Clone trooper
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2007) |
| Class: | Infantry |
| Species: | Human |
| Type: | Front-line soldiers |
| Affiliation: | Galactic Republic |
| Standard weapon: | DC-15 blaster rifle |
Clone troopers are soldiers in the fictional Star Wars universe. All were clones of a Mandalorian bounty hunter called Jango Fett. They first appeared in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and returned in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith where they were played by Temuera Morrison. In these movies, clone troopers comprised the bulk of the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. While they were inferior in some ways to the droid armies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the clones' adaptability and creativity made the Republic the superior fighting force. Clone trooper variants include ARC Troopers and Clone Commandos.
History
In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, it was revealed that the genetic template of the clone troopers was Jango Fett, the most feared bounty hunter in the Galaxy. In exchange for a clone "son," Boba Fett, Jango provided his genetic material and Mandalorian battle training to the cloners of Kamino. The clone troopers were outfitted with armor styled after Mandalorian battle armor and armed with weapons and vehicles produced in secret by Kuat Drive Yards, Rendili Stardrive, and Sienar Fleet Systems.
Clone troopers were engineered to mature at nearly double the rate of a normal human, which allowed the Kaminoans to build an army quickly but resulted in greatly reduced clone lifespans. Other modifications to the clone genome made clone troopers more docile and obedient to orders. Each clone's first ten years of life were spent training on Kamino: standard clone troopers were trained by droids and Kaminoans, while ARC troopers and clone commandos received instruction from Jango Fett and other bounty hunters.
The Battle of Geonosis marked the first deployment of the clone troopers as well as the beginning of the Clone Wars. Beginning with the rescue of the remnants of Mace Windu's Jedi strike team, the clone army fought the Separatist forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems throughout the galaxy. After Geonosis, clone trooper armies were led by Jedi generals, who were in turn accompanied by Clone Commanders. Notable Clone Commanders included Commander Cody, who served with Obi-Wan Kenobi throughout the war, Commander Gree, who served with Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and Jedi Master Yoda, Commander Bacara, who served with Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Commander Bly, who served with Jedi Knight Aayla Secura.
While they had normal human emotions (and in the later stages of the war chose names and developed an underground culture), the clone troopers were unable to disobey direct orders from their superiors. The clone troopers eventually carried out Order 66 at the behest of Chancellor Palpatine, turning on their Jedi generals. This marked the end of the Clone Wars, as well as the death of the Old Republic. After the war and the birth of the Galactic Empire, the clone trooper army was superseded by the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps.
According to Star Wars Battlefront II, the surviving clone troopers were renamed stormtroopers and became the main fighting force of the Empire. Jango Fett clones throughout the force were slowly replaced by non-clone recruits because of their susceptibility to manipulation by the Kaminoans (who led a revolt against the Empire). One of the few stormtrooper legions to remain "pure" (completely composed of Jango Fett clones) through out the era of the Empire was the fictional 501st ("Vader's Fist"), which was named in honor of a real-world fan group called the 501st Legion.
Only one original Jango Fett clone fought for the Rebel Alliance in the Galactic Civil War: Able-1707, formerly under the command of Shaak Ti.[1] Able-1707 was stranded on a planet for 20 years after his unit was destroyed in battle against Separatist forces. He assisted the Rebels when a group of them - which included Luke Skywalker - were attacked by Imperial forces while trying to establish a listening post on the planet, and subsequently joined Rebel Alliance Intelligence.
Ranks
| Name(s) | Appearance | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Clone Trooper(Standard) | standard white armor, and black under suit equipped with DC-15 blaster rifle | combat and infantry |
| Clone Trooper Sergeant | basic body armor with green on shoulders and helmet | commands squads, made up of 9 troops |
| Clone Trooper Lieutenant | basic body armor with blue on shoulders and helmet | commands platoons, made up of 36 troops (4 squads) |
| Clone Trooper Captain | basic body armor with red on shoulders and helmet | commands companies, made up of 144 troops (4 platoons) |
| Clone Trooper Commander | basic body armor with yellow on shoulders and helmet | commands regiments of clones (2,304 in total, 16 companies) |
Clone commanders were grown with more capacity for independent thought than lower-ranking troops. It was from these ranks of original clone commanders that the ARC Commanders were born. Notable clone commanders included Cody, Bly, Gree, Bacara, Appo, Keller, Neyo, and Thire. Clone commanders were broken up by rank, similar to real-world generals on Earth. Among these ranks were the Senior Clone Commanders - such as A'den - and the Clone Marshal Commanders, such as Bly. Clone Marshal Commanders typically served under Jedi Knights or Masters serving as Generals in the field.
Clone Commandos typically did not have any rank among themselves and in many cases eschewed the idea, concentrating instead on teamwork.[citation needed] Squad leaders were often born through interaction and organization, making the Clone Commandos an unconventional yet extremely lethal unit.
Clone pilots, such as Commander Odd Ball, also gained some notoriety for their audacious maneuvers in many Clone Wars battles, including the Battle of Muunilist and the Battle of Haruun Kal.
Late Clone Wars
With the introduction of Phase II clone armor, the Galactic Republic allowed more freedom and designated legion, platoon, and battalion designs more so than rank. Some clones added custom shoulder plates and other equipment to their armor such that there were many specialized units with their own armor designs by the end of the War.
Specialized clone troopers
Like with the Imperial stormtrooper and the Battle droid, the Clone trooper has several specialized units.
Clone trooper captains
Clone Trooper captains are specialized Clone troopers bred in Kamino to act in special missions. They are recognized by the red markings on their helmets and torso armour. The Clone Trooper captains are also assigned to leading companies of 144 Clone troopers. Their weapons are the DC-15 blaster rifle and many pulse grenades. They are also trained to handle the Aratech military speeder bikes. They first appear during the Battle of Geonosis where they use their Aratech speeder bikes to round up and destroy the huge and clumsy Confederacy spider droids by throwing pulse grenades as they raced across the rocky battlefield.
Clone trooper commanders
Clone trooper commanders are clone troopers bred on Kamino for leadership roles in the Grand Army of the Republic. They led regiments of 2,304 clone troopers into battle. At the start of the war they are distinguished by yellow-orange markings on their armor and helmets. They are given special training to fulfill their advanced roles and are also bred with extra capacity for critical thinking and tactical coordination and allowed more independence. In combat, they are often assigned to any command centre that had been set up though sometimes they participate with their fellow clone troopers if badly needed.
Advanced Recon Commandos (ARC troopers)
Advanced Recon Commandos - more informally known as ARC troopers - are part of the elite special forces of clone troopers under the Grand Army of the Republic. They were trained by hand picked Mandalorians and other mercenaries. The thought processes of ARC Troopers were not altered to make them more obedient. Their armor is specialized with advanced armor, headsets, and specialized weapons.
Galactic Marines
Under the command of Commander Bacara and general Ki-Adi-Mundi, the Galactic Marines are some of the most feared troopers in the Grand Army of the Republic. They specialized in space and ground battles (mainly in cold regions,) and wear maroon armor with a back-pack that pumps hot water into their suits. The Marines are precursors to the Snowtroopers of Episode V.
Towards the end of The Clone Wars, Master Mundi and Commander Bacara lead the Marines into combat on the planet Mygeeto. After Emperor Palpatine enacts Order 66, the Marines kill Ki-Adi-Mundi.
The Marines wear maroon kama, or "command skirts", similar to the type ARC Troopers wear. They are equipped with DC-15 blaster rifles and specialty clones were equipped with heavy repeating rifles. These troops are among the first to field-test new equipment and combat gear.[citation needed] Their use of the prototype spacetrooper powersuit during the Battle of New Bornalex was well documented; when the weapons systems on the suits failed, the troopers used the mechanical musculature to engage the enemy super battle droids in hand-to-hand combat and tore into them with their enhanced manipulators.[citation needed] The uniform of the Marines is used by Clone Commanders in Star Wars: Battlefront II.
Clone SCUBA troopers
The clone SCUBA trooper was created for the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars. Clone SCUBA troopers are aquatic assault clone troopers grown on Kamino for the Army of the Republic. As the Confederacy of Independent Systems equips itself with Manta droid subfighters and other aquatic machines - and allies itself with aquatic races such as the Quarren and the Ishi Tib - the war is taken to the oceans of Mon Calamari. Jedi General Kit Fisto lead a clone SCUBA battalion into battle against the members of the Quarren Isolation League and their Confederate allies.
The SCUBA troopers suffer many losses to the Quarren artillery defenses, but gain the upper-hand when they ambush Trade Federation Sub-Carriers and hamper the launch of STAP mini-sub fighters.
The Clone SCUBA troopers are the predecessors of the Imperial Seatroopers.
Clone Shocktroopers
The Homeworld Security Clone Shocktroopers of the 65th Legion are specialized clone troopers of the Galactic Republic/Galactic Empire who serve under Palpatine and are led by Clone Commander Thire. Their armor is painted with distinctive red patterns, with various red stripes and rectangles covering the majority of their armor.
The Shock Troopers, similar to the 501st program, consist of a batch of randomly selected clones after birth and maturity. [citation needed] The Shock Troopers and the 501st legion were both shipped to Coruscant quietly after the Battle of Kamino, along with a few Kaminoans, under the order of Palpatine. Both legions are unique, compared to other clone legions, in that neither one ever serves under a Jedi(s) commander(s) during the Clone Wars; the Shock Troopers are used to patrol Coruscant streets and landing platforms, checking identification and protecting key installations. They also act as normal security guards, and are Palpatine's exclusive military force, while the 501st served independently and serve under Lord Vader only after Order 66 and the fall of the Old Republic. During the beginning of the Battle of Coruscant, when CIS forces land on-planet and attack, the Shock Troopers and the 501st effectively defended the planet with the assistance of the Home Fleet and Master Yoda and Mace Windu and were able to hold back wave upon wave of CIS forces, but remained unable to prevent Palpatine's capture by General Grievous.This sequence of events was illustrated in the Clone Wars Cartoon Series, Season 2. Since Palpatine's capture was pre-meditated and planned, it is possible that Palpatine specifically prevented his own rescue, and the Shock Troopers probably played a role in it.[citation needed]
In addition to providing security for Coruscant, the Shocktroopers assist Emperor Palpatine in searching for the body of the presumed-dead Jedi Master Yoda on the Senate floor. Several Shocktroopers accompany Emperor Palpatine to recover Anakin Skywalker after his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi on the planet Mustafar.
Clone Assassins
Clone Assassins are one of the ever-expanding specializations that Advanced Recon Commandos evolve into during The Clone Wars. When the threat of Count Dooku's compatriots became too much for even the Jedi Order, the Clone Assassin Corps is trained and disciplined for the sole purpose of taking down any form of Force-sensitives classified as enemies of the Republic.[citation needed] To effectively confront their would-be adversaries, any form of assistance is carefully researched; from agility enhancing stims to Advanced Jedi flow techniques [citation needed] and even black market far-ranging weapons technology. They are also taught the martial art known as Teras Kasi making them capable of avoiding most blows. [citation needed]
In Star Wars: Battlefront and Star Wars: Battlefront II, clone assassins are used as snipers. All assassins were required to have special training to improve their eyesight so that they could use their sniper rifle to take out any enemy threats in the battlefield efficiently.[citation needed]
In the video game Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, clone assassins are used to guard the Jedi Temple's signal beacon. They are armed with twin vibroblades and were extremely fast. They are also invulnerable to Jedi mind tricks. [1]
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Clone commandos
The Clone commandos, also known as a Republic Commando, are elite Special forces soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic. Trained in sets of four from the day of their birth, they are placed under command of soldiers hired by Jango Fett. (Many of which are Ex-Mandalorian soldiers, much like Jango himself. [2] These sets of four—based on Kamino's native Aiwha predators—are encouraged to think for themselves in a similar way to the ARC troopers. As a result of being in such small groups, they develop a very strong sense of camaraderie. [3]
Some of the Republic Commandos:
Delta Squad
- Boss
- Sev
- Fixer
- Scorch
Omega Squad
- Fi
- Niner
- Darman
- Atin
Ion Team
- Climber
- Trace
- Ras
- and one unknown commando
In the video game, Republic Commando. You play as a squad of republic commandos, and pick up weapons not seen in the movie. Like the acp repeater gun, and the trandoshan shotgun.
Jet Troopers
Clone Jet Troopers were an experimental concept designed to take advantage of the so-called 'genetic memory' of their predecessor, Jango Fett. To this end, they wore jetpacks to zip quickly around the battlefield and reach otherwise inaccessible vantage points, and carried advanced weaponry. Only clones who had reached Sergeant rank or higher were eligible to join this semi-elite group of specialists.
Their jetpacks expanded on the ones used by Jango with increased fuel loads allowing for longer flight times. They were also far more controllable as they used miniaturized repulsorlift technology to dodge round corners rather than using just rockets to gain a quick boost of speed. Jet Troopers were equipped with an experimental EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) generator that fired a torpedo of roiling EMP energy towards a target. If that target was unfortunate enough to be a droid, the pulse would completely overload all of their systems and blow the droid to pieces. If used against living targets, the effect was less devastating, but it would still severely shock anything caught in the blast. Unhappily, though, the generator was bulky and could only carry enough ammo for 12 shots and was also slow to reload. For this reason, Jet Troopers were also equipped with one of the more dangerous blaster pistols ever to see widespread front-line service, the DC-17p.
Jet Troopers proved so effective in the early stages of the conflict that they continued to form a specialist legion until the end of The Clone Wars. The late-war Jet Troopers were equipped with more advanced armour but carried much the same weaponry. Their new armour was not coloured based on their specialist status but rather to indicate legion affiliation like normal Clone Trooper armour. Late-war Jet Troopers saw service in many legions thanks to their huge versatility in battle and their ability to cover large amounts of ground very quickly. Jet Troopers are only seen in Star Wars: Battlefront and Star Wars: Battlefront II. They resemble Clone sergeants in Battlefront I and Gree in II.
Later Jet Troopers wore Mark II armor, which appeared similar to the standard trooper's, but whose visor was more reminiscent of the Clone Commandos. The jetpack was a much more compact compared to the first version and wasn't attached to the armor; instead it was attached to the belts the troopers wore.
Clone pilots
Clone trooper pilots were Clone troopers trained on Kamino to pilot the aerospace craft of the Republic military. They could fly anything from a LAAT/i gunship to a Venator-class Star Destroyer. Their uniforms featured yellow markings and specialized helmets.They first appeared during the Battle of Geonosis where they flew the LAAT/i gunships and LAAT/c cargo gunships.
When the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic were revamped with new armor midway through The Clone Wars, the clone pilots also were revamped, wearing a grayish jumpsuit reminiscent of later pilot flightsuits with one of two helmets; either an enclosed pilot helmet (very similar in design to the standard clone helmets, but with black markings) which were worn by pilots of such fighters as V-wings, or a helmet that had the face exposed used by pilots flying ARC-170 starfighter. The latter helmet is a cross between the helmets of pilots of the Rebel Alliance and TIE Fighter pilots of the Galactic Empire, as seen in the original Star Wars trilogy. Many of these newly clad pilots were then reassigned to the recently unveiled Venator-class Star Destroyers and ARC-170 starfighters.
Specialized pilots are battlefield engineers, constructing and repairing turrets and vehicles, supply troops with supplies and plant timed explosives (Star Wars: Battlefront series.)
The Clone Pilot's helmet was one of the last things to be designed for Attack of the Clones. It was a cross between the Imperial pilots's helmet and the standard Clone Trooper helmet. The Clone Pilot's suit in Revenge of the Sith is based more closely to the Imperial Pilot's suit.
For more information, please see: Star Wars: Databank | Clone trooper pilots.
In Star Wars Battlefront 2, clone pilots have a fusion cutter, which has the ability to "fix" things.
Clone trooper armor
Phase I Clone Trooper Armor
Phase I clone trooper armor was the armor worn by early clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars.
It was composed of twenty form-fitting plates of lightweight plastoid-alloy composite, sealed to a black bodysuit and resembled Mandalorian shock trooper armor. The austere sensibilities of Kaminoan society resulted in the blindingly pristine white state of each set of armor, although command units had stripes of different colors, depending on their rank. The armor was heavy and uncomfortable and not very well liked by its wearer, but it did its job. Its inconvenience was due to the Kaminoans' knowledge, or lack thereof, of Human anatomy. The armor could take some modular attachments, like a bacta pack for a medic or a small flamethrower for ARC troopers.
No clone trooper costume was produced for their first onscreen appearance. As revealed in the audio commentary of the film, every single clone trooper in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a computer generated image.
During the later part of the Clone Wars, it was replaced by Phase II clone trooper armor.
Appearances
- Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
- Star Wars: Clone Wars
- Jedi: Shaak Ti
- Jedi Trial
- Star Wars: Republic Commando
- Boba Fett: The Fight to Survive
- Boba Fett: Crossfire
- Star Wars: Battlefront
- Star Wars: Battlefront II
Phase II Clone Trooper Armor
Phase II clone trooper armor was a superior version of Phase I clone trooper armor, incorporating all of its predecessor's systems in addition to polarized lenses, padding, sensors, and stronger, lighter armor plates. It could also support more modular attachments, making it infinitely superior to its predecessor. It was far more comfortable to wear than its predecessor, since the Kaminoans were now more familiar with Human anatomy. Unlike the Phase I armor, color was used to denote affiliation, not rank.
The phase II armor in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is also computer generated.
The Phase II armor was the basis of the stormtrooper armor worn by the soldiers of Emperor Palpatine's Empire.
Appearances
- Star Wars Republic 68: Armor (first appearance)
- Star Wars: Obsession
- Clone Wars Volume 8: The Last Siege, The Final Truth
- Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
- Star Wars: Battlefront II
- Evasive Action: Recruitment
- Star Wars: Clone Wars
- Star Wars: A Clone Apart
Sources
- ^ Barlow, Jeremy; et al. (2004). "Issue 27". Star Wars: Empire. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 1-59307-466-2.
{{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help) - ^ Traviss, Karen (2004). Hard Contact. Del Rey Books. ISBN 0-345-47827-4.
- ^ Traviss, Karen (2006). Triple Zero. Del Rey Books. ISBN 0-345-49009-6.
See also
External links
- Clone Troopers in the StarWars.com Databank
- Clone trooper on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki