Emperor's Royal Guard
In the fictional Star Wars universe, the Emperor's Royal Guard (a.k.a. Imperial Guard or known as "Red Guards" during the time of the Old Republic opposed to the Galactic Senate's standard "Blue Guards") are the best and most loyal of the Imperial Stormtroopers, solely responsible to Palpatine; their sole task was to protect Palpatine, his residences, and clones. They wear flowing crimson robes (though ceremonial, these uniforms are specifically designed to not hamper movement) and a sleek, featureless red mask; the armor itself bore design influences from the uniforms of the Death Watch of the Mandalore System, the Sun Guards of the Thyrsus system, and the Senate Guards of the Old Republic. Their standard weapon is a force pike which they use to inflict unerringly precise and deadly wounds with great skill. They accompany Palpatine wherever he goes.
Size
Their exact numbers are unknown; estimates have ranged from barely 50 men, to tens of thousands- the lower end of the range seems vastly more probable due to the extraordinarily high standards of the brotherhood, and the fact that after the destruction of the second Death Star (entailing the death of at least 4 Guardsmen), the obliteration of Byss by an errant round from the Galaxy Gun (Kir Kanos said of that, "Many of my brother Guardsmen perished when the Jedi Luke Skywalker and his companions used our own Galaxy Gun to destroy the Emperor's throneworld"), and with the later destruction of Palpatine's Eclipse-class flagship Eclipse II, there gathered on the training planet Yinchorr to mourn the Emperor a mere 22 Royal Guardsmen--who, with the exception of Kir Kanos, all would be killed by the treacherous Carnor Jax's troops. After the death of Carnor Jax, all true Royal Guardsmen, with the exception of the fanatically loyal Kir Kanos, Jax's killer, had perished and the organization was defunct. Various impostors sporting Royal Guard armor have appeared over the years, such as a clone of Grodin Tierce, the "Guardsmen" who served Imperial Admiral Daala and the Dark Jedi Brakiss, and a man in Sovereign Protector armor who attempted to assassinate Mara Jade just prior to her wedding. The existence of these pretenders enraged Kanos to no end, and he devoted a good deal of his time to hunting those who survived the Empire's final skirmishes with the New Republic.
Organization and selection
Royal Guardsmen trace their roots to the cerulean-clad Senate Guards of the Old Republic. But in comparison, there is a special elite, within this elite-of-elites, class of Imperial Guards called Sovereign Protectors. Though all Royal Guards are Force-sensitive, most are capable of little more than enhanced physical abilities and healing techniques should their Emperor ever be injured. The Sovereign Protectors, however, possess a mastery of the dark side far greater than the standard Guardsman, as in the case of the Sovereign Protector-turned-Sith Lord Carnor Jax. After the Emperor was reborn on Byss, the Sovereign Protectors' paramount duty was to guard the clone vats--a task in which they would fail, due to the treachery of Carnor Jax, the Emperor's physician, and the dark side adepts Nefta and Sa-Di.
The Guardsmen are selected from the elite squads of the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps, and before even beginning the training that would wash out most of its inductees--fatally, one might add--are judged on select size, strength, intelligence and loyalty requirements, and would ideally possess latent Force sensitivity. Those who successfully match all criteria, and the additional optional one of Force-senstivity (which only applies if they intend to become Sovereign Protectors), are allowed to begin training in the Echani arts in the Imperial Royal Guard Academy located on the hidden training planet Yinchorr. A mere 4% of all trainees would survive the rigours that awaited them to become Royal Guards; during a yearlong training program, recruits sparred against each other continuously perfecting their combat skills. By working both alone and in pairs, recruits learned how to rely on themselves or on a teammate to achieve victory, a step away from the squad-based Stormtrooper training received on Carida. Failure in training often meant death. In their final test, trainees fought each other to the death in an arena called the "Squall" before Palpatine himself. Only a handful would survive this final test and display of their loyalty and skill.
Royal Guardsmen are trained to use any form of weapon known to the Empire, including but not limited to: any blaster weapon, bo staffs, basic swords and lightsabers, as well as a dozen or more martial arts forms.
In order to keep themselves in top form at all times, Royal Guardsmen often dueled each other to the death, in what is described by a viewer in Palpatine's private court as "a brutal war, consisting of only two men." This practice kept the Guardsmen in shape as well as giving Royal Guard recruits a chance to advance in rank. They were occasionally rotated out in units to Stormtrooper detachments in the Outer Rim or other combat areas to keep them in fighting trim, and spread their legend.
In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Jedi Master Yoda easily manhandles two Royal Imperial Guards using the Force.
Known members of the Imperial Royal Guard
Sovereign Protectors
Royal Guardsmen
Guardsmen-in-training
External links
References
- Star Wars: Crimson Empire, trade paperback, 1st printing, 1998. Mike Richardson et al, ISBN 1-56971-355-3
- Star Wars: Dark Empire II, trade paperback, 1st printing, 1995. Tom Veitch, ISBN 1-56971-119-4
- A Guide to the Star Wars universe, second edition, 2nd edition, 1994. Bill Slavicsek, ISBN 0-345-38625-6