History Analysis / ImperialStormTrooperMarksmanshipAcademy

* '''They're not actually that bad.''' We have to start here -- the Stormtroopers' reputation is a bit exaggerated. The very first time they try to shoot someone on-screen, they do it in one shot, hitting Princess Leia with a stun gun. They also do quite well against the Rebels in the beginning of ''Film/ANewHope'' and in the Hoth battle in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', showing that they can hit rebel soldiers from at least ten meters away when hip-firing. One explanation for why the Stormtroopers ''appear'' to be missing is that ''Star Wars'' blasters are {{Slow Laser}}s, so you see many more shots than you would from a conventional firearm, and the same hit rate would look much less accurate. The problem arises when the protagonists are involved, as they have prodigious PlotArmor and tend to aim a lot better than the Stormtroopers in many scenes.
* '''They're trying to let the heroes escape.''' This isn't ''always'' the case, but in a couple of scenes, the Empire has a lot more to gain from letting the Rebels escape. In ''A New Hope'', for instance, they had specific orders from Tarkin to allow Luke and company to escape from the Death Star so that they could [[NiceJobBreakingItHero lead them to the Rebel base]] they were looking for all film long, so at least ''some'' of the Stormtroopers were missing on purpose.

* '''They weren't properly trained.''' They're [[{{Mooks}} disposable soldiers]]; why bother spending time training them? Many ''Star Wars'' sources further state that there was a progression from the professional Kamino clones seen in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' to the Stormtroopers we see in ''A New Hope'', which are Spaarti clones and not the same. They're much cheaper and faster to grow than Kamino clones, but they also have no innate training and are given only the most basic instruction to compensate, which probably doesn't include how to aim a blaster correctly. And they also probably got mixed in with conscripts and clones from people who are not badass BountyHunter Jango Fett. In the 30-odd year span between these two films, a lot of Kamino clones probably got killed and needed to be replaced; ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront 2'' explained that many of them were stationed on the first Death Star when it blew up. This extends to the droids, too; the battle droids seen in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' were part of the Trade Federation's [[ZergRush quantity over quality]] battle strategy, and accordingly, their aim was so terrible that they were more or less comic relief.

!So ''why'' were the Stormtroopers in ''Franchise/StarWars'' such bad shots?

First of all, the Stormtroopers' reputation for being bad shots is a bit exaggerated. They do quite well against the Rebels at the beginning of ''Film/ANewHope'' and in the Hoth battle in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. For example, they can hit rebel soldiers from at least ten meters away simply by hip-firing. It's mainly in the presence of PlotArmor-wearing main characters that their aim starts to degrade. And in ''A New Hope'', the Stormtroopers were under orders from Tarkin to let Luke and his pals escape so that they could be tracked to the Rebel base -- so the troopers (or at least the most fanatical ones) were ''trying'' to miss. And in the one scene where the troopers were trying to take prisoners, they were able to hit Princess Leia with a stun gun on their very first shot. (It doesn't help their reputation that Star Wars blaster shots [[SlowLaser fill the screen with lines of light]], so we're much more ''aware'' of the number of shots fired than we would be with muzzle flashes and occasional bullet thunks into scenery.) However, that still does leave some unexplained scenes where the Stormtroopers were far worse shots than the protagonists.

Besides the impressive amounts of PlotArmor covering pretty much every inch of a named, major character, there are a few InUniverse facts one can use as a {{Handwave}}. According to some Star Wars Legends sources, the standard-issue Imperial rifles were defective and all-but-impossible to aim with, and the Imperial administration was too cheap and lazy to fix this known defect. This doesn't explain why Han, Luke, and Leia were able to shoot quite accurately with Stormtrooper rifles in the Death Star and Cloud City, but {{Fanon}} also speculates that Stormtroopers' helmets restrict their vision (recall Luke's "I can't see a thing in this helmet!") or have shoddy targeting. Another explanation is that by the end of the Clone War, the casualty counts for the Clone Troopers was getting out of hand so Palpatine asked Spaarti-cloners to make troopers as well; Spaarti clones take a year to grow (a LOT less time than the 10-year Kamino clones) and are taught through something called "flash-training" in combat; and only the basic stuff (how to fire a rifle, etc), meaning they never received formal training in ANY way. And as time went on, the Spaarti clones began replacing the Kaminoan Clones. The video game ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront 2'' gave the reasoning as that most of the clones were actually stationed on the Death Star (or at the very least, a good bit of Vader's 501st) and when it went up, so did the clones.

On the other hand, ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' offers [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18858_the-biggest-star-wars-plot-hole-explained-by-science.html an interesting psychological explanation]], pointing out that the Stormtroopers' on-screen accuracy is consistent with RealLife studies demonstrating that people (even trained soldiers) have inhibitions against firing at individuals with visible faces (like Luke and his pals), but fewer inhibitions against firing at others who can be dehumanized (like faceless Jawas or uniformed Rebel soldiers). The Stormtroopers' own [[FacelessGoons face-concealing armor]] didn't do them any favors in this equation.

As for the Clone Troopers' superiority over the Stormtroopers, the Clones almost certainly didn't have to suffer from hardware as shoddy as their successors did, presumably due to being a very small force[[note]]Both the movies and the animated series give their numbers as in the mere millions to low tens of millions, with five million new clones in the TCW Episode "Heroes On Both Sides" being treated as a huge investment.[[/note]] in comparison to the Stormtroopers, who are conscripted en masse and given less training and cheaper, mass-produced gear (Recall that Clone Troopers in the swamps of Kashyyyk got to wear camouflage armor, then 20 years later Stormtroopers in the forests of Endor had to wear the standard, blindingly white armor.) It also helped that the Clone Troopers were cloned from known BountyHunter Jango Fett, while the Stormtrooper ranks were diluted with soldiers from far-less-badass sources, like recruits, conscripts and non-Jango clones.

And the battle droids? The canon explanation for their shoddy aim is that they really are that bad. The Trade Federation's battle strategy [[ZergRush emphasized quantity over quality]], seeking to overwhelm the opponent with huge numbers of disposable troops. The standard B1 Battle Droids were so disposable that, after ''Episode I'', they were relegated to comic relief, rather than presented as a threat. [[EliteMooks Upgraded versions]], like the Droidekas, Super Battle Droids and Commando Droids, do pose a threat in later episodes, but even so, they tended to only succeed against Jedi in situations where the ConservationOfNinjutsu was working against the Jedi.

Now for the tricky bit: Stormtroopers and battle droids only tend to miss when firing at characters who are both important to the plot and are themselves wielding blasters. When they fire at a lightsaber-wielding main character, their shots ''are'' usually on-target--which is not a problem for the plot since the target is able to deflect the shots, either with the lightsaber or the Force (usually back at the shooter), or physically evade them (which is itself a Force-enhanced ability). Though there is the fact that characters armed with ranged weapons are a more immediate threat, which gives the attacker less time to prepare the shot and carefully take aim. A lightsaber can also serve as a ranged weapon via the saber-throw. However, this move is much less precise than a blaster shot and therefore more likely to result in friendly fire, and also temporarily deprives the user of their means of defense. (These limitations are well known to players of games like ''VideoGame/JediAcademy'' and ''[[VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront2 Battlefront 2]]''.) It is therefore usually avoided.

First of all, the Stormtroopers' reputation for being bad shots is a bit exaggerated. They do quite well against the Rebels at the beginning of ''Film/ANewHope'' and in the Hoth battle in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. For example, they can hit rebel soldiers from at least ten meters away simply by hip-firing. It's mainly in the presence of PlotArmor-wearing main characters that their aim starts to degrade. And in ''A New Hope'', the Stormtroopers were under orders from Tarkin to let Luke and his pals escape so that they could be tracked to the Rebel base -- so the troopers (or at least the most fanatical ones) were ''trying'' to miss. And in the one scene where the troopers were trying to take prisoners, they were able to hit Princess Leia with a stun gun on their very first shot. (It doesn't help their reputation that Star Wars blaster shots [[FrickinLaserBeams fill the screen with lines of light]], so we're much more ''aware'' of the number of shots fired than we would be with muzzle flashes and occasional bullet thunks into scenery.) However, that still does leave some unexplained scenes where the Stormtroopers were far worse shots than the protagonists.

Now for the tricky bit: Stormtroopers and battle droids only tend to miss when firing at characters who are both important to the plot and are themselves wielding blasters. When they fire at a lightsaber-wielding main character, their shots ''are'' usually on-target--which is not a problem for the plot since the target is able to deflect the shots, either with the lightsaber or the Force (usually back at the shooter), or physically evade them (which is itself a Force-enhanced ability). Though there is the fact that characters armed with ranged weapons are a more immediate threat, which gives the attacker less time to prepare the shot and carefully take aim. A lightsaber can also serve as a ranged weapon via the saber-throw. However, this move is much less precise than a blaster shot and therefore more likely to result in friendly fire, and also temporarily deprives the user of their means of defense. (These limitations are well known to players of ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront2''.) It is therefore usually avoided.

Now for the tricky bit: Stormtroopers and battle droids only tend to miss when firing at characters who are both important to the plot and are themselves wielding blasters. When they fire at a lightsaber-wielding main character, their shots ''are'' usually on-target--which is not a problem for the plot since the target is able to deflect the shots, either with the lightsaber or the Force (usually back at the shooter), or physically evade them (which is itself a Force-enhanced ability). Though there is the fact that characters armed with ranged weapons are a more immediate threat, which gives the attacker less time to prepare the shot and carefully take aim. In the hands of a Force-sensitive individual a lightsaber ''can'' serve as a ranged weapon via the saber-throw, but as such it is much less accurate than a blaster, which means this move is often not used as it is likely to result in friendly fire. It also temporarily deprives the user of their means of defense.

Now for the tricky bit: Stormtroopers and battle droids only tend to miss when firing at characters who are both important to the plot and are themselves wielding blasters. When they fire at a lightsaber-wielding main character, their shots ''are'' usually on-target--which is not a problem for the plot since the target is able to deflect the shots, either with the lightsaber or the Force (usually back at the shooter), or physically evade them (which is itself a Force-enhanced ability). Though there is the fact that characters armed with ranged weapons are a more immediate threat, which gives the attacker less time to prepare the shot and carefully take aim. In the hands of a Force-sensitive individual a lightsaber ''can'' serve as a ranged weapon via the saber-throw, but as such it is much less accurate than a blaster, which means this move is often not used as it is likely to result in friendly fire. It also temporaily deprives the user of their means of defense.

Now for the tricky bit: Stormtroopers and battle droids only tend to miss when firing at characters who are both important to the plot and are themselves wielding blasters. When they fire at a lightsaber-wielding main character, their shots ''are'' usually on-target--which is not a problem for the plot since the target is able to deflect the shots, either with the lightsaber or the Force (usually back at the shooter), or physically evade them (which is itself a Force-enhanced ability). Though there is the fact that characters armed with ranged weapons are a more immediate threat, which gives the attacker less time to prepare the shot and carefully take aim. In the hands of a Force-sensitive individual a lightsaber ''can'' serve as a ranged weapon via the saber-throw, but as such it is much less accurate than a blaster, which means this move is often not used as it is likely to result in friendly fire.

Now, for the really baffling part: When Stormtroopers or battle droids fire at a main character with a blaster, they tend to miss entirely. When Stormtroopers or battledroids fire at a main character who is a lightsaber-wielding Jedi, their shots are on-target or darn close--enabling the Jedi to deflect the shots (usually right back at their attacker) with said lightsaber. It is at this point that {{Watsonian}} analysis must either [[AWizardDidIt invoke the Force]], or wash its hands of the matter and walk away. Though there is the fact that most people without lightsabers are shooting back, which makes than an immediate threat and harder to aim at calmly.

Besides the impressive amounts of PlotArmor covering pretty much every inch of a named, major character, there are a few InUniverse facts one can use as a {{Handwave}}. According to some Star Wars Legends sources, the standard-issue Imperial rifles were [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Poor_Imperial_accuracy.JPG defective and all-but-impossible to aim with]], and the Imperial administration was too cheap and lazy to fix this known defect. (Which doesn't explain why Han, Luke, and Leia were able to shoot quite accurately with Stormtrooper rifles in the Death Star and Cloud City...) {{Fanon}} also speculates that Stormtroopers' helmets restrict their vision (recall Luke's "I can't see a thing in this helmet!") or have shoddy targeting. Another explanation is that by the end of the Clone War, the casualty counts for the Clone Troopers was getting out of hand so Palpatine asked Spaarti-cloners to make troopers as well; Spaarti clones take a year to grow (a LOT less time than the 10-year Kamino clones) and are taught through something called "flash-training" in combat; and only the basic stuff (how to fire a rifle, etc), meaning they never received formal training in ANY way. And as time went on, the Spaarti clones began replacing the Kaminoan Clones. The video game ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront 2'' gave the reasoning as that most of the clones were actually stationed on the Death Star (or at the very least, a good bit of Vader's 501st) and when it went up, so did the clones.

On the other hand, ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' offers [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18858_the-biggest-star-wars-plot-hole-explained-by-science.html an interesting psychological explanation]], pointing out that the Stormtroopers' on-screen accuracy is consistent with RealLife studies demonstrating that people (even trained soldiers) have inhibitions against firing at individuals with visible faces (like Luke and his pals), but fewer inhibitions against firing at others who can be dehumanized (like faceless Jawas or uniformed Rebel soldiers). The Stormtroopers' own [[FacelessGoons face-concealing armor]] didn't do them any favors in this equation. (Then again they didn't have a problem burning two unarmed civilians to death.)

As for the Clone Troopers' superiority over the Stormtroopers, the Clones almost certainly didn't have to suffer from hardware as shoddy as their successors did, presumably due to better funding for the military during full-on-war than during a police action against a comparatively small insurgency. (Recall that Clone Troopers in the swamps of Kashyyyk got to wear camouflage armor, then 20 years later Stormtroopers in the forests of Endor had to wear the standard, blindingly white armor.) It also helped that the Clone Troopers were cloned from known BountyHunter Jango Fett, while the Stormtrooper ranks were diluted with soldiers from far-less-badass sources, like recruits, conscripts and non-Jango clones.

First of all, the Stormtroopers' reputation for being bad shots is a bit exaggerated. They do quite well against the Rebels at the beginning of ''Film/ANewHope'' and in the Hoth battle in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. For example, they can hit rebel soldiers from at least ten meters away simply by hip-firing. It's mainly in the presence of PlotArmor-wearing main characters that their aim starts to degrade. And in ''A New Hope'', the Stormtroopers were under orders from Tarkin to let Luke and his pals escape so that they could be tracked to the Rebel base -- so the troopers (or at least the most fanatical ones) were ''trying'' to miss. And in the one scene where the troopers were trying to take prisoners, they were able to hit Princess Leia with a stun gun on their very first shot. (It doesn't help their reputation that Star Wars blaster shots fill the screen with lines of light, so we're much more ''aware'' of the number of shots fired than we would be with muzzle flashes and occasional bullet thunks into scenery.) However, that still does leave some unexplained scenes where the Stormtroopers were far worse shots than the protagonists.

First of all, the Stormtroopers' reputation for being bad shots is a bit exaggerated. They do quite well against the Rebels at the beginning of ''Film/ANewHope'' and in the Hoth battle in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. For example, they can hit rebel soldiers from at least ten meters away simply by hip-firing. It's mainly in the presence of PlotArmor-wearing main characters that their aim starts to degrade. And in ''A New Hope'', the Stormtroopers were under orders from Tarkin to let Luke and his pals escape so that they could be tracked to the Rebel base -- so the troopers (or at least the most fanatical ones) were ''trying'' to miss. And in the one scene where the troopers were trying to take prisoners, they were able to hit Princess Leia with a stun gun on their very first shot. However, that still does leave some unexplained scenes where the Stormtroopers were far worse shots than the protagonists.

Now, for the really baffling part: When Stormtroopers or battle droids fire at a main character with a blaster, they tend to miss entirely. When Stormtroopers or battledroids fire at a main character who is a lightsaber-wielding Jedi, their shots are on-target or darn close--enabling the Jedi to deflect the shots (usually right back at their attacker) with said lightsaber. It is at this point that {{Watsonian}} analysis must either [[AWizardDidIt invoke the Force]], or wash its hands of the matter and walk away. Though there is the fact that most people without lightsabers are shooting back, which makes it harder to aim accurately.

Besides the impressive amounts of PlotArmor covering pretty much every inch of a named, major character, there are a few InUniverse facts one can use as a {{Handwave}}. ccording to some Star Wars Legends sources, the standard-issue Imperial rifles were [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Poor_Imperial_accuracy.JPG defective and all-but-impossible to aim with]], and the Imperial administration was too cheap and lazy to fix this known defect. (Which doesn't explain why Han, Luke, and Leia were able to shoot quite accurately with Stormtrooper rifles in the Death Star and Cloud City...) {{Fanon}} also speculates that Stormtroopers' helmets restrict their vision (recall Luke's "I can't see a thing in this helmet!") or have shoddy targeting. Another explanation is that by the end of the Clone War, the casualty counts for the Clone Troopers was getting out of hand so Palpatine asked Spaarti-cloners to make troopers as well; Spaarti clones take a year to grow (a LOT less time than the 10-year Kamino clones) and are taught through something called "flash-training" in combat; and only the basic stuff (how to fire a rifle, etc), meaning they never received formal training in ANY way. And as time went on, the Spaarti clones began replacing the Kaminoan Clones. The video game ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront 2'' gave the reasoning as that most of the clones were actually stationed on the Death Star (or at the very least, a good bit of Vader's 501st) and when it went up, so did the clones.

As for the Clone Troopers' superiority over the Stormtroopers, the Clones almost certainly didn't have to suffer from hardware as shoddy as their successors did, presumably due to better funding for the military during full-on-war than during a police action against a comparatively small insurgency. (Recall that Clone Troopers in the swamps of Kashyyyk got to wear camouflage armor, then 20 years later Stormtroopers in the forests of Endor had to wear the standard, blindingly white armor.) It also helped that the Clone Troopers were cloned from known {{badass}} Jango Fett, while the Stormtrooper ranks were diluted with soldiers from far-less-badass sources, like recruits, conscripts and non-Jango clones.

Besides the impressive amounts of PlotArmor covering pretty much every inch of a named, major character, there are a few InUniverse facts one can use as a {{Handwave}}. ccording to some ExpandedUniverse sources, the standard-issue Imperial rifles were [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Poor_Imperial_accuracy.JPG defective and all-but-impossible to aim with]], and the Imperial administration was too cheap and lazy to fix this known defect. (Which doesn't explain why Han, Luke, and Leia were able to shoot quite accurately with Stormtrooper rifles in the Death Star and Cloud City...) {{Fanon}} also speculates that Stormtroopers' helmets restrict their vision (recall Luke's "I can't see a thing in this helmet!") or have shoddy targeting. Another explanation is that by the end of the Clone War, the casualty counts for the Clone Troopers was getting out of hand so Palpatine asked Spaarti-cloners to make troopers as well; Spaarti clones take a year to grow (a LOT less time than the 10-year Kamino clones) and are taught through something called "flash-training" in combat; and only the basic stuff (how to fire a rifle, etc), meaning they never received formal training in ANY way. And as time went on, the Spaarti clones began replacing the Kaminoan Clones. The video game ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront 2'' gave the reasoning as that most of the clones were actually stationed on the Death Star (or at the very least, a good bit of Vader's 501st) and when it went up, so did the clones.

According to some ExpandedUniverse sources, the standard-issue Imperial rifles were [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Poor_Imperial_accuracy.JPG defective and all-but-impossible to aim with]], and the Imperial administration was too cheap and lazy to fix this known defect. (Which doesn't explain why Han, Luke, and Leia were able to shoot quite accurately with Stormtrooper rifles in the Death Star and Cloud City...) {{Fanon}} also speculates that Stormtroopers' helmets restrict their vision (recall Luke's "I can't see a thing in this helmet!") or have shoddy targeting. Another explanation is that by the end of the Clone War, the casualty counts for the Clone Troopers was getting out of hand so Palpatine asked Spaarti-cloners to make troopers as well; Spaarti clones take a year to grow (a LOT less time than the 10-year Kamino clones) and are taught through something called "flash-training" in combat; and only the basic stuff (how to fire a rifle, etc), meaning they never received formal training in ANY way. And as time went on, the Spaarti clones began replacing the Kaminoan Clones. The video game ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront 2'' gave the reasoning as that most of the clones were actually stationed on the Death Star (or at the very least, a good bit of Vader's 501st) and when it went up, so did the clones.

Now, for the really baffling part: When Stormtroopers or battle droids fire at a main character with a blaster, they tend to miss entirely. When Stormtroopers or battledroids fire at a main character who is a lightsaber-wielding Jedi, their shots are on-target or darn close--enabling the Jedi to deflect the shots (usually right back at their attacker) with said lightsaber. It is at this point that {{Watsonian}} analysis must either [[AWizardDidIt invoke the Force]], or wash its hands of the matter and walk away.

And the battle droids? The canon explanation for their shoddy aim is that they really are that bad. The Trade Federation's battle strategy [[ZergRush emphasized quantity over quality]], seeking to overwhelm the opponent with huge numbers of disposable troops. The standard B1 Battle Droids were so disposable that, after ''Episode I'', they were relegated to comic relief, rather than presented as a threat. [[EliteMooks Upgraded versions]], like the Droidekas, Super Battle Droids and Commando Droids, do pose a threat in later episodes, but even so, they tended to only succeed against Jedi in situations where the ConservationfOfNinjutsu was working against the Jedi.

And the battle droids? The canon explanation for their shoddy aim is that they really are that bad. The Trade Federation's battle strategy [[ZergRush emphasized quantity over quality]], seeking to overwhelm the opponent with huge numbers of disposable troops. The standard B1 Battle Droids were so disposable that, after ''Episode I'', they were relegated to comic relief, rather than presented as a threat. [[EliteMooks Upgraded versions]], like the Droidekas, Super Battle Droids and Commando Droids, do pose a threat in later episodes, but even so, they tended to only succeed against Jedi in situations where the InverseNinjaLaw was working against the Jedi.

According to some ExpandedUniverse sources, the standard-issue Imperial rifles were [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Poor_Imperial_accuracy.JPG defective and all-but-impossible to aim with]], and the Imperial administration was too cheap and lazy to fix this known defect. (Which doesn't explain why Han, Luke, and Leia were able to shoot quite accurately with Stormtrooper rifles in the Death Star and Cloud City...) {{Fanon}} also speculates that Stormtroopers' helmets restrict their vision (recall Luke's "I can't see a thing in this helmet!") or have shoddy targeting. Another explanation is that by the end of the Clone War, the casualty counts for the Clone Troopers was getting out of hand so Palpatine asked Spaarti-cloners to make troopers as well; Spaarti clones take a year to grow (a LOT less time than the 10-year Kamino clones) and are taught through something called "flash-training" in combat; and only the basic stuff (how to fire a rifle, etc), meaning they never received formal training in ANY way. And as time went on, the Spaarti clones began replacing the Kaminoan Clones.

On the other hand, ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' offers [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18858_the-biggest-star-wars-plot-hole-explained-by-science.html an interesting psychological explanation]], pointing out that the Stormtroopers' on-screen accuracy is consistent with RealLife studies demonstrating that people (even trained soldiers) have inhibitions against firing at individuals with visible faces (like Luke and his pals), but fewer inhibitions against firing at others who can be dehumanized (like faceless Jawas or uniformed Rebel soldiers). The Stormtroopers' own [[FacelessGoons face-concealing armor]] didn't do them any favors in this equation. (Then again they didn't have a problem burning two unarmed civilains to death.)

As for the Clone Troopers' superiority over the Stormtroopers, the Clones almost certainly didn't have to suffer from hardware as shoddy as their successors did, presumably due to better funding for the military during full-on-war than during a police action against a comparatively small insurgency. (Recall that Clone Troopers in the swamps of Kashyyyk got to wear camouflage armor, then 20 years later Stormtroopers in the forests of Endor had to wear the standard, blindingly white armor.) It also helped that the Clone Troopers were cloned from known {{badass}} Jango Fett, while the Stormtrooper ranks were diluted with soldiers from far-less-badass sources, like recruits and non-Jango clones.

And the battle droids? The canon explanation for their shoddy aim is that they really are that bad. The Trade Federation's battle strategy [[ZergRush emphasized quantity over quality]], seeking to overwhelm the opponent with huge numbers of disposable troops. The standard B1 Battle Droids were so disposable that, after ''Episode I'', they were relegated to comic relief, rather than presented as a threat. [[EliteMooks Upgraded versions]], like the Droidekas and Super Battle Droids, do pose a threat in later episodes, but even so, they tended to only succeed against Jedi in situations where the InverseNinjaLaw was working against the Jedi.

According to some ExpandedUniverse sources, the standard-issue Imperial rifles were [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Poor_Imperial_accuracy.JPG defective and all-but-impossible to aim with]], and the Imperial administration was too cheap and lazy to fix this known defect. (Which doesn't explain why Han, Luke, and Leia were able to shoot quite accurately with Stormtrooper rifles in the Death Star and Cloud City...) {{Fanon}} also speculates that Stormtroopers' helmets restrict their vision (recall Luke's "I can't see a thing in this helmet!") or have shoddy targeting.

On the other hand, ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' offers [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18858_the-biggest-star-wars-plot-hole-explained-by-science.html an interesting psychological explanation]], pointing out that the Stormtroopers' on-screen accuracy is consistent with RealLife studies demonstrating that people (even trained soldiers) have inhibitions against firing at individuals with visible faces (like Luke and his pals), but fewer inhibitions against firing at others who can be dehumanized (like faceless Jawas or uniformed Rebel soldiers). The Stormtroopers' own [[FacelessGoons face-concealing armor]] didn't do them any favors in this equation.(Then again they didn't have a problem burning two unarmed civilains to death)

!So ''why'' were the Stormtroopers in ''StarWars'' such bad shots?

First of all, the Stormtroopers' reputation for being bad shots is a bit exaggerated. They do quite well against the Rebels at the beginning of ''ANewHope'' and in the Hoth battle in ''TheEmpireStrikesBack''. For example, they can hit rebel soldiers from at least ten meters away simply by hip-firing. It's mainly in the presence of PlotArmor-wearing main characters that their aim starts to degrade. And in ''A New Hope'', the Stormtroopers were under orders from Tarkin to let Luke and his pals escape so that they could be tracked to the Rebel base -- so the troopers (or at least the most fanatical ones) were ''trying'' to miss. And in the one scene where the troopers were trying to take prisoners, they were able to hit Princess Leia with a stun gun on their very first shot. However, that still does leave some unexplained scenes where the Stormtroopers were far worse shots than the protagonists.

On the other hand, ''{{Cracked}}'' offers [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18858_the-biggest-star-wars-plot-hole-explained-by-science.html an interesting psychological explanation]], pointing out that the Stormtroopers' on-screen accuracy is consistent with RealLife studies demonstrating that people (even trained soldiers) have inhibitions against firing at individuals with visible faces (like Luke and his pals), but fewer inhibitions against firing at others who can be dehumanized (like faceless Jawas or uniformed Rebel soldiers). The Stormtroopers' own [[FacelessGoons face-concealing armor]] didn't do them any favors in this equation.(Then again they didn't have a problem burning two unarmed civilains to death)

As for the Clone Troopers' superiority over the Stormtroopers, the Clones almost certainly didn't have to suffer from hardware as shoddy as their successors did. (Recall that Clone Troopers in the swamps of Kashyyyk got to wear camouflage armor, then 20 years later Stormtroopers in the forests of Endor had to wear the standard, blindingly white armor.) It also helped that the Clone Troopers were cloned from known {{badass}} Jango Fett, while the Stormtrooper ranks were diluted with soldiers from far-less-badass sources, like recruits and non-Jango clones.

Now, for the really baffling part: When Stormtroopers or battle droids fire at a main character with a blaster, they tend to miss entirely. When Stormtroopers or battledroids fire at a main character who is a lightsaber-weilding Jedi, their shots are on-target or darn close--enabling the Jedi to deflect the shots (usually right back at their attacker) with said lightsaber. It is at this point that {{Watsonian}} analysis must either [[AWizardDidIt invoke the Force]], or wash its hands of the matter and walk away.

On the other hand, ''{{Cracked}}'' offers [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18858_the-biggest-star-wars-plot-hole-explained-by-science.html an interesting psychological explanation]], pointing out that the Stormtroopers' on-screen accuracy is consistent with RealLife studies demonstrating that people (even trained soldiers) have inhibitions against firing at individuals with visible faces (like Luke and his pals), but fewer inhibitions against firing at others who can be dehumanized (like faceless Jawas or uniformed Rebel soldiers). The Stormtroopers' own [[FacelessGoons face-concealing armor]] didn't do them any favors in this equation.

First of all, the Stormtroopers' reputation for being bad shots is a bit exaggerated. They do quite well against the Rebels at the beginning of ''ANewHope'' and in the Hoth battle in ''TheEmpireStrikesBack''. It's mainly in the presence of PlotArmor-wearing main characters that their aim starts to degrade. And in ''A New Hope'', the Stormtroopers were under orders from Tarkin to let Luke and his pals escape so that they could be tracked to the Rebel base -- so the troopers (or at least the most fanatical ones) were ''trying'' to miss. And in the one scene where the troopers were trying to take prisoners, they were able to hit Princess Leia with a stun gun on their very first shot. However, that still does leave some unexplained scenes where the Stormtroopers were far worse shots than the protagonists.