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this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2023
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Why do stormtroopers wear that armor? It doesn't stop blasters, bullets, arrows, or lightsabers. It's not like they get into any fist fights where it would stop punches.
It varies with the source, but generally it's supposed to be a few things:
Of course, movies don't think about it too hard and just use them as mooks.
I mean, it does also illustrate how the empire's strength lies in numbers and resources, and not in superior skill. There's some evidence that stormtrooper accuracy is a lot better than popular media gives credit for (e.g. "these blast points are far too accurate for sand-people,") and the only reason stormtroopers miss as much as they do in the movies is because they are under Vader's orders not to injure Luke and Leia, which may or may not be true, but the battle on endor shows how susceptible the armor is to guerilla warfare that does, in fact, utilize those lower-tech weapons. I'm sure if the empire cared enough about the efficacy of the armor, they could develop a suit that incorporated shield technology and win battles with a fraction of the troops they use, but again, the suit's primary function is to mark these shock troops as the face of an insurmountably vast empire. I would not be surprised if the poor defensive qualities of the armor are intentional, to foster a strategic message to the empire's enemies that says "we don't care how many you kill, there will always be more."
A mook? What's a mook? You can't call me a mook.
I'm not an expert on Star Wars lore, but I think it's to dehumanize them and add them to the greater force of the Empire. The Empire doesn't need individuals for its troopers, they need tools and pawns that will follow orders when given.
And since they're just pawns, typically recruited en masse, why even cash out for good armor when you can just mass produce the bear minimum for dirt cheap? That's my take anyways
Aren't they all clones of Bubba Fet?
The original set of them was, but by the time of episode 4, basically none of them would be.
I think the lore is very mixed on it since even though people love the EU it basically meant every author sort of did different things with it. I believe a common thing with the armor is it does stop the blaster rounds but would make the user's incapacitated. Copout I'm aware but we also have to remember that stormtroopers were always meant to be the elite and most dangerous force but due to them going against people with plot armor they couldn't be good at all. So we have a generations of people who sort of internalized that and basically continued the meme that stormtroopers can't hit the broadside of a barn (even though they were pretty effective in 1 the opening scene and 2 with the rebel base).
The movie even makes it pretty clear that the Stormtroopers weren't trying to hit them during the Death Star escape.
Princess Leia: They let us go. It was the only reason for the ease of our escape.
Han Solo: Easy? You call that easy?
Princess Leia: They're tracking us.
Because Stormtroopers are functionally heavily militarized colonial police more focused on enforcing a terror regime than fighting against peer militaries, and the Rebels are more or less the singular exception. Same reason that wearing typical riot body armor IRL is unlikely to keep you from getting fucked up if someone's shooting .308 at you.
Great sciencey explanation: https://youtu.be/1r69YZ6YlZw?si=I7YN__toAnAE-f-S
Care to summarise for those of us that can't sit through a 10 minute video?
In short, the armor is designed to be cheap, light and imposing. It protects them from the environment but not a direct hit from a weapon.
Thanks :)
It's a form of ablative armor. The laser blast vaporizes and explodes the clamshell which crucially sits away from the body glove. It will burn the wearer and knock them out on military grade weapons fire, but does improve survivability considerably. Much like modern military body armor.
Maybe you should lay off tik tok for a bit
I can't do video content as a means of delivering information. The linear, non indexed, "at the speed of speech" means of delivery wrapped on either side by waffle does my head in...
Damn, that's some nice flow.
That guy has the worst presentation.
Most soldiers in war are killed from artillery, and especially shrapnel from artillery and other explosives. The armor they wear protects them from that.
Stormtrooper armour doesn't protect against shrapnel either.
Are they dead or simply playing dead? :p