Star Wars: Why Sith Troopers Are Way More Dangerous Than Stormtroopers

Poor stormtroopers. They sure do have a rough time of it a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Wearers of pointless body armor and with a reputation for getting their plastic-covered posteriors handed to them, stormtroopers have been, for the most part, cannon fodder, even getting taken out by forest-dwelling teddy bears. In hindsight, Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) should've made a better investment and had Sith troopers as his go-to army instead, given just how straight-up terrifying they are.

In Darth Sidious'/Palpatine's effort to get the galaxy back under Sith rule, the scraggly old codger who loves throwing lightning around sets up Sith troopers as a contingency plan in the event of his death. Based on Exegol and bred from within the Sith Eternal cult, this particular form of soldier is well-learned in the ways of the Sith, which is an elegant way of saying they are totally messed up. 

Combat-trained cultists, Sith troopers can be identified as a different group from stormtroopers thanks to their fancy red armor and sigil. However, besides being a far more threatening force to any opposition, Sith troopers have honed a specific trait that Palpatine is keen to abuse, making them a more manageable but all the more menacing group.

Regarding Sith troopers, Palpatine has the best of both worlds, no matter how twisted they may be. Born and not cloned like the head hooded honcho's previous efforts, which led to the Clone Wars, Sith troopers are human, like the more recent forces that defended the Galactic Empire and, later, the First Order. The improvement (if you're an absolute tyrant, of course) is that by being indoctrinated into the Sith Eternal from an early age, Sith troopers are far more devoted to their rulers. As a result, they have even less chance of establishing their own identity and defying their superiors. Taking away this little issue allows them to become a more imposing force that will remove anything or anyone who opposes the Sith Order.

It seems even more surprising that after finally nailing down the perfect army, Palpatine doesn't use the Sith troopers before his contingency plan. Rather than deciding to wipe out the stormtroopers ("all of them") and usher in an upgrade of military power, he leaves them collecting dust in the back end of nowhere, aka Exegol in "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker." It is then that, somehow, Palpatine returns only to have another plan go up in flames and space dust, proving that he might not have been the right guy to take over the galaxy when you think about it. No offense, your royal evilness.