Star Wars Imperial Guard Pre-owned Figure

The Emperor's Royal Guard, also named the Imperial Royal Guard and Imperial Guard, alternatively identified as the Crimson Guard, and known under the Galactic Republic as the Red Guard, were the personal bodyguards to the Galactic Emperor and formerly the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. In addition to strict requirements of size, strength, intelligence, and loyalty, only the most skilled soldiers in the Imperial Military qualified for duty in the Royal Guard. The Imperial Royal Guard were also occasionally assigned to provide protection to members of the Imperial Ruling Council, such as Mas Amedda and Darth Vader.

The origins of the crimson-clad Royal Guard dated back to the time of the Separatist Crisis, when the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, in his public guise as Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, crafted an order of protectors, named the Red Guard, for the Office of the Chancellor, that stood apart from the cerulean-clad Senate Guard during the Galactic Republic's twilight. Over the course of the Clone Wars, the Red Guard gradually supplanted the Senate Guard and its elite sub-unit, the Senate Commandos, as the chancellor's bodyguards. By the end of the Clone Wars, Darth Sidious proclaimed himself Emperor of the Galactic Empire. As a result, Senate Guards were completely phased out of service and replaced by the chancellor's Red Guards, who were henceforth known as the Royal Guard.