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In Episode VI Return of the Jedi, Luke gives himself up to the Empire and to Vader, in the hope that the rest of the strike team will be able to blow up the shield generator.

However, when Luke has been brought to the second Death Star, the Emperor tells Luke that an entire legion of his best troops will be waiting in ambush for the strike team. So my question is, How many storm troopers are in a legion?

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If you are accepting Legends answers, then Richard's comment stating it is 10,000 troops is your answer.

Outside of Legends there is no clear answer. A few definitions:

  • A Roman legion consisted of between 3,000 and 6,000 troops.
  • A military or semi-military unit.
  • Any large group of armed men.

On the one hand, it is possible that the Emperor is exaggerating or otherwise overstating the actual force on the moon, because fear and despair lead to the Dark Side, and he is trying to convince Luke there is no hope but to join him.

On the other hand, he could easily be referring to an actual legion, because he did predict the rebellion would make an assault on the base. In the military there are specific terms relating to the size and makeup of your troops.

And on the gripping hand, unless specifically stated in some future canon work, we just don't know for sure.

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    You... you have three hands.
    – Wad Cheber
    Feb 10, 2016 at 15:41
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In Disney canon, it is currently left undefined as no replacement numbers are offered for the prior statistics wiped off by being labeled Legends and therefore non-canon.

In Legends, the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps is a separate military service from the Imperial Army and the Imperial Navy, answering directly to the Emperor. They are structured in accordance to the Order of Battle, for which the legion is the highest unit level. The full structure is as follows:

  • Squad: 9 troopers. Commanded by a Sergeant and consisting of at least one Corporal.
  • Platoon: 38 troopers. 4 squads commanded by a Lieutenant and a Sergeant Major.
  • Company: 153 troopers. 4 platoons commanded by a Captain.
  • Battalion: 613 troopers. 4 companies commanded by a Major. The make-up of Stormtrooper units with respect to the composition of specialized troopers is specified at this level (e.g. how many Scout Troopers, Shadow Troopers, Storm Commandos etc.)
  • Regiment: 2,453 troopers. 4 battalions commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel. Standard strength requirement for capturing Class A starports.
  • Legion: 9,813 troopers. 4 regiments commanded by a High Colonel.

Out-of-universe, the Stormtrooper Legion is inspired by the Roman Legion. Unlike the Roman Legion, the Stormtrooper Legion does not consist of support staff and units outside of the above number. It can conduct joint operations with the rest of the Imperial military, but those are not counted as part of the legion organization-wise.

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  • Note that the cited page now gives a range of 9813 to (computed) 13525; you might want to update this. (Bonus points for pulling in direct quotes from the original sources for that.)
    – DavidW
    Oct 22, 2021 at 2:39
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A stormtrooper legion consists of 12,800 troopers in 4 regiments of 3,200 souls each. A regiment consisted of 4 battalions of 800 troopers each. A battalion was made up of 4 companies containing 200 troopers each. A company contained 4 platoons of 50 souls each. Finally, a platoon contained 5 squads of 10 troopers each. Stormtroopers didn't use auxiliary troops and all leadership positions were contained within the 12,800 members. Aboard ships they would take orders from the commanding officer but otherwise they are considered outside the chain of command (think US or British Marines aboard a ship, a separate chain of command but still reporting to the captain of the vessel). If their task required expertise outside their normal mode of operation, then they would typically be assigned Imperial Army Troopers or Naval personnel suited to the task. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Legion

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    Hi, welcome to SF&F. Unfortunately Wookieepedia isn't a very reliable source for information, so it would be better if you could chase down an original, canonical source for that. In addition, a number like 12 800 doesn't really make sense, because there would need to be 1 commander of the legion, 4 commanders of the regiments (if 4 there are), etc. which does not end up adding up to an even multiple of 100.
    – DavidW
    Oct 19, 2021 at 22:33
  • I admit I'm lazy. I didn't bother to check the 29 accredited sources or hundreds of appearances they listed. It's lot to go through for anyone. It's even more impressive when someo0ne's only response is "it isn't a very reliable source" without evening investigating the multitude of sources quoted. The site listing a ton of works wins while the guys shouting into the air with nothing in his hands lacks credibility bub. Do the research on their sources, then come back with some real evidence. And thanks, glad to be here.
    – Steve
    Oct 22, 2021 at 1:05
  • Don't feel picked on; looking at this in context, I've now gone and noted the other answer needs work too. :) The idea on the site is that by providing a good answer, it means that only 1 person needs to go digging through the references to provide a well-researched answer, saving everyone else that work. Telling everybody to do the research themselves kinda defeats that. :)
    – DavidW
    Oct 22, 2021 at 2:44
  • And as to our issues with using Wookieepedia as a source, look how edits to the Legion page referred to in the answer above have left the answer pointing to a page that doesn't say what the answer claims the page says. This is always a problem when citing a wiki as the only source, and why we prefer original sources.
    – DavidW
    Oct 22, 2021 at 2:46

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