Imperial Royal Guard

The **Imperial Royal Guard**, also known as the **Emperor's Royal Guard**, the **Imperial Guard**, or simply the **Royal Guard**, and under the Galactic Republic as the **Red Guard**, was an elite unit whose members served as personal bodyguards to Sheev Palpatine during his tenure as Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, and later his reign as Galactic Emperor. Fully clad in crimson robes and face-concealing helmets, the Emperor's guards were a silent, imposing, and deadly force armed with force pikes. In addition to strict requirements of size, strength, intelligence, and loyalty, only the most skilled soldiers in the Imperial Military qualified for duty in the Royal Guard. The Imperial Royal Guard were also occasionally assigned to provide protection to members of the Imperial Ruling Council and Darth Vader.

The origins of the crimson-clad Royal Guard dated back to the time of the Separatist Crisis, when Palpatine crafted an order of protectors, named the Red Guard, that stood apart from the cerulean-clad Senate Guard during the fall of the Galactic Republic. Over the course of the Clone Wars, the Red Guard gradually supplanted the Senate Guard and its elite sub-unit, the Senate Commandos, as the chancellor's bodyguards. By the end of the Clone Wars, Palpatine proclaimed himself Emperor of the Galactic Empire. As a result, Senate Guards were completely phased out of service and replaced by the chancellor's Red Guards, who were henceforth known as the Royal Guard.

Emperor Palpatine sealed himself away from the populace throughout his reign. On the rare occasions of his public appearances, he was always accompanied by members of the Royal Guard. In the decades that followed Palpatine's death and the subsequent fall of the Empire, a new order of protectors was crafted by Supreme Leader Snoke of the First Order. Modeled on the Emperor's Royal Guard, the Elite Praetorian Guard consisted of eight warriors who wore ornate crimson armor, wielded an array of melee weapons, and specialized in martial arts.

## **Appearances**

* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 3: Revenge of the Sith* — "Chapter 7: Teachings of the Sith" (first appearance)
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 3: Revenge of the Sith* — "Chapter 15: Confronting the Sith"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 4: A Jedi in Exile* — "Chapter 8: Guardians of the Whills"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 4: A Jedi in Exile* — "Chapter 26: Thrawn's Web"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 4: A Jedi in Exile* — "Chapter 83: The Daring Escape"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — "Chapter 3: Fall of the Old Masters"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — "Chapter 16: Imprisoned by Belief"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — "Chapter 21: The Great Deception" (corpses only)
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — "Chapter 23: The Discovery"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — "Chapter 26: Lowest Point"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — "Chapter 27: Storming the Imperial Center"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — "Chapter 28: Action at Coruscant"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — "Chapter 33: Peace, Quiet, and Augury"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — "Chapter 52: Old Wounds"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — "Chapter 58: A Risky Confrontation"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — "Chapter 75: Liberation of Lothal"
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — Mid-Credits Scene
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 6: Children of the Force* — "Chapter 2: Need for Rebels"