When stormtroopers get into fire fights with the rebels, I noticed that a few are killed after a single shot to the chest. Is their armor not really armor or are the rebels guns just that powerful? In some of the books in Legends, it seems they can take more of a beating but in the original movies they can't seem to take as much. Do some stormtroopers have different grades of armor?
Answer
Stormtrooper armor was indeed good armor.. it just wasn't up to fully turning aside a blaster bolt. It would, however, reduce the impact a bit, per the The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology.
It was meant to be comparable to RL Kevlar armor; good, but not insurmountable.
Let's not undersell it, thought.
It was:
- A kinetic dampener, that would reduce damage from a blaster, and turn aside most non-specialty projectiles.
- An energy dispersal system, to further protect from energy based attacks (later versions could take a Blaster Hit without killing the wearer, although it tended to disable them.)
- An environmental suit that provided heating and cooling as needed, even in severe conditions that changed rapidly
- A vacuum suit with a 20 minute air reserve, as well as possessing air filters for providing protection against airborne pathogens or gas attacks when air was available
- Often equipped with a personal ray shield projector that gave limited protection against blaster bolts and even lightsabers.
- Powered gloves for Hand to Hand combat
- The helmets had various enhancements to the light processing, allowing for vision thru smoke and other things, as well as targeting systems.
- The backpack could contain quite a few things, including
- A high-tension wire
- Grappeling Hook
- Thermal Detonator
- etc.
See the Wookieepedia entry on Stormtrooper Armor for more details.
What you see in the movie, often dubbed the 'Stormtrooper Effect' (TvTropes version) wasn't seen so much in the extended universe; it was pretty good armor, and illegal for civilians to possess.
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