# In the original "Star Wars" were Storm Troopers all the same build (like clones)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357 "2004-12-11T22:12:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/21 "2004-12-12T11:16:03Z")
Isn’t it stated somewhere in episode II that the clones age something like twice as fast as a normal person or something like that, with the exception of Boba, so they are probably all dead by the time of the original trilogy. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/22 "2004-12-13T05:34:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Don’t recall if they were all about the same height-weight or not, per the later plot device that they were all clones of Boba Fett Jezz, I can’t believe no one’s pointed this out yet. [incredible geek mode] The stormtroopers are clones of **Jenga Fett** not his son Boba. [/igm] Eww, I feel so dirty… ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/23 "2004-12-13T05:40:51Z")
On Thanksgiving a friend and I watched the original trilogy. The Stormtroopers are definetly not a uniform height. This is really obvious when Obi Wan is turning off the tractor beam and the two guards come and stand guard and have a little chat. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/24 "2004-12-13T06:54:21Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > This is really obvious when Obi Wan is turning off the tractor beam and the two guards come and stand guard and have a little chat. Well, mayhbe one of them was shorter from bashing his head into comm center doors all day! Wasn’t Boba himself a clone of Jango, thus the idea of being a clone of Boba _or_ Jango was esentially meaningless? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/25 "2004-12-13T07:22:44Z")
Boba was a true clone - the stormtroopers were modified to be more obedient. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/26 "2004-12-13T07:29:35Z")
> [@iggy popov](#): > > Not a chance in hell. How many planet destroying super weapons do they have in trek? Not many. Well, there’s Trilithium Torpedoes and the Genesis Device…neither of which needed a _battle station the size of a moon_ to support them. HA! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/27 "2004-12-13T07:38:33Z")
Trilithium torpedoes inhibit nuclear reactions in stars so it’s a solar sytem killer, not just a planetbuster. Doesn’t have much conventional power otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/28 "2004-12-13T07:39:12Z")
He was a clone of his father? I only watched AOTC once. Didn’t the Stormtrooper clones come out full grown? But Boba was a little kid. Anyway, regarding Star Wars vs Star Trek, the first time I came across [this website](http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/) I have to say the word ‘impressive’ isn’t what came to mind. More like ‘pathetic’… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/29 "2004-12-13T09:35:22Z")
The books are absolutely non-canon, so should be kept out of this discussion. I think that **Pool** hits the nail on the head with : > [@](#): > > Isn’t it stated somewhere in episode II that the clones age something like twice as fast as a normal person or something like that, with the exception of Boba, so they are probably all dead by the time of the original trilogy. As the empire has gone into decay by the time of the second trilogy (as everything else in the SW-universe) the technology to create the clones may have been lost. It would now be easy and cheap to just kidnap young kids and brainwash them into Stormtroopers. I wonder what George Lucas himself would say about this. He probably would create a new version of the trilogy with uniform sized stormtroopers. :wally ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/30 "2004-12-13T11:45:18Z")
Okay, since we’re getting different people saying different things, I finally just googled “star wars + novels + canon” and came up with a link to [theforce.net](http://theforce.net) and wikipedia. Since the former wouldn’t load and the latter’s almost always considered a trustworthy cite, I clicked on it. > [@Wikipedia](#): > > The Expanded Universe (or EU for short) is a collection of fictional background material from the Star Wars universe that is derived from official novels, comic books, and various other media besides the movies themselves. **The Expanded Universe is considered canonical by Lucasfilm Ltd., though there are many fans of the movie series who do not agree.** The Expanded Universe, however, has a continuity with few wrinkles. The general rule is that nothing in the Expanded Universe is allowed to contradict any other part of the Expanded Universe or the films. The films, however, do slightly contradict the Expanded Universe on occasion, and retcons are created in the Expanded Universe to fix these contradictions. Looks like the novels \*are \*canon but some fans just don’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![sleeepy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@sleeepy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeepy2)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/31 "2004-12-13T12:28:56Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Okay, since we’re getting different people saying different things, I finally just googled “star wars + novels + canon” and came up with a link to [theforce.net](http://theforce.net) and wikipedia. Since the former wouldn’t load and the latter’s almost always considered a trustworthy cite, I clicked on it. > > Looks like the novels \*are \*canon but some fans just don’t like it. Hmmm… If I recall correctly, in _Splinter of The Minds Eye_, Luke and Leia get a little “closer” than a brother and sister should. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/32 "2004-12-13T12:54:59Z")
> [@Hail Ants](#): > > He was a clone of his father? I only watched AOTC once. Didn’t the Stormtrooper clones come out full grown? But Boba was a little kid. The stormtroopers were artificially aged so they grew to maturity in 10 years. Boba was cloned, but is otherwise an ordinary child. There’s no Mama Fett. > [@](#): > > The general rule is that nothing in the Expanded Universe is allowed to contradict any other part of the Expanded Universe or the films. The films, however, do slightly contradict the Expanded Universe on occasion, and retcons are created in the Expanded Universe to fix these contradictions. This means that the books are “semi-canon.” They’re canon, except if they contradict the movies. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/33 "2004-12-14T09:25:08Z")
> [@sleeepy2](#): > > Hmmm… If I recall correctly, in _Splinter of The Minds Eye_, Luke and Leia get a little “closer” than a brother and sister should. I think that one can be counted as completely non-canonical…is it even still in print? What was the story behind its publication, anyway? As I recollect, it came out BEFORE Empire, and reads like a rejected screenplay fleshed out into a novel. C’mon, someone must know… ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/34 "2004-12-14T16:13:50Z")
Alan Dean Foster ghostwrote the novel adaptation of the original _Star Wars_ for Lucas. Part of the deal was that Foster got to write the first novel set in the Star Wars universe, which became _Splinter of the Mind’s Eye_. The plot involves Luke and Leia attempting to recover the Kybar crystal (I think that’s how it’s spelled–it’s been a long time), a powerful Jedi artifact which was the McGuffin in the first draft of Star Wars. The book is considered non-canon today because it spends a lot of time talking up the romantic tensions between Luke and Leia. I think they even kiss. There’s a saber battle between Vader and Luke, as well. I remembered loving it at the time, and I recently recovered my **two** copies from my grandmother’s attic. I don’t see myself re-reading it anytime soon, though. ---
**Author:** ![iggy\_popov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@iggy\_popov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iggy_popov)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/35 "2004-12-14T18:35:31Z")
I just picked up a new copy(money to burn and intoxicants don’t mix) of Splinter of the Minds Eye a year or so ago, so yes it is still in print and I cannot figure out why. Anyways, I have think we may have a Star Wars/Trek debate brewing. I’m sure it’s been done here before but would anyone be up for starting a new one? On a seperate thread before we hijack this one further? ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/36 "2004-12-14T18:50:59Z")
A major purpose of having a military is not just as a fighting force, but as a way to control young men and indoctrinate them into the command structure of the empire. So even if they had clones, it would still make sense to militarize the galaxy. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/37 "2004-12-14T21:01:46Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > Alan Dean Foster ghostwrote the novel adaptation of the original _Star Wars_ for Lucas. Part of the deal was that Foster got to write the first novel set in the Star Wars universe, which became _Splinter of the Mind’s Eye_. The plot involves Luke and Leia attempting to recover the Kybar crystal (I think that’s how it’s spelled–it’s been a long time), a powerful Jedi artifact which was the McGuffin in the first draft of Star Wars. The book is considered non-canon today because it spends a lot of time talking up the romantic tensions between Luke and Leia. I think they even kiss. There’s a saber battle between Vader and Luke, as well. I remembered loving it at the time, and I recently recovered my **two** copies from my grandmother’s attic. I don’t see myself re-reading it anytime soon, though. The ONE thing that sticks in my mind about SotME was Luke readjusting the size of his light saber beam (at one point he made it really small to pick a lock or something), was that ever shown in the films? Or were the film light saber blades an unadjustable standard size? ---
**Author:** ![iggy\_popov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@iggy\_popov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iggy_popov)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/38 "2004-12-14T21:09:51Z")
In AotC they show Anakin doing the beam adjustment when he is trying to rescue his mother. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/39 "2004-12-14T21:19:04Z")
My WAG: The clones are still around, but in fewer numbers. As we’ve seen from Boba Fett, the clones DO age, albeit at a slower rate. Perhaps the clones are the Royal Guards of the Emperor. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357/40 "2004-12-14T22:36:29Z")
Isn’t saying “the Expanded Universe is canon unless the movies contradict it” essentially meaningless? What could “canon” possibly mean except “in agreement with Lucas’ vision as portrayed in the films”? The movies are the only thing to measure against. If they contradict the EU, the EU is scrapped; if certain parts happen to agree with the EU, then _those_ parts of the EU have become “canon” but not necessarily anything else. Right? The whole Jango/Boba/clone thing, for example, contradicts all the stories of Boba being a former stormtrooper, or a “Mandalorian Supercommando” (whatever that means). Lucas may have had the idea of the stormtroopers being clones a long time ago, but I’ll bet it never occurred to him to make them clones of Boba Fett’s old man until he was writing Episode II. On the other hand, the prequels do have Coruscant, which wasn’t in the original trilogy and came directly from the EU. So I suppose you could say Lucas is free to rip off any idea he wants from the EU, but not obligated to do so. It’s all very confusing, especially now that George has gone senile on us. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-original-star-wars-were-storm-troopers-all-the-same-build-like-clones/279357.md?page=3)