Emperor's Royal Guard
 |  |
|
- "Those wereImperial Guards, Lando. The Emperor's personal protectors—handpicked from the very best of his forces. Out ofmillions of soldiers, they are unsurpassed."
- ―Korin Pers, to Lando Calrissian[12]
TheEmperor's Royal Guard, also named theImperial Royal Guard andImperial Guard, alternatively identified as theCrimson Guard, and known under theGalactic Republic as theRed Guard, were the personalbodyguards to theGalactic Emperor. In addition to strict requirements of size, strength, intelligence, and loyalty, only the most skilledsoldiers in theImperial Military qualified for duty in the Royal Guard. The Imperial Royal Guard were also occasionally assigned to provide protection to members of theImperial Ruling Council, such asGrand VizierMas Amedda.
The origins of the crimson-clad Royal Guard dated back to thetime of theSeparatist Crisis, when theSith LordDarth Sidious, in his public guise asSupreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, crafted an order of protectors, named the Red Guard, for theOffice of the Chancellor, that stood apart from the cerulean-cladSenate Guard during the Galactic Republic'stwilight. Over the course of theClone Wars, the Red Guard gradually supplanted theSenate Guard and its elite sub-unit, theSenate Commandos, as the chancellor's bodyguards. By the end of theClone Wars, Darth Sidiousproclaimed himself Emperor of theGalactic 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.
Darth Sidious sealed himself away from the populace throughout hisreign. On the rare occasions of his public appearances, he was always accompanied by members of the Royal Guard. In thedecades that followed Sidious'death and the subsequent fall of the Empire at theBattle of Jakku, a new order of protectors arose, thePraetorian Guard who wore ornate crimson armor, wielded an array ofmelee weapons, and specialized inmartial arts, such asTeräs Käsi. Likewise, the reborn Darth Sidious revived his employment of crimson-clad guardsmen through theSovereign Protectors, selected from the finestSith troopers theSith Eternal had readied.
Description[]
Royal Guards wore red robes and armor, and were armed with force pikes.
TheEmperor's RoyalGuards were reputedly the most skilled warriors in theforces of theGalactic Empire; out of millions ofsoldiers,Darth Sidious' guards were unsurpassed in skill and status.[12] During theera of the Empire, the Royal Guard consisted of conscripts and at least oneclone trooper.[1] The qualifications for joining the Guard's ranks included strength, intelligence, and loyalty.[13] Candidates for the Guard had to meet the basic height requirement of 1.83meters[2] and were allhumans.[3]
In addition to receiving advanced training in many forms of combat, Royal Guards were trained to be unquestionably loyal to their Emperor, Darth Sidious. The Emperor's word was considered law and his guards would obey his orders without question or hesitation, even if it meantkilling one of their own. The Guards were also among the few beings inthe galaxy whom the Emperor trusted with the knowledge of his secret identity as aSith Lord, knowing they would speak of it to no one, not even among themselves.[1] Trainees would spar against each other in theThe Squall. Their final test was a battle to thedeath before the Emperor.[14] Though their primary duty was to the Emperor, in some cases the Royal Guards were also at the disposal of hisright hand,Darth Vader,[15] who acted as theImperial Military's informalCommander-in-Chief,[16] andGrand VizierMas Amedda.[17] Other upper-level figures who made of use of the Royal Guards includedGeneralJylia Shale,[7] as well asGrand AdmiralRae Sloane.[18] Due to their little movement, they were sometimes believed to have beendroids instead of individuals.[11]
A Royal Guard with another set of equipment.
Despite the combat skills of the Royal Guard, the Emperor was confident in hisForce powers to the extent that he did not believe he required a bodyguard unit. However, he found over the course of his reign that the crimson-clad guards served well to impress and intimidate those who saw them. Additionally, they served the purpose of defending the Emperor in situations where he did not wish to use his Force powers.[1] As such, he never felt inclined to dispense with them as a unit.[19] Sidious also made use of adroid model that resembled his Royal Guards, sending the droids to summonpoliticians he needed to meet with.[20]
History[]
Under the Republic[]
- "Troubling is the treachery of the Senate guard, Captain Argyus. Reveled all around us our enemies are."
- ―Yoda, on Senate Commando Captain Argyus' betrayal, an act which Palpatine used to expand the role of his personal Red Guards.[21]
During the fall of the Republic, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine was protected by a cohort of crimson-clad guards, the Red Guard.
During thedecline of theGalactic Republic,Sith LordDarth Sidious, asSupreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, created[13] the Red Guard[22]—a cohort of personal elite bodyguards that stood apart from the rest of his forces, including the cerulean-clad members of theSenate Guard,[13] from which they were handpicked.[11] Overtime, Palpatine came to favor his crimson-clad red guards over the blue guards of theGalactic Senate and even the eliteSenate Commandos.[23] Armed withforce pikes,[5] the red guards' flowing red robes and sleek, featureless scarlet masks blended in with the crimson-walledoffice of the chancellor.[13]
The red-robed guards were formed prior to theClone Wars[5] and were in place by28 BBY,[9] with the newly-appointedSenatorPadmé Amidala noting that they were a much more intimidating security force than the Senate Guard,[24] though Palpatine retained the service of the Senate Guard[25] andcommandos during the early period of the pan-galactic conflict.[26] AfterCaptainFaro Argyus of the Senate Commandos revealed himself to be atraitor, the Senate Guard's loyalty was put into question, and Palpatine took the opportunity to expand the Red Guard in the ensuing scandal.
As the Clone Wars continued, Palpatine expanded the roles of his Red Guard, with them entirely replacing traditional Senate Guards as his personal protectors by the war's height.
When Red Guards were out of uniform, they conducted official visits and covert operations in locations where the Supreme Chancellor was scheduled to visit. The Red Guard also scouted traveling locations, back up routes, handled logistics, and created evacuation plans. OnCoruscant, such events may have required thousands ofhours of work. The Guard also investigated credible threats against Palpatine, whether they be simply graffiti toHoloNet broadcasts.[11]
By19 BBY, approximately threeyears after theFirst Battle of Geonosis,[27] the Red Guard andCoruscant Guardclone shock troopers had all but supplanted the Senate Guard as the chancellor's protectors.[28]
Serving the Emperor[]
On rare occasions the Emperor could be seen in public, but always in the presence of his Royal Guards.
At the War'send[29] in 19BBY,[27] Darth Sidiousappointed himself Galactic Emperor and reorganized the Republic into the Empire.[29] Under theregime, the Emperor continued to favor the Royal Guard, formerly the Chancellor's Red Guard, as his personal security force which, in turn, led to the dissolution of the Senate Guard.[2] During the firstdays of Sidious' reign, the bodyguards were responsible for Emperor Palpatine's security on Coruscant. Offworld, however, Emperor Palpatine was accompanied by a detachment of shocktroopers of the Coruscant Guard.[29] During the Clone Wars, Sidious also secretly controlled theThyrsus Sun Guardmercenary group, which fought for the Republic during the conflict. The Sun Guard helped to inspire his Royal Guard as Galactic Emperor.[30]
As the years passed, Sidious sealed himself away from the populace, having discarded his facade as a friendly kind-hearted politician[13] in order to embrace his true identity as aSith Lord.[2] On rare occasions he would make a public appearance, but always in the company of the Royal Guard.[13] During the early years of the Empire, a division of the Royal Guard was stationed in theInquisitorius Headquarters—askyscraper located in theIndustrial District of Coruscant—which served as a training facility for Emperor Palpatine'sJedi hunters known as theInquisitors.[31] In14 BBY,[27] several Royal Guardsaccompanied Darth Sidious and hisapprentice, Darth Vader, toRyloth where theLords of theSith sought to lure theFree Ryloth Movement out of hiding. Most of the guardsmen were killed when Vader'sshuttle crash-landed in the planet'sequatorial forest.[1]
A trio of light-armored Royal Guards served aboard theChimaera.
Two guards,SergeantErstin Deez and aCaptain who once served in theGrand Army of the Republic as aclone trooper, survived the crash along with Vader and hisSith Master, Sidious. The captain was later killed bylyleks, but Deez was able to survive long enough forMoffDelian Mors' stormtroopers to rescue the two Sith Lords.[1] A trio of Royal Guards, without their robes, were stationed aboard theChimaera,flagship of the7th Fleet led by Grand AdmiralThrawn, during theLiberation ofLothal. Emperor Palpatine commanded the men to killPadawanEzra Bridger, having failed to use the youngJedi in his plan to control theWorld Between Worlds. Using modifiedpikes withmagnetic clamps to subdue theirForce-sensitivetarget, the guards held Bridger still while asquad of stormtroopers attempted to shoot him. However, Bridger usedthe Force to hurl several boulders and rocks from a stolen piece of theLothal Jedi Temple at his attackers, crushing them.[6]
Although the Emperor's safety was the primary responsibility of the Royal Guard,[2] Sidious did not make exclusive use of them, loaning them also to Vader. By0 BBY,[32] two Royal Guards were stationed inFortress Vader onMustafar.[15] They acted as sentinels protecting Emperor Palpatine'sapprentice, usually while he rested in hisbacta tank.[15] During theGalactic Civil War, Royal Guards were often used in battle asassassins,[33] armed with force pikes, vibroblades, and many other concealed weapons.[1]
Stationed aboard theImperialis, two Royal Guards were corrupted by the Mask of Lord Momin.
Following theBattle of Yavin, two Royal Guards were stationed aboard Emperor Palpatine's luxuryyachtImperialis while it was undergoing a refit atSienar Fleet Systems'Orbital Shipyard CC-24 above the planetCastell.[34] They guarded thevessel's central chamber which stored severalSith artifacts including themask of Lord Momin.[35] AfterBaron AdministratorLando Calrissian and hiscompanionsstole theImperialis, one of the Royal Guards stabbedLobot with a vibroblade,[34] but he survived. The guards were then killed by thealien clone warriorsAleksin andPavol.Korin Pers discovered that the guards were corrupted by theDark Side of the Force, as they were guarding the Mask of Lord Momin.[12] In the same year, a special variant was in service ofCommanderKarbin featuring a distinctive look. These variants worearmor fitted for combat in the front lines.[36]
During the secretwar against the Sith[3] between3 ABY and4 ABY,[37] Jedi hunterOchi was employed by LadyQi'ra ofCrimson Dawn to assassinate members of the Royal Guard in order to cause disruption in the Empire. Ochi and acourier droid travelled to Coruscant and boughtpoison that would activate at a specific time. The droid used to poison the guard's breakfast but discovered that one of the Royal Guards, Erstin Deez was not present. Ochi took it upon himself to assassinate Deez. Afterwards while the Royal Guards were with Emperor Palpatine at his throne room in the Imperial Palace, all of them dropped dead due to the poison.[3]
Sometime after the deaths of those Royal Guards, two others stood behind Darth Sidious after he summoned Vader to the Imperial Palace as he concluded there was a new enemy of the Sith. WhenDirectorBarsha of theImperial Security Bureau was summoned to the throne room, he revealed Crimson Dawn orchestrated the ongoingSyndicate War. As Vader and Sidious walked through the palace and discussed Crimson Dawn's influence over the other recent activities such as the betrayal of theGrand Hutt Council, the theft of theScreaming Key from Vader’s Fortress by theKnights of Ren, and the defeat ofCommanderEllian Zahra’sHunter Fleet and her inability to finally destroy theAlliance to Restore the Republic, a force of Royal Guards accompanied them as protection. Stopping in the hall along with the two Sith Lords, the Royal Guards remained as Vader revealed that Qi'ra, during theirduel aboard on the Crimson Dawn flagshipVermillion, had combat training that reminded him of Sidious' techniques, leading both to conclude she was trained by his first apprentice,Darth Maul. In response, the two men ordered the Imperial Military to track down theVermillion.[38]
Royal Guards escorted Emperor Palpatine to the Death Star II, where their sovereign would die.
To finally destroy Crimson Dawn, Royal Guards later fought alongsidedeath troopers and the two Sith Lords in theBattle at Amaxine Station.[39] In 4 ABY,[27] several Royal Guards accompanied Emperor Palpatine to thesecond Death Star orbiting theforest moon ofEndor. Prior to the arrival of the Rebel Alliance, Emperor Palpatine dismissed the Guards from histhrone room, leaving him alone with Vader and the latter's sonJedi KnightLuke Skywalker. As a result, the Royal Guards were not present to protect Emperor Palpatine when his apprentice turned against him in a last-ditch effort to save his son's life. With the deaths of Palpatine and Vader, coupled with the victory of the Alliance, theBattle of Endor was a turning point that marked the beginning of the end for the Empire.[40]
Royal Guards were stationed at thePalpatine Archive in theCoruscant system, and attempted to stop the thieving Calrissian andJaxxon, who were after theTotem of Saglanost shortly after the Empire's debacle atEndor.[8]
Decline[]
A Royal Guard fought and died on Jakku, the site of the last battle of the Galactic Civil War.
The Royal Guard continued to serve the Empire, acting as bodyguards for several high-rankingImperial officers such asGeneralJylia Shale and GrandAdmiralRae Sloane. Two Royal Guards acted as Shale's security detail at theemergency summit onAkiva;[7] another two Guards escorted Sloane to theNew Republic capitalChandrila[18] in5 ABY,[41] where the Grand Admiral sought to negotiate an end to hostilities between the Empire and the Republic. To Sloane's surprise, the Empire's overtures of peace were a ruse for launching a surpriseattack on Chandrila, orchestrated byFleet AdmiralGallius Rax. During the attack, Sloane's Royal Guards attacked and killed severalNew Republic Senate Guards who escorted the Imperial entourage to thepeace summit.[18]
Shortly after the attack on Chandrila, the Empire rallied to thebarren world ofJakku under Rax's leadership asCounselor to the Empire.[42] One of the soldiers in Rax'sarmy wasa Royal Guard, who ultimately perished during theBattle of Jakku. The Royal Guard who fell at Jakku was survived by his sister,Arliz Hadrassian, anAgent of the Imperial Security Bureau.[43]
Legacy[]
Around9 ABY,[44] theShadow Council, the ruling body of the Imperial Remnants,[45] directed a unit of elite warriors known as theImperial Praetorian Guard, whose red gear was a deliberate callback to the Emperor's Royal Guard.[46] However, they also possessedhelmets with a design similar toMandalorian armor.[45] During theCold War between theResistance and theFirst Order, AgentTerex of theFirst Order Security Bureau had possession of a Royal Guard helmet aboard theCarrion Spike that was displayed next to the helmets of ashoretrooper, anAT-AT pilot, adeath trooper, and others, along with a custom set of armor.[47] By28 ABY,[27] Hadrassian sold her brother's Royal Guard helmet to SenatorRansolm Casterfo, due to havingpro-Imperial views.[43]
Inspired by the Emperor's Royal Guard, the Praetorian Guard served as personal bodyguards of Supreme Leader Snoke of the First Order.
The legacy of the Emperor's Royal Guard inspired the formation of the Elite Praetorian Guard,[48] a successor class to the Imperial Praetorian Guard[49] formed from it.[50] Like the Royal Guards who guarded Sidious during his reign, the Praetorians functioned as the bodyguards ofSupreme LeaderSnoke, ruler of the First Order. Consisting of eight sentinels trained to protect Supreme Leader Snoke from any threat, the Praetorians were equipped with variousmelee weapons and ornate crimson armor deliberately echoing the equipment used by the Royal Guard.[48] In34 ABY, the PraetoriansattackedRey andKylo Ren after the latter assassinated Snoke, resulting in a battle in which all eight guards were killed by theMaster of the Knights of Ren and his new Jedi ally, allowing the former to become the new Supreme Leader.[51]
By35 ABY,[52] when Darth Sidious resurfaced on the hidden Sith worldExegol, theSovereign Protector took the role as the Emperor's Royal Guard.[53] The rank of these sentinels was solely bestowed upon the most proficient ofSith troopers, zealous soldiers brought up by the Sith Eternal[53] to help impose the Sith Lord's vision of a newSith Empire. When Rey and Ben confronted Sidious during theBattle of Exegol, the Sovereign Protectors attempted to protect their master, but were killed by the two Jedi.[54]
Equipment[]
Royal Guard routinely wielded force pikes.
Royal Guards were completely covered in flowingblood-redrobes and featureless scarlet masks that concealed their faces.[29] There existed a variant of the uniform that lacked the robes and ceremonial helmet in favor of light armor, utilized by guards aboard theImperial Star DestroyerChimaera[6] and the guards accompanying the Emperor during the battle at theAmaxine Space Station.[39] They wieldedelectrostaffs[55] andforce pikes, astaff-like weapon[56] with a vibro-edged head.[57] Additionally, their robes hid aheavy blaster pistol, avibroblade, and various other weaponry.[1]
When on the battlefield, Royal Guards would abandon their traditional weapons in favor of an arsenal better suited for combat, including theT-21 light repeating blaster,Smart Rocket, and thehoming shot.[58]
Behind the scenes[]
The Guard first appeared in the1983 movieStar Wars: Episode VIReturn of the Jedi. Their design came from sketches byNilo Rodis-Jamero. The conceptual drawings varied from centurion-like warriors to priest-like monks, but a common thread tying those designs together was the deep red hue.[59]
In the2016video gameLEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, during the prologue's adaptation ofReturn of the Jedi, the Royal Guards were not dismissed by the Emperor, and instead actively defended the Sith when Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader turned against him. However, the Royal Guardsmen were ultimately no match for the two, allowing for the literal overthrowing of the Sith, afterwhich the Guards witnessed the redeemed Vader, who had sustained much injuries during the battle, express love in his final moments to his Jedi son, during which one Guard collapsed into tears to the emotional exchange, much to the annoyance of Luke Skywalker, as the other Guardsmen gave psychological support.[60]
Appearances[]
Non-canon appearances[]
"Battle for the Galaxy!" —LEGO Club Magazine July/August 2015- LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Crisis on Coruscant"(In flashback(s))
- LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures — "Escape from Coruscant"
- LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures — "Return of the Return of the Jedi"
- "Corellian Run" —LEGO Star Wars 58
- "Vader's Survival" —LEGO Star Wars 60
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- "Darth Vader: Hunter for Hire" —LEGO Star Wars 118
Sources[]
Non-canon sources[]
Notes and references[]
External links[]
- Related categories:
- Royal Guard
- Related Categories:
- Royal Guard