Star Wars’ First Stormtroopers After The Clones: How They’re Different From The OT

Star Wars: The Bad Batch has introduced the first iteration of Imperial stormtroopers, the Empire’s recruited soldiers in the Star Wars original trilogy and the successors to the Republic’s clone troopers. Clone troopers fought heroically alongside the Jedi during the Clone Wars, but became brainwashed pawns of the Empire after Palpatine’s fascist coup putrefied the Galactic Republic into a dictatorship. As shown in The Bad Batch, the Empire quickly ended clone production and replaced the elite soldiers with recruits, trading efficiency for loyalty. These recruits were initially called “TK troopers,” but were soon renamed “stormtroopers.” Stormtroopers were a common sight throughout the reign of the Empire, carrying out the will of the Emperor and brutally oppressing the people of the galaxy with no remorse, tainting the valiant legacy of the clone troopers.

Clone troopers were grown from the template of Jango Fett, a Mandalorian foundling and the galaxy’s deadliest bounty hunter at the time. The clones were raised and trained from birth to be among the most skilled soldiers in galactic history, an endeavor that the Clone Wars proved to be successful. Despite their programming, Star Wars‘ clones had free will, expressing varying personalities and forming friendships with each other and the Jedi. The clones were ultimately good-natured beings who fought for what they believed to be democracy and freedom, but the tragedy of their creation is that their secret true purpose was to destroy the Republic and the Jedi.

Clone troopers were given control chip implants as embryos that, upon Order 66’s activation, would brainwash them into murdering the Jedi and establishing Palpatine’s Galactic Empire. Order 66 was successful, and the Empire supplanted the Republic with the Jedi all dead or in hiding. Recruited human soldiers soon replaced the elite clone troopers, and the first generations of these Imperial minions are shown in The Bad Batch. The Elite Squad consisted of highly skilled recruits, wearing modified Phase II clone trooper armor. In episode 14, “War-Mantle,” TK troopers are introduced. These new soldiers are also recruits, albeit far less skilled and wearing new suits of armor.

How The First Stormtroopers’ Design Is Different To The Original Trilogy

In the Star Wars original trilogy, stormtroopers wore iconic plastoid suits which protected against shrapnel, projectiles, and melee attacks. The armor also dispersed the heat of blaster bolts, providing strong protection from all but Star Wars‘ armor-piercing blasters. TK troopers are shown wearing new suits of armor that more closely resemble the stormtrooper armor of the original trilogy than Phase II clone armor. TK trooper armor is likely easily customized to fit the varying bodies of recruited soldiers, where both phases of clone armor were designed to fit an army of identical human men.

Phase II clone armor was a notable downgrade from Phase I suits, being made of cheaper materials and omitting an onboard oxygen supply for use in space. This is notably different from Legends, in which both phases include an air supply, and Phase II clone trooper armor is a lighter, more comfortable, and stronger suit than its predecessor. In canon, the inferior Phase II armor likely came from the Republic’s diminishing resources, but Phase II armor was nevertheless highly effective at protecting clones. Stormtrooper armor was far less effective than either iteration of clone armor in both continuities as the Empire was more concerned with the size of their army than the quality of their soldiers. Thus, TK trooper armor could potentially be inferior to clone armor, but more protective than original trilogy-era stormtrooper armor.

The First Stormtroopers’ Design Is Based On Early Lucas/McQuarrie Ideas

Aesthetically, TK trooper armor notably resembles the stormtrooper concept art created by Ralph McQuarrie. McQuarrie worked closely with George Lucas on the visual design of the original trilogy and Expanded Universe (aka Star Wars Legends) properties, such as Shadows of the Empire. McQuarrie’s work also influenced canon non-movie material, such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Although McQuarrie passed away in 2010, his incredible concept art was the primary visual inspiration for Star Wars Rebels. The animated series patterned environments, vehicles, and alien species off of McQuarrie’s concept art, making the show’s animation style visually spectacular.

Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art for Imperial stormtroopers is particularly iconic, depicting beings in full suits of white body armor and wielding lightsabers alongside large shields. The artwork was made when Star Wars was still in its conceptual stages, so lightsabers weren’t established as the weapons of Jedi and Sith yet. The TK troopers in The Bad Batch wear armor that’s nearly identical to McQuarrie’s concept art, though, unsurprisingly, the soldiers wield blasters instead of lightsabers and shields. As Dave Filoni’s fourth Star Wars animated series, and a bridge between The Clone Wars and Rebels, it’s unsurprising to see such strong McQuarrie inspiration in The Bad Batch.

Why The Stormtroopers Were Given TK Numbers (Unlike Clones)

The Empire’s recruited stormtroopers were, ironically, less individualistic and more unquestioningly loyal than their clone trooper predecessors. All clone troopers were born with unit designations, such as CT-7567 or ARC-5555, but nearly all clone troopers preferred nicknames, such as Rex or Fives. The names were expressions of a clone’s experiences and personality, and clones would frequently customize their armor with unique decorations as well. Many clones gave themselves distinctive hairstyles or tattoos to further differentiate themselves. Clone troopers may have been bred to serve as perfect soldiers, but they were also individuals with generally friendly demeanors and free will.

Stormtroopers, on the other hand, are human conscripts who became enamored by the Empire’s fascist ideology. Embodying the concept of “the banality of evil” within the Star Wars franchise, these conscripts surrender themselves to the Imperial cause entirely, eschewing their names and identities for TK numbers, which reduce them to little more than tools of the Imperial Army. While service numbers exist in real-world military forces, the Empire’s TK numbers (also referred to as operating numbers) are used instead of a stormtrooper’s birth name, demonstrating how the Empire’s stormtrooper forces transcended loyalty and became fanatics.

How The First Stormtroopers Were Worse Than Clone Troopers

The Republic’s clone army was an elite fighting force whose soldiers successfully backed up the Jedi Knights in their fight against the Separatist Alliance for the three-year Clone Wars. The Separatist droid army far outnumbered the Republic’s forces, yet the clones and Jedi prevailed together time and again through sheer skill and ingenuity. The Clone Wars constantly depicts clones as incredible marksmen and strategists, who effortlessly out-think and overpower their enemies. Perhaps the greatest test of mettle for the clones was during the Siege of Mandalore, in which clone troopers fought elite Mandalorian Death Watch warriors in open combat. Although the clones sustained heavy losses (and were assisted by a small number of Republic-friendly Mandalorians), they outfought their Death Watch opponents.

Stormtroopers, on the other hand, are comically inept, when compared to Republic clones. While stormtroopers are more than capable of oppressing civilian populations (and are certainly deadlier than most Separatist droids), their poor marksmanship and battlefield tactics are the subject of numerous jokes, both in-universe and in the real world. Star Wars Rebels and The Mandalorian put a particularly strong emphasis on this, depicting stormtroopers as ineffective buffoons who are often the subject of mockery by characters like Din Djarin or Captain Rex. Stormtroopers are occasionally shown to shoot with deadly aim, particularly in the first half of Star Wars and most of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but this makes their overall effectiveness inconsistent at best. Star Wars: The Bad Batch has introduced the first generations of stormtroopers to the franchise, and are already demonstrating how they differ from the clones and their original trilogy-era Imperial soldiers.

About The Author

David Miller
(618 Articles Published)

David Miller is a staff writer for Screen Rant, indie comic writer, and life-long lover of all things Star Wars, Marvel, and DC. He was born and raised in New York and has a degree in English from Rider University. He relates to Peter Parker maybe a little too much.

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