Star Wars: 10 Secrets Of The Stormtrooper You Didn't Know

A number of legendary figures and items likely spring to mind when the average person thinks of the galaxy far, far away. The menacing Darth Vader breathing his way into their nightmares. The Dark Lord of the Sith and many a Jedi's weapon of choice. And most likely the white-suited icons found blasting their weapons at the likes of Luke Skywalker and many other heroes throughout various Star Wars adventures - the Empire's stormtroopers.

But while you may be well aware of the basics when it comes to the Empire's soldiers of choice - the fact that the ones seen in the original trilogy are definitely NOT the same as a clone trooper, they occasionally go by the name of "bucketheads", and have been knocking around this franchise since the very beginning - there are likely a ton of fascinating stormtrooper secrets you're still yet to discover.

Were you aware of the origins of their legendary name? And do you really know absolutely everything about their unmistakable armour?

Well, for the answers to those intriguing questions above and so much more, look no further than these 10 wonderful or unexpected secrets about Star Wars' most adored cannon fodder.

Throughout much of the Skywalker Saga in particular, if a stormtrooper did end up popping up on your screen, the chances were that this soldier would be a male.

That's not to say that women were forbidden from fighting for the Empire, though. The utterly wasted Captain Phasma famously led troops in the sequel trilogy before being disappointingly killed off in Episode VII - The Last Jedi.

But she isn't the only woman to don a version of the iconic helmet in the galaxy far, far away.

In fact, there were whole units boasting only women troopers, with female cadets being thrown into these squads while training. 

So, while they did complete the same training as the blokes, they weren't allowed to do so with the boys. Because the Empire were seemingly a bit sexist.

One of said separated teams went by the name of Unit Forn. This squad actually trained in the Academy for Young Imperials on Lothal, the same planet fans spent a lot of time on during the Star Wars Rebels animated series.

Female troopers have shown up in the likes of John Jackson Miller's A New Dawn novel and the novelisation of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, too, highlighting that women do actually have a bigger presence within the Imperial army than many fans likely ever realised.