187th Legion

This article is about 187th Legion. You may be looking for the 187th Battalion, or the regiment of Galactic Marines led by Mace Windu.

The 187th Legion was an elite clone trooper legion of the Grand Army of the Republic led by Jedi General Mace Windu. The legion participated in the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, subsequently serving the Republic's successor government, the Galactic Empire, as members of the Imperial Army and enforcing the Empire's rule. The legion shared its name with another unit led by Windu during the Clone Wars: the 187th Battalion.

Description

The 187th used purple and blue markings painted on their helmets.

The elite^[3] 187th Legion was a clone trooper legion of the Grand Army of the Republic^[1] that fell under the command of High Council^[4] Jedi General Mace Windu,^[2] and was later organized under the Imperial Army.^[3] It shared the same unit designation as the 187th Battalion,^[5] another unit led by Windu.^[6]

The troopers of the legion customized their white Phase II clone trooper armor with purple and light blue accents, which was partly shared with their Jedi General's^[1] unique purple-bladed lightsaber.^[7] The helmets of the 187th contained purple on the helmet's central fin and chin, with light blue vertical stripes across the top of the T-shaped visor and light blue coloring on the helmet's cheeks.^[1] Other versions of the helmet replaced the armor's light blue with light gray.^[8] Purple accents were painted on the shoulder armor plates, the chest, knees, and boots, while blue stripes were located on the arm and leg armor. The lower half of the leg armor was fully painted purple. 187th clone troopers utilized utility belts fastened around their hip, also painted in purple.^[1] An alternate armor design for the 187th Legion that replaced the purple accents with turquoise ones also existed.^[9]

The legion's troopers wielded the DC-15A blaster carbine and the DC-15A blaster rifle.^[1] Other members additionally donned pauldrons with ammunition pouches.^[9]

History

A 187th clone trooper in a desert environment.

The elite 187th Legion participated in the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems^[1] and was under the command of Jedi General Mace Windu.^[2] When Phase II clone trooper armor was introduced by the Battle of Mon Cala^[10] in 20 BBY,^[11] the 187th was equipped with the model of clone trooper armor.^[1] Despite the ideals of the Jedi Order,^[12] the helmets, combined with their coloration, of Windu's troops struck fear into the hearts of their enemies.^[3] After Windu's death and the destruction of the entire Jedi Order with the implementation of Order 66, a secret Executive Order Code that marked the Jedi as traitors^[13] in 19 BBY,^[11] Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine transformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire. As such, the Republic Military transitioned into the Imperial Military.^[12]

With clone troopers forced to obey the will of Palpatine, secretly the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious,^[12] and carry out Order 66 by their behavioral modification biochips,^[14] the 187th continued to exist as a legion within the Imperial Army. In that capacity, it was the task of Windu's former troops to defend the regime^[3] that openly hunted the Jedi.^[12] At some point during their service history, the 187th was present in a desert.^[9]

Behind the scenes

Continuity

"Get ready to team up with Jedi Master Mace Windu and his elite 187th Legion Clone Troopers."

―Kristin Baver announces the new LEGO Star Wars set featuring the 187th Legion^[15]

The 187th Legion was introduced in the current Star Wars canon as an elite force depicted through the "Republic Fighter Tank" set from LEGO Star Wars that was revealed by This Week! in Star Wars on March 31, 2022,^[15] by show host^[16] Kristin Baver.^[15] The 187th then appeared in the Happy Celebration 45th Anniversary A New Hope, a non-canon animated LEGO short created to celebrate 45 years of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope,^[17] the first film of the original trilogy released in 1977.^[18] At Celebration Anaheim 2022, a helmet of the 187th Legion was featured as one of eight collectible pins from the Mystery Helmets Collection.^[8]

The legion's status as a canonical unit was fully confirmed by a 2023 Hasbro figure set, "Mace Windu & 187th Legion Clone Trooper," for Star Wars: The Black Series. The Hasbro Pulse listing gave the name "Mace Windu & Clone Trooper," but the complete name was located on the release's box.^[1] The 187th Legion initially debuted in Star Wars Legends, first appearing in the 2006 Hasbro exclusive set for Target in "Mace Windu's Attack Battalion."^[19]

The Clone Wars

"The decision not to use the purple color scheme in Clone Wars goes back to CW Season 1, though I can't speak to why. It's a conscious decision to try [to] keep them as different units rather than the same unit that uses two different color schemes."

―Story Group member Leland Chee^[20]

A clone unit, the 187th Battalion, led by Mace Windu appeared in the first episode of the seventh and final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, titled "The Bad Batch"^[21] and released on February 21, 2020.^[22] The episode had originally aired in an unfinished format during Celebration Anaheim on April 17, 2015.^[23] According to Lucasfilm Story Group member Leland Chee, the decision to not use the purple color scheme of the 187th Legion was made in the first season of the series,^[20] which began airing in 2008.^[24] The unit was later named the "187th Battalion" on the Hasbro Pulse livestream for May the Fourth, 2022, as a Star Wars: The Black Series set.^[5]

The clone unit Mace Windu led in The Clone Wars — The clone unit Mace Windu led in *The Clone Wars*

In "Liberty on Ryloth"^[25]—the penultimate episode of the first season that aired on March 13, 2009,^[26] Clone Commander Ponds served under Windu and had customized his armor with similar color^[25] to Windu's unit in the seventh season.^[21] Sources including the seventy-sixth issue of De Agostini's Star Wars Helmet Collection magazine^[27]–written by Iain Lowson^[28] and originally released on January 31, 2017^[29]–and the July 18, 2017,^[30] reference book Star Wars: On the Front Lines authored by Daniel Wallace^[31] clarify that Ponds served as the leader of Lightning Squadron^[27] of the 91st Mobile Reconnaissance Corps.^[31] Chee further elaborated that it was a conscious decision to try to keep them as different units rather than the same unit that uses two different color schemes.^[20] The reveal of the Black Series Hasbro figure of the 187th Legion accidentally conflated the 187th Legion and 187th Battalion.^[2]

Non-canon history

The box cover art for the "Republic Fighter Tank" set depicts two B1-series battle droids fighting against Mace Windu, two 187th Legion clone troopers, and a 187th Clone Commander aboard a TX-130 Saber-class fighter tank in a mountainous and desert surface. In the set, the clones had markings that included a small, dark pauldron on their right shoulder. Their commander utilized clone paratrooper armor with purple markings, a similar pauldron, and a beige kama.^[32]

Two members of the 187th Legion escorted Mace Windu and Ahsoka Tano to a showing of A New Hope and encountered a B1 battle droid in a non-canon LEGO short film. — Two members of the 187th Legion escorted Mace Windu and Ahsoka Tano to a showing of *A New Hope* and encountered a B1 battle droid in a non-canon LEGO short film.

LEGO's A New Hope anniversary short sees two members of the 187th escort Windu and^[17] Jedi-turned-Republic Military advisor^[33] Ahsoka Tano to a screening of A New Hope, standing guard as both Force-sensitives depart from a TX-130 Saber-class fighter to the applause of all gathered outside the cinema. Unknown to the clones and their charges, a B1 battle droid hid in the crowd and revealed themself with the intention of firing upon the Republic personnel. While both clone troopers readied their blasters, either Windu or Tano used their lightsabers to deflect the droid's blaster bolt, destroying the unit and clearing the path to the theater.^[17]