Chopper (clone trooper)/Legends

"I just&hellip;I just wanted something back. I guess I felt like&hellip;like they owed me."

- Chopper, on the Confederate battle droids

"Chopper" was the nickname of a clone trooper who served in Clone Sergeant Slick's platoon during the Clone Wars. An aggressive soldier, Chopper was scarred during a battle droid ambush on Geonosis, and he came to hold a personal grudge against his Separatist adversaries. In 22 BBY, he was dispatched with a Jedi-led contingent of the Grand Army of the Republic to liberate the planet Christophsis from the Confederacy. When the Separatists foiled the Republic's attempt to ambush them, Chopper and his unit were forced to retreat with the rest of the Republic troops back to their base. While there, Chopper secretly made war trophies out of droid fingers pilfered from the battlefield, an exploit he was later forced to disclose when his superiors, Clone Commander CC-2224 and Clone Captain CC-7567, interrogated his unit to root out a potential Separatist spy. Although Slick framed Chopper to be the enemy agent, the Sergeant himself was revealed to be the turncoat and was apprehended after sabotaging the Republic's military supplies.

Biography
"This isn't good, Chopper. Lying about where you were? Taking forbidden items from a battlefield? ''" "I know." "I put up with the attitude because you have skill. But if you could break these rules, your whole character's in question here." "''Wait, no, hang on. I'm no spy!"

- Slick and Chopper

The trooper nicknamed "Chopper" was cloned from the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett on the planet Kamino to serve in the Grand Army of the Republic. During the course of his service in the Clone Wars, he sustained heavy scarring from a battle droid ambush on Geonosis, and his right eye was also discolored from a head injury earned in battle. Chopper came to hold the battle droids of the Separatist Droid Army in contempt, and he even began to take the war personally. He was eventually assigned to Clone Sergeant Slick's platoon. In the first year of the Clone Wars, the platoon was dispatched with a contingent of the Republic Army to liberate the planet Christophsis from the Confederacy of Independent Systems. On Christophsis, Slick's unit was tasked with reconnoitering the planet for a suitable site that the Republic could use to ambush the droids, and Chopper and his comrades set off on BARC speeders to scout out some potential locations.

In the planet's Crystal City, the clones found a candidate for an ambush site: a business center overlooking a large plaza with towers facing the north and south. After reporting their success to their Jedi Generals, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, Slick and his men returned to the Republic base. Along the way, the platoon chanced upon a squad of B1 battle droids that was clearing a major boulevard of Christophsian civilians, and Slick had Chopper and fellow trooper Sketch keep an eye on the droids while the clones parked their speeder bikes. When the battle droids came across a crippled Christophsian and discussed killing the man, the clones intervened and eliminated the droids. Yet, Chopper was disgusted with the crippled man's cowardice and threw a battle droid leg at him, insulting him and rudely telling him to use it as a crutch. He then returned to the Republic base with his platoon.

With the information that Slick and his unit had gathered, the Republic forces put their plan to ambush the droids into action. Chopper and the rest of Slick's unit were stationed in the South tower with Kenobi and Clone Commander CC-2224, while Skywalker and Clone Captain CC-7567 were based with their troopers in the parallel North tower. As the Republic troops prepared to attack the Confederate droids below, however, the approaching droid column suddenly split in two, and battle droids launched an assault on the clones in the South tower, compromising the Republic's position. This change of events forced the Republic troops to abandon their ambush plan and regroup in the South tower, from the roof of which the Jedi and clones retreated in clone pilot Hawk's LAAT/i gunship. After the Republic forces had returned to their base, Chopper skulked around the base's south exit and privately strung several battle droid fingers&mdash;items that were forbidden by war protocols to be taken from a battlefield&mdash;together in a necklace as war trophies. He later joined fellow platoon members Sketch and Punch in the base's mess hall. The three were eventually recalled to their barracks along with the rest of their unit so that CC-2224 and CC-7567&mdash;nicknamed "Cody" and "Rex," respectively&mdash;could interrogate them. The two clone officers were after a suspected Confederate spy amongst their ranks, and their tracing of an irregular wavelength in external communications to the platoon's barracks had led them to surmise that one of Slick's men was the Separatist agent.

Rex and Cody began to question each of the troopers, and when it was his turn, Chopper hid his droid finger necklace and claimed that he had immediately gone to the mess hall after returning to the base with the others. However, Sketch challenged his alibi and cited that Chopper had not joined them in the mess hall until much later, forcing Chopper to reveal his protocol-breaking actions. Slick used Chopper's lie as evidence in accusing him of being the spy, but when his Sergeant stated that he would be given a proper investigation when the Jedi returned, Chopper retaliated, recalling that he had witnessed the Sergeant entering the base's command center instead of his platoon's barracks earlier that evening. This, along with Slick's inadvertent revelation of his awareness that the Jedi had left on a confidential mission, prompted Cody to confront Slick on his knowledge of the restricted information. Briefly admitting to his allegiances as a Separatist spy, Slick knocked Cody and Chopper over before fleeing the barracks, leaving his platoon shocked with the revelation of their Sergeant's treason against the Republic. After severely damaging the Republic's gunships, AT-TE walkers, and weapons depot, Slick was spotted running into the base's command center. With Slick's platoon securing the perimeter, Rex and Cody managed to apprehend Slick and turn him in to the Jedi.

Personality and traits
"Of all the blasted&hellip;You want a crutch? Try this one! 'Fraid I don't have a spine for you!''" "''Easy, Chopper. We're not in this for the gratitude."

- Chopper insults a crippled Christophsian and receives a rebuke from a fellow member of Slick's platoon

An unusual clone with an odd personality, Chopper took a personal stance in the war. He held a grudge against the battle droids of the Separatist Army, believing that the machines that had caused his scarring owed him something. His hatred for the droids led him to express some crude humor to a crippled Christophsian whose cowardice he considered to be repugnant. In battle, the other members of his unit felt that Chopper gunned down battle droids with a frightening mixture of joy and rage, and his comrades thus deemed him to be rather peculiar. To fuel his contempt for his mechanical adversaries, Chopper stole fingers from droid wreckage on the battlefield and made grim war trophies out of them. He additionally attempted to hide his crime by both sequestering himself when making a droid finger necklace, and using a false alibi to mask his whereabouts during Rex's and Cody's interrogation. He was even willing to lie to his commanding officers to hide his violation of protocol, though he was not successful in covering up the truth. In the opinion of fellow trooper Gus, Chopper's actions represented a form of deficiency.

When his trustworthiness and character were questioned by Sergeant Slick, Chopper appealed to Rex and Cody, his commanding officers, to attempt to make his voice heard over his Sergeant's accusations. When Slick continued to put him on the spot, however, the cornered Chopper rounded on his own Sergeant and was quick to put the spotlight on him, aggressively questioning the officer's own whereabouts. The trooper's pursuits played a key role in revealing Slick's role as a Separatist spy. Chopper dyed and shaved his hair, though he attained severe facial scarring and eye discoloration in the course of his service. He was trained in combat, to the point that Slick deemed his skill to be noteworthy, and he was additionally skilled with machines. He wielded a DC-15S blaster in combat.

Behind the scenes
"His wiring isn't quite right either. The clones aren't so regimented in repeated cookie cutters as you might think. Even though Chopper doesn't do anything wrong, he breaks a rule, and he's out there pulling droid fingers off and making a little necklace. If I were Obi-Wan and Anakin, I'd loop back around and ask that guy a couple more questions, because that's&hellip;a little weird."

- The Clone Wars Supervising Director Dave Filoni comments on Chopper's character

The character of Chopper was created for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. He first appeared in The Clone Wars webcomic Shadowed and the episode it led into, "The Hidden Enemy," which aired on February 6, 2009 as part of the television series' first season. He was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker and served as the prime Separatist spy suspect in the episode before the traitor was revealed to be Sergeant Slick. Numerous source material, including Visual Guide Ultimate Battles, The Official Episode Guide: Season 1, and The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia, served to expand his character.

Chopper was originally to appear in another scene of "The Hidden Enemy," during the Republic forces' preparations in the South tower for an attack on the Separatists. He was to help set up a sabotage droid nicknamed "The Beast" that was to lure the battle droids into the Republic's ambush. His visible attachment for the droid would have been a direct contrast with his willingness to "casually" disobey war protocols with his construction of his battle droid finger necklace later in the episode. As indicated by the script, the Beast would be unsuccessful, and the clones would be forced to retreat. Nevertheless, the scene was ultimately cut to keep the battle focused on the "clones versus droids" perspective, and not the confusing element of the clones themselves utilizing a droid against the Separatists.

Chopper's right eye changes color during "The Hidden Enemy." Both of his eyes are the same brown color until Slick puts his character into question. From then on in the episode, his right eye is a light yellow color, an indication to one of the numerous injuries he received earlier in the war.

Appearances

 * The Clone Wars: Shadowed