501st Legion

The 501st Legion, also known as the 501st Battalion, was a unit of clone troopers in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. They were led by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, who fell to the dark side of the Force and became the Sith Lord Darth Vader. One key member of this group was the ARC trooper "Fives," but he was killed to prevent him from revealing the truth regarding the Sith conspiracy to control the clones to execute Order 66, using inhibitor chips.

During the reign of the Galactic Empire, the 501st Legion was nicknamed "Vader's Fist", though the Empire had abandoned the use of clones in favor of volunteers.

Behind the scenes
The 501st Legion is also the name of a fan costuming organization formed in 1997 by Albin Johnson and Tom Crews. The group originally intended to re-create accurate stormtrooper costumes, but has expanded to include Sith Lords, bounty hunters and other villains from the film series, encompassing EU source material as well as canonical ones. The group goes under the nickname, "Vader's Fist", and was actually the inspiration for George Lucas to add the organization into official Star Wars canon. The group actively does charity and volunteer work for a number of organizations, and currently consists of over 6000 members worldwide.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Defense
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars film
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith