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As I'm sure all of you know, Emperor Palpatine was almost always accompanied by fanatically loyal Royal Guards. Apparently they were not just ceremonial but rather were really important in defending him.

My quesiton is, what could elite Stormtroopers with vibropikes kill that Palpatine couldn't. He is unrivaled in the force and may even have a lightsaber. Plus the fact that if anything could make it through countless thousands of Stormtroopers on the Death Star (hell a few Jedi would die to that much fire as evidenced in Episode II Attack of the Clones).

I just really don't seem them being that useful. Please could someone share their opinions on this or shed some light on me.

P.S. First time poster god I love this site all the technology entries are well written and the community for the most par seems nice and friendly .

Darth Maul wrote:As I'm sure all of you know, Emperor Palpatine was almost always accompanied by fanatically loyal Royal Guards. Apparently they were not just ceremonial but rather were really important in defending him.

My quesiton is, what could elite Stormtroopers with vibropikes kill that Palpatine couldn't. He is unrivaled in the force and may even have a lightsaber. Plus the fact that if anything could make it through countless thousands of Stormtroopers on the Death Star (hell a few Jedi would die to that much fire as evidenced in Episode II Attack of the Clones).

I just really don't seem them being that useful. Please could someone share their opinions on this or shed some light on me.

P.S. First time poster god I love this site all the technology entries are well written and the community for the most par seems nice and friendly .

Palaptine's status as a Sith Lord is not IIRC largely known outside of a circle of close followers and loyal subjects. He can certainly DO a whole helluva lot against anyone who attacks him (Which he has demonstrated in the Empire comics, I believe), but it would tip off observers who don't know he is a Force user that he is one. And I suspect he prefers to keep that fact secret as much as possible.

I think it is a matter of while the Emperor can kick ass, why would he want to dirty his hands, or reveal his powers. So much better to have some fanatical guards take care of his light work. The only thing that could really threaten the Emperor directly is a Jedi. Everyone one else are just ametuers not worthy of his time and the Guards make sure they don't ever bother the Emperor. The guards also probably handle the mundane security measures such as searching for bombs, intimidating people who get near the Emperor, and making sure locations he is to visit are secure, basically the same jobs the Secret Service does. Imagine some senator who is fed up with the Emperor, pulls a blaster. Without Guards, the Emperor has to deal with the threat directly. With the Guards, the senator never even gets close and is either dealt with, or the senator never gets up the courage to even attempt it.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Palpatine used his Royal Guard in some small capacity as covert enforcers; Kir Kanos, in the "Crimson Empire" comics, certainly seemed accustomed to such work.

I have to wonder; how would Royal Guards do against Jedi? While, admittedly, they don't have Force capability, they're damn fast; Kir Kanos was able to catch blaster bolts on his force-lance, for one. And while Luke had fun with the Sovereign Protectors in the Dark Empire comics, those guys struck me as being mostly just muscle and not so much brains and speed, while Kanos was definitely fast, strong, and smart. To be sure, he may be an exceptional case.... I've only read Crimson Empire II and that was a while ago...

According to EU sorces, the Royal Gaurds had dark side training.

In many ways, they could be viewed as the first step to Palpatine rebuilding the Sith Warrior caste of the old Sith Empire

Solauren wrote:According to EU sorces, the Royal Gaurds had dark side training.

You might be thinking of the even higher ranking Imperial Sovereign Protectors, which were indeed Force sensitive and had a number of Force skills.

Palpatine is a politician, not a soldier, and not a bodyguard. His force powers have a limit, so he still may need experts to do things such as sniff for bombs, guard against chemical attacks, screen for poisons in his food, etc. And of course he probably does have to sleep every now and then.

Palpy is a user, not a doer. He probably gets a dark side woody for having a bunch of fanatic guards willing and probably doing, to die for him.

Having the Royals Guards also gave Imperial soldiers an elite branch to which they could aspire. Among the Imperial Guard, a select few were chosen to become force-augmented Sovereign Protectors.

Palpatine was notorious for engendering competativeness and rivalry in his military by having such hierarchies instituted.

The Imperial Royal Guard also gave Palpatine a group of completely reliable pawns at any time; recall that according to the Imperial Sourcebook, squads of Imperial Royal Guards sometimes trade-in their ceremonial red armor for a stormtrooper's BDU. The Emperor could direct that specific groups of stormtroopers execute vital objectives in assaults or missions for him, and those units would be composed of 100% reliable Imperial Royal Guards.

Furthermore, the Imperial Royal Guards also form security for highly sensitive installations, like the Death Star II, the Imperial Palace, etc.

And their higher echelon, the Imperial Soveriegn Protectors, provided security for Palpatine's most important installations, such as his monestaries, retreats, and personal clone labs, an example of all of these being the Imperial Citadel on Byss, of course.

Wicked Pilot wrote:Palpatine is a politician, not a soldier, and not a bodyguard. His force powers have a limit, so he still may need experts to do things such as sniff for bombs, guard against chemical attacks, screen for poisons in his food, etc. And of course he probably does have to sleep every now and then.

OTITW shows his bed.

Looks kind of uncomfortable. And small, which goes against the "hundreds of concubines" idea. More rebel propaganda.

Ender wrote:Looks kind of uncomfortable. And small, which goes against the "hundreds of concubines" idea. More rebel propaganda.

Look now, I'm pretty liberal as they go so I'm not gonna pass judgement on your old people having sex fetish, I just ask that you take it to the BOTM.

Ender wrote:Looks kind of uncomfortable. And small, which goes against the "hundreds of concubines" idea. More rebel propaganda.

Maybe the concubines were on Coruscant with his pimp-daddy bed?

phongn wrote:

Ender wrote:Looks kind of uncomfortable. And small, which goes against the "hundreds of concubines" idea. More rebel propaganda.

Maybe the concubines were on Coruscant with his pimp-daddy bed?

Wasn't there only 12 concubines?

70 virgins, IIRC

StormtrooperOfDeath wrote:70 virgins, IIRC

Dude he's a Sith lord not a Muslim.

In answer to the OP: Has anyone considered what would have happened when Vader grabbed Palpatine to throw him down the shaft, if the guards had been there?

They are fanatically loyal to the Emperor not Vader so I think they would have attacked. Granted he would have probably killed them but they might be able to finish off his weakened state.

Jean Paul wrote:In answer to the OP: Has anyone considered what would have happened when Vader grabbed Palpatine to throw him down the shaft, if the guards had been there?

They would have watched in horror (though you couldn't see it behind the masks) as their beloved master was hurled to his doom.

Then they would have surrounded Vader, and one of them would say:

"He's dead, you've killed him!"

Vader would start to apologize, how he was just was trying to help his son who was being electrocuted, etc. as he is saying this the guards would all kneel down with their spears raised and one of them would say,

"Hail to Vader, the wicked Sith is dead!"

(*all Guards in unison*)

"Hail to Vader, the Wicked Sith is Dead!!!"

Catchy songs and parades would follow...

I was always under the impression that the Red Guard were somewhat force-sensitive. I wonder if some of them were 'reborn' from the Valley of the Jedi? Or aspired to become one of the 'Emperor's Hands'? The idea that they were just super Stormies seemed kinda odd.

Oh, and welcome, Maul.

Palpatine just claimed that they were his bodyguards to give him an excuse to have them nearby. He actually kept them around due to the variety of other uses that they'd found for those long, vibrating pikes.

Kurgan wrote:snip

According to the ISB and DESB and DSSB, the Royal Guardsman, are, in fact, Force sensitive.

Palpy was definitely a badass, but by no means omniscient or invincible. A few elite guards just adds to his 'badassitude' (PATENT PENDING!)

Also, they could bring him beer!

"Oh, and welcome, Maul."

Thank you

One thing the boys in red can do that Palpatine can't is take casualties. What better way to stop an incoming blaster bolt?

A simpler explanation is that Palps considers himself the rightful head of state and like Valorum, he gets an honor guard. What's the point of being the most powerful man in the galaxy if you don't get perks?

One thing to keep in mind is that the red guards are probably clones like the STs, which would explain why the open-faced blue guards (one of whom was Coppola's son) were phased out.