Thanks to the amazing sharpshooting skills of Stormtroopers, we’ve kind of taken it for granted that they’re there to be mowed down by Jedi. Even if we were to come to face-to-face with a real live Stormtrooper, it’s unlikely that we’ll take very much effort to dodge their gunfire (it seems easy enough in the movies). They are, unfortunately, not very threatening anymore.
But there’s a whole host of different types of Stormtroopers out there. There’s one for virtually every environment and conceivable (and inconceivable) situation around. And amongst the hundreds of different types of Stormtroopers are some really nasty ones that even the Jedi wouldn’t want to face.
1)Riot Stormtroopers
They sound pretty normal, right? Even in the real world we have riot police to handle large mobs or to defuse hostile situations with large crowds. But Riot Stormtroopers are trained at the same academy where Emperor Palpatine’s personal Royal Guardsmen are trained, meaning they’re among the finest soldiers in the galaxy. In addition, they have to swear an oath of loyalty that can only be broken upon death.
But what makes them really fearsome is their electrostaffs they wield. They are made of cortosis, which makes them lightsaber resistant. In fact, cortosis can even cause lightsabers to short out temporarily on contact! Cortosis is also energy resistant, which means it can deflect blaster fire.
So with the Riot Stormtroopers, you now have a type of soldier that can engage with Jedi and deflect ranged fire! The only shortcoming is that they have no ranged weapons to speak of, but with such devastating melee skills, blasters might be overkill.
2)Clone Trooper Snipers
Again, the sniper looks pretty normal. All armies have snipers, so it’s not surprising to have them as part of the regiment. But let’s take a step back and look at the weaponry of the Star Wars universe. Regular Stormtroopers carry blasters, which don’t shoot bullets. They shoot lasers. If the Stormtroopers were even the slightest bit more accurate, the galaxy might not have been saved today.
Which brings us back to the snipers. Their rifles have to be packing a lot more firepower than the regular blaster, which means they’re carrying a gun that shoots incredibly powerful lasers. Remember that lasers are effectively light, so the snipers don’t have to account for drag resistance, bullet drop, or anything else that comes with having a tangible bullet. They literally just have to point and shoot to do their work.
And they’re snipers! Which means that their aiming is better than the average Stormtrooper. So what you have is a soldier with a very powerful laser gun that’s optimised for shooting long distances, and has decent aiming. That’s a dangerous combination to have in a Stormtrooper.
3)Terror Troopers
Remember General Grievous? Well, Terror Troopers are designed specifically to look like him, that is, to evoke the image of a multi-limbed lightsaber-wielding cyborg maniac. They’re also not entirely human, having cybernetic limbs to enhance their agility and strength.
True to their terrifying name, Terror Troopers are equipped with sharpened talons on their hands and feet to tear their foes to ribbons. And you might not know if one is sneaking up on you, because they have cloaking abilities. Yes, a black, clawed cyborg that can become invisible. Their specific function is to assassinate creatures without leaving any telltale signs.
No wonder they’re called Terror Troopers. They’re the stuff of nightmares.
4)Purge Troopers
Purge Troopers are cheating a little, because they’re not actually Stormtroopers. They only look vaguely humanoid, but they’re actually huge droids that are twice the size of a regular person. They’re built specially to fight Jedi, which means that they wear armour that’s laced with cortosis (remember that lightsaber-resistant material?). They also boast magnetic tractor boots so that they aren’t so susceptible to Force pushes or pulls (a favourite tactic of Jedi fighters).
They wield both a ranged rocket launcher and a melee energy blade from their left arm, meaning they’re dangerous no matter how far away you from them. If even a Jedi would have difficulty stopping this thing, a regular person would be cut down in seconds.
The only thing that can stop these Jedi-killers is Force Lightning — but you’d have to be a Sith to use that, wouldn’t you?
5)Incinerator Stormtrooper
As their name states, the Incinerator Stormtroopers leave scorched earth wherever they go. They wield not just a flame thrower, but a plasma rifle, plaster pistols, grenades and all manner of flaming weaponry. Their armour is also heat-resistant, which means they really don’t have to care where they’re aiming since their weapons won’t hit themselves.
So where do they get their pyromaniac tendencies? They’re raised with it. They are trained with the sole purpose of turning them into fiery psychopaths, and develop a burning desire to raze everything to the ground. That’s right, they incinerate everything in their path because they like it.
It might be a job for some Stormtroopers, but to these guys, setting the world on fire is their passion.
Those Stormtroopers are starting to look a lot more fearsome now, aren’t they?
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