Officers (sergeants, lieutenents, captains, majors, and commanders) were drilled in how to effectively lead their men in the heat of combat.

Mandalorian heritage
During their development, Jango Fett made a point of instilling the Mandalorian ethos into each and every one of the clones. This was particularly true of the army's upper echelon and special forces. This quickly spread to include the Mandalorian language, the use of which became widespread among the clones. The Mandalorian influence was particular strong among the Republic commandos, as nearly all of those whom had trained them, the Cuy'val Dar, were once Mandalorian warriors. When the Sith got their revenge with the execution of Order 66, the Mandalorians, in a way, got theirs too.

Armor


The first year of the Clone Wars saw the Republic's clone troopers in what is commonly referred to as "Phase I" armor. The armor, the design of which was personally overseen by Jango Fett, closely resembled that of the Mandalorian warriors, the most obvious example of which is the helmet's distinctive T-shaped visor. The armor itself is comprised of twenty form-fitting plates sealed to a black body glove. In spite of its bulkiness, the armor allowed for a reasonable range of motion. Its only drawback came with the fact that it was intensely uncomfortable to sit down in, a fact that can no doubt be traced back to the Kaminoans' limited knowledge of human anatomy. While the armor was generally painted stark-white, officer's armor featured colored stripes running the length of their helmets and arms. With the introduction of Phase II armor in the second year of the war, however, armor coloration came to denote division affiliation as opposed to rank. The state-of-the-art armor also featured an improved heads-up display in the helmet and put an end to the discomfort that came with sitting down.

Kit
All clone soldiers were issued the DC-15 rifle, its more compact counterpart, the DC-15 blaster, two Merr-Sonn V-1 thermal detonators, two concussion grenades, an EC (electro-static charge) detonator, and a rudimentary medical kit containing enough synthflesh and bacta to keep a wounded soldier alive until a medic could arrive.

The Clone Wars


With the abduction of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Sen. Padmé Amidala by Count Dooku and his Separatists, the stage was set for the first conflict of the coming Clone Wars. The Grand Army of the Republic made its debut on the barren plains of Geonosis. Within the first hour, the clones, under the command of Jedi Generals such as Mace Windu and Ki-Adi-Mundi, had destroyed hundreds of thousands of battle droids and had prevented the construction of millions more with the capture of the planet's droid foundries. A mere 192,000 troops had managed to rout and defeat the gargantuan droid army in a matter of hours, a true testament to the depth of their superb training.

The Grand Army's success on wind-swept Geonosis marked the beginning of the Clone Wars, a conflict into which the Republic's clone troops were flung headfirst. As more and more worlds declared their allegiance to Count Dooku's Confederacy, the troopers of the Grand Army found themselves being shipped off to the farthest and most obscure corners of the galaxy. As their experience increased, so did their prowess. However, their victories more often than not came with a steep price. As of the Battle of Cato Neimoidia, towards the end of the war, nearly a third of the Grand Army's 3.2 million troopers had fallen in battle.

A face and a name


When the Grand Army was first unveiled at the Battle of Geonosis, the galaxy as a whole largely thought the clone troopers no better than their droid counterparts; faceless soldiers, sworn to lay their lives on the line for a Republic in which they had never set foot, with no minds or lives of their own. This attitude began to change, however, as the number of casulties increased. At the behest of their Jedi Generals, clone troopers were allowed to adopt to names to go along with their impersonal serial numbers.

The Jedi Purge


With the issuing of Order 66, the stark-white defenders of freedom soon became seen in another, more ominous light. As the Emperor tightened his noose around the galaxy, it was the clone troopers whom served as the enforcers of his iron will. With the decimation of the Jedi Order and the raid on its temple, the loyal clone troops of the Republic quickly became known as the Imperial stormtroopers, the mindless drones of the New Order. The clones of Jango Fett that originally comprised the Grand Army became absored into the ranks of the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps. During the reign of the Empire, those clones became lost in a sea of recruits, conscripts, and clones made from other templates.

Notable clone troopers

 * Clone Commander Cody
 * Clone Commander Bacara
 * Clone Commander Bly
 * Clone Commander Neyo
 * Clone Commander Gree
 * Clone Commander Appo
 * Clone Commander Thire
 * Alpha-17
 * Captain Fordo
 * Captain Jai'galaar

Special unit divisions

 * 41st Elite Legion
 * 91st Reconnaissance Corps
 * 212th Attack Battalion
 * 327th Star Corps
 * 501st Legion
 * The Galactic Marines
 * Homeworld Security Command
 * Sky Corps
 * Squad Seven
 * Lancer Battalion
 * 9th Assault Corps
 * 7th Sky Corps

Specialized clone troopers
During the Clone Wars, a number of special clone trooper variants were created. These included:


 * Clone trooper pilots, trained to fly anything from a military speeder to a Venator-class Republic Star Destroyer and to serve as technicians.
 * ARC troopers, or the Advanced Recon Commando trooper; deadly soldiers representing the elite of the Republic armed forces.
 * ARC trooper captains, red-armored clone elite leading the deadly ARC troopers.
 * Clone commanders, the elite commanders of the clone troopers.
 * Clone commandos, or Republic commandos. These soldiers worked in squads of four to accomplish nearly impossible tasks
 * Clone lancer troopers, trained to pilot speeder bikes and joust with power lances.
 * Clone SCUBA troopers, adapted to work and fight underwater.
 * Clone cold assault troopers, trained specifically for battle and survival in extremely cold regions.
 * Clone shock troopers, assigned to Homeworld Security Command and tasked with enforcing law and order on Coruscant.
 * Clone scout troopers, camo troops trained for recon on harsh terrain.
 * AT-RT drivers, trained to pilot AT-RT walkers.
 * BARC troopers, special BARC riders.
 * Clone sharpshooters, trained to operate as snipers, armed with DC-15x rifles.
 * Aerial clone trooper captains, battlefield leaders equipped with jetpacks.

Rank notation
In the start of the Clone Wars, rank of the troopers was determined by color worn on their helmet, arm and shoulder armor.
 * None&mdash;standard trooper.
 * Light green&mdash;Sergeant; commanded squads, made of 9 troops.
 * Blue&mdash;Lieutenant; commanded platoons, made of 36 troops.
 * Red&mdash;Captain; commanded 16 companies, made of 144 troops.
 * Yellow&mdash;Commander; commanded regiments, made of 2,304 troops. Many of these commanders were grown with more capacity for independent thought than their troops, and were sometimes known by names rather than numbers. Notable clone commanders included Cody, Bly, Gree, Bacara, Appo, Neyo, and Thire.

With the development and distribution of Phase II clone trooper armor, clone troopers no longer use color markings to denote rank. Instead, color patterns on troop armor signify legion designation and position.

Portrayal
All of the clone troopers were digitally created in both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Their voices were provided by Temuera Morrison. He also provided the face for Commander Cody, Odd Ball, and Captain Jai'galaar, wearing a blue bodysuit that would be replaced in post production by the character's clone trooper armor. Younger clones were portrayed by Daniel Logan (in Attack of the Clones) and Bodie Taylor (in both Clones and Sith). In the Clone Wars Cartoon, the voice of the clone troopers was provided by André Sogliuzzo. In the Revenge of the Sith game, Andrew Chaikin provided the voice of the clone troopers.