If Palpatine Was So Strong Why Did He Use Guards?

The power of the Emperor extended throughout the Star Wars galaxy. Yet, he had elite Imperial Guards who were always with him.

If Palpatine was so strong, why did he use the Red Guards? The answer lies in a continuum of protection and display.

Read on to find out more.

Why Did Palpatine Use Royal Guards?

Fan explanations include how the guards served a “ceremonial” purpose, the top ruler “appears to need his royal guards,” and to protect an aged Emperor.

Others contribute about how “powerful people don’t need to fight their own battles” and to keep him safe from Jedi assassinations. 

These comments frame the Royal Guards along a continuum of a real need for protection to being more ornamental.

As the personal bodyguards of the Emperor, the Red Guard were known for their “size, strength, intelligence, and loyalty” to Palpatine.

These elements reflect their protective side. Sidious was “confident in his Force powers” and did not need these elite bodyguards, but retained them to “impress and intimidate” everyone he met.

The Royal Guards thus reflect both protective and display purposes. They could take on any threat that did not warrant Palpatine’s use of the Force or could serve as an added layer of defense.

The Guards also provided a display of status and power that the Emperor enjoyed.

Fans also indicate how Palpatine needed the Guards to help keep his identity as Sith lord secret. This purpose was especially crucial as Palpatine maneuvered to take over the galaxy.

The Guards also retained that purpose with the rise of the Empire. Sidious could conceal who he was while “the Imperial Guard gave Palpatine protection without having to reveal his Sith powers.” 

As the below video explains, as Galactic Emperor, “Palpatine went out of his way to hide the fact that he was Force-sensitive, let alone a powerful Sith lord.”

Sidious sought to avoid “public dissent” within the Empire over his true identity since most people did not know who the Sith were and believed all Force powers go back to the Jedi.

These ideas speak more to the display side of the continuum, but this video reminds us that Imperial Guards were quite powerful.

From the comics and other extended sources, we learn that the Red Guards were “a force to be reckoned with” and “the finest non-Force sensitive and Force-sensitive warriors in the entire galaxy.” 

How Powerful Were the Imperial Royal Guards?

Since we usually see the Royal Guards standing around and not fighting, we may conclude that they were not that powerful.

Yet, as this video describes, “becoming a Royal Guard was super hard and dangerous.” To put it in perspective, “only the best of the best from the Stormtrooper Corps” were selected into the Guards, with only 40 recruits in all.

Moreover, they had a rigorous training program that had them fight one another until only one remained.

That one earned the robes and proved his superior fighting skills. Based on that assessment, the Guards were extremely powerful.

However, it depends on whether we are drawing on Canon or Legends. As this post indicates, “the Royal Guard are immensely powerful” in Legends, but in Canon, “we don’t know much about them.”

In the comics, we get more of a sense of their “highly resistant battle armor” and their hand-to-hand combat skills. 

This short video below recaps their skills, including their martial arts training and Force-pike weapons. We could say that the Red Guards could stand up against many Jedi. 

In The Last Jedi, we see a close relative to the Red Guards in the Praetorian Guard, but they are not the same. These First Order guards also lost to Rey and Kylo Ren, albeit after a grueling fight. 

The Imperial Guards and Palpatine

Before and after the rise of the Empire, the Guards served important purposes. They did provide real protection to Palpatine and were highly skilled fighters, based on Legends.

Yet. their most important roles may have been to conceal Sidious’s identity and to provide a display of power to enhance and defend the power of the Emperor.