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Imperial Intelligence, AKA Naval Intelligence / Military Intelligence
After the fall of the Galactic Republic, Republic Intelligence was reorganized into the Galactic Empire as Imperial Intelligence. The Naval Intelligence Agency was briefly formed at some point as a technical cutaway from Imperial Intelligence. However, after an attempted rebel campaign led by Berch Teller, NIA officer Vice Admiral Rancit was found to be guilty of treason and was swiftly executed, and as a result, Naval Intelligence was folded back into Imperial Intelligence.
- Interservice Rivalry: Against COMPNOR branches, often butting heads with the Imperial Security Bureau. That's why they had Wullf Yularen act as a liaison to ensure mutual cooperation.
- Schrödinger's Canon: In Legends, the Inquisitorius was a Force-sensitive branch of Imperial Intelligence.
Death Troopers
In General
Imperial Death Troopers
Appear in: Rebels | Thrawn: Treason | Andor | Rogue One | Darth Vader (2020) | Hidden Empire | The Mandalorian
"It's the trooper you don't see that will get you."
—Cassian Andor
The elite soldiers of Imperial Intelligence, the Death Troopers are responsible for guarding key installations and personnel of the organization.
- Adaptational Wimp: The squad seen in Rebels gets wiped out rather easily, compared to their much more impressive displays in Rogue One and The Mandalorian. Granted, this may be a reflection of how Hera's team of two Jedi padawans, a Mandalorian, and a Proud Warrior Race Guy were significantly more formidable combatants than Jyn's own Ragtag Bunch of Misfits.
- Advertised Extra: The Death Troopers feature heavily in Rogue One's marketing and merchandise, but as opposed to the hordes of Stormtroopers, they are only seen in serious action twice (though they certainly make the most of their limited screentime). Rebels, however features them more prominently. They also appear in Season 1 of The Mandalorian.
- Ambiguously Human: They're at least partially cybernetic, dangerously efficient, speak in a distorted inhuman robotic growl, and are named in-universe after a project that apparently created zombies. Eli Vanto gets to see two of them without their armor when they go undercover. He notes that while they look human and aren't unattractive or hideously disfigured underneath, there is something about them that feels very off when compared to humans that haven't gone through the same type of Bio-Augmentation.
- Armour Is Useless: Averted and justified. They can take several shots, but when they go down, they go down fast. Cassian's blaster probably had sufficient armour piercing and the second one he shot fell down a shaft as well. Baze used a BFG capable of taking down vehicles (the only thing that didn't die in one shot from his gun was an AT-AT), so it's not surprising he could one-hit the Death Troopers. In The Mandalorian it's shown they can shrug off at least a few blaster bolts, but a clean headshot or Cara Dune's LMG still puts them down.
- Badass Crew: The squad seen in Rogue One is rather small, but they're highly efficient, and far more skilled then any of the regular Stormtroopers.
- Bio-Augmentation: The Visual Dictionary states that they undergo classified medical procedures that make them "somewhat beyond human".
- The Big Guy: One of the requirements for Death Troopers is a height well-above six feet, averaging at around 6'5, with some standing upwards of seven feet, towering over both fellow Imperials and enemies alike.
- Black Speech: Their transmissions to one another are extremely distorted and inhuman-sounding to the point where it resembles this. The Mauve Shirts featured in Rebels however, have intelligible speech.
- Bodyguarding a Badass:
- Played straight with Darth Vader, who is usually a greater threat than all the Death Troopers that accompany him, as well as his master Palpatine.
- Downplayed with Thrawn and Moff Gideon. They are good fighters, but they still need Death Troopers for protection.
- Averted with Krennic and Dedra Meero, who, having no fighting skills, need protection.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Apparently cybernetic, and definitely soulless.
- Doom Troops: They wear sleek jet black armor, helmets with green headlights and they have a Navy SEAL-like appearance. The Death Trooper Specialist wears a tactical vest geared with three grenades as well.
- The Dreaded: It's telling that when they show up on the battlefield of Scarif in Rogue One, all the Rebels stop fighting and immediately run for cover.
- Elite Mooks: There's only a handful of them, but they're much better shots than their regular counterparts and inflict much higher casualties on the rebels as soon as they enter any battle. In the shootout at the end of The Mandalorian Season 1, the Death Troopers are the only stormtroopers who manage to give Mando any real trouble. They also seem to be significantly heavier armored, forcing Baze to use his BFG in some sort of overcharged single shot mode instead of relying on More Dakka when he engages them. They're only assigned to officers and projects that are part of the Tarkin Initiative, such as Thrawn or Krennic, or the operation on Lothal. Then there are some who are loaned to higher ranking ministers while acting on behalf of the Emperor.
- Evil Is Bigger: All the actors playing Death Troopers are at least six feet tall. Even in Rebels, the Death Trooper character models positively tower over regular stormtroopers and imperial officers alike.
- Evil Wears Black: In contrast to regular Stormtroopers, the Death Troopers wear jet black armor.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Even with their vocal scramblers turned off, their voices are scarier and colder than regular Stormtroopers.
- Expy: To the Dark Troopers from Dark Forces as dark armoured Elite Mooks during the time when the Death Star plans were stolen. They also bear a resemblance to Storm Commandos (black-armoured elite Stormtroopers), Novatroopers (also black-armored elite Stormtroopers), and Black Hole Stormtroopers (the colour again, along with their status as personal bodyguards for a high-ranking official).
- Faceless Goons: Like their Stormtroopers counterparts, their faces are concealed by their intimidating armor with green headlights.
- Fluffy the Terrible: Despite their intimidating appearance and reputation, some of them aren't above giving themselves or each other cute nicknames like "Pik" or "Waffle". Eli Vanto suspects that they take these nicknames to obfuscate their more lethal nature from their enemies.
- Hero Killer: They are directly responsible for killing two members of Rogue One's main cast, Baze and Chirrut, not to mention Lyra Erso, as well as scores of regular rebel soldiers.
- Hell Is That Noise: In contrast to other Stormtroopers and even Vader, these guys speak in an incomprehensible robotic growl that sounds like heavily distorted rocks in a blender, and when you hear it, it's time to run.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Averted, these guys know how to shoot. They retain the brutal efficiency of how a Stormtrooper is supposed to be, and have hit numerous rebel soldiers. One notable case involves them shooting one rebel fighter dead the instant he breaks from cover. If they don't hit a target, it's usually because the target dodges in time, or their shots get blocked.
- Lean and Mean: The casting call for them in Rogue One called for six-footers, which is taller than the average Stormtrooper.
- Mascot Mook: They serve as this role for most of the Rogue One merchandise.
- Mook Lieutenant: The Death Trooper Specialists are better equipped than their subordinates, and they often serve as squad leaders.
- Mysterious Past: We don't know anything about them. They're incredibly coordinated, loyal, Lean and Mean, and mysterious. Rumor has it that they're named after an Imperial supersoldier project that attempted to bring necrotic flesh back to life. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch if this is similar to what people in-universe think about Vader.
- Mythology Gag: To the Legends novel Death Troopers. Supplementary materials pay tribute to the novel by suggesting they are partially zombified, or at least named after the undead stormtroopers from that novel.
- Mutual Kill: The last one sets off a grenade as he lies dying on the ground next to a heavily wounded Baze.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Even their name spells death.
- Obviously Evil: They're called "Death Troopers" and wear all-black armor with creepy, distorted voices. When they show up at Galen's homestead, do they look like they're going to be good guys?
- Praetorian Guard: They serve directly under officers of the Tarkin Initiative (such as Krennic and Thrawn) and answer only to them.
- Putting on the Reich: Their position and color scheme have a loose resemblance to SS Officers, and the Death Trooper Specialists have three MP-40 ammo pouches attached onto their left shoulder. Additionally, firearms enthusiasts and history buffs
will notice that their blaster rifles are cosmetically-modified German MG-34 light machine guns. - The Remnant: Several show up in The Mandalorian under the command of Moff Gideon.
- Robot Soldier: Not fully, but they're hulking, cybernetically enhanced with robotic, garbled speech and as such really don't appear to be anything other than droids unless you're in the know.
- Samus Is a Girl: Like Stormtroopers, Rebels has indicated that there are female Death Troopers.
- Suddenly Voiced: In Rebels, their voices are not scrambled. This can be attributed to Rule of Perception, as the only people who respond to them are Imperial officers that they report to and fellow Death Troopers, which is hinted at when the only one who directly addresses Sabine and Ezra gives off a distorted "Who's that?". However, The Occupation seemingly contradicts this with a Death Trooper commander who gives off an audible "out of the way!" towards Ezra, implying they can turn on or off their vocal scramblers.
- Super-Soldier: They may not be the resurrected dead, but they have undergone extensive Bio-Augmentation. Not to mention their physical capabilities, height and performance in training have to be way above average to even enter the Death Trooper program.
- Taking You with Me: As Baze kills the last one, he sets off a thermal detonator that ensures that the wounded warrior will go down with him.
- The Unintelligible: To the audience, anyway. Unlike regular stormtroopers who are perfectly understandable (if filtered through helmet speakers), the Death Troopers have distorted voices that sound like garbled radio static whenever they talk. Justified, as it's supposed to be a form of vocal encryption through their higher-end gear. Rebels, however has them with their vocal encryption turned off, with only one having distorted speech.
- Voice of the Legion: Their vocal scramblers give off this vibe.
- Worf Effect: After wiping out rebels with ease and killing Chirrut and Baze in Rogue One, Rebels has Ezra and Sabine easily killing an entire group, presumably to show the difference between a highly trained Warrior Monk like Chirrut and an actual Jedi like Ezra, or a skilled bounty hunter like Baze and a Mandalorian warrior like Sabine.
DT-F16
Commander DT-F16
Species: Human
Portrayed by: Jennifer Hale
Appearances: Rebels
The head of a detachment of Death Troopers assigned by Orson Krennic to covertly escort a large Kyber crystal for the Death Star project.
- Character Death: She perishes when the Kyber crystal explodes, destroying the freighter carrying it.
- Dark Action Girl: Being a Death Trooper, she is more skilled than most Imperial troops and actually manages to give Ezra, Sabine, and Saw a more difficult fight than usual.
- Expy: She acts similarly to Captain Phasma's characterization in The Force Awakens (so probably not counting the Chronic Backstabbing Disorder part).
- The Faceless: She is never seen without her helmet on.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: When she realizes the Kyber crystal has become unstable, she leads her surviving men to a shuttle to try and escape, but is foiled by Ezra and Sabine, who escape on it instead with several freed prisoners. Despite this, her message about their stunt still got out to Krennic before she perished.
- Samus Is a Girl: Her voice was the only indication that she was, in fact, a female Death Trooper. As a bonus, she is voiced by one of Samus's voice actors.
Naval Intelligence
Dodd Rancit
Vice Admiral Dodd Rancit
Species: Human
Appearances: Tarkin
A Republic Intelligence officer during the Clone Wars, Rancit was appointed by the Emperor to head the Naval Intelligence Agency five years after the rise of the Empire.
- Ambition Is Evil: His only goal in providing information to Teller's group was to later destroy them himself so he could advance in the Empire.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Not only did he betray the Empire by feeding information to a group of dissidents who attacked and destroyed several Imperial outposts, he also planned on betraying those same dissidents by destroying them when they hit the next target on their list.
- Face Death with Dignity: After Darth Vader arrives on his flagship and reveals that Tarkin has figured out Rancit's plot, Rancit makes no effort to resist his fate and is calmly escorted to a escape pod, which is then ejected and destroyed on Rancit's own transmitted orders.
- Interservice Rivalry: With the Deputy Director of the ISB, Harus Ison.
- Out-Gambitted: Even without Tarkin figuring out his plot, Rancit would have failed in his goals since Teller and his group figured out he would betray them, so instead of hitting the last target they told him about, they abandoned the Carrion Spike and joined up with the rest of their group to attack an Imperial supply convoy.
- Passed-Over Promotion: He was a candidate to become a Moff and was initially in charge overseeing the construction of the Death Star, but Wilhuff Tarkin was promoted instead and took over his former post, while Rancit was placed in charge of Naval Intelligence. This contributed to his motivation in plotting to embarrass Tarkin by feeding information to dissidents to let them steal Tarkin's personal cruiser, which he would then destroy and be lauded as a hero for.
- The Resenter: Towards Tarkin in particular.
- The Spymaster: Comes with being the head of Naval Intelligence.
- Wicked Cultured: He is well-known on Coruscant for his fondness of art and opera.
Terrinald Screed
Admiral Terrinald Screed
Species: Human
Appearances: Tarkin
A Imperial officer in the Navy Intelligence Agency.
- Canon Immigrant: Originally a part of the Legends Expanded Universe, he was brought back into the mainstream canon in Tarkin.
- Character Death: Dies fighting pirates of the Iktari Circle at an unknown time.
- Electronic Eyes: He lost one of his eyes during the Clone Wars and received a cybernetic implant to replace it.
- Rank Up: Sometime after the Carrion Spike incident he is promoted from Vice Admiral to Admiral.
- Unwitting Pawn: To Rancit during the events of Tarkin. He had no idea his colleague was in league with Teller's dissidents, and supported every one of his suggestions without realizing he was aiding both Teller's and Rancit's schemes.
Cassel
Commander Cassel
Species: Human
Appearances: Tarkin
A Imperial officer serving as Moff Tarkin's second in command at Sentinel Base, where the Empire is building the Death Star.
- Commanding Coolness: He holds the rank of commander and is presented as extremely competent. When he has to leave to see the Emperor on Coruscant, Tarkin trusts Cassel enough to leave him in charge in his absence. He ends up having to fill this role for Tarkin for far longer than either of them originally thought, due to the Carrion Spike being stolen. Tarkin's eventual return saves him from becoming Regent for Life.
Imperial Information Office
A subdivision of Imperial Intelligence Agency, often overshadowed by the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB), the Imperial Information Office (IIO) was tasked with monitoring the enemies of the Empire.
Controller LT-319
Controller LT-319
Species: Human
Voiced by: Josh Gad
An Imperial Information controller. When the rebels sent AP-5 and Chopper disguised as Imperial droids to Killun-71 to retrieve access codes to Lothal, the Imperial Information Office detected Chopper as an infiltrator. The Controller and his team chose to override the astromech and remote control him back to the rebels in an attempt to learn the location of their base per Thrawn's orders.- All There in the Manual: The Databank lists his operating number as LT-319, which was not stated in the show.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Averted. Despite having the same Lobot-style cybernetic headgear, he maintains his autonomy, unlike his subordinates who speak in a Creepy Monotone.
- Episode Code Number: If you count the hour-long specials in the season as being two separate episodes, he debuts in the 19th episode of Season 3. His operating number is LT-319, which is a shoutout to that.
- Faux Affably Evil: When he was controlling Chopper, he made him pretend to be nice and polite to the rebel crew, naturally this made them suspicious as Chopper is never affable.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: He spent all of "Double Agent Droid" controlling Chopper and having him sabotage the Ghost crew. Hera eventually caught onto this and reversed the signal to blow him and his ship up.
- Nerd Glasses: A first in the new Star Wars canon, the Controller has eyeglasses conventional to Earth's style.
- No Name Given: Other than the Controller in the show itself. The Databank only gives his operating number, not his name.
- Shout-Out: His appearance is modeled off of Pablo Hidalgo, a member of the
Lucasfilm Story Group that regularly interacts with the fan community to clarify things from canon. - Smug Snake: His arrogance in his skills as a hacker is a clear sign that he has enough free will to not be taken over by his cybernetic headband.
Tseebo
Tseebo
See his entry on the Lothal Sector page.
