Unidentified 501st stormtrooper A Human male clone stormtrooper of the Galactic Empire served in the 501st Legion during the Galactic Civil War . In 0 BBY , he was stationed aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer " Devastator " , under the command of Lord Darth Vader . The Star Destroyer pursued and captured the Rebel CR90 corvette " Tantive IV " , which was transporting the stolen plans of the Death Star battlestation . The Trooper participated in the following siege of the " Tantive IV " , and after the starship was secured , he was ordered to search for passengers . He found Senator Leia Organa , but she outdrew and shot him dead . Biography . A Human male was a clone of the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett , the prime clone of the Grand Army of the Republic . The clone served as a trooper in the Galactic Empire ' s Stormtrooper Corps . During the Galactic Civil War , he was a member of the 501st Legion , an elite stormtrooper legion , and was assigned to the " Imperial I " - class Star Destroyer " Devastator " , commanded by Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader . In 0 BBY , after Rebel agents transmitted the stolen plans of the first Death Star — a new Imperial superweapon — to the Rebel CR90 corvette " Tantive IV " , Senator Leia Organa ' s consular ship , the " Devastator " pursued and captured the Rebel vessel over the planet Tatooine . Led by the assault commander , the Trooper ' s squad boarded the " Tantive IV " in the first wave of troops . Just after stormtroopers captured the Rebel Captain Raymus Antilles on the corvette ' s bridge , the Trooper reported to the Commander that Vader had come aboard the " Tantive IV " . The Dark Lord interrogated Antilles and ordered the stormtroopers to search for the passengers of the ship . DV - 692 , a superior of the Trooper , ordered several subordinates to search one of the passageways and secure the junction , while he led the Trooper and the rest to the port subhallway . Their orders were to search the passageways astern and forward . The Trooper was the first to spot Organa , who had hidden herself in a small alcove . Just after he informed his squadmates of Organa ' s presence , she shot the Trooper dead and tried to escape , but DV - 692 stunned her with his E - 11 blaster rifle . The Trooper ' s squad escorted Organa to Vader who , after a brief conversation with the prisoner , ordered them to take her to the " Devastator " . Personality and traits . The Trooper stood at a height of 1 . 83 meters . He felt himself lucky when he recognized Senator Leia Organa as the passenger Darth Vader wanted alive , and he saw a chance for a commendation . However , the Trooper was not as quick with a blaster as the Senator , who outdrew and shot him shortly before she was stunned by DV - 692 . Behind the scenes . The character first appeared in the December 1976 of , ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster . He was played by an uncredited extra in " A New Hope " , released the following year . His scene was one of the last few of principle photography , filmed sometime between June 29 and July 16 , 1976 in the . Terry McGovern worked as a voice actor during the production of " A New Hope " and listed his lines on his home page . However , McGovern did not include " " Set for stun " " , which indicated that the character ' s line was performed by one of the other three stormtrooper voice actors : Jerry Walters , Scott Beach or Morgan Upton . The actor ' s voice was said over a walkie - talkie and recorded by sound designer Ben Burtt . In the revised fourth draft script of " A New Hope " , as presented in " " , the Trooper is identified simply as " Trooper . " In 1981 , the character ' s role was slightly expanded in the " Star Wars " radio drama , the script of which , as presented in " " , addresses the stormtrooper as ' 4th Trooper . ' In the novelization , the storybook and the Marvel Comics adaptation of " A New Hope " , Senator Organa shoots not only this particular stormtrooper but also another one ; however , it contradicts the movie , where only one trooper is gunned by Organa . The trooper ' s line in some adaptations does not match the one spoken in the movie . In , the role of the stormtrooper and DV - 692 is merged into that of a stormtrooper sergeant , who calls out Leia ' s presence and stuns her , though not before she manages to shoot two other stormtroopers . " Trooper " comic . In 2001 , the tenth issue of Dark Horse Comics ' s " Star Wars Tales " series presented a story entitled " Trooper " , which featured the character as the protagonist . Leland Chee , continuity referee of Lucasfilm , stated that elements of those " Tales " comics are considered S - canon until referenced by C - canon materials . He later confirmed on his Facebook page that this particular story was intended to be non - canon . The comic showed the Trooper as a recruit from Greater Marianas , but that was contradicted by the 2002 " Stormtrooper Patrol " card of Wizards of the Coast ' s " A New Hope " set of its Trading Card Game , which identified the Trooper and his squadmates as clone stormtrooper s . In 2005 , the video game " " stated that all stormtroopers aboard the " Tantive IV " were clones of Jango Fett . The " Trooper " comic presented the events of the opening scene of " A New Hope " from the point of view of the character , beginning with the preparations of the boarding and ending with the death of the protagonist . The story was interrupted by flashbacks to the life and training of the character , some elements of which were contradicted by newer sources , thus rendering the story non - canon . First of all , the comic stated that the character was born on the previously unreferenced planet of Greater Marianas , where he lived with his father , an old - time yaggie man , and spent his days hunting yaggie s for meat and hide , while he was listening to his father talking about every man being equal and free — all of which the character did not like . The character ' s life changed when an Imperial landing party appeared in a settlement on Greater Marianas , announcing that the planet was now under Imperial protection . The father of the character protested ; however , by the order of the officer in command of the Imperials , who wanted to show an example to the locals , a stormtrooper shot the man dead . Seeing the end of his old life , the character appealed to the Imperial officer to take him with them . To demonstrate his ability to follow orders , no matter what , the officer ordered him to execute a random member of the crowd , an eyepatched man . The character took the SE - 14r light repeating blaster the officer offered him and shot the fellow yaggie man in cold blood . He did not feel it to be evil , but considered it common sense : his way off Greater Marianas . These events were contradicted by " Battlefront II " , which indirectly stated that the character was a Jango Fett clone , not a recruit . The character then had brutal training that initiated him into the stormtrooper ranks . The first test required him to kill his fellow recruits . The training officer offered one single standard issue E - 11 blaster rifle to a group of recruits and announced that the first who killed five others would be accepted to stormtrooper training . The character was the third to complete the task , and thus had to kill ten fellow recruits . After the exercise was over , the officer ordered the survivors to clean up the training ground and to report to the quartermaster . The following wide panels of the comic showed moments of the further training exercises that required the Recruit to risk death of himself and of his fellow recruits . He participated , among other things , in climbing , shooting exercises , and swamp and melee combat training , all designed to drain him of his humanity and individuality , teach him complete obedience to orders , and to value victory over everything , including his own life . As a trooper , he became all but indifferent to the deaths of his comrades and the atrocities he was ordered to carry out . The next flashback showed the character ' s life after completing the training : the Trooper got away from Greater Marianas and was fed , quartered and equipped . He traveled the galaxy , saw worlds he had never imagined and did things he was not proud of , such as burning villages and killing innocents . Later , two fellow stormtroopers brought a dreadlocked Human prisoner before the Trooper . The Human insulted the troopers and his words reminded the Trooper of his father , so he shot him dead and instructed the others to find another prisoner instead . This was the final flashback , and the story returned to the events of the film just before the breaking of the " Tantive IV " hatch . During his career , he participated in dozens of boarding missions and saw many others go in first and die . When the " Devastator " captured the " Tantive IV " , the Trooper and the rest of the boarding party were assembled in one of the Star Destroyer ' s hangars , where Lord Vader inspected them and ordered the Sergeant , who was in command of the boarding party , to take the mission seriously . The Trooper noticed that a fellow stormtrooper behind him got scared of Vader ' s appearance and angry outburst , while he himself cursed the day he ever joined the Empire . As he had done every single time when he was part of a boarding party , the Trooper prayed to himself not to be chosen to go in first , because the first one usually was the first to die . However , he ran out of luck , as the Sergeant chose the Trooper to go in first . The Trooper swore to himself that he would defect from the Empire if he survived the mission . He set a charge on the hatch of the " Tantive IV " and ignited it to force the Rebels inside the ship to flinch . The plan worked and he got in alive , but just behind him the Sergeant was shot by the Rebels . While they moved deeper into the enemy ship , the character noticed that two droids — an obvious reference to protocol droid C - 3PO and astromech droid R2 - D2 — spoiled the Trooper ' s aim at a Rebel when they moved through an ongoing firefight . After the ship was secured , Vader ordered the stormtroopers to search for the passengers . While searching for Organa , the character was thinking about a TIE pilot who deserted after being ordered to kill thousands of innocents , and he was also dealing with his own upcoming desertion . The character ' s final minutes played out slightly differently in the comic than in the film , where he spotted Organa , who outdrew him . In the comic , the thoughts of desertion distracted the Trooper , who became aware of Organa , whom he found the most beautiful girl he had ever seen , only a moment before she shot the character in the face — instead of hitting him on the chestplate , like in the film . The dying Trooper heard DV - 692 ' s shot that hit Organa , and in his final moments , after he heard his superior noting that Organa would be all right , the Trooper realized that he , however , would not .