Notoriously poor marksmanship is a hallmark of Imperial Stormtroopers. Despite Obi-Wan saying that these folks are “precise,” almost everything we’ve seen on screen suggests the opposite. In most Star Wars films, specifically the classic trilogy, Stormtroopers have a rough time actually hitting major members of the Rebellion with their blaster bolts. But there is one hero of the Empire hiding in plain sight. Star Wars fans have identified TK-714, the only guy in the Battle of Endor who managed to actually wound someone who was very integral to the Rebellion.
On Friday, the Twitter account @Depressed Darth handed-out a tongue-in-cheek Employee of the Month award to TK-714, a Stormtrooper who totally doesn’t have an entry on Wookiepedia or the Star Wars Databank, but who totally should. And that’s because this is the only guy who got close to taking out a leader of the Rebellion. Obviously, in traditional Stormtrooper fashion, this guy like only briefly wounded Leia, and was later shot in the face by her, but still. Great effort!
In fairness, the guys who stunned Leia on the Tantive IV in A New Hope were pretty capable of hitting a target running away from them, but it doesn’t really count because that wasn’t a laser bolt. Maybe using the stun-setting makes people better shots? If that were true, then maybe the Empire could have been more effective at ruling if they weren’t so hung-up on murdering people.
The only other Stormtrooper who turned out to be a pretty good shot was FN-2187, later known to his drinking buddies as Finn. But, Finn wasn’t a Stormtrooper for the Empire, he worked for the First Order before joining the Resistance. Meaning, even if Finn is technically the Stormtrooper with the best marksmanship, the only guy who worked for the Empire is this bold fellow who got punked on the Forest Moon of Endor a long time ago…
