Imagine being one of millions, that all look identical. This goes beyond your identical twins and such, you’re a literal clone of one person, you only have one parent in any sense. Now imagine you were born for war, trained and bred to fight the good fight for others you’d never met. How would you define yourself? What would you do when the war was over? For the Republic Clone Army, this was their reality, who are they? Let’s find out!
On the planet Kamino, far beyond even the Outer Rim of the known galaxy, technological advancements in cloning were being honed. The people of this planet, the Kaminoans, found that cloning could prove to be quite lucrative, taking on jobs from the highest bidders. One such job would change the galaxy in which an army was to be made using a single individual as the template. Human mercenary, Jango Fett, a highly skilled individual who had stolen the looks of the Mandalorian people as his own.
These clones would be nearly identical to their “father” but with some major modifications, for one, they would age twice as fast as humans do, to have a quicker turn out rate from their training. They would also have their individuality toned down, their source was highly individualistic to the point of it being a problem for him working with others, not ideal for a soldier, so it was altered to make them better at following orders. Also, not only were they trained in their rank, they were born into it, while some could and would be trained and promoted into other fields in their life over the course of the war, you were quite literally born to be a pilot or commander.
Born to serve, clones were given letter and number signs as their names, but the clones still couldn’t shake their need for individuality, born with their own personality quirks or developing them with age, they would also take on different hair styles to help the feel like individuals. They would begin giving one another nicknames that became their true names, sometimes based off their personality quirks (such as being called Echo because you had a habit of repeating back orders given to you) or maybe a play on your number designation (like going by Fives due to how many fives were in your identification number) but other names were also picked up like Cody or Rex.
The clones would take this individuality a step further by often decorating their armor with paint and words to signify their kills and allegiance to their Units. Where once the colorings designated their rank, they now made it easy to tell which Company you were a part of and who you served with. Becoming a sort of knock off of their “father” being a knock off of the Mandalorians their armor was based off of, each becoming more their own look. In fact, a nickname for new cadets was “Shinies” because their armor was fresh from the factory and hadn’t seen the dirt and grime of combat or the colors of comradery.
As stated before, while technically identical, not all clones were created equal. There were the first generation Advanced Recon Commando Troopers and Commandos, in general, were built to be the best of the best. The first generation being trained by their “father” which explained why they were often seen dual wielding pistols instead of a standard blaster rifle. Exceptional clones of other ranks could be promoted to ARC Trooper status after missions of impressive displays of skill and work. On the other side of the spectrum, unfit for combat due to deformities, such as clone 99, where the ones who did the required maintenance and janitorial work of the clone cadet academy on Kamino. While they were looked down upon by the Kaminoans as a sign of failure on their technological wonders, the other clones saw these members as family.
While the clones would age both physically and mentally at twice the rate of the average human. This meant that when the Galactic Republic experienced the schism of itself from Separatist planets and systems, the Clone Wars began with a group of ten year-olds as soldiers to fight for the Republic. This also meant that by the end of the war’s three years, the now thirteen year-olds that had survived, were twenty-six in age. At most, any clone who had fought in the Clone Wars and lived to tell the tale, were only living to be roughly fifty years-old before succumbing to old age, seeing as they were as old as a one-hundred year-old human by comparison. Some clones would realize they were getting a raw deal, some betrayed the Republic to the Separatists while others simply defected, looking for their own lives to be lead in the galaxy.
As the war went on, many clones began to redevelop their individuality, following orders out of respect and training, not out of a genetic need. This would allow them to stop from killing one another when a Jedi General commanded two different units to fire on one another, they would realize they were being deceived and capable of not following commands. Often times the Jedi Generals were reassuring to the clones, accepting and encouraging their desire for individuality, but occasionally on seen as organic machines by others. There was a back up plan in place, if the clones were to be needed to one-hundred percent comply with an order they normally would not commit, they had organic chips implanted in them at birth. These chips would not only make the clone comply with special orders given, it would make them fully believe at the activation point, this was the true and right thing to do. The aftermath was another story.
The most well known use of these organic chips was Order 66 nearing the end of the Clone War in which the clones, who many of them considered their Jedi Generals to be good friends, caused them to murder the Jedi. They were lead to believe the Jedi had betrayed the Republic and they were the first and last line of defense against them destroying the very people they were sworn to protect. Some clones were able to learn of these organic chips before Order 66’s implementation and able to remove them, not killing any Jedi and leaving the army in disgust. Others were just nowhere near a Jedi when the Order commenced but felt the sudden fear and anger at needing to kill them but then wondering how true that was, often finding themselves disillusioned. Some truly believed the command and were loyal to the Galactic Republic as it turned into the Galactic Empire, still willing to serve by the war’s end.
When the war was over, many clones were being phased out of service. They’re work no longer needed, some were able to stay in the new Imperial Army, as Stormtroopers, but most were let go, forced to fend for themselves. Many became mercenaries, others found a home on Mandalore, making amends for their “father” appropriating that culture. Some stayed in hiding until the Rebel Alliance began to form, ready to fight against the Empire that had chewed them up and spit them out. By the time of the First Order and the Resistance, most clones had died of old age, though there are stories that some clones, who found themselves cryogenically frozen during the war and defrosted during this new struggle, ready to fight.
There you have it! Clone Troopers might have been the precursors to Stormtroopers and had very little screen time in the controversial Star Wars prequel trilogy, but in comics and television, they were given time to become real people. They’ve been toys, video game characters, stars of books and shows. Star Wars The Clone Wars was a series that would sometimes delve into the lives of these Clones and the show is set to return with a final season, with more Clones getting the spotlight. Let’s hope that’s not the end of these stories. See you next time!
Suggested Reading
Clone Wars Adventures
Star Wars Clone Wars
Star Wars The Clone Wars
Dr.
Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
