Elite Praetorian Guard The Elite Praetorian Guard was a force of eight human warriors who were tasked with the protection of Supreme Leader Snoke , the leader of the First Order . Following the tradition of the Emperor ' s Royal Guard , the personal bodyguard s of Emperor Sheev Palpatine , the Praetorian Guards wore red robe s and armor . They specialized in various martial arts , including Teräs Käsi , and carried various high - tech melee weapon s . Following Snoke ' s assassin ation at the hands of Kylo Ren , the Praetorians — including the First , Third and Seventh Guard s — attempted to avenge his death . They fought very well , and , for a brief moment , almost overwhelmed Ren and Rey but were ultimately killed by the duo . After their destruction , Ren succeeded Snoke as Supreme Leader of the First Order . History . As the First Order mirrored many of the dark traditions of the Galactic Empire , the Elite Praetorian Guard originated from the Emperor ' s Royal Guard , personal bodyguard s of Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine . The Praetorian Guard was an elite force of eight human warriors who protected the First Order ' s leader , Supreme Leader Snoke . They flanked the Supreme Leader in his throne room , and held in Snoke ' s " Mega " - class Star Dreadnought , the " Supremacy " . Aside from their obvious origin from the Emperor ' s Royal Guard , they also were derived to some extent from the Atrisian Emperor ' s royal guards , in particular how each of them operated in pairs . Three of the guards were known as the First , Third and Seventh Guard s , respectively . Snoke had to rely on them for dealing with physical threats from a lethal distance , as while he still retained his potent Force abilities , he was well past his prime regarding his physical prowess and thus could not deal with any direct threats to him . The guards were holding court as usual in Snoke ' s throne room when the Supreme Leader summoned his apprentice Kylo Ren , whom he proceeded to berate for his losses on Starkiller Base . When Kylo responded aggressively to the taunting , the guards quickly assumed combat - ready stances but stood down at Snoke ' s gesture . While Snoke was telling Rey how she and the Resistance were doomed , Rey grabbed Kylo Ren ' s lightsaber to attack him , the Guards immediately attempted to attack her but Snoke called them down . As she tried to attack Snoke , he used the force to push her away while the Guards returned to neutral stances . When Snoke was assassinated by Ren , the Praetorian Guards immediately sprung into action to avenge the death of their leader . Ren and Rey , who were present for the assassination , engaged all eight of the guards in a short yet intense fight . The guards were , at first , evenly matched against the two Force - wielders , with their weapons being resistant to their foe ' s lightsabers and managed to score a wound apiece on them . However , they were ultimately no match for the two and fell one by one , with the last guard being killed when Ren ignited Rey ' s lightsaber , which she had thrown to him , through his faceplate , killing him instantly . Ren then assumed the title of Supreme Leader . Equipment and training . The Elite Praetorian Guards were clad in ornate crimson armor , robe s and plastoid helmet . The layered crimson armor of the Praetorian Guard is a high - tech onion - skin of laminate , impregnated with conductive wirepaths that , once powered , create an intense local magnetic field . Once this energy - intensive field activates , the powered plates can deflect blaster fire . Even a lightsaber will glance off , though a directed thrust will penetrate the shell . The mag - coils are costly , the plates heavy , and mag - field exposure is ultimately painful to the wearer . They were merciless , persistent , and specialized in melee combat , as Snoke sensed they would eventually fight lightsaber users . The Praetorian Guards boasted an arsenal of melee weapon s that were high - tech versions of unpowered analogs found in primitive societies across the galaxy , such as long vibro - voulge s , electro - bisento s with an electro - plasma energy filament running along the blade ' s edge — flailing Bilari electro - chain whip s , and heavy double - bladed vibro - arbir blade s that could also be separated into dagger - like single - bladed weapons to adjust to any battle scenario . Different Praetorian Guards would specialize in what variation they normally kept they ' re weapon in . The precise , sweeping movements of their martial arts fighting style struck fear into the hearts of foes . The eight Praetorian Guards were really four sets of pairs that wielded the same weapon . The First Guard both wielded electro - bisentos . The Third Guard utilized Bilari electro - chain whips and the Seventh Guard made use of dual vibro - arbir blades . Although the Praetorians ' weapons and plate armor ; which could resist lightsaber attacks — as well as their training enabled them to hold their own against both Ren and Rey for a time , the guards were ultimately defeated and killed by the Force - sensitive pair . Behind the scenes . The Elite Praetorian Guard was created and developed for , the eighth film in the " Star Wars " saga , which was released on December 15 , 2017 . The Praetorian Guard was officially revealed in an article by " " , released on August 9 , 2017 . The Guards made their first appearance in " " , a young adult Golden Book title published on September 5 , 2017 as part of the " " series . They were portrayed in " Star Wars " : Episode VIII " The Last Jedi " by James Cox , Dan Euston , David R . Grant , Florian Robin , Andy Wareham , William Willoughby , Liang Yang and Karanja Yorke . Rian Johnson , the writer and director of " The Last Jedi " , wanted the Praetorian Guards to be built to move , to seem dangerous more like ; in contrast to the Emperor ' s Royal Guards , which looked very formal and ceremonial . The Praetorian Guards ' costume was designed by Michael Kaplan in parallel to Johnson ' s vision . The guards were named after the real - life whose members served as personal bodyguards to the .