Clone stormtrooper Clone stormtroopers were the original elite soldiers of the Galactic Empire . After the fall of the Galactic Republic and the formation of Emperor Palpatine ' s New Order , the Republic Grand Army ' s clone troopers were re - designated as stormtroopers . Throughout the early years of Palpatine ' s reign , the Empire continued to utilize the Jango Fett template , but later commissioned the creation of new troopers from different genetic sources . Cloning remained essential to the Imperial Military , although the introduction of birth - born recruits into the ranks of the Stormtrooper Corps gradually reduced clone soldiers to a minority status . History . From clone troopers to stormtroopers . As the Clone Wars entered their final stage , the clone shock troopers of the Coruscant Guard earned the nickname " stormtroopers " in their capacity as military enforcers of martial law on the Republic capital . Their presence on Coruscant was a visible symbol of the planet ' s new security measures , enacted by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in order to transform the ecumenopolis into a virtual fortress world . The term " stormtrooper " was officially adopted by all clone troopers in 19 BBY following Emperor Palpatine ' s reorganization of the Old Republic into the first Galactic Empire . The newly formed Stormtrooper Corps served as the Emperor ' s elite military wing throughout the era of the New Order , using clones of the same template that produced the original clone army of the Republic . For a time , the Empire maintained the same army that enabled Palpatine — the public persona of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious — to gain absolute power of the galactic government . Though the majority of clone soldiers were still produced in the cloning facilities of Kamino , the Empire also retained the services of Arkanian Microtechnologies , a corporation that used Spaarti technology to grow adult clones in a full year ' s time . During the galaxy ' s transition from democracy to despotism , the stormtroopers retained the Phase II battle armor they customized with unit colors and markings during the Clone Wars . But the alterations that the New Order introduced soon affected the Empire ' s shock trooper s , particularly their armor and weapons . Prior to the creation of stormtrooper armor , the Empire brought an end to the Republic tradition of unit markings and armor customization . Stormtroopers restored their clone armor to a blank white condition , thus emphasizing the Empire ' s preference for uniformity and obedience in contrast to individuality and creativity . GeNode program . A modified version of the Arkanian cloning process was developed during the early years of the New Order , enabling the Empire to initiate the GeNode Program that created clone lines of soldiers that were noted for efficiency and obedience . But unlike the clones that were created through Kaminoan and Arkanian techniques , GeNode clones were conditioned to believe that they were real Human beings , a falsehood reinforced by artificial memories and full names . As a result of their programming , they could not comprehend the fact that they were clones , nor were they able to discuss cloning with other GeNode clones . GeNode clone lines were maintained in clandestine facilities located in the Empire ' s Outer Rim territories . The program used at least four genotypes , although GeNode subjects were conditioned with the inability to recognize fellow clones of the same template . A unit of GeNode stormtroopers participated in an Imperial invasion of Kashyyyk , the Wookiee homeworld , where they served under the command of the Emperor ' s apprentice , the Sith Lord Darth Vader . The GeNode program ultimately fell out of favor due to cases of psychological instability in its clone subjects . Despite all efforts to prevent the clones from discovering their true origins , some GeNodes overcame their programming and were horrified to find themselves surrounded by identical soldiers , leading to several occasions where defective troopers killed their fellow clones in rage and terror . Cases of clone uprisings . In the months that followed Palpatine ' s rise to absolute power , Darth Vader contracted Arkanian Microtechnologies with the task of creating six prototype clones from a Force - sensitive template — the Dark Jedi Sa Cuis , one of the Emperor ' s Hand s . Though outfitted with the standard armor of all stormtroopers , the Cuis clone s were armed with red - bladed lightsabers , mirroring the weapons of their Sith creators . Vader occasionally tested the clones ' combat skills in practice duels , but their training was personally overseen by Sheyvan , another Hand who instructed the clones in basic Force techniques and lightsaber combat . Vader and his Master regarded Sa Cuis ' s progeny as a complete success and quickly placed an order with the Arkanians for a battalion of Force - sensitive stormtroopers . Sheyvan undermined their plans for the Cuis clones , however . Dismayed to learn that he was merely one of many personal assassins employed by Palpatine , the once - loyal Hand co - opted the loyalty of Cuis ' s clones and used them in an attempt to overthrow the Emperor . Their efforts to kill Palpatine were thwarted by Vader , who killed the rogue Hand and the six prototype clones with the aid of ordinary clones from the Lekauf template . Aside from a few outside sources , the vast majority of stormtroopers were Fett clones , engineered through Kaminoan and Arkanian processes . Their dominance of the stormtrooper ranks , however , began to erode by 12 BBY after a failed rebellion on Kamino exposed a secret army of clones that had been engineered to fight against the Galactic Empire . Though the rogue clones were annihilated and the uprising neutralized , the incident convinced Palpatine that the Empire could no longer depend on an army of clone stormtroopers from the same genotype . New clone lines were established soon after the Kaminoan rebels ' defeat , leading to the production of soldiers from various non - Fett templates . With the exception of the 501st Legion , the new stormtroopers quickly grew to outnumber the Fett clones throughout the entire military . In addition to two failed clone rebellions of Kamino in the Empire ' s history , a third conspiracy against the Emperor ' s rule was discreetly carried out by Grand Moff Trachta and a clique of ambitious Imperial officers who discreetly engineered a small army of clone stormtroopers . Programmed to be obedient to the conspirators , the rogue clones spared no sense of loyalty to the Sith regime . The first phase of the plot was initiated while Darth Vader was away from Coruscant . The second part involved detonating a bomb on the Emperor ' s Lambda - class T - 4a shuttle . Although Palpatine was unharmed due to his Force - based sense of precognition , many of his personal stormtroopers and Royal Guards were killed in the explosion . Trachta offered to deploy his own clone soldiers to the Imperial Palace for the Emperor ' s protection , intending to trap and kill his isolated sovereign . But the conspiracy was foiled by internal strife ; Trachta had been betrayed and killed by his fellow subversives , shortly before they marched into the Emperor ' s throne room with the rogue clones . The attack was over almost as quickly as it had begun . Anticipating the officers ' intentions , Palpatine ordered several Red Guards to ambush the conspirators . After a brief skirmish between his bodyguards and the treacherous stormtroopers , Palpatine unleashed a wave of Force lightning to kill his would - be assassins . The decline . To maintain the Galactic Empire ' s monopoly on the cloning industry , the New Order banned the creation of more clone soldiers while also keeping its existing cloning operations in full production . The locations of all cloning facilities throughout the Empire were classified and placed under military jurisdiction for security purposes . However , the significance of clone soldiers steadily declined over the course of several years with the introduction of enlisted stormtroopers . Although Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader both favored clones as soldiers , the Empire began to gradually supplement its clone units with birth - born recruits due to the strain that cloning had on the Imperial economy and armed forces . The Kaminoan process created an army that had been hailed during the Clone Wars as the greatest fighting force in galactic history , but their clones were an expensive drain on financial resources and took a decade to mature . Arkanian technology was meant to compensate for the long growth process of Kaminoan clones , but their products were well below the efficiency rate that had been credited to the Republic ' s clone army . Given the drawbacks of the military ' s dependence on cloning , the Empire had no shortage of Humans that could be recruited to serve as stormtroopers . The number of enlisted troopers increased exponentially throughout the decade before the Battle of Yavin , culminating in their rise as the dominant majority in the ranks while clones became a rarity in the once all - clone Stormtrooper Corps by 1 BBY . Thrawn ' s clone army . The deaths of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader in 4 ABY left the Galactic Empire in a state of utter chaos and disorder following the Rebel Alliance ' s victory at the Battle of Endor . Without a clear line of succession , the central government on Coruscant failed to prevent the Stormtrooper Corps from becoming fragmented into smaller units under the control of various warlords who squabbled over leadership of the Empire . By 9 ABY , five years after the Imperials ' defeat on Endor , Grand Admiral Thrawn launched a campaign to reunite the fractured Empire under his own leadership by destroying the Rebels — now reconstituted as the New Republic . In order to realize his dream of a resurgent Empire , Thrawn replenished the Stormtrooper Corps with a new army of clone soldiers engineered via several Spaarti cylinders . The clones were bred from a variety of templates , including General Maximilian Veers , Baron Soontir Fel , Corporal Terkuss of the Imperial Army and Lieutenant Creb of the Imperial Navy . In addition , the stormtrooper clones were cut off from the Force via the use of Ysalamir i , resulting in the production of clones in a matter of weeks , putting them at an advantage . The creation of clone stormtroopers rejuvenated the Empire ' s depleted manpower , but the Imperial counteroffensive against the Republic was short - lived due to the assassination of Thrawn by his own Noghri bodyguards . Post - Galactic Civil War . After the Galactic Civil War ended in 19 ABY with the decisive victory of the New Republic , the Stormtrooper Corps survived the dissolution of Palpatine ' s New Order , but as a remnant of its former glory . Stormtroopers still existed throughout the decades after the Battle of Endor . However , the Empire of the Hand , the Imperial Remnant and various other successor states of the original Empire became heavily reliant on the recruitment of enlisted troopers . Under Palpatine ' s reign , stormtrooper recruits and clones were exclusively Human . The reforms introduced by the Hand and Remnant governments allowed Non - Humans to join the Stormtrooper Corps . By 130 ABY , clone stormtroopers were virtually unheard of as the military became heavily diverse in a sea of enlisted troopers from a variety of different backgrounds .