Cuis clone

The Force-sensitive stormtroopers were a group of stormtroopers created via cloning from the DNA of former Emperor's Hand Sa Cuis. Their creation was the brainchild of Darth Vader, who witnessing Cuis' unquestioning loyalty to the Emperor, sought to create stormtroopers who displayed that same sort of loyalty. However, he ultimately came to consider them too dangerous, his viewpoint proven when they developed loyalty towards the rebel Emperor's Hand who trained them, rather than the Emperor himself.

History


Force-sensitive stormtroopers were trained in lightsaber combat by another Hand, Sheyvan, who later used them to mount a revolt against Emperor Palpatine while aboard a Lambda-class shuttle. Despite their training, they were killed by Darth Vader. Palpatine considered ordering more, but Darth Vader disagreed and thought that they were too dangerous.

In 3 BBY, militiamen who had taken over an Imperial shipyard above Nar Shaddaa recognized the lightsaber-wielding figure of Starkiller as "some kind of shadow trooper." It appears that Force-sensitive stormtroopers who saw action before 3 BBY were known as shadowtroopers since at least that time.

More than a decade later, after the fall of the Empire proper, the Empire Reborn faction under Lord Hethrir, launched a project to create Force-sensitive stormtroopers under the name "shadowtroopers." The project was headed by Dark Jedi Desann and Admiral Galak Fyyar. Empire Youths imbued with the dark side of the Force through Artusian crystals, the shadowtroopers didn't wear standard stormtrooper armor but a specialized black suit of armor unique to their rank.

Behind the scenes


Lightsaber wielding stormtroopers originates in Ralph McQuarrie's concept art for A New Hope, referenced in the image above in the pose of the stormtrooper to the right of Darth Vader. In the commentaries for the Special Edition, George Lucas notes that in his early conceptions of the saga, lightsabers were commonplace weapons throughout the galaxy, but that he later decided that they should be limited to the Jedi.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
 * Dark Empire II
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast