Star Wars Episode IX Sith Trooper Armour - Image Analysis

So Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker (JJ Abrams) is set to hit theatres later this year in December. And to promote the movie we now have an official look at some new Stormtrooper armour, which will belong to a group of Stormtroopers called Sith Troopers. Whilst little has been said about what the role of this type of trooper will be. Only that it is "The next evolution of the Imperial First Order Soldier". In this post, I will go over what I think of the design and what I think it might mean for the movie.

First Thoughts

I don't really care much for the design. Personally, it just looks like regular stormtrooper armour painted red and given more detailed patterns. Other than that there's really nothing that seems to separate it from regular stormtrooper armour. Even the weapon looks the same, with some red parts added. I really think that this design is just to sell toys and not much else. And whilst that is something that Star Wars is known for, it's a little disappointing.

Captain Phasma's Armour

Comparing this to Captain Phasma's armour, this doesn't really measure up. Whether you liked Phasma or not you couldn't deny that her armour was pretty cool. Seeing her for the first time in the trailer for The Force Awakens (2015, JJ Abrams) fans were intrigued as to who she was and what her role was in the story. It was chrome and clean, she clearly had some height to her, and she had that cloak over her shoulder. Indicating that she had a high rank in the First Order and that she had her own personality that separated her from her peers. By comparison, the Sith Trooper armour just looks like red Stormtrooper armour. There doesn't seem to be much else to indicate that these guys pose more of a threat than any other Stormtrooper.

Praetorian Guard

Another group in Star Wars with their own unique look were the Praetorian Guard from The Last Jedi (2017, Rian Johnson) which was very different from other types of armour fans had seen. They were quite clearly based off of the Imperial Guard from Return Of The Jedi (1983, Richard Marquand) but their armour looked a lot more technical and menacing compared to them. And so audiences knew that these guys meant business. Which, again, the Sith Troopers don't have enough to show that they're more of a threat than other Stormtroopers.

   Now, I'm guessing that the Sith Troopers will be similar to the Praetorian Guard, on the grounds that they have the same colour, so they will probably be the personal bodyguards to Kylo Ren. Which could be interesting but only if there's something else to them that separates them from regular Stormtroopers than just the colour of their armour.

Conclusion

Whilst we have very little information about what the Sith Troopers will be doing in The Rise Of Skywalker I think the overall design of them isn't really that exciting. It's just red Stormtrooper armour with some extra patterns on the plates. I hope that the movie does something with them that audiences haven't seen in a Star Wars movie that separates them from regular Stormtroopers but for now, I am not that impressed.

So that's my image analysis of the new Sith Trooper Armour. What do you think of it? Do you agree or disagree with anything that I have said? Leave a comment down below. And, if you liked this post then you can follow this blog for more content. Thank you for reading!