Imperial Stormtroopers

Imperial Stormtroopers were the shock troops of the Galactic Empire. As part of both the Imperial army and navy, the Stormtroopers were the successors to the Clone Troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic founded at the onset of the Clone Wars. Although many Stormtroopers originated from genetically cloned stock, many more were regular human beings who graduated from the Imperial Academy on Carida. All Stormtroopers wore some variation of durable combat armor and were outfitted with standard military issue weaponry such as the E-11 blaster rifle.

History
During the Galactic Civil War, members of the 501st Legion stationed aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator boarded a fleeing CR90 Corellian Corvette called the Tantive IV, which was carrying stolen technical blueprints of the Empire's newest battle station, the Death Star. In addition, one of the ship's passengers was Rebel Alliance leader Leia Organa. Darth Vader personally led the boarding party and the Stormtroopers expeditiously captured and/or killed every crew member aboard the ship save for Captain Raymus Antilles, who was subsequently strangled by Vader.

Several legions of Stormtroopers were stationed aboard the Death Star only to meet an untimely end when young pilot Luke Skywalker successfully fired a proton torpedo into one of the station's exhaust ports, setting off a chain reaction that ultimately caused the Death Star to explode. More than 25,000 Stormtroopers lost their lives when the Death Star was destroyed, including half of the 501st Legion.

Two years later, upon discovering the location of a Rebel base on the planet Hoth, a special commando unit of Stormtrooper, trained for arctic combat, were deployed as ground forces while General Maximilian Veers led an All-Terrain Armored Transport division to take out the base's shield generator. Once the generator was down, the Snowtroopers entered the base. By this point however, most of the Rebellion's high command had evacuated on their transport ships, leaving behind only a small contingent of soldiers. Several of the troopers got more than they expected when they opened up a detention cell containing captured wampas. The wampas slaughtered the snowtroopers and escaped from the facility.

Three years after the Battle of Hoth a legion of Stormtroopers were deployed to the forest moon of Endor to reinforce the Imperial presence there. Emperor Palpatine sent them as part of a scheme laid out to bait the Rebel forces into a trap. A small Rebellion task force, charged with taking out the Death Star II's shield generator bunker found themselves trading blaster fire with the Imperial soldiers. The Stormtroopers likely would have succeeded in defeating the Rebels had it not been for some unexpected assistance from Endor's native populace, the Ewoks. Using jungle warfare, the Ewoks caught the Stormtroopers unawares and despite their advanced military training, they were unable to mount an effective counter strike. Most of the Stormtroopers on Endor were either captured or killed.

"Genetic Birth Defect"
There is a famous blooper from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope wherein a stormtrooper hits his head on a low doorway frame. The scene occurs on the Death Star when a group of Stormtroopers enter the computer operations room where C-3PO and R2-D2 are hiding. Coincadentally, a similar scene occurs in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Following Jango Fett's fight against Obi-Wan Kenobi on Kamino, Jango can be seen hitting his helmet on a bulkhead as walks up the boarding ramp to his ship. On the DVD audio commentary, director George Lucas offers the explanation that Jango's head injury perpetuated a genetic birth defect that was passed on the other clones, which is why the Stormtrooper in A New Hope hits his head. Although the comment came from George Lucas, it was said in jest and does not in any way apply to the official Star Wars canon.