In the new Star Wars movie there is a black stormtrooper, but I thought that all stormtroopers were clones. I have tried to look this up but with no success.
Why are clones no longer used as stormtroopers?
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1Clone != storm trooper– Deer HunterJan 11 '16 at 17:05
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2Also note that the character in question says he was taken from his family at a young age and forced to serve. He's clearly not a clone and I think it's reasonable to expect that none of the other Stormtroopers in TFA are clones. I dimly recall some conversation involving Phasma about the way Stormtroopers were selected/whatever.– Todd WilcoxJan 11 '16 at 17:06
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1Finn talks about his abduction and conditioning. Also, after Finn goes AWOL, Kylo Ren makes a remark to Hux about how maybe he should consider going back to clones.– KutuluMikeJan 11 '16 at 17:18
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The original clones would be ~60 years old in normal years, but ~120 by their reckoning thanks to their accelerated aging. Would you consider a bunch of feeble super centenarians a threat?– user40790Jan 11 '16 at 17:18
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2While a duplicate, I do want to point out that the OP is not challenging that the stormtroopers are clones, but rather asking when they stopped using the clones. He clearly accepts that clones are no longer in use. And, if you only watch the movies, you have no idea that clones age 2x as fast as humans.– Dave JohnsonJan 11 '16 at 17:20
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You're confusing Clonetroopers and Stormtroopers.
Clonetroopers were used by the Republic during the Clone Wars, and were all genetic clones of Jango Fett.
The Empire used Stormtroopers, which were made up, at least in part, of non-clones. This is explicitly shown during the show Star Wars: Rebels, where we see recruits working towards becoming Stormtroopers.
See also:
answered Jan 11 '16 at 17:07
In Star Wars Rebels Season 2, the initial encounter with Captain Rex had him remarking that the Emperor had retired the clones. Stormtroopers are now fully birth-born recruits. 13 years would have passed before the first batch of clones was commanded to execute Order 66, another 19 years before the Battle of Yavin, 3 years from then to the Battle of Endor and then 30 years to The Force Awakens. Considering accelerated ageing, the first batch of clones would be 130 years old by then. The Fett clones would all be dead.
As for the reason why clones aren't used anymore? They are expensive. And the original clones weren't willing executors of Order 66 - they are loyal to the Jedi and the Republic but inhibitor chips overrode their natural loyalties. They were then released (Kanan mentioned clones later telling him they had chips in them, that they had no choice. This indicates he encountered clones who snapped out of it and are no longer willing to go on a Jedi killing spree) from control and are clearly traumatic and unhappy over what they were tricked into doing. Not a good idea to keep these kind of guys around to rule your new Empire.
By the time of The Force Awakens, the First Order has access to less resources than before. Cloning had indeed been considered as an option for how to raise a new army of stormtroopers, but ultimately the decision was made to kidnap babies and raise them in a brainwashed environment instead. Not using clones was a conscious decision of the First Order.
answered Jan 11 '16 at 17:16
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It always seemed to me like the clones were bred to be perfect soldiers who always followed orders. I really don't like that they had "inhibitor chips" and without them, they would have disobeyed a direct order from their commander in chief. Jan 11 '16 at 17:25
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I thought it was 19 years between order 66 and the battle of yavin, not 13, then another 19. That would have made Luke almost 30 by the time of ANH came about.– CBredlowJan 11 '16 at 18:33
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@Thunderforge Because the Jedi has successfully taught the clones individuality and free will, and inspired loyalty and trust, no matter how deeply loyalty to Palpatine was inculcated into their genes. Palpatine anticipated that, so the inhibitor chips were there to make sure the Jedi can't jeopardise the success of Order 66. It's different in Legends, but the Legends version seem even more unbelievable - would Palpatine tell millions of clones the truth from birth and expect none of them to inform the Jedi, considering some of them did defy Order 66? Jan 12 '16 at 3:17
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@CBredlow Read again. After the first batch of clones are born, 10 years would pass before they were deployed to Geonosis. The Clone Wars ended 3 years later with Order 66, and then 19 years from then till the Battle of Yavin. Jan 12 '16 at 3:21
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From the clones' perspective, the Supreme Chancellor public ally states that the Jedi just made an assault on his life that he barely escaped from (and it permanently disfigured him). The text for Order 66 in Legends says that should the Jedi act against the interests of the Republic (which attempting to "assassinate" their leader clearly is) they should dispatch them. Given the information they had, the clones either felt they were protecting the Republic from traitors, of they were "just following orders." I think this was intended to have historical parallels of real soldiers e.g. Nazis. Jan 12 '16 at 4:48