Stormtrooper armour looks advanced (and cool!) but never seems to offer much protection when seen on screen. What are your theories on why Stormtroopers wear armour. Does it offer protection or is it just designed to intimidate?
Star Wars Why do Stormtroopers wear armour?
- Thread starter Al
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Darth Cognus
The Huntress™
I like to believe it offers, first and probably least, uniformity (a galactically recognized 'crap the stormtroopers are coming'), climate control so they can actually deploy wherever they need to and be fully effective be it Hoth, a desert planet or a swamp world with untold disease (not that Star Wars particularly gets into this so I won't linger)... I'd say enough armor for sticks and stones but I'll ignore ewoks to make this a point. I have a feeling it's a Battlestar Galactica type of deal where the armor is futile against properly equipped enemies but most of their enemies in the galaxy are not properly equipped. It's the ultimate cheapskate capitalist dream of armor you can send across the galaxy, good enough to keep getting bought and keep costs low, ostensibly doing the job.
Basically, on screen I think it's subject to this trope but on principle there is unexplored use to it and for the majority of what stormtroopers deal with it's actually adequate. And so very galactic empire fantasy, it was an easy sell for the commanders. Since that armor was employed in the prequels and I think canonically was around before the Clones showed up, that sell must have been made a long time ago and Palpatine was a fan and/or it just works™ and he ran with it. Plus it invokes an air of Mando and we know that's a desirable thing in this universe.
Basically, on screen I think it's subject to this trope but on principle there is unexplored use to it and for the majority of what stormtroopers deal with it's actually adequate. And so very galactic empire fantasy, it was an easy sell for the commanders. Since that armor was employed in the prequels and I think canonically was around before the Clones showed up, that sell must have been made a long time ago and Palpatine was a fan and/or it just works™ and he ran with it. Plus it invokes an air of Mando and we know that's a desirable thing in this universe.
Demon_skeith
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I think it is to make some kind of fear or place order among the troops of having everyone be the same. Either way, they still can't aim much lol.
The meme that Stormtroopers are bad shots is just that; a meme, with no grounding in fact. Let's consider a few things.
1) Obi-Wan Kenobi states that the blaster marks on the Sand Crawler are too precise for Sand People. We can consider Kenobi an expert on the subject. Sure, he lied about other things but he has no reason to lie about this.
2) Often the main rationale for the meme that Stormtroopers "couldnt shoot the side of a barn with their guns" is based on the Death Star escape. Leia calls it; "They let us escape" and we know that is true as there is mention of a tracking device placed on the Millennium Falcon. Based on this we know that the Stormtroopers are excellent shots. They had to shoot at Han, Luke and co. without actually killing them but had to be close enough to make it look like that were trying to kill them. That's some incredible skill. Trying to look like you're trying to hit something without actually hitting it is masterful.
3) Badassery exemplified. Consider the above. They had to shoot at the rebels, make it look like they were trying to kill them but not actually score any hits at the same time taking fire in return. These dudes are the ultimate badasses. They laid down their lives for the Empire. They were killed just to make the ruse a success and allow the Empire to track the rebels to Yavin. That level of control, commitment, dedication and utter loyalty is beyond comprehension.
Stormtroopers are the ultimate.