Death trooper

Death troopers, also known as death soldiers or AWR Troopers, were an elite variant of stormtroopers specializing in stealth, espionage and lethality that served the Galactic Empire. Operating under the death trooper division, they acted as a protective detail for significant Imperial officers and members of the Tarkin Initiative, as well as special-assignment commandos for Imperial Intelligence. They wore black suits of body armor and specialized helmets with vocal scramblers, micro-motion sensors, and heads-up displays with data on enemy and friendly positions on the battlefield. Death troopers were trained in unarmed combat, heavy weapons, demolitions, improvised weaponry, guerrilla warfare, and marksmanship. Experts at covering their tracks, death troopers left little to no evidence of their missions. Identifiable by their distinct black armor, death troopers struck fear in the heart of anyone who crossed the Empire.
==History==
===Age of the Empire===
Death troopers were named by Emperor Palpatine himself to capitalize on rumors about a legendary Imperial Military Department of Advanced Weapons Research project to revive necrotic tissue, which ultimately resulted in the creation of uncontrollable Undead Troopers during the Galactic Civil War.Star Wars: Commander An Imperial who wanted to create especially effective stormtroopers and battle droids and thus launched several projects to such ends, Gideon, who eventually became a moff, was at the head of the dark trooper project.
Early during the construction of the Death Star above the planet Geonosis, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin was accompanied by a squad of death troopers to Scarif to confront a breach of security by the Emperor's lieutenant, Darth Vader. After Governor Tarkin confronted the cyborg, Lord Vader was ordered by Emperor Palpatine to uncover who was responsible for several sabotage attempts on the Death Star's construction.
After arriving on Geonosis, Commander Orson Callan Krennic greeted Lord Vader on a landing pad with a number of death troopers. An assassination attempt was made on Krennic and Vader, as an explosion sent a pile of rocks crashing down on the Imperials, crushing several death troopers. Despite the attempt, Vader investigated and eventually learned that a rogue Geonosian hive led by a Geonosian queen were responsible. The Dark Lord of the Sith and a contingent of death troopers then fought in a skirmish in the Korakanni Mound, killing the saboteurs and the queen.
In 13 BBY, a squad of death troopers accompanied the Imperial weapons division's Director, Orson Krennic, to Lah'mu. There, they demolished the Erso homestead and took Galen Erso to complete his work on the Death Star. One of the troopers killed Erso's wife, Lyra, and the squad attempted to find his daughter, Jyn Erso, with no success.Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
===Growing rebellion===
During the early days of the Rebel Alliance, 2 Death Troopers accompanied ISB Supervisor Dedra Meero during her hunt for Andor and his adoptive mother's funeral at Ferrix in 5 BBY. Another squad of death troopers served under the command of the Seventh Fleet's commander, Grand Admiral Thrawn, where they assisted him in capturing former ISB agent Kallus, following the latter's discovery as a Rebel spy, and held him during the Battle of Atollon. In the later part of the battle, the squad accompanied Thrawn to Chopper Base in an attempt to capture senior Alliance officers such as General Jan Dodonna and Captain Hera Syndulla. However, the Rebels were able to escape when a mystical Force being called the Bendu attacked both the Imperial and Rebel forces. On Thrawn's orders, the death troopers concentrated their fire at Bendu, wounding him and sending him crashing to the ground.
In 1 BBY,Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of "In the Name of the Rebellion" to 1 BBY. a squad under Commander DT-F16 accompanied a kyber crystal shipment and several technicians aboard Freighter 2716. After departing from Faos Station, DT-F16 and her squad came under attack by Partisans' leader Saw Gerrera and Spectres Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren. DT-F16, her squad and other troopers were then left behind by the Spectres and were destroyed, along with Captain Slavin's Star Destroyer when the kyber crystal they were escorting exploded.
A death trooper, DT-L21, was stationed at Jhothal. There, he commanded stormtroopers when they discovered that the Spectres had returned. He, his Viper probe droids and troopers searched the sewers for the Spectres, to no avail. The death troopers then accompanied Grand Admiral Thrawn and Governor Pryce to the Imperial airfield to watch a test flight of the new TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighter Elite. When Bridger revealed himself, the death troopers were ordered by Thrawn to secure the TIE/D Defender. However, they lost when Wren stole the fighter.
Several death troopers then assisted Governor Pryce and Rukh in pursuing Syndulla when Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus rescued her from the Imperial complex. The death troopers were able to catch to Jarrus and Syndulla.
Two death troopers were assigned to one of the Emperor's advisers, Minister Veris Hydan, as the Empire and Mining Guild were excavating Lothal's Jedi Temple. They assisted Hydan in interrogating Wren, striking her in the head. However, Wren was able to knock one out when Captain Garazeb Orrelios rescued her, stealing his blaster in the process.
Several death troopers were stationed at the Imperial Complex. With Rukh, the death troopers fought the rebels and attempted to stop them from reactivating the shields. They were taken out by Captain Orrelios. The remaining death troopers of Admiral Thrawn's guard were with him aboard the Chimaera and were taken out by Commander Bridger before the ship was taken by the Purrgil to Peridea.
===War===
One year later, death troopers would continue to escort Director Krennic during the Death Star's initial testing stage at Jedha and during his trip to Eadu. He would later deploy his death trooper squad during the Battle of Scarif when they fought Rebel ground forces that had infiltrated the planet. They managed to annihilate the remnants of the Rebel strike team. However, the entire squad was killed by Baze Malbus and Cassian Andor shortly before Krennic's own death.
In the aftermath of the Battle of Yavin, death troopers served aboard Hivebase-1, a secret space station made by the Tarkin Initiative, serving under Commander Yewl.Doctor Aphra (2016) 18 Yewl's death troopers fought Dr. Aphra's crew and their prisoner, Rebel General Hera Syndulla, until they escaped. They were killed when Hivebase-1 was destroyed.Doctor Aphra (2016) 19
Several accompanied Lieutenant-Inspector Magna Tolvan on Coruscant.Doctor Aphra (2016) 21 A squad of death troopers were deployed by Sergeant Cordo into the mission to destroy the rebel cannon. After Cordo's death and the loss of three of the squad, the three survivors were selected to be the personal guard of Lord Vader, informal Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Military. Following the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY,Star Wars: Galactic Atlas the troopers accompanied him on his quest for revenge against everyone that had hidden his son, Luke Skywalker, from him. Another unit accompanied Administrator Sly Moore when she traveled to Mustafar to oversee a mission being undertaken by the Sith assassin Ochi of Bestoon. The squad surrounded Ochi with their blasters trained as Moore commanded him to verify his job, to assassinate Darth Vader, had been completed.
Death troopers were sent to deal with the scoundrel Kay Vess after she meddled in the Empire's affairs, but the young woman was able to escape them.
===After the Empire===
Approximately nine years after the Battle of Yavin,According to , the events of The Mandalorian take place about five years after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates to 4 ABY. Therefore, simple math reveals that the events of The Mandalorian take place around 9 ABY. a squad of death troopers served in an Imperial remnant led by Moff Gideon. The troopers opened fire on a cantina on Nevarro, killing "the Client" and several stormtroopers while also trapping "the Mandalorian," Greef Karga and Carasynthia Dune inside.
The standoff was interrupted shortly after, with IG-11 arriving to assist the Mandalorian and his comrades. As the group fought their way out of the cantina, a fierce battle ensued, with two death troopers resorting to hand-to-hand combat after they were disarmed. With the fight raging outdoors, several death troopers circled around to breach the cantina, and attempted to flush Cara Dune out with saturated blaster fire. The remaining death troopers escorted Moff Gideon, as he gave the order to "burn them out."
Around 9 ABY, a pair of death troopers were among Grand Admiral Thrawn's forces on the extragalactic planet Peridea. Despite having died at some point, they were re-animated by way of Nightsister magick, attacking Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger during the battle of Peridea. Despite the challenge posed by their undead status, both Jedi managed to overcome their enemies, with Wren unlocking the Force within herself to claim her lightsaber, which she used to take down her opponent.
===Legacy===
During the Cold War between the Resistance and the First Order, Agent Terex of the First Order Security Bureau had possession of a death trooper helmet aboard the Carrion Spike that was displayed next to the helmets of an Imperial Royal Guard, an AT-AT pilot, a coastal defender stormtrooper, and others, along with a custom set of armor.Poe Dameron 8
The helmet of Trudgen, one of the Knights of Ren, contained a section of a death trooper helmet, indicating that he'd defeated one at some point in time.Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary
==Training==
Death troopers were elite stormtroopers in the Galactic Empire's military. Stormtrooper candidates who excelled at their training were reassigned to the advanced death trooper camp on Scarif. Death troopers were required to meet rigid physical and ideological standards, with height and weight standards that exceeded typical trooper averages. The candidates were also subjected to a battery of physical tests and classified surgical enhancements that drastically enhanced their physical and mental attributes such as their strength, speed, agility, reflexes, and stamina, pushing those attributes to "far beyond human" levels. Additionally, death troopers had to complete rigorous training in exotic environments to be stronger, faster, and more resilient than the norm. Other specialties included unarmed combat, heavy weapons, demolitions, improvised weaponry, guerrilla warfare, and marksmanship. In the field, death troopers operated in small groups, with each trooper specializing in a specific skill set.
Shortly before the Battle of Scarif, General Sotorus Ramda requested to be returned two platoons of death troopers, as their training camp on Scarif needed more instructors. Ramda preferred veteran death troopers with body augmentations at v1.01 or earlier.Star Wars: The Rebel Files
==Equipment==
===Specialized armor===
Death troopers were equipped with advanced armor considered an improvement over the standard stormtrooper kit. The helmet featured a number of advanced sensor and targeting systems to give total situational awareness of combat areas, enemies and allies. These various upgrades to the helmet systems included a Neuro-Saav macromotion monitor, multi-frequency targeting and acquisition sensors, and image-intensifying active pulse emitters, the latter of which was stored within the two green "dots" at the bottom front of the helmet. The helmets also included voice scramblers which allowed them to speak in death trooper encryption, which made their communications impossible for anyone except another death trooper to understand, along with adding to their intimidating appearance.
Death trooper armor was covered by a spray polymer called reflec, which warped electromagnetic signals commonly found in sensor arrays. This made death troopers well suited for stealth operations. Underneath their armor, troopers wore an environmentally sealed bodysuit. Death trooper pauldrons on their right shoulder denoted rank, but appeared black and featureless to individuals if not viewed through a stormtrooper visor.
===Weaponry===
Death troopers were equipped with a variety of tools and weapons depending on their specialties. On their chest, death troopers strapped on an IM-40 three-slot ammunition and tool pouch. Weapons commonly used included the SE-14r light repeating blaster, E-11D blaster carbine, DLT-19D heavy blaster rifle, DLT-19 heavy blaster rifle, and Smart Rockets.Star Wars Battlefront Grenades included the C-25 fragmentation grenade, baradium thermal detonator, a Sonic Imploder, or a thermal imploder.
==Behind the scenes==
The first footage of the death trooper was shown in the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story teaser trailer on April 7, 2016. According to the Us Magazine Collector's Edition - Star Wars Rogue One article Going Rogue, the death troopers were comparable to and inspired by the United States Navy SEALs and SWATs.Going Rogue
In the digital gaming platform Fortnite, the death trooper was identified as AWR Trooper.Fortnite While no clear indication was given in regards to the canonicity of the term, Pablo Hidalgo suggested that the change might be made to follow the brand standards of Fortnite. Leland Chee later confirmed that AWR Trooper was an alternate name first created for Disney Parks.
==Appearances==
===Non-canon appearances===
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*Fortnite 
*The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special
*LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga 
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*LEGO Fortnite Odyssey
==Sources==
===Non-canon sources===
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==Notes and references==
Category:Galactic Empire stormtrooper variants