Stormtrooper Commander

Stormtrooper Commander was a position in the Galactic Empire's Stormtrooper Corps. Stormtroopers with the position were commanding officers and ranking military officers. With their position often distinguished from other troopers via pauldrons that signified their military rank by color, "Stormtrooper Commander" served as an overall term for any ranking stormtrooper officer, whether or not their specific rank was that of "commander." For example, squad leaders, who were Stormtrooper Commanders, wore red or orange pauldrons. Additionally, the term Stormtrooper Commander was the title referring to the Imperial officer of an entire Star Destroyer's stormtrooper attachment, similar to a Starfighter Commander who served as the Star Destroyer's starfighter commanding officer.
==Overview==
===Role===
====Tactics====
Stormtroopers with the position of Stormtrooper Commander were commanding officers, with some, such as the stormtrooper captain who was assigned by Darth Vader to act as a military advisor to Queen Trios of Shu-Torun, being Imperial Academy graduates.Darth Vader (2015) 19 Advancing ahead of subordinates and employing simple commands such as "forward" with brisk hand gestures, Commanders were knowledgeable in strategy and various weapons, thereby allowing them to coordinate group maneuvers of other troopers and launch lethal strikes on behalf of the Galactic Empire. Commanders also reported to and received orders from superiors on behalf of stormtrooper forces,Vader - Dark Visions 5 and in turn, Stormtrooper Commanders shouted orders such as "hands up" to civilians and rebels.
However, some Stormtrooper Commanders were not as stringent. At the time of the Spectres' mission to Agamar two years into the Galactic Civil War, a commander from the Imperial detachment nearest to Agamar engaged in a casual conversation with another trooper while confronting a group of Separatist battle droids, providing insight that in the rare instance where one found such droids, there was usually "a bunch of them." Afterwards, the Stormtrooper Commander simply said to his troopers "alright, you know the drill," allowing them to destroy the battle droids. Nevertheless, the Stormtrooper Commander raised his fist to instruct his men to stop firing.
====Positions====
In one definition, the title of Stormtrooper Commander referred to the Imperial officer in command of a Star Destroyer's stormtrooper detachment, similar to the role of a Star Destroyer's Starfighter Commander. Major Ayer served as the Stormtrooper Commander of the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Chimaera under Commodore Mitth'raw'nuruodo.
===Ranks===
Stormtrooper Commanders could have a multitude of ranks and roles. Commander Kimmund led a detachment of stormtroopers from the 1st Legion.Thrawn: Alliances Commander Atty served as the Field Commander of Imperial forces pacifying Ontotho, fighting alongside other stormtroopers on the front lines.Jedi Fallen Order - Dark Temple 1 A Stormtrooper Commander served as a deck officer at the Lothal Depot, commanding a scanning crew to protect Princess Leia Organa's Sphyrna-class Hammerhead corvettes under Lieutenant Yogar Lyste. As a Stormtrooper Commander, a trooper with the rank of sergeant was at times referred to simply as "Commander" by subordinates. Similarly, captains also served as Stormtrooper Commanders.
Similar to the Stormtrooper Commander, the Purge Trooper Commander was a commanding officer of other Purge Troopers. Purge Trooper Commanders were trained in a variety of weapons and tactics, and mainly used shock grenades alongside a DC-15LE blaster rifle.
===Equipment===
====Gear====
With the addition of being equipped with grenades, Stormtrooper Commanders, as with other stormtroopers, wore stormtrooper armor and were generally armed with E-11 medium blaster rifles,Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know although some used DLT-19 heavy blaster rifles or T-21 light repeating blasters instead.Ultimate Star Wars When not in armor, stormtrooper officers wore a black uniform.
The Stormtrooper Commander serving under the Grand Inquisitor on PM-1203 carried a white, handheld box device. With it, the squad leader confirmed the presence of the ship of the Grand Inquisitor's Jedi quarry, Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger.
====Pauldrons====
Whereas some Stormtrooper Commanders, establishes a stormtrooper appearing in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope without a pauldron as a Stormtrooper Commander.Bounty Hunters 18Thrawn: Alliances 1 including the cold weather assault stormtrooper commanders, did not sport a pauldron, various ranking stormtrooper officers who held the position of Stormtrooper Commander were distinguished by a pauldron worn on their armor. All the same, a black pauldron was a standard accessory for various stormtrooper specializations, including the Recon Stormtrooper,Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes the sandtrooper, and the magma trooper. Stormtrooper Commanders of the latter two wore an orange pauldron in place of black ones.Darth Vader (2017) 24 In addition, an orange or dark blue pauldron with a stylized depiction of a chimaera was worn by stormtroopers stationed aboard the Star Destroyer Chimaera.
For ranking Stormtrooper Commanders, their pauldrons varied in color that were specific to their rank. A black pauldron signified a corporal or sergeant but also saw use for enlisted troopers. In addition to a black pauldron signifying it, a white pauldron also signified a sergeant.Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia All the same, such white pauldron-equipped stormtroopers could still be addressed as "commander." A stormtrooper with an orange pauldron could hold the position of unit leader, squad leader,Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded the rank of sergeant, the rank of captain,Star Wars: A New Hope junior novelization or the rank of commander.Jedi Fallen Order - Dark Temple 1 Those with a red pauldron were also squad leaders, although rocket launcher troopers and stormtrooper grenadiers and also wore a red pauldron.Star Wars Rebels: Recon Missions Sergeant Kreel, Stormtrooper Commander of the Special Commando Advanced Recon Trooper squad Task Force 99, wore an orange pauldron with the Imperial crest emblazon upon it.Star Wars (2015) 21 One stormtrooper sergeant acting as part of a break away sect from the Empire wore an orange pauldron.TIE Fighter 2
===Specialized stormtroopers===
As with other stormtroopers, Stormtrooper Commanders could serve as a part of specialized units of the Stormtrooper Corps such as the scout trooper, the desert stormtrooper,Star Wars: Commander the patrol trooper,Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and the wet-weather gear stormtrooper.Solo: A Star Wars Story – The Official Collector's Edition As a scout trooper commanding officer, a stormtrooper was referred to as a Scout Trooper Commander, and led squads of troopers specially-trained in melee combat. Scout Commanders also had a roll of zipline on the back of their utility belt as well as an electro riot baton, with which they were able to employ specialized techniques against a lightsaber-wielding opponent. Similarly, as a sandtrooper commanding officer, a stormtrooper was referred to as a Sandtrooper Commander. Identified through blood red pauldrons, Purge Trooper Commanders served as leaders amongst the Inquisitorius's Purge Trooper forces through ranks such as captain.Jedi Fallen Order - Dark Temple 3
Shadow trooper commanders wore a black pauldron, while lava trooper officers wore either a red pauldronCrimson Reign 4 or a black pauldron with red lining.Star Wars Adventures: Tales from Vader's Castle 5 Purge Trooper Commanders wore a red pauldron as well, differentiating them from subordinates that wore black pauldrons. Additionally, some Purge Troopers wore a black pauldron with red lining.Darth Vader (2017) 16 Death trooper officers, such as Commander DT-F16 and "Death Squad Leader" wore black pauldrons,Star Wars: Force Arena as did death trooper specialists.Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide
==History==
===Reign of the Empire===
Around 17 BBY,Star Wars: Timelines Darth Vader led a group of stormtroopers to inspect the wreckage of the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tribunal,Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia - Join the Battle! which had departed Mandalore for Coruscant shortly before the execution of Order 66 in 19 BBY.Star Wars: Galactic Atlas At that time, carrying the renegade Sith Lord Maul, clone troopers Rex and Jesse, as well as the Republic advisor and Force-Sensitive Outcast Ahsoka Tano, the Star Destroyer had crashed on a rocky moon after its hyperdrive was destroyed by Maul. When Vader arrived at the crash site, the landscape was being searched by Viper probe droids, stormtroopers, and snowtroopers, amongst them several Stormtrooper Commanders, each with a fully white pauldron and a backpack similar to those worn by sandtroopers. Some Stormtrooper Commanders held a box device, with one of them wearing a kama.
Stormtrooper captain Tarl Sokoli—known also as the "Spine Dragon of Anaxes"—led the Imperial Military in the effort to liberate the mining planet Chorin, including leading the charge to liberate Chorin City, years before circa 13 BBY.Star Wars: Timelines dates Beilert Valance leaving Chorin to join the Galactic Empire, an event that occurred after Chorin City's liberation according to Bounty Hunters 18, to around 13 BBY. Valance is visibly a number of years older in the flashback of Target Vader 5, in which he leaves Chorin, than the flashback in Bounty Hunters 18. After the planet was secured, Sokoli and several other Stormtrooper Commanders took part in a parade through Chorin City, with Sokoli riding atop an All Terrain Tactical Enforcer. A boy named Beilert Valance ran through the crowd to try and see Sokoli, falling too close into its march and resulting in Sokoli calling it to a stop. One of the Stormtrooper Commanders, who regarded Valance as a street rat, tried to drop Valance back into the crowd, but the compassionate Sokoli saw Valance as an example of who the Empire fought for, offering the boy his last ration bar and telling him he had a chance to serve the Empire as well. Sokoli's thoughts on the Empire would later grow sour, yet he had helped inspire Valance to join the regime's military.Bounty Hunters 19
Stormtrooper Commanders were active during Jedi Padawan and Purge survivor Cal Kestis' secret mission to rebuild the Jedi Order around 14 BBY.The events of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order take place about five years after the end of the Clone Wars, which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates to 19 BBY. Therefore, it can be deduced that the events of Fallen Order take place around 14 BBY. Stationed on Bogano, the Scout Trooper Commander Krabe made a tactical report on the planet's fauna before encountering Kestis there, where he was killed. Even after the Stinger Mantis crew had broken up, Kestis would continue to wage his own crusade against the Empire, during which he continued to fight stormtroopers and their commanders.
During the Battle of Fortress Vader, when Darth Vader gave Captain Junus' Imperial troops a morale boost by personally leading them against a large-scale Mustafarian assault, a magma trooper gave a rallying cry for the Sith Lord, which a Stormtrooper Commander followed suit by raising his fist and shouting "for the Empire!" before his men. In 10 BBY, during the campaign to secure the planet MimbanSolo: A Star Wars Story and its resources for the Empire,Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide at least one Stormtrooper Commander, serving as a wet-weather gear stormtrooper, took part in the ground battle.
===Open warfare===
Aside from being commanding officers of other stormtroopers, Stormtrooper Commanders performed various additional tasks for the Galactic Empire.Rogue One Adaptation 1 In 1 BBY,Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which corresponds with those of the Star Wars: Rogue One comic adaptation, to 1 BBY. such included collecting kyber crystals into crates at Jedha City, and overseeing HCVw A9 turbo tank prisoner transfers on the Imperial penal world of Wobani. Stormtrooper Commander Kayn Somos once led stormtroopers in an engagement against the rebellion. Somos shot a Rebel trooper at point blank range with their E-11 during the battle.
During the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY, two stormtrooper commanders led a group of other snowtroopers alongside Darth Vader. The group made landing on Hoth aboard a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle, and were armed with three different models of blaster rifles, including the E-11. A commander was first ordered by Vader to push through the Rebel Alliance defenses of Echo Base and find access to its command center. A captain, who wielded a missile launcher, was then ordered by the Sith Lord to detain the rebel leadership, specifically General Carlist Rieekan, Princess Leia Organa, the smuggler Han Solo, and of utmost priority, the pilot Luke Skywalker. However, despite the ensuing rebel defeat, the rebel leaders escaped from the Empire on Hoth.
Amid the Empire's continuing war with the rebellion, Lady Qi'ra marshalledCrimson Reign 1 the newly re-emergedWar of the Bounty Hunters 1 Crimson Dawn syndicate for a secret war against the Empire,Hidden Empire 1 intending to destroy Palpatine and Vader in order to free the galaxy. Beginning her plan with the Syndicate War, she also set her sights on the planet Kijimi, where Qi'ra intended to further shake up underworld power dynamics by creating internal strife within the Ashiga Clan. One Stormtrooper Commander stationed on Kijimi with the rank of captain managed to learn valuable information about the Dawn that the Ashiga Clan desired, but the officer was killed by a Crimson Dawn guard.Star Wars Outlaws
===New Republic Era===
====Hunt for Grogu====
Stormtrooper commanders served in an Imperial remnant lead by Moff Gideon with one stormtrooper commander lead a detachment of stormtroopers on Tython in 9 ABY in order to capture the Force-sensitive child Grogu where they engaged the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin, ex-bounty hunter Boba Fett, and Fennec Shand where the commander was killed by Fett, though his objective was accomplished when Grogu was captured by dark troopers. Another stormtrooper commander was present on Gideon's light cruiser when it was raided by Djarin's allies to rescue Grogu where they were killed by Carasynthia Dune when she raided the ship's bridge alongside Shand and Bo-Katan Kryze.
====The retiree====
For their confrontation with the Benathy people, the Empire's successor state, the First Order, employed the former Stormtrooper Commander and the last surviving soldier from Darth Vader's battle against the Benathy, Ruthford, as the warlord Kylo Ren's advisor with the rank of captain. Although new First Order stormtrooper armor was available, Ruthford insisted on returning to his old Imperial armor, complete with an orange, worn out pauldron. Despite Captain Ruthford's advise not to waste more lives as Vader did on a Zillo Beast, which the former Imperial stormtrooper thought was unbreakable, Ren killed the Benathy's god where Vader failed and earned the old soldier's respect.
==Behind the scenes==
The Star Wars: Visions short "The Pit" features a Stormtrooper Commander, who leads an Imperial expedition to a planet under the hopes of locating kyber crystals.
==Appearances==
===Non-canon appearances===
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*LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga 
==Sources==
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*Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
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*Star Wars: Where's the Wookiee? 2 
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==Notes and references==
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Category:Galactic Empire stormtrooper variants
Category:Imperial Army ranks