Stormtroopers: robots or humans (based on OT films only)

I don't know if I'm alone, but while watching the OT back in the 80's, I always assumed that stormtroopers were robots in the SW universe, like C3PO. Did anyone else think that? I know that stormtroopers were later established to be human clones (PT, EU), but I want to restrict this discussion only to information available to the average viewer of OT films, with no external sources. Is there any clear sign in any OT film to indicate if stormtroopers are robots or humans in uniforms?

Pro robots argument:
1. No human faces or bodies are ever shown underneath the armor (unless someone is wearing the suit as a disguise), just like C3PO or any other human-shaped robots.
2. Laser hits on stormtroopers tend to produce sparks & smoke, suggesting damage to a mechanical or an electrical system.

Pro humans-in-uniforms argument:
1. Luke refers to a stromtrooper suit as a "uniform". "Uniforms" are generally associated with human soldiers. If stormtroopers were robots, Luke probably would've said "armor" or "shell".
2. When stormtroopers enter Dock 94, their leader says, something like: "Let's go, men!". "Men" is a bit too informal for a robot, plus "men" suggests humans.

Inconclusive:
Leia says to Luke disguised as a stormtrooper: "You're too short to be a stromtrooper." This could go either way: 1) stormtroopers are robots made to a certain size and Luke is shorter than that, or 2) stormtroopers are humans in uniforms, but they have a height requirement and Luke is below that requirement.

 

Humans; I read the ANH novel before I was very old and they're emphatically human in that.

Also, the 1978 article "Soldiers for the Empire!" states that they're all clones.

stormtrooper clones

 

I'll admit that as a little kid, I assumed they were robots, based on their appearance (Vader likewise).

However, they're obviously humans (or similar) in body armour - Luke & Han have absolutely no trouble donning their outfits, which wouldn't actually be 'outfits' if they were robots.

There's other things which might be a bit ambiguous:
- Obi-Wan using his Jedi mind trick on one in Mos Eisley;
- while Obi-Wan is sabotaging the tractor beam, a couple of them are having a meaningless chat;
- they run away from Han going psycho.

Although it's not explicit, there's absolutely no doubt from the start that they're meant to be organic beings, not robots. 'Robotic', perhaps, which might be the point, but they're not mechanical beings like the droids.

 

Also the stormtroopers in ANH discuss some new model of landspeeder og something, while Kenobi is turning of the tractor beam.

And Luke and Han disguise themselves as stormtroopers.


I don't think the stormtroopers ac like robots at all. But perhaps that's just me.

 

They are clearly humans in armor.

 

I was a small child when I first saw ANH in '77, & at that time I did indeed think the Stormtroopers were robots (I even though DV was a robot, or a partial robot). This was despite the fact that Han and Luke disguised themselves as Stromtroopers in the film - I guess since we never actually saw the stormtroopers without their helmets/armor on, at that time noone knew what they looked like.

My assumption that stormtroopers were robots continued in ESB, but by the time ROTJ came out I assumed they were humans in armor - a lot of this was based on a short article I read in a SW magazine in the early '80's, which stated that stormtroopers were human clones.

 

Exactly... I always thought this. Besides the way they talk, the fact that they have conversations about non-work related stuff, the way they move, and the fact that mind tricks work on them... one of the strongest indicators was that there was in fact hollow armor (with a black body glove) that Luke and Han could wear as a disguise. Not sure how that would work if there were solid robotic mechanisms on the inside.

 

"Soldiers for the Empire!" states that they're all clones.

Very cool

 

I never figured they were robots. They acted too human-like.

 

Even as a little kid in 1977/78, before I read the novel in about '79, I knew the Stormtroopers had to be human. There are numerous hints and clues to this, as listed so far in this thread. But THE deciding factor has to be that Luke and Han don the armor as a disguise; it's illogical to suggest that the heroes gutted the "robots" of all their wiring and mechanical parts and slipped the shells on over their own bodies.

Supporting this conclusion is that Luke uses the word "uniform", not "disguise" or "robot armor" or anything that would hint at android construction.

When we were kids I pointed this out to my friend Shane, who thought the 'Troopers were robots. Against my unassailable logic, in an effort to save face he retorted: "No, I meant the guys playing the Stormtroopers in real life: they're robots." When I pointed out that this would have cost too much money and was in fact the silliest thing he had ever said, he changed the subject, and we continued to argue about who got to play Han and who would be forced to play Luke.

 

When I was a kid I wasn't sure if they were robots or not, partly due to how incompetent they seemed.I always thought of robots as being slow and dumb like the Stormtroopers were.

A Stormtrooper toy I got from around 1995 had written on the back that the Stormtroopers were all clones though, so it's clear that Stormtroopers were all meant to be clones well before the prequels were made.

I wonder why Lucas didn't just tell the EU people that the Stormtroopers were clones.

 

I remember the Stormtrooper toy you mention - it was the '95 POTF2 Stormtrooper (from the first wave of POTF2 figures), and this info. was on the cardback. At the time, it was interesting to see this because it was only real "official" news we had gotten that Stormtroopers were clones up to that point (with the exception of the late '70's article previously mentioned on this thread). This was obviously setting the stage for what we eventually saw in the 2002 AOTC film. Very interesting.

 

I never thought of them or Vader as robots (or droids ). It probably helped that obvious robots in other things at the time like "Battlestar Galactica" had a more metallic look and slow way of speaking and moving.

That link says that "many were clones".

 

I believe their is a line said by C3PO to himself during the battle on the Tantive IV in the ANH novel where he initially thinks the stormtroopers are droids/robots, but then realizes they aren't.

 

The article itself, which I've read, specifically says they're all clones.

 

Human, just based their conversations. When Obi-Wan was deactivating the Death Stars tractor beam, there are two Storm troppers discussing a new weapon that had just come out. I do not think robots would have such conversations.

 

As far as the black body glove of the stormtroopers being an argument for humans-in-uniform... The problem is that in a pre-CGI sci-fi movie it's sometimes hard to tell if a costume is to be taken literally, or if it's just a general representation, given the physical limitations of a costume, budget constraints, etc. For example, in some shots you can see the body glove worn by A. Daniels (look closer at the back of CP3O's shell), yet you still buy the idea that C3PO is a robot.

This problem exists in all pre-CGI sci-fi shows (Star Trek, etc). It gets ridiculously bad in some episodes of Dr. Who, where some of the aliens are just basically sewn-together bedsheets and sofa pillows.

 

As with so many others, as a child i thought they were robots. But this was mostly because i wasn't allowed to see other violent media (for the most part) and in fact the only reason i was allowed to watch star wars in the first place was because i thought the bad guys were mechanical. Now of course it seems super obvious they're human, with the mind tricks and the uniforms and all. Also, i knew Vader wasn't a robot, so i don't see my parent's logic there.
However, my much younger siblings never thought stormtroopers were mechanical. My parents are far less sheltering of them and they're allowed to watch the movies.

 

I've always assumed that they were humans. They didn't move or talk like robots.

 

Sure, except that Han and Luke wear the same black body suit, which wouldn't make a lick of sense if they had pulled them off of robots. As to 3PO's similar undersuit, it's not visible unless you freeze frame and/or closely inspect the image in search of telling details. With the 'Troopers the suit is clearly visible in every frame without the need to freeze or to look closely at the image.

 

I never thought the stormtroopers were robots. I'm still having problems with them being clones! If some of them were clones, I could maybe swallow that. Also, we clearly hear banter between the troopers, which is something I'd never expect robots to do. (The scene I refer to is when Ben is turning off the tractor beam.)

 

Same here. It would be kinda cool if they re-did the trooper voices for the Blu Ray.

 

Meh, the "doesn't sound like Jango!" thing is a non-issue for me. Accents are learned, not genetically given. Of course, so is shooting skill, but George seems fairly insistent that that's somehow genetically granted as well...

 

[image=http://www.startrek.com/legacy_media/images/200306/tos-019-the-gorn-captain-prepa/320x240.jpg]

"I will be merciful, and quick!



Even though its eyes don't move, its mouth doesn't move, it walks
like it has a cactus shoved up its tail and it wears a sorta alien
one-piece swimsuit, it's not a robot unless a dictum from the script
says so. Nothing in the OT dialogue stated that the stormtroopers
were robots, so I wouldn't assume they were.

IMO