Star Wars: 10 Secrets Of The Stormtrooper You Didn't Know
5. The Origins Of Their Name
While on the subject of those early days of the stormtrooper, if you've ever wondered why, oh why Emperor Palpatine opted for that specific name when the Republic became the Galactic Empire, well, here it is... sort of.
According to the Born in the Storm story found in the Certain Point of View anthology book, some felt that name referenced the Empire bringing order to the galaxy after years of chaos, with these troops appearing out of the "storm" of galactic history.
But others claim that this name came into being on Coruscant as clone shock troopers carried out the law on the planet during the final days of the Republic, with folks on that world eventually referring to them as "stormtroopers".
Outside of the canon, though, the soldiers actually share this name with the real-life troops who fought for the Nazis in WWII, with George Lucas clearly being inspired by the real-life Nazi Party when creating his fictional dictatorship.
But stormtroopers aren't the only troops the Empire had at their disposal, of course...