The Emperor's Royal Guard

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Article Theme/Topic: The Emperor’s Royal Guard

General Information Body Paragraph: The Emperor’s Royal Guards have many names such as the Imperial Royal Guard, Imperial Guard, Red Guard, and Crimson Guard. These elite soldiers were bodyguards to the Galactic Emperor. They were tasked with guarding figures within the Imperial Ruling Council, including Darth Vader and others. Strict requirements were used to regulate who comprised the Royal Guard, they needed to be the toughest,  the strongest, the fastest, and most skilled in the entirety of the Imperial Army. They also needed to be loyal to the Empire and took Palpatine’s word as law. These Guards were with Palpatine every time he went in public. When seen or on duty they rarely spoke. When they did, they used the Royal Guards battle language known only to members of this unit.  The Training was also brutal, and the final test included fighting Emperor Palpatine himself, to the death. 

History/Background Body Paragraph: The Red Guards were created during the Clone Wars by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, which would be sometime between 22 BBY and 19 BBY. These Guards were seen guarding Palpatine when he proclaimed himself the Galactic Emperor at the end of the Clone Wars. When he created the first of many elite guards, they were handpicked soldiers from the Senate Guard. He armed these guards with force pikes, which are formidable close-combat weapons. The Emperor began to favor his Red Guards and liked how they made him feared and how useful they were. They would scout travel locations beforehand and handle many tasks concerning the Emperor’s protection. During the Galactic Civil War, the Emperor used them as battle assassins. The guards were also seen in Star Wars Rebels but in a different form than previously. In episode 16 of season 4  (Rebels), Ezra fought a group of Red Guards and could hear them speaking in their battle language. 

Additional Information Body Paragraph: The Royal Guard typically wore flowing Red robes and featureless masks but there is another variant of their armor as seen being worn by the Royal Guard on the Chimaera. This variant of the armor was more lightweight and lacked the ceremonial helmet. They are trained to wield many weapons such as Force Pikes, Electrostaffs, and vibro blades. The Praetorian Guards as seen in The Last Jedi, were inspired by the Emperor’s Royal Guard. Later the Sovereign Protectors were seen, taking over the role of the Royal Guard, in Palpatine’s idea of a Sith Empire.