Stormtrooper/Legends



"The Empire has a legion of loyal soldiers that are in endless supply."

- Darth Vader

Stormtroopers were the elite soldiers of the Galactic Empire. Like Imperial-class Star Destroyers and TIE Fighters, stormtroopers served as ever present reminders of the Emperor's power, extensions of his will, and a method of keeping the Empire's thousands of star systems in line through fear.

Formed into the Stormtrooper Corps, stormtroopers operated alongside Imperial Army and Navy units independently, while some placed on Navy ships were given the name "marines."

Members of the Rebel Alliance SpecForce had several terms for stormtroopers, including whitehats, plastic soldiers, and snowmen. Other slang terms for stormtroopers were the "Boys in White" and "Plastic Boys". Also, another was "Stormies", and was used often by Wedge Antilles and Corran Horn.

History
"The clone troopers, now proudly bearing the honorable rank of Imperial stormtroopers, have tackled the dangerous work of fighting our enemies on the front lines. Many have died in their devotion to the Empire. Imperial citizens would do well to remember their example."

- Emperor Palpatine during the Declaration of a New Order

StormtroopersDS1.jpg As the Clone Wars reached its end, the clone trooper veterans that defended the Old Republic emerged as the feared enforcers of the New Order. As Emperor Palpatine declared the formation of the first Galactic Empire, the clones of the late Jango Fett were rechristened as Imperial stormtroopers. Lacking the guidance of the Jedi Generals, stormtroopers were "cut loose" to brutally enforce the new Imperial doctrine, to which they quickly built a reputation as merciless, uncompromising soldiers indoctrinated with unconditional loyalty to Emperor Palpatine.

At first, the Stormtrooper Corps was composed almost entirely of clones based on the Fett template, including the remaining clones grown on Kamino, supplemented by the millions of clones created on Coruscant and Centax-2 through Spaarti technology, as well as three new stormtrooper clone batches grown in the Outer Rim Territories. During this time, traces of the phased-out clone armor remained in the design of the stormtrooper armor. However, the stormtroopers' ranks would cease to be dominated by Fett's progeny after the Battle of Kamino in 12 BBY.

Among the first battles that cemented the stormtroopers' image as elite soldiers to be feared, Kashyyyk was a planet that was twice made an example of in order to showcase Imperial brutality to anyone else who contemplated defiance against the Empire. Darth Vader participated in both the first and second invasion of Kashyyyk, personally leading a contingent of clone stormtroopers to subjugate the planet's Wookiee population, as well as to hunt down fugitive members of the Jedi Order. Commander Appo, the commanding officer of the 501st Legion and one of the first stormtroopers, was slain during the Empire's first invasion of Kashyyyk.

By the time the Galactic Civil War began in earnest, Jango Fett's clones were heavily supplemented by clones based on a variety of templates around 9 BBY, followed shortly after by enlisted Humans. Thus, the Fett clones were ironically reduced to a minority status after years of virtually filling the stormtrooper ranks in its entirety. According to a stormtrooper's entry log in the 501st Journal, none of the Fett clones were ever truly able to come to terms with serving alongside recruits and different clones, all of whom were disdainfully dubbed as the "new guys." Commander Cody, a first generation clone of Jango Fett and a veteran of the Clone Wars, found stormtrooper recruits to be absolutely intolerable. Due to the significant decrease in the Imperial Military's operational effectiveness and his own feelings of nostalgia over the Republic's "army of one man," Cody viewed enlisted troopers as incompetent idiots, all of which he would have gladly sacrificed for just one real clone trooper.

Despite this influx of new trooper sources, the ranks remained exclusively Human, thus reflecting the New Order's High Human Culture. By 0 BBY, roughly one-third of the stormtroopers were clones based on the Fett template, while recruits steadily became the majority within the Stormtrooper Corps. Service in the Stormtrooper Corps was open to both Human men and women, but female stormtroopers were an extremely rare sight under Palpatine's reign. In spite of this disparity, some female troopers served in elite units, such as the Coruscant Guard.

For twenty-three years, the stormtroopers suffered few known large scale defeats, at least until the Empire's catastrophic defeat at Battle of Endor. An entire legion of stormtroopers, supported by AT-STs suffered a humiliating defeat that was almost completely unforeseeable, given all of the advantages that the Empire had both in space and on Endor. Despite superior numbers, advanced weapons, and superb training, they were utterly defeated by a small Rebel Alliance force with the assistance of the Ewoks, small and seemingly insignificant natives indigenous to Endor that Palpatine naturally overlooked as less than a minor threat. This was a devastating mistake which cost the Empire nothing less than its once unbreakable grip on the Galaxy.

The stormtroopers were caught completely by surprise; in their arrogance, they began to break rank and divide into small groups to hunt down the Ewoks. But with no apparent way to counter the variety of guerrilla tactics employed by the Ewoks, the stormtroopers were systematically wiped out by their seemingly inferior opponents. In addition to this strategy, it was the hijacking of an All Terrain Scout Transport that helped turn the tide and bring the troopers on the defensive, not only dealing a severe blow to the shocked Empire, but also to the reputation of the stormtroopers as well. When news spread of not only the deaths of both Palpatine and Vader, but also the defeat of the mighty Imperial stormtroopers against a small band of Rebels and a relatively primitive race on a backwater forest moon, various worlds took advantage of the situation and rebelled against the Empire's dictatorial rule. The following conflicts of the Galactic Civil War that came after Endor resulted in the destruction of the Empire's vital cloning facilities, and as the casualty rates increased substantially, the Stormtrooper Corps was almost all but a memory by 22 ABY after years of suffering from attrition to its ranks.

As the war entered its last phase, the Imperial Remnant continued to employ stormtroopers in battle until the Bastion Accords was signed in 19 ABY. Despite the high level casualties sustained throughout the war, the Stormtrooper Corps ultimately survived the Empire's defeat, albeit as a broken shadow of its former self. Following the treaty, stormtroopers were reduced to serving as guards and police officers on the few worlds that remained under Imperial control. However, the stormtroopers were eventually restored to their former role as an elite military force when the Imperial Remnant entered the Yuuzhan Vong War on the side of the Galactic Alliance, formerly known as the New Republic, against the Yuuzhan Vong.

Stormtroopers would also be used by other Imperial factions such as the Second Imperium and the Empire of the Hand. Grand Admiral Thrawn used the Spaarti cloning cylinders hidden in the storehouse of Mount Tantiss to grow an army of clone stormtroopers to serve in his armada of Dreadnaught-class cruisers. This was discovered after comparing genetic statistics of the bodies of Imperial troops found on Katana after the Battle for the Katana fleet.

While the Imperial Remnant slowly regained its former strength, Palpatine's ideals of Human supremacy and alien inferiority began to die with him. Eventually, leadership of the Imperial Remnant gradually became more open-minded, with little to no regard for Palpatine's prejudiced views, as it had been one of the primary motivations behind the formation of the Rebellion, as well as other numerous uprisings that gradually brought the Galactic Empire to its knees as the Alliance rose to become the dominant political force in the Galaxy.

As the ranks of the Stormtrooper Corps were steadily replenished with enlisted troopers from both Human and Non-Human species alike, the Empire's once heavy reliance on clones diminished over time. Other reasons for the decline in the use of cloned soldiers may include the loss of Kamino and other various worlds that held cloning facilities.

Due to the fact that the most effective clones grown through Kaminoan technology took roughly ten years to reach fighting age, and though the fastest cloning techniques only took a minimum of one year but produced significantly inferior clones, the Empire was forced to rely on the patriotism and training of recruits rather than the programmed loyalty and unparalleled fighting ability of clones. This was partially overcome by a brutal training regimen that emphasized the stormtroopers' lack of individuality and total dedication to the ideals of the Galactic Empire.

As of 130 ABY, stormtroopers were serving in Emperor Roan Fel's new Galactic Empire, though by this time, the Stormtrooper Corps had been absorbed into the Imperial Army and had also become a mixed-species organization&mdash;due in part to the inclusion of non-Humans into the ranks of the 501st Legion, itself still in operation at this time. The stormtroopers returned to prominence as a military force when they fought against the Galactic Alliance in the Sith-Imperial War. In the aftermath of the Alliance's defeat and collapse, the stormtroopers assisted members of the One Sith during the Massacre of Ossus.

Ironically, the Empire's conquest of the former Galactic Alliance and its return to galactic-wide dominance, thanks in part to the fighting prowess of the elite Imperial stormtroopers, was a short-lived return to glory. Seven years after Darth Krayt usurped the Imperial throne, Emperor Roan Fel re-surfaced and captured Bastion itself, relying solely on Imperial loyalists, such as the 501st Legion and the 908th Stormtrooper Division to rally to his cause. As of 137 ABY, the Galaxy was once again engulfed in turmoil as various stormtrooper units were forced to take sides between the usurper Darth Krayt and the deposed Emperor Roan Fel.

Recruitment
"Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"

- Princess Leia Organa to a disguised Luke Skywalker during their escape from the first Death Star

After the Emperor decided that an army of clone soldiers based on one template was too susceptible to corruption, the stormtrooper ranks were opened to not only clones of various genomes other than Jango Fett's DNA, but also millions of recruits as well. For a time, the stormtroopers were evenly balanced between clones and recruits until cloning became a rare commodity that the Imperial Remnant couldn't afford. If a man between the ages of 18 and 30 scored in the top fifth percentile, an Imperial recruiting agent would contact him and presumably arrange DNA sampling for cloning. Men who didn't score that high were still wanted as regular soldiers. Also, it was preferable if stormtrooper recruits met a certain standard in height and weight. Princess Leia Organa was seemingly familiar with these standards by 0 BBY, perhaps as a result of her work with the Imperial Senate.

By the time of the Second Imperial Civil War, long after the end of the original Empire, the vast majority of stormtroopers were composed primarily of enlisted soldiers recruited from both human and various non-human species alike. Whether or not clone stormtroopers were still created, or had been completely phased out by the use of enlisted personnel, is unknown.

Organization
The Stormtrooper Corps was not directly tied to the Imperial Army or Navy, and instead maintained its own command structure, ranking system, and support facilities. Stormtroopers were loyal only to the Emperor, and only followed orders from Army and Navy personnel at their discretion.

The basic unit of organization was the individual trooper. Each stormtrooper was assigned a number for tactical purposes and to reinforce the Imperial ethic of uniformity. Troopers were organized into squads, platoons, companies, battalions, regiments, and legions. A company commander could give command to any regular officer over any given squad or platoon. A single battalion consisted of 820 men&mdash;whereas a battalion of Galactic Republic clone troopers comprised only 576 men.

As of 130 ABY, the stormtroopers were apparently absorbed into the hierarchy of the Imperial Army, although the individual stormtrooper units remained elite forces.

Officers
Stormtrooper officers were traditionally non-clone graduates from the Imperial Academy, but Imperial stormtroopers who proved leadership traits in combat could be ranked up to the officer mark. In battle, commissioned stormtrooper officers wore standard stormtrooper armor with rank insignia to indicate status. Non-commissioned officers were identified in the field with shoulder pauldrons instead of the standard rank squares worn over the armor. For non-combat situations, officers wore a black tunic and pants dress uniform, including a cap, boots, gloves, and standard rank squares. The stormtrooper officer rank was a stepping stone to achieving Imperial officer rank, as stormtrooper officers were still under Imperial officers. Imperial stormtroopers also could undertake the rank of stormtrooper commander through this system of rank.

By 137 ABY, it appears that the color-ranking system used by clone troopers at the beginning of the Clone Wars was in use again.

Ideology
"No stormtrooper would dream of disobedience."

- GC-1000, to Fenn Shysa

In addition to their military role as elite soldiers, stormtroopers constituted an important part of Palpatine's New Order. Stormtrooper training was accompanied by thorough indoctrination to Imperial ideology, above and beyond what the normal military was exposed to, and stormtroopers were closely associated with the Emperor himself. This was particularly significant in light of the tensions between the Emperor and the Navy. For instance, the stormtroopers deployed to the Death Star were, arguably, largely there to ensure the immensely powerful battle station remained in the Emperor's control. Entirely immune from bribery or blackmail, the Stormtroopers ensured the Emperor's Will was carried out at all times, no matter the cost to themselves. Through the extremely militaristic, disciplined lifestyle they led, the Stormtroopers understood their expendable nature to the Emperor, and respected it completely.

However, despite the death of both Palpatine and Darth Vader, the ideology of the stormtroopers proved to be one of the few enduring legacies left behind by the last Sith Lords of Darth Bane's order. Despite their substantial losses caused by the Battle of Endor and the fracturing of the Galactic Empire, the remaining Imperials well understood that in order for the Empire to continue in one form or another, the stormtroopers could not be allowed to follow Vader and Palpatine into oblivion.

With the practical fall of the Empire and the unrelenting rise of the New Republic, desperate times called for desperate measures. In order to replenish the depleted ranks of the Stormtrooper Corps, aliens were officially admitted to serve as stormtroopers, thus resulting in three significant outcomes: the virtual end of High Human Culture and the gradual decline in the use of clone stormtroopers as birth-born recruits (humans and non-humans alike) became the majority and new source of stormtroopers. This new policy, decidedly more open-minded than the one under Palpatine's oppressive reign, continued onward as of 137 ABY, where it is unknown if clones (especially those of the Jango Fett stock) were still created to serve as stormtroopers.

Throughout this entire time, even during the point when it seemed as though the Empire was on the verge of total destruction, the ideology of the stormtroopers as the greatest military force in galactic history was never forgotten. They were a testament to the might of the Galactic Empire, the legacy of Kamino's greatest creation: the Grand Army of the Republic, and a symbol of the Imperial way of bringing order and peace through force of arms.

Weaponry
"Only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

The BlasTech E-11 blaster rifle was the standard issue weapon of the Corps and one of the most commonly issued rifles in the Empire. The blaster was largely based on the DC-15 blasters used by clone troopers during the Clone Wars, right down to the folding stock. All stormtroopers, excluding those assigned to heavy or special weapons, carried an E-11 along with a SE-14r light repeating blaster. Some elite troopers wielded the deadly DLT-19 heavy blaster rifle, which was more powerful, and more accurate compared to the E-11 blaster rifle. During the Empire Reborn, stormtrooper squad leaders were armed with Golan Arms FC-1 flechette launchers. The DLT-20A blaster rifles, T-21 light repeating blasters, and Imperial Heavy Repeaters were also sometimes used by stormtroopers. All stormtroopers also had a cylindrical thermal detonator attached to the small of their back, on their torso armor. Like almost everything else on a typical stormtrooper uniform, the detonator casing and buttons were not labeled, merely blank white in color. This was done deliberately in order to reduce the chance that an enemy would be able to arm the detonator if it were captured. Even a person who somehow knew the way to input the code would have to learn what it was. Each thermal detonator arming code was unique, known only to the soldier to whom the device was issued. The individual detonator code, along with designation codes and rank, were the only semblances of individuality that the troopers were allowed.

Around 130 ABY, stormtroopers were equipped with ARC-9965 blasters, which were used alongside the E-11 blaster rifles.

Armor
"I'm takin' you down, plastic boy!"

- Anonymous Rebel trooper Before stormtrooper armor was developed, the first stormtroopers used Phase II clone trooper armor after the transition from the Republic to the Empire. It is unknown how long this was the case, but the Battle of Naboo in 18 BBY featured stormtroopers. If this is the case, they may have been in the Phase II armor for a few months before a transition to the later, distinct, and developed stormtrooper armor.

During the first years of the Empire, the Stormtrooper Corps, still composed of only Jango Fett clones, were forced to remove the color designs on their armor, used to designate legion or corps affiliation, to which the clones had worn with pride while serving under the old Jedi Order. This was due to the new Imperial protocol of uniformity. Thus, the first stormtroopers returned to their previous appearance of stark-white armored soldiers. This tradition would carry on into the new stormtrooper armor, and to the armor of the Legacy era as well.

This armor was 18 pieces of white plastoid-composite body armor over a sealed black body glove. In this respect it appeared similar to the armor worn by their predecessors of the Clone Wars. The complete ensemble encased the body, and typically had no individually distinguishing marking outside of rank&mdash;so much so that casual first-time observers would sometimes mistake the stormtroopers for some form of battle droids.

The armor also protected the troopers from very harsh environments as well as projectiles and impact weapons. The armor might be penetrated by a direct blaster bolt, but would significantly reduce damage from the absorbed bolt. Blast energy sinks were distributed around the armor to absorb energy from a blaster bolt. The insulated body glove allowed for comfortable operations in an very wide range of climates, including&mdash;for a very short time&mdash;even total vacuum conditions, or immense extremes of cold and heat. In this respect, it could be argued that the armor was much less suited to battle than its clone armor predecessor, and much more suitable as a high-tech survival suit.

In certain situations, stormtroopers or other specialized Imperial soldiers would sometimes wear camouflage armor to help them blend in with different environments, as the clone swamp troopers of the old Clone Army did. The Stormtrooper Corps instituted this reform after the embarrassing defeat at the Battle of Endor.

By 130 ABY, many variants of stormtrooper armor were made for non-Human recruits serving in the Imperial Army. The general appearance of the armor had only minor changes, however.

Extra
Some special features include a wrist comlink, a small battle holocam built into the helmet, a proper resonator (to open secure doors) built into their armor, and an external helmet light. For extended operations, stormtroopers carried field backpacks that included a personal tent, five concentrated rations, fifteen water packs, eight blaster power packs, and a glowrod. They also used DSD1 dwarf spider droids as support weapons.

Specialized stormtroopers
There were several subgroups in the Stormtrooper Corps with training and equipment for particular mission profiles, generally sorted by the type of environment the trooper would encounter.


 * Alien stormtroopers: Non-human stormtroopers with specialized armor.
 * Aquatic assault stormtroopers: seatroopers.
 * Assault troopers: Stormtroopers with standard white armor with yellow markings.
 * Bombtroopers: explosive-specialist stormtroopers.
 * Clone stormtroopers: Cloned-stormtroopers.
 * Coruscant Guards: Coruscant Police stormtroopers.
 * Crowd Control Stormtroopers
 * Dark troopers: special droid/exoskeleton stormtroopers.
 * Dark Trooper Project
 * Phase Zero dark troopers: aged clone troopers, transformed into cyborgs.
 * Phase I dark troopers: Dark troopers armed with Vibro-swords and blast shields.
 * Phase II dark troopers: Dark troopers armed with Assault cannons, Imperial repeater rifles, and equipped with jetpacks.
 * Phase III dark troopers: Dark troopers armed with Assault cannons and Seeker missiles, occasionally a pair of dual blaster cannons, with two per wrist, as well as six PLEX rocket tubes, with three per shoulder, and jetpacks.
 * Triumphant-class dark trooper half droid half stormtrooper.
 * Black Hole dark troopers: Dark troopers deployed with shadow stormtroopers.
 * Exogen-class dark trooper: a dark trooper variant used by the Galactic Empire.
 * Dark novatrooper: a dark trooper variant.
 * Glory-class dark trooper: another dark trooper variant.
 * Inquisitorium dark troopers: Dark troopers in the service of the Inquisitorius.
 * Purge trooper: Dark trooper prototype specialized for anti-Jedi combat.
 * Dewback trooper: Stormtroopers mounted on dewbacks.
 * Stormtrooper droid: Droids manufactured on Mechis III with stormtrooper armor for IG-88's Droid Army.
 * EVO troopers: hazardous environment stormtroopers
 * Field Troopers: High ranking stormtroopers with superior field experience and weaponry.
 * Force-sensitive stormtroopers: lightsaber-wielding stormtroopers cloned from a Force-sensitive template.
 * Hazard troopers: corrosion-/temperature-armored stormtroopers.
 * Heavy troopers: electrostaff-wielding close combat specialists
 * Imperial Marines: specialize in boarding actions.
 * Incinerator troopers: flamethrower-equipped stormtroopers
 * Imperial Navy commandos: Light-armored Stormtroopers also used by the Emperor's Elite Scout-force Bureau
 * ISB Stormtroopers: Intelligence gathering Stormtroopers used by the Imperial Security Bureau
 * Imperial Jumptroopers: aerial assault stormtroopers
 * Magma troopers: volcanic environment stormtroopers.
 * Minetroopers: Sevarcos II spice mine security troopers.
 * NightWhispers: Elite Storm Commando unit.
 * Novatroopers: elite stormtroopers used for infiltrating enemy bases, guarding captured enemy warships, and patrolling Theed. They were typically armed with E-11 blaster rifles, and had black and gold armor.
 * Radtroopers: radioactive zone assault stormtroopers.
 * Riot troopers: Riot control stormtroopers.
 * Sandtroopers: desert stormtroopers.
 * Scout troopers: biker/scout stormtroopers.
 * Shadow EVO Troopers: A variant on both shadow stormtroopers and EVO troopers.
 * Shadow stormtroopers: stealth stormtroopers (also called Blackhole stormtroopers because of use under Agent Blackhole).
 * Shadowtroopers (Empire Reborn): Dark Jedi-stormtrooper hybrid.
 * Shock troopers: specialist stormtroopers.
 * Snowtroopers: cold assault stormtroopers.
 * Storm commandos: special mission/stealth stormtroopers.
 * Swamptroopers: swamp assault stormtroopers.
 * T'Syriél stormtroopers: elite stormtroopers recruited from the T'Syriél.
 * Terror Troopers: Wore armor resistant to lightsabers.
 * TIE pilots: stormtroopers used to pilot TIE/ln starfighters.
 * Zero-G assault stormtrooper: spacetrooper.

Occasionally, stormtroopers would pilot TIE fighters in atmospheric environments, as was the case of the unidentified Alderaanian stormtrooper serving under Moff Wessel on Yinchorr, who managed to shoot down Princess Leia. One can assume that stormtroopers assigned to TIE fighter duties must have received more or less specialized training, though there is no evidence of the existence of a special TIE Fighter-based stormtrooper unit.



Alien stormtroopers
Stormtroopers were one of the bases of the New Order during Palpatine's reign, so were exclusively Humans or clones of Humans. An exception to this were the T'Syriél stormtroopers recruited from among the alien T'Syriél by General Sk'ar. Sk'ar himself was an alien Kaleesh, which explains why he was prepared to deviate from standard Imperial recruitment policy. Later, there was a small corps of alien stormtroopers serving under Admiral Daala in the Imperial Remnant, until her resignation. Alien stormtroopers were more common in the Empire of the Hand and also Emperor Fel's Empire some 130 years ABY.

ISB Stormtroopers
The Imperial Security Bureau had its own stormtroopers, that operated outside the command structure of the Stormtrooper Corps. As they were identical to normal stormtroopers in appearance, they were sometimes used to infiltrate standard units of stormtroopers to ensure that assigned tasks were properly accomplished. A good example of this was an attack against Rebel sympathizers on Teardrop in 0 ABY. ISB Stormtroopers noticed that stormtrooper Daric LaRone was deliberately not shooting civilians. ISB troopers were more questioning of their orders than standard stormtroopers, as shown when two ISB Stormtroopers betrayed the Emperor's Hand Mara Jade, while she was infiltrating a pirate base on Gepparin. They were often attached to ISB tactical units.

Notable stormtroopers
"Not that it matters how many stormtroopers die. There must be a factory that stamps them out."

- Kirtan Loor


 * Avarik
 * Barse
 * Korlo Brightwater
 * Bursk
 * Dendu
 * Dobbs
 * Nathan Donar III
 * Zeth Durron
 * Davin Felth
 * Flint
 * Taxtro Grave
 * Givens
 * Grotto
 * Haku
 * Kile Hannad
 * Hong
 * Daine Jir
 * Jonsey
 * Kir Kanos
 * Kyle Katarn
 * Kine
 * Daric LaRone
 * Saberan Marcross
 * Rom Mohc
 * Morley
 * Meck Odom
 * Triv Pothman
 * Nahdonnis Praji
 * Joak Quiller
 * Stor
 * Sutu
 * TC-1289
 * THX-1138
 * TK-421
 * TK-422
 * TK-8252
 * TK-622
 * TK-664
 * Brenn Tantor
 * Grodin Tierce
 * Trang
 * Turk
 * Beilert Valance
 * Vollot
 * Trhin Voss'on't
 * Qorl
 * Anson Trask
 * X1

Behind the scenes
Stormtroopers, as depicted in the early drafts of Star Wars and envisioned by Ralph McQuarrie, were to wield lightsabers and hand-held shields. George Lucas, when composing background information for licensees in 1977, stated that females did exist in the Stormtrooper Corps, although there were few stationed on the Death Star. He suggested that they were numerous in other units. As a result, few female stormtroopers are depicted in Expanded Universe sources.

According to several Expanded Universe sources, it would appear that by the time of the Galactic Civil War, stormtroopers were no longer exclusively clones. In Star Wars: Empire 36: The Wrong Side of the War, Part 1, following the Imperial assault on Jabiim, Janek Sunber checks his surviving troops. At this point he comments that none of the regular Human troops under his command survived the battle and we are given a look at a group of blue-eyed and blonde clones, obviously a newer template. Sunber also says that the clones in the army are tough and he heard that during the Clone Wars they were even tougher. So, it would seem that with the expansion of the military following the rise of the Galactic Empire, new clone templates were created and regular Humans recruited partly because the lifespan of a Jango clone was roughly half that of an ordinary Human. Thus, a steady stream of clone and non-clone replacements would be required to fill the ranks of the stormtroopers.

The first source to mention that there are clones in the stormtrooper ranks was Soldiers of the Empire!, an article that appeared in Star Wars Official Poster Monthly 4 (January 1978). Unfortunately, this article fell into deep obscurity (most fans still have not heard of it). As a result, most EU authors prior to the prequel trilogy believed that all stormtroopers were recruits. Many Expanded Universe sources mentioned Imperial academies (such as on Carida) and normal human stormtroopers such as Davin Felth and Kyle Katarn. After the prequel trilogy was released, a retcon was necessary to shoe clones into the stormtrooper ranks to mesh these EU sources with the movies and 1978 article.

In the Thrawn Trilogy, Luke Skywalker realizes that some of Grand Admiral Thrawn's stormtroopers are clones by feeling through the Force that they are all identical. He implies that this is unusual.

LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy introduced a new, non-canon stormtrooper type known as the "beach trooper". They wore a standard helmet and swimming shorts, and could be found resting in hot tubs throughout some levels.

In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, enter TK421 as a cheat code to unlock the classic stormtrooper skin.

Due to their seeming inability to hit the main characters in the films, the stormtrooper effect (Wikipedia article here) has been named after them.

Stormtroopers were named after Imperial German "Sturmabteilung", which in English translated to Stormtroopers, special troops who were tasked in the last year of World War I with mounting fierce infantry assaults on Allied trenches in an attempt to break the stalemate on the Western Front. However, many aspects of the branch of service, such as their unwavering obedience to the Emperor, their reputation for excessive force, and their status as an independent element separate from the overall army bears some similarity to the Sturmabteilung (Lit: Assault Section) of the 1930's NSDAP party in Germany, as well as the Waffen-SS or "Armed SS" units that served as independent military formations controlled directly by the Nazi hierarchy and not the German High Command during World War II.

Although stormtroopers are depicted as elite soldiers, they are the one of the most numerous soldiers seen on any Star Wars movie.

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
 * A Death Star Is Born
 * The Flight of the Falcon
 * Star Wars: Visions of the Blade
 * Trooper
 * Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Han Solo Affair
 * Moment of Doubt
 * Star Wars Infinities: Return of the Jedi
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * Tag & Bink Are Dead
 * Star Wars Infinities: Return of the Jedi
 * Return of the Ewok
 * The Revenge of Tag & Bink
 * The Return of Tag & Bink: Special Edition