Retired clone trooper The retired clone trooper was a clone trooper who served with the 501st Legion from the first battle of the Clone Wars to the Battle of Hoth in the Galactic Civil War . As one of millions of clones bred from the genetic template of Jango Fett , the trooper was created to serve the Galactic Republic as a soldier in the Grand Army of the Republic . By the end of the Clone Wars , however , the clone army betrayed their Jedi generals and supported Darth Sidious ' rise to power as Emperor of the Galactic Empire . As a result , the Grand Army was reorganized into the Stormtrooper Corps , making the trooper and his brethren the first generation of Imperial stormtroopers . The trooper continued to serve in the 501st Legion — led by the Sith Lord Darth Vader — over the course of the Emperor ' s reign . By the time of his retirement , the trooper recorded his recollections of various missions in a journal dedicated to the history of the 501st . His entries included confidential information pertaining to the final years of the Republic and the subsequent era of the Empire . Biography . Fall of the Republic . By 3 ABY , just before the Battle of Endor a year later , a retired stormtrooper — a first generation clone of the bounty hunter Jango Fett — had authored a private journal which detailed his life experiences as a soldier of the Imperial 501st Legion . The trooper , along with many other clones of the same genetic template , was engineered in the Kamino cloning facilities for the sole purpose of becoming a soldier of the Galactic Republic . He was one of the first combat - ready unit s who composed the newly - formed Grand Army of the Republic in 22 BBY . Soon after surviving the first battle of the Clone Wars , the trooper joined the ranks of the 501st Legion , an elite division of clone soldiers commissioned by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine . The following three years resulted in an escalating civil war between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist rebellion . The trooper and a contingent of the 501st was often rotated from one battlefield to another during the Outer Rim campaign . His service record included missions on Mygeeto , Felucia , Kashyyyk , and Utapau . He also served as a pilot in the Battle of Coruscant . Throughout these final battles of the Clone Wars , the trooper served under the command of several Jedi officers , such as General Ki - Adi - Mundi , General Yoda , and General Obi - Wan Kenobi . Just prior to the end of the Clone Wars , however , Chancellor Palpatine issued Order 66 , the that instructed all clone troopers to kill their Jedi officers in the event of a " Jedi rebellion . " The clone trooper and the rest of the 501st were tasked with executing a mission , codenamed , to terminate everyone inside the Jedi Temple on Coruscant . Led by the Sith Lord Darth Vader , the trooper and his comrades killed numerous Jedi students and Temple guards , including three Jedi Masters who ultimately fell defending the Temple . Afterward , Palpatine was proclaimed Emperor of the first Galactic Empire ; the remaining Fett clones were rechristened as the first stormtroopers of the New Order . Rise of the Empire . Under the Empire , the former clone trooper participated in many covert operations that were personally handled by the 501st , which by then became known as " Vader ' s Fist " due to their ruthless efficiency and unique status as Darth Vader ' s personal legion . Over the next decade , they defeated insurrectionists on Naboo , destroyed one of the last Separatist holdouts on Mustafar , and was even forced to exterminate an army of rogue clone troopers that had been bred by a Kaminoan resistance faction . The trooper ' s final years as a soldier were marked by the outbreak of a new rebellion , formed by a growing organization known as the Alliance to Restore the Republic . In 0 BBY , a Jedi prisoner led a group of Rebel and Wookiee captives in an uprising on the DS - 1 Orbital Battle Station , codenamed " Death Star . " The trooper and a contingent of the 501st responded by putting down the prison riot , but ultimately failed to prevent the Rebels from beaming the battlestation ' s schematic readouts to the Alliance ' s Polis Massa base . As a result of their failure , the 501st was reassigned to track and retrieve the stolen plans before the Rebels could discern any vital weaknesses in the Death Star ' s design . After surviving a difficult skirmish against Alliance soldiers on Polis Massa , the trooper participated in an assault on the " Tantive IV " , capturing Alderaan Senator Leia Organa in the process . After the Battle of Yavin resulted in the destruction of the Death Star , the trooper and other surviving members of the 501st regrouped with other Imperial units in a major counterattack against the Rebel Alliance . They successfully drove the remaining Rebel forces away from Yavin 4 , although the trooper considered it to be a hollow victory due to the loss of the Death Star , countless Imperial lives , and two thirds of the 501st ' s total strength . The trooper ' s last recorded entry in his journal detailed his thoughts on the Battle of Hoth and its aftermath . In 3 ABY , Darth Vader and the Imperial Navy discovered the Alliance ' s hidden base on Hoth . The trooper was dispatched to the planet ' s surface with a large assault force consisting of snowtroopers and several All Terrain Armored Transports . After destroying the planet ' s shield generator , the 501st — led by Darth Vader in person — stormed the Alliance base and engaged the remaining Rebels in a firefight outside of the main hangar . They managed to plant a homing beacon beneath one of the last GR - 75 medium transports , thus enabling an Imperial Star Destroyer to destroy the transport from orbit . The trooper and other soldiers of the 501st gathered around the burning remains of the fallen Rebel starship and celebrated what they believed was a symbol of the Rebellion ' s final destruction . By the time of his discharge after many years of active service , the retired trooper was a veteran of the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War . He reminisced about the Rebel Alliance ' s defeat at the Battle of Hoth , an event which he also believed to be responsible for the restoration of order throughout the galaxy . Knowing that a new and larger Death Star was under construction , the former trooper felt secured in the belief that the Galactic Empire had prevailed once more , an achievement which he credited to the clone soldiers of Darth Vader ' s 501st Legion . His confidence in the Empire ' s ultimate victory , however , was proven false . A year after the Battle of Hoth , the Alliance won a decisive victory at the Battle of Endor , hence resulting in the fragmentation of the Empire and the dissolution of the 501st Legion . Personality and traits . The clone trooper was a fiercely loyal soldier who believed in what he and his brethren were created to be : an army of soldiers designed to be highly efficient and highly obedient . As a young clone , he was initially unsure of his readiness for war , admitting how years of training on Kamino did not compare to a real battlefield . However , the Republic ' s first victory on Geonosis reinforced the trooper ' s morale , believing himself battle - hardened and ready to serve the Republic in the Clone Wars . In several entries of his journal , the trooper conveyed feelings of respect and even admiration for some members of the Jedi Order , particularly Aayla Secura , whom he credited for single - handedly saving the 501st during its mission on Felucia . The clone also held Yoda ' s fighting prowess in high regard , given that the trooper acknowledged how the Jedi Grand Master ' s presence on Kashyyyk all but guaranteed the Republic ' s success against a Separatist invasion force . Despite his unyielding loyalty to the Republic , the trooper privately questioned some of his orders on occasion , particularly the ones that he did not understand or even agree with . Although he later developed a new - found sense of appreciation for the combat skills of the Wookiee warriors , the trooper was initially dismayed at the thought of so many clones dying for a race he dismissed as a " bunch of walking carpets . " After Order 66 was initiated , the trooper quietly lamented the death of Secura , hoping that she was at least granted a quick death . During Operation : Knightfall , he concealed his own misgivings about the order to execute every member of the Jedi Order . Nevertheless , he remained focused on his duty , which he carried out with the same silence and cold determination that had overtaken the 501st Legion as they invaded the Jedi Temple . Afterward , the clone adapted well to his new life as an Imperial stormtrooper . He staunchly supported the ideals of the New Order and obediently enforced Emperor Palpatine ' s rule through the brutal tactics that earned the 501st its nickname as " Vader ' s fist . " When remnants of the former Separatist movement threatened to cause another outbreak of civil war , the trooper expressed utter hatred and contempt for the clones ' battle droid counterparts . He could not bear the thought of fighting against more of his enemies from the Clone Wars , all of whom he bitterly referred to as " gearheads . " His loyalty to the Empire was so complete to the point where he had no reservations for fighting against his own kind , specifically an entire generation of Fett clones that had been engineered to take up arms against the Empire . Yet despite his subservient nature , the trooper did not approve of the Emperor ' s decision to marginalize Jango Fett ' s progeny with additional clones based on different templates . As the years went by , the trooper lamented on how the Imperial Army steadily became more diverse , much to the chagrin of the Fett clones . The trooper , like many of his fellow Clone Wars veterans , secretly enjoyed stamping out local insurrections , simply because they gave the stormtroopers something to do in a time when very few were willing to oppose the Empire ' s military might . When the Rebel Alliance declared war against the Empire , the trooper complimented how the Rebellion was organized and growing in number . After the Death Star ' s destruction , the trooper was filled with hatred for the Rebels , all of whom he blamed for the deaths of so many Imperial soldiers , including two thirds of the 501st , some of whom he had served with since the beginning of the Clone Wars . Thus he came to regard the Rebellion as a dangerous threat , not just to the Empire , but also to the peace and security of the galaxy . Equipment . The trooper was originally outfitted with the standard equipment of rank - and - file clone troopers , specifically the Phase I battle armor , the DC - 15A blaster rifle , the DC - 15S , and thermal grenades . Near the end of the Clone Wars , his armor was replaced with its more advanced Phase II successor , which incorporated the distinctive blue markings of the 501st Legion . When the Republic was reorganized into the Empire , the trooper upgraded to the standard stormtrooper armor . His primary and secondary weapons were switched to the E - 11 blaster rifle and the SE - 14r light repeating blaster , respectively . Behind the scenes . Temuera Morrison provided the voice of the battle - weary clone trooper , who is referred to in the " " credits as the " retired clone trooper . "