Is a Stormtrooper's armor purely aesthetic, or is it actually supposed to protect him? 'Cause if it's for protection, it sure as hell doesn't work.

Given that the Blaster&#153 is the most common weapon in the Empire, you'd think that the armor would be customed designed to protect against that very weapon. But no. We see time and time again that a single Blaster&#153 shot will take out a Stormtrooper (no matter, seemingly, where he is struck). Hell, rocks were taking out these guys on Endor's moon. Rocks!

And if it's just for looks, what's the point of that? Why make it so restrictive? Why not just a white cloth jumpsuit or something more free-flowing?

These are the questions that keep me up at night.

I've often wondered the same thing.

Maybe at some point during the height of the Empire they were made of high grade material, like Mandalorian armor, but after the fall of the New Republic, Palpatine got cheap on materials.

Because it looks imposing. Remember that for the most part the Empire rules through fear and intimidation. That is why the Star Destroyers are so damn large. 3 of those puppies show up in your solar system, you damn right you'll be licking Emperor Palpatine boots.

Its just a uniform. Why do cops wear blue? Because its just a uniform.

As far as comfort goes, they could have environmental controls inside the suit--AC and stuff, and the helmet itself has visual enhancements and radio controls and such.

I read that too in one of those star wars books

Well heck theres KNOBS on the outside of the thing...!

Also - the armor is good against shrapnel and other non-blaster hazards. Plus it does deflect lower power blaster bolts, plus glancing blows and the like.

Some possibilities:

1) The armor looks sexy.

2) Since you don't see their faces, you can use ugly actors, or swap actors in the same scene.

3) Since you don't see their mouths, you can add whatever dialogue you want later. (See also: Darth Vader.)

4) The Stormtroopers are supposed to all look the same. (Then again, if they're supposed to be clones, I guess they'd look the same underneath too, huh?)

5) The Star Wars universe simply isn't as well thought out as many want to believe. It was an idiotic error that should have been corrected during the production of the first movie. (This is my bet.)

Modern 20/21st century body armor is good against shrapnel and non-direct hits. But, a direct hit from a rifle will defeat most body armor.
So, I assume it's the same with the stormtroopers in the Star Wars universe.

Oh come on. A Kevlar vest will protect a cop from a point blank gun shot, and we're way less advanced than the Empire.

I think Duder has pretty much nailed the reasons. Sadly, they have nothing to do with the diegetic universe of Star Wars, but rather with the very real universe of 1977 Earth.

A Kevlar vest will protect from a pistol round. It will not stop a high power rifle round.

But, the Star Wars universe would be pretty boring if the Stormtrropers armor were really effective.

Another Stormtrooper-related question that's boggled my mind:

If Stormtroopers are so damned "precise" in their blaster-shooting, as Obi-Wan tells Luke when they discover the burned up Jawas on Tatooine,

then how come a whole squad of Stormtroopers can't shoot Luke and Leia at close range from behind when Luke and Leia are just standing there with nowhere to go, on the platform of the bottomless chasm on the Death Star?

It's a movie and entertainment is a huge factor than anything else therefore realism in which this case Stormtrooper's armor can be compromised for it.

I guess compared to the sand people they're precise.

Not effective? The Stormies managed to take a fortified position (the Tantive IV) with minimal losses. Do you have any idea how difficult that is? Or the Stormtrooper who jumped from behind cover and pulled a snap-shot hitting a target (leia) from a good distance away. It would take quite the marksman to pull off that shot in real life. They also seemed to be pretty damn effective on the battlefield at Geonosis.

I guess compared to the sand people they're precise.

And sandpeople, as we've seen, can hit a target moving 600-800 miles an hour from several hundred yards away. That sounds pretty damn percise to me.

The simple reason is - they cant shoot and kill Han/Luke/Leia/Ect because that would end the movie and be bad story telling.

Or perhaps their goggles are all far-sighted.

Funny enough, I've wondered about the same thing as well. They're also bad shots.

I think it's an extension of head protection due to door/head-related mishaps.

First you get the helmet, then you're always banging the elbows. Then the knees get scuffy, and then -- "Hey! I stubbed my toe, and Wilkins keeps elbowing me in the belly, so can I get something for that, too?" -- the armour starts to pile up pretty quickly.

Just busting your chops!

This is actually the practical reason why the armor exists. These are supposed to be clones, so obviously
- you can't have them played by various different actors
- you can't find a set of male septuplet actors to play the part
- technology doesn't exst for generating computerized clones
So you're stuck with putting various people in identical costumes.

Yeah, but we're not talking about bullets we're talking about lasers, man! Lasers!

{True answer} So Lucas can show a bunch of them getting shot and still maintain a PG rating {/True answer}

6. Star Wars fans will find the most asinine and idiotic sh*t to complain about or analyize.

Nothing about this silly nonsense detracts from the film at all.

I guess for the same reasons that Sauron, Saruman, and an army of tens of thousands of orc and uruk-hai are nothing more than inept cannon fodder, offering no real threat whatsoever.

Even though I'm not a LOTR fan, nothing about that detracts from those films either. But if you're going to be fair, both films can be criticized for this. Many if not most epic films of good versus evil can be criticized for this.

GREAT answer. He's right. The troopers are fodder for the good guys and if they were crack shots and killed the protaganists of the story, then the story ends. Just like if the Orcs had overpowered Aragorn and Gimli at the Battle of Helm's Deep the story would be radically altered. Same suspension of disbelief.

I also agree with the person who said the costumes were a way to get a PG rating.