Clone Turned Stormtroopers - The Real Zombies of Star Wars

This essay was written for a Zombies literature class I took. One of the coolest classes I have ever taken and one of the most fun essays to write.

Whether or not one is familiar with and chooses to engage with the cinematic world of Star Wars it is nearly impossible to not know information about it to some degree. So when the word zombie is tossed out in relation to this universe, even those who know very little about it would likely be confused. But zombies are actually a massive part of this universe. For one, the novel Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber tackles an actual Star Wars story centered around your average undead, rotting, hungry beings. However, the real zombies of Star Wars are much more embedded in every single cinematic piece of this universe. Whilst Death Troopers introduces actual stereotypical zombies, the Star Wars universe already has a much more heartbreaking form of figurative zombies with the clone turned stormtroopers that are central to every piece of every Star Wars story. Zombies are creatures usually noted for being mindless, dead, and with only one singular motivation, to kill. All of these features too describe the clone turned stormtroopers and these facts are most prominently demonstrated through the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Furthermore, all of this also points to the ultimate truth--that the clone turned stormtroopers are simply tools utilized to further both sides' own agenda and this fact is true of life as well. That is, that the casualties of war, pain, injustice, and suffering are far too often pushed to the side and ignored.

To understand this argument one must have a base knowledge of the texts being discussed, thus, the first texts I will explain are the overall world of Star Wars and the television show Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The world of Star Wars is quite a complex and unique one but can best be overall summed up as your traditional good versus evil style story and overall a massive struggle over galactic power. On the “good” side are the Jedi, who are seeking peace and are those able to utilize the force which is a sort of magical power, and on the “bad” side are the Sith, who also use the force but in an angry, rage-fueled way and they are after total power and control. Overall, Star Wars follows the lives of various characters whilst they navigate the world around them which is in a seemingly never ending galactic power struggle where the lines and boundaries between good and bad become blurred and confused for many. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is one of the most important but often overlooked pieces in the entire story. It takes place between the two prequel films Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. This series is so important and critical because it not only fills in a huge gap of lacking information and build up between the two films but it also fully illuminates and deepens the story of the clones who eventually become stormtroopers. Clones in Star Wars are an army of troopers that were created for combat. As the title of this show implies, this series centers around the Clone Wars themselves in which the Republic, the supposed “good” side, utilizes an army of clone troopers in their attempts to stop the Separatists, the supposed “bad” side. However, it eventually comes to light that the clones were programmed to betray the Jedi from the start by the leader of the Republic posing as being one of the “good” side when in fact he was the evilest of them all. Thus, when he triggers what is called Order 66 in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and is also featured in Star Wars: The Clone Wars the clones instantly slaughter those they have worked with for years because they have no choice but to do so. The chip in them is triggered and they are immediately no longer themselves. Instead they are zombified by this order and turned into mindless soldiers whose only purpose is to kill all Jedi immediately and thereafter be brainless, objectified soldiers who are called stormtroopers.

The next text is the novel Death Troopers in which the Imperial prison ship Purge is in the process of transporting hundreds of prisoners when the ship breaks down and leaves them stranded in space. The novel follows Trig and Kale Longo, two brothers who are imprisoned, Dr. Zahara Cody, the medic onboard, Jareth Satoris, a Captain for the Empire, Han Solo, one of the most famous Star Wars characters ever as well as a rugged smuggler and a phenomenal pilot, and Chewbacca, Han’s close friend and also a species of alien called Wookie. A small crew from the Purge attempts to board a nearby Star Destroyer ship in search of help but instead they bring back a deadly contagion that wipes out everyone on board except these six characters. Thereafter, the story follows the characters trying to navigate what to do as they are isolated in space and all those who have died arise as undead, hungry and violent zombies.

Just as zombies are creatures that are notable for being mindless, the process of the clones becoming stormtroopers too marks their transition from individuals with their own personalities and minds to becoming a mindless army who can only follow orders. Season three episode eight entitled “Clone Cadets” of Star Wars: The Clone Wars provides an important look into the process of becoming a clone out on the field on the side of the Republic. In this episode, we learn about how clones must go through a lot of training before they are allowed out on the field. The narrative specifically centers around a group called the Domino Squad as they are continually struggling to pass the test and in danger of not being allowed to go into the field ever. They struggle to communicate and work together which is because they are all trying to pass the test their own individual way. This fact illuminates that they are not mindless soldiers who are all the same but rather unique individuals with minds and feelings of their own. They also all have their own chosen names instead of just letter and number markers. Their names are, Echo, Fives, Heavy, Cutup, and Droidbait. Each of their names means or says something about who they are. Furthermore, in this episode Jedi Shaak Ti states to a Kaminoan who implies they should just discard the Domino Squad, “They are living beings, not objects.” She and the other Jedi we see interact with clones during this series such as Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan recognize the value of the clones. That is, they recognize that they are not just duplicated objects but rather individuals with minds of their own. In Death Troopers, Trig Longo states at one point that a zombie, “...had followed him here to satisfy whatever undying urge drove it forward. Rage. Murder. Hunger” (page 200). This is word for word what drives the Empire in all its forms and thus the stormtroopers as well. Before they are turned into stormtroopers, the clones have unique names and minds of their own but once they become stormtroopers all of that is gone and their minds are occupied with simply whatever the Empire wants them to be. So too is the case with the zombies of Death Troopers, as is exemplified by the quote, they are driven by certain urges and only these urges. This fact rings true for what the clone troopers are forcefully turned into when they lose their true minds and instead become mindless zombified soldiers.

The clone turned stormtroopers are dead like zombies are in that all of their individuality, personality, and identity is stripped away the moment Order 66 is triggered. Prior to this Order, the clone troopers may all be biologically clones but they are actually mentally so much more than this. Despite having the same face, the clones are diverse and varied with many different personalities and traits. Across Star Wars: The Clone Wars many episodes center around specific clones who illuminate this fact. One of the best examples is the commander of Anakin’s group of clones, Rex, a character with much life and personality beyond that of being just a clone. In fact, he is the only clone we see who actually escapes the fate of Order 66 and this is only because he is saved by someone else. In the final episodes of the show which take place at the same time as the beginning of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, ex-Jedi Ahsoka Tano, who used to be Anakin’s Padawan and thus formed a very close bond with Rex, is on a ship full of clones when the Order is triggered. This starts in season seven episode 11 entitled “Shattered” when Ahsoka and Rex are walking around the ship. Leading up to Order 66 in this episode there is much emphasis on the total comfort and respect between Ahsoka and all of the many clone troopers onboard. Rex and Ahsoka even have a truly deep and genuine conversation about the war and Ahsoka states, “As a Jedi, we were trained to be keepers of the peace, not soldiers. But all I’ve been since I was a Padawan is a soldier.” Not only does this quote serve to illuminate the immense complexity of the war and the way in which the supposed “good” side has lost their purpose and goal along the way but this quote too demonstrates just how much Ahsoka and Rex trust one another and just how much Ahsoka sees Rex as an actual individual rather than just some expendable objectified soldier. Furthermore, to this Rex states, “Well, I’ve known no other way. Gives us clones all a mixed feeling about the war. Many people wish it never happened. But without it, we clones wouldn’t exist.” To which Ahsoka declares, “Well, then perhaps some good has come from all of it. The Republic couldn’t have asked for better soldiers, nor I a better friend.” This first demonstrates the fact that clones were made simply to be soldiers for the war. That was really their entire purpose but for many of them like Rex, they found purpose and meaning beyond that. And in general, most Jedi do not view them as clones but rather as unique individuals as in this case Ahsoka truly considers him a close friend.

Order 66 takes these clones who are so full of life and personality and makes them into unrecognizable zombified machines. Not long after the conversation between Ahsoka and Rex Order 66 hits and just like the other clones Rex too starts trying to kill the nearest Jedi, Ahsoka, and she narrowly manages to escape them and later remarks, “I don’t know why, they just suddenly weren’t themselves” in regards to the sudden and absolute shift in the clones personalities. Similarly, in Death Troopers Sartoris is told by a few survivors of the zombification that, “The infection spread quickly through the entire Star Destroyer--soon no one was safe” (page 209). The zombification process also quickly took over the Purge as well, as is noted in the moments where Dr. Zahara Cody discovers the massive population of the Purge has been reduced all the way down to only six people left. Just as Order 66 quickly and relentlessly overcomes all the clones, so too did actual zombification take over everyone in Death Troopers, thus further illuminating the complex but apparent similarities of these processes. After barely escaping death by the turned clones hands, Ahsoka soon after manages to figure out what has happened and then to get the chip out of Rex and thus saves not only him as a person but also his true personality and self. That is, she saves him from the zombified fate the rest of the clones endure in that they are no longer themselves but now are merely mindless, detached, and dead as they are now no longer clones but stormtroopers. The real, true Rex would never hurt Ahsoka or any of his other Jedi friends because they are his friends and he cares for them deeply. Just as in Death Troopers the real Kale would never hurt his brother Trig until zombification takes away his true self. The parallel here is the fact that both Order 66 and zombification both entirely erase who these characters truly are and what emerges afterwards is an undead being who is no longer actually them. What happens to the clones when Order 66 is that who they really are dies just as when one is turned into a zombie like various characters in Death Troopers too die and from both what emerges is a twisted version of their true selves that may still have their face but does not still have who they truly were within.

Another powerful example of the incredible individuality and personality clones possess is a group of clones featured in Star Wars: The Clone Wars by the name of the Bad Batch. This group is anything but normal and each of them is so full of such unique personalities and looks that no one would ever recognize the fact that they are clones. Across episodes one through four of season seven these clones are introduced. Each of them has what is described in season seven episode one entitled “The Bad Batch” as “desirable mutations” which in turn marks them as “bad” as they are a defective batch and not the same as all of the other clones but in fact these mutations turn out to make them that much better. These clones serve as a great example of the power of individuality and just how much Order 66 ruins that. We do not actually find out what their fate is when Order 66 occurs and it is possible that as they are defective they do not have the chips within them but if they do and if they are turned into mindless stormtroopers this would be such a stark change as each of them is so utterly unique. They may have started just as clones, but they live their own unique lives and develop personalities that make them so much more than that. Like many other clones who mark themselves as individuals, the Bad Batch too all have actual names they have chosen for themselves. They are Hunter, their leader and mutated with heightened senses and the ability to feel electromagnetic frequencies, Wrecker, who is a very goofy, much stronger and bigger clone, Tech, who is mutated with enhanced mental abilities, and Crosshair, who is an amazing sniper with advanced eyesight. These clones do not follow regular protocols and strategies but rather act as a unit all on their own with unique approaches that fit their unique personalities. They in turn demonstrate the immense individuality all clones could possess if given the chance. Mutations or not, clones are so much more and deserve to be allowed to be so much better than mindless zombified stormtroopers and this group serves as a reminder of the fact that clones were so much more before they were zombified by the Empire and turned into stormtroopers stripped of all their identity.

Zombies' sole drive is to kill for hunger, and this too rings true for the clone turned stormtroopers as the effects of Order 66 turn them into an army whose sole purpose is to serve the Empire’s hunger for power. They mean nothing to the Empire, they are just expendable tools meant to kill as much as they can. That is, as Jason Eberl discusses in his article “I, Clone: How Cloning Is (Mis)Portrayed in Contemporary Cinema” in which he looks at the portrayal of clones across various cinema their, “...attitude toward clones presupposes that conscious, living human clones might be perceived as “non-persons” or “sub-humans.” Here he is referencing another film by the name of The Island but just as in the way the Empire treats clones in Star Wars this quote also works in pointing out the way the Empire does not regard clones as humans. They are objects and tools and nothing more. While zombies drive to kill is hunger, so too is the Empire’s drive a hunger but for power that instills this within the stormtroopers.

Whilst it is mainly the Empire who abuse and mistreat the clones, it is ultimately both sides hunger for power or peace that places the clone troopers on their doomed path. Thus, whilst most of the Jedi and others who are in contact with the clones do respect and treat them well, there are many supposed good guys who look down on and mistreat the clones just as those on the bad side do. In season three episode eight of Star Wars: The Clone Wars entitled “Clone Cadets,” Bric, a bounty hunter who is helping train the cadets, repeatedly insults and degrades them. He insists many times they simply discard and put aside the clones and even punches one of them as well as attempting to sabotage them in their last chance at passing the test. Furthermore, across an arc of episodes in season 4, episodes seven through ten cover a supposedly great Jedi General by the name of Krell heavily mistreating the clone troopers and acting as though they are nothing more than expendable objects. He was noted for being the Jedi General with the highest clone trooper casualty rate but as he was successful this fact was overlooked. In this arc of episodes, Anakin’s group of clones including Captain Rex served under Krell and he repeatedly refused to respect them or treat them as more than expendable objects. Despite Rex’s many attempts to logic, reason, and goal of being strategic and careful Krell continuously pushed for them to be in harm's way and heavily implied that he could care less what happened to them as he did not see them as actual people. Eventually it comes to light that Krell has actually joined the dark side but this fact does not excuse that the Jedi let him get away with such high clone casualties for so long without questioning it. Thus, while the Jedi claim to be better, the fact remains that, as Death Troopers points out in the quote where Jareth Satoris lands, “...lodged between two other ships, an old X-wing fighter and an upended TIE fighter lying on one solar array wing. Lucky for him the pod had landed hatch-up; otherwise he would have been trapped in here permanently, imprisoned between two icons of the galactic power struggle” that is, that they are as much part of the problem in the war as the other side is even though their intentions are supposed to be better (181). The story of the clone turned stormtroopers is one that is essential and important in illuminating the fact that one can think they are doing what is best for the world but in focusing on this they might miss what is actually happening and cause so many casualties they do not see because of this along the way. The Jedi and other “good” guys did not mean to treat the clones as weapons and objects and in fact most of them looked at them as friends and allies but in the end the sad truth is that they too really did use them for their own means.

Furthermore, the Jedi were supposed to be engaging in the war in order to maintain peace, but it is clear they lose their way throughout it. In her article, “Attack of the Clones and the Politics of Star Wars'' Anne Lancashire discusses how prominent politics are in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. At one point in the article she is discussing the big battle scene that occurs at the films end and states, “Previously avoiding war (the Jedi are supposed to be "keepers of the peace, not soldiers," as Mace Windu states near the film's start), the Jedi on Geonosis not only initiate the use of a clone army but also continue with a major battle and actively pursue Dooku, rather than merely effecting the rescue. The visual image of Yoda commanding stormtroopers on Geonosis works together with the film's final image of the Republic's Chancellor on Coruscant at (significantly) sunset, overseeing the gathering totalitarian army. as an indicator of how far the democratic Republic and its leaders have fallen towards imperial dictatorship” (245). This description of what happens is very illuminating and important in relation to the clones because here Lancashire calls them stormtroopers even though at this point they are still clones on the side of the Jedi. This demonstrates how many do not even see the clones as anything other than stormtroopers because that is what they become. At this point they are still clones and thus still their true selves but the mention of them as stormtroopers illuminates the fact that many only ever view them as this and do not know or understand who they truly are as they have not learned how unique and full of life the clones really are if they have not seen Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Furthermore, this quote also works to demonstrate how although the Jedi claim to be better and have pure motives compared to their opposing side, at the end of the day they too lose sight of what is right and on their path to ensuring peace they actually create more disruption and violence. This in turn works to highlight the fact that the Jedi too are blind to how they use the clones. Ultimately, war is war and at the end of the day the clones are ultimately utilized by both sides as a weapon to further their respective agendas.

The clone turned stormtroopers are one of the most overlooked aspects of Star Wars but I believe their importance cannot be overstated. They are crucial in illuminating just how ugly and messy the struggle for power can get and how in the end neither side really wins. The line between the “good guys” and “bad guys” is heavily blurred as both truly utilize the clones as tools to further their own agenda and this fact is just as true of real life. In battles for power and control so many people get caught in the crossfire and their pain and suffering is too often overlooked. The ends do not justify the means and as the world of Star Wars demonstrates we must come to realize and recognize this fact.

Works Cited

Eberl, Jason T. “I, Clone: How Cloning Is (Mis)Portrayed in Contemporary Cinema.” Film &

History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television, vol. 40, no. 2, 2010, pp.

27–44. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=

2011130033&site=ehostlive&scope=site.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2368

20834_I_Clone_How_Cloning_Is_MisPortrayed_in_Contemporary_Cinema

Lancashire, Anne. “Attack of the Clones and the Politics of Star Wars.”

The Dalhousie Review, vol. 82, no. 2, 2002, pp. 235–253. EBSCOhost,

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Lucas, George, Dave Filoni, Cary Silver, and Kevin Kiner. Star Wars, the Clone Wars:

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