Death trooper

Death troopers were an elite variant of the Galactic Empire's stormtroopers who were part of Imperial Intelligence. They served as protective details and bodyguards for important Imperial officers and members of the Tarkin Initiative, as well as being used as special-mission experts. They wore black suits of body-armor and specialized helmets that scrambled verbal communications, and also provided micro-motion sensors, targeting heads up displays and data displays that featured where other troopers were on the battlefield. Death troopers were trained in unarmed combat, heavy weapons, and sniping. Specializing in commando missions, the troopers were experts at covering their tracks, leaving little to no evidence of their missions.

The earliest known deployment of the death troopers was in 13 BBY when they served Director Orson Krennic on his mission to find and capture Galen Erso. They would continue to protect the director until his death on Scarif at the start of the Galactic Civil War.

Another death trooper squad served with the forces of Grand Admiral Thrawn during his campaign against the early Rebel Alliance and participated in the Battle of Atollon. A squad of death troopers led by Commander DT-F16 was also deployed to a freighter to protect a large kyber crystal en route to the Tonnis sector to eventually be transported and used for the primary weapon system of the Death Star. During the Ghost crew mission to Lothal, Commander DT-F16 tried to capture the crew leading the pursuit.

Age of the Empire
Death troopers were named by Emperor Palpatine himself to capitalize on rumors about a legendary Advanced Weapons Research project to revive necrotic tissue, which resulted in the creation of uncontrollable Undead Troopers.

In 13 BBY, a squad of death troopers accompanied Director Krennic to Lah'mu. There, they took Galen Erso to complete his work on the Death Star. One of the troopers killed Erso's wife, Lyra, and the squad attempted to find his daughter Jyn Erso, with no success.

Early Rebellion
During the early days of the Rebel Alliance, another squad of death troopers served under the command of the Seventh Fleet's commander, Grand Admiral Thrawn. They assisted Thrawn in capturing former ISB agent Kallus, following the latter's discovery as a Rebel spy, and held him during the Battle of Atollon. In the later part of the battle, the squad accompanied Thrawn to Chopper Base to capture senior Rebel officers such as General Jan Dodonna and Captain Hera Syndulla. However, the Rebels were able to make their escape when a mystical force being called the Bendu attacked both the Imperial and Rebel forces. On Thrawn's orders, the death troopers concentrated their fire at Bendu, wounding him and sending him crashing to the ground.

In 1 BBY, a squad under Commander DT-F16 accompanied a kyber crystal shipment and several technicians aboard Freighter 2716. After departing from Faos Station, DT-F16 and her squad came under attack by Partisans' leader Saw Gerrera and Spectres Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren. DT-F16, her squad and other troopers were then left behind by the Spectres and were destroyed, along with Captain Slavin's Star Destroyer when the kyber crystal they were escorting exploded.

A death trooper, DT-L21, was stationed at Jhothal. There, he commanded stormtroopers when they discovered that the Spectres had returned. He, his Probe droids and troopers then searched the sewers for the Spectres, to no avail. The death troopers then accompanied Grand Admiral Thrawn and Governor Pryce to the Imperial airfield to watch a test flight of the new TIE/D Defender Elite. When Bridger revealed himself, the death troopers were ordered by Thrawn to secure the TIE/D Defender. However, they lost when Wren stole the fighter.

Several death troopers then assisted Governor Pryce and Rukh in pursuing General Hera Syndulla when Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus rescued her from the Imperial complex. The death troopers were then able to catch to Jarrus and Syndulla.

Several death troopers then accompanied Minister Veris Hydan as the Empire and Mining guild were excavating Lothal's Jedi Temple. They then assisted Hydan in interrogating Sabine Wren, striking her in the head. However, Sabine was then able to knock one out when Captain Garazeb Orrelios rescued her.

One year later, death troopers would continue to escort Krennic during the Death Star's initial testing stage at Jedha and during his trip to Eadu. Krennic would later deploy his Death trooper squad during the Battle of Scarif when they fought against Rebel ground forces that had managed to infiltrate the planet. They managed to annihilate the remnants of the Rebel strike team. However, the entire squad was killed by Baze Malbus and Cassian Andor shortly before Krennic's death.

Training
"It's the trooper you don't see that will get you."

- Cassian Andor

Death troopers were elite stormtroopers in the Galactic Empire's military. Stormtrooper candidates who excelled at their training were reassigned to the advanced death trooper camp on Scarif. They were required to exceed traditional stormtrooper standards, including height and weight, and had to meet certain ideological standards. The candidates were also subjected to a battery of physical tests and classified surgical enhancements, making them "beyond human". Additionally, death troopers had to complete more rigorous training than standard stormtroopers, including training in exotic environments. They were mostly assigned to small groups, with each trooper specializing in a specific skill set.

Shortly before the Battle of Scarif, General Sotorus Ramda requested to be returned two platoons of death troopers, as the training camp on Scarif needed more instructors. Ramda preferred veteran death troopers with body augmentations at v1.01 or earlier.

Equipment
Death troopers were equipped with armor that was much more advanced than standard stormtrooper armor. The helmet had a number of advanced sensor and targeting systems to give them total situational awareness of combat areas, enemies and allies. These various upgrades to the helmet systems included a Neuro-Saav macromotion monitor, multi-frequency targeting and acquisition sensors and image-intensifying active pulse emitters. Their armor was also covered by a spray polymer called reflec, which warped electromagnetic signals commonly found in sensor arrays. This made death troopers well suited for stealth operations. Death troopers were equipped with a variety of weapons depending on their specialities including the SE-14r light repeating blasters, E-11Ds, DLT-19D heavy blaster rifles, C-25 fragmentation grenades and Sonic Imploders.

Behind the scenes
The first footage of the death trooper was shown in the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story teaser trailer on April 7, 2016. According to the Us Magazine Collector's Edition - Star Wars Rogue One article Going Rogue, the death troopers were comparable to and inspired by the United States Navy SEALs.

Non-canon appearances

 * Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes