As well as wrapping up a nine-film-long saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker also introduced a different kind of Stormtrooper, the red Sith trooper. This continues the long-standing Star Wars tradition of introducing new trooper iterations for each movie, both to show the in-universe evolution of their military capability, and for more practical merchandising reasons when it comes to Lucasfilm and Disney.
Resembling angular red stormtroopers, these soldiers are arguably the most sinister versions yet seen, with a direct connection to red Sith troopers in The Rise of Skywalker.
Was The Red Sith Trooper Meant To Be More Important in The Rise of Skywalker?
It's unclear when in pre-production the Sith Eternal army came into the picture, but it's possible that it was only after the script rewrites that occurred following Colin Trevorrow's departure that it took on its final form as more of a signifier of the dark side's power than any sort of detailed organization. After all, The Rise of Skywalker ended up having to juggle dozens of characters and storylines. But regardless of their limited presence in the final film, the Sith trooper blaster rifles. Sith Trooper Black Series figurines were also released as part of Hasbro's Black Series, a line of moderately pricey, upscale action figures based on characters from throughout the saga, giving them an element of real-world prestige that seems appropriate to their "better-than-your-average-stormtrooper" status in the story.
Where Was The Red Sith Trooper In The Rise of Skywalker?
The red Sith troopers certainly aren't given the portentous introduction that the first major Stormtrooper offshoot received when the clone troopers appeared in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, from which they draw their aesthetic.
How Palpatine Got The Red Sith Troopers (Are They Recruits or Clones?)
Unlike the clone troopers of the prequels, these red Stormtroopers are not grown (although red Sith troopers a unique sense of menace that shines through even in their limited screen time in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
