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Imperial Stormtroopers are some of the most recognizable characters in the entire Star Wars franchise. Their white and black armor is simple but striking, and the vaguely skeletal features of their helmets render them intimidating despite their usual ineffectiveness. In the original Star Wars trilogy, a few stormtroopers strayed from this iconic design. Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back introduced Snowtroopers, who came equipped with cold-resistant suits to fight in arctic environments like that of Hoth, and Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi introduced scout troopers, who wore light armor better suited to traveling on speeder bikes. These were interesting twists on the classic Stormtrooper formula, and they made sense given the context of the films in which they appeared. Plus, they were good merchandising opportunities.
However, snowtroopers and Scout Troopers were far from the Empire’s only specialized stormtroopers. In the decades following the original trilogy, dozens of stormtrooper variants have been created to fill out the Galactic Empire’s ranks, including Shoretroopers, Death Troopers, Swamp Troopers, Purge Troopers, and many more. Every theatrically released Star Wars movie since Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm has introduced at least one new type of stormtrooper, as have many television series, video games, comic books, and novels. Even though some of them are compelling additions to the Star Wars universe, the abundance of Stormtrooper variants in canon has caused some issues that are only going to get worse over time.
Star Wars Has Introduced Variations of Stormtroopers For Every Situation
The first problem with Stomtrooper variants is that many of them overlap with each other, making them feel redundant. Flametroopers and incinerator troopers both wielded flamethrowers, snow troopers and range troopers were both equipped for cold environments, Lava Troopers, and magma troopers both wore heat-resistant gear, and most egregiously, Death Troopers, Purge Troopers, shadow troopers, and storm commandos were all elite stormtroopers who donned black armor. The creators of these stormtrooper variants either did not pay attention to those that already existed or purposefully chose to ignore them, either of which harms the cohesion of the Star Wars brand. Some of these could be justified in-universe as replacements for older variants — for instance, incinerator troopers debuted in The Mandalorian, which took place 23 years after the first chronological appearance of Flametroopers — but that excuse can only be used so many times before it starts to wear thin.
Shadow troopers were specifically excluded from the video game Star Wars: Battlefront II despite appearing in the first game since they were deemed too similar to death troopers.
Another problem is that most of these Stormtrooper variants were created recently but were meant to have existed since the early days of the Galactic Civil War, which retroactively makes their absence from previous Star Wars projects seem strange. For example, the canon novel Aftermath: Life Debt introduced forest troopers, whose camouflaged armor helped them blend in among trees and bushes, so why were none of them present on the forest moon of Endor in Return of the Jedi or Kashyyyk in Fallen Order? Regular stormtroopers and Scout Troopers were evidently good enough for these situations, so there seemed to be little point in specialized soldiers. On that note, several Stormtrooper variants simply seem unnecessary. Patrol troopers, artillery troopers, and heavy assault troopers were just stormtroopers with different weapons, so there was no need for their armor to be different.
Stormtrooper Variants Should Be Used Sparingly
By far the biggest issue with the existence of so many stormtrooper variants is that it contradicts the themes of Star Wars. During the time of the Galactic Republic, clone troopers were allowed to customize their armor however they wished. They used different colors of paint to show their allegiance to their corps, legion, or battalion, and they decorated themselves with symbols that held significance for them. Some clones even added and removed pieces of armor to better suit their preferences in combat. Commander Cody, for instance, had a visor and antenna on his helmet. By contrast, the Imperial Stormtroopers lacked individuality and avenues for self-expression. Their armor was bland and interchangeable, turning them into nameless, faceless soldiers who served only to carry out the Empire’s orders. The introduction of more and more unique stormtroopers has muddied that messaging, especially since some of them stray further from the baseline Stormtrooper design than snowtroopers and Scout Troopers.
A recent Star Wars project that handled stormtrooper variants well was the Ahsoka series. The night troopers who served Grand Admiral Thrawn had cracks in their armor that had been filled in with gold, based on the Japanese art of kintsugi. They also wore red sashes to hold their armor together. In addition to looking cool, there was a good reason for these alterations. Thrawn and his forces were stranded on the distant planet Peridea with no way to replace their damaged equipment, so they had to repair their gear however they could. The red sashes were reminiscent of the dresses worn by the Nightsisters, representing Thrawn’s alliance with them. The night troopers’ unique armor also served a symbolic purpose, indicating that Thrawn was trying to piece together the fractured remnants of the Empire into something greater than it had once been. There will definitely be more stormtrooper variants introduced in the future, but hopefully, care is taken to set them apart from existing variants and ensure that they make sense in the story that is told.
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