Emperor ' s Shadow Guard The Emperor ' s Shadow Guard was an organization of elite , Force - sensitive soldiers recruited from the defeated remnants of the Sun Guard and Jedi Knights who fell to the Dark Side . They served the Galactic Empire during the Great Jedi Purge . They were trained by Darth Vader . Characteristics . Few Imperials knew the true origins of the mysterious and powerful Shadow Guard , an elite special operations unit within the Emperor ' s Royal Guard . They were silent and enigmatic warriors that received orders directly from Emperor Palpatine himself and were often sent to eliminate suspected Jedi and other Force users . When necessary they would also be put under the supervision of Darth Vader . These guardsmen demonstrated Force powers of their own which led many to suspect that they were in fact former Jedi that had been captured , tortured and brainwashed by Palpatine , but this was a rumor that was never proven . The Shadow Guards commanded a great level of respect within the Empire ' s ranks and often led quartets of Imperial Stormtroopers into battle against the Emperor ' s most hated foes . Shadow Guard members were always guarded by their own detail made up of Imperial Navy Commandos or stormtroopers , or in certain cases , members of the standard Royal Guard , although they were easily defeated during their battles with Starkiller . They were capable of using a range of Force abilities such as Force lightning , Force Repulse , Force Push , Force Choke and Force Maelstrom . History . Near the end of the Clone Wars conflict , the Sith apprentice Count Dooku ordered his minion Asajj Ventress to execute most of the Sun Guard organization . Several of the more devoted Sun Guards were placed in Palpatine ' s Red Guard , later to join his Royal Guard . Those who were Force - sensitive were selected as candidates for the Emperor ' s Shadow Guard . In about 17 BBY , two members of the Shadow Guard were sent to a Golan space defense platform in orbit of the planet Byss , to serve Inquisitor Valin Draco as part of a training mission . The station was attacked by the Alderaanian Resistance during the Battle of Byss and the Shadow Guards fought against a number of Resistance agents that had boarded the station . The Shadow Guard were used during operations in 2 BBY , in attempts to silence Darth Vader ' s rogue Sith apprentice , Starkiller . A lone Shadow Guard , along with several Imperial Navy commando s was sent to Nar Shaddaa when Starkiller tried to find Jedi Master Rahm Kota at a local bar called the Undertow , where he had caused a commotion in searching for information as to Kota ' s whereabouts . The Shadow Guard was killed when Starkiller used a Force Maelstrom to blow him out of the bar . Having extinguished this threat , Starkiller headed to Cloud City on Bespin . Four other Shadow Guards were sent to Cloud City with a squad of stormtroopers to assassinate both Starkiller and Master Kota but were forced to fight Starkiller in several duels , one of which where their bolts of force lightning collided in a battle of wills whereas , despite all the efforts to move the ball of energy towards the his opponent , Starkiller easily overpowered the guard . The guard was then hit with both Starkiller ' s bolt and his own killing him instantaneously . At least one was stationed on Kashyyyk and tried to prevent Starkiller from getting near the Imperial skyhook , but he was subdued and killed by the aspiring Sith pupil , who ran him through with his own lightsaber pike . At least one was found on Raxus Prime in the Imperial Ore Facility , though this was actually PROXY using a program based on a Shadow Guard to try to kill Starkiller . Later , the young apprentice actually encountered a real Shadow Guard at the Ore Cannon Control . He met his end when Starkiller trapped him in a Force Grip and threw him into the ore cannon , incinerating him . A final known Shadow Guard led the last line of defense of Palpatine ' s watchtower on the Death Star I , this one backed by a quartet of Royal Guards wielding lightsaber pikes . The guard was grappled by Starkiller , who broke his neck and killed him . Equipment . Their appearance was identical to the Royal Guard , except that their armor and visor colors were inverted , with the full body armor and robe being black and the visor red . The armor provided them a great deal of protection making it both functional as well as ceremonial in purpose . Their primary weapon was a lightsaber pike with a red beam extending from the tip of the weapon . In addition to this , their equipment included a heavy blaster pistol as well as a utility belt which included a medpac . Furthermore , they possessed a comlink which was long range , encrypted and miniaturized as well as including holo capability . Behind the scenes . In the Wii and PS2 versions of " The Force Unleashed " , because PROXY fighting against Galen Marek was omitted from the Raxus Prime mission , Marek fought against an actual Shadow Guard . Upon being defeated , Marek telekinetically threw him into the ore cannon , incinerating him .