Canon’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars changed much of the prequel-era lore from Legends (the original Star Wars timeline and formerly known as the Expanded Universe), and one of these changes includes Jango Fett’s ARC Troopers. The Galactic Republic’s Clone Troopers were among the most formidable non-Force-using warriors in the Star Wars franchise, and the ARC Troopers were the most elite type of Clone Trooper. As part of the clone military’s special forces, ARC Troopers were an uncommon sight during the Clone Wars, often sent on the most important and dangerous missions for the Republic. The key difference between the canon and Legends versions of ARC Troopers is that in Legends, they were created to be the most elite clones, but in canon, they became the most elite.
ARC Troopers debuted in the Legends-era Clone Wars multimedia project, specifically the Star Wars: Republic comics and 2003’s Star Wars: Clone Wars. In Legends, there were only 106 ARC Troopers in existence, and they were fundamentally different from the rest of the Clone Army. The six Null-class ARC Troopers were not officially part of the Clone Army and were raised by the Mandalorian warrior Kal Skirata to work as black-ops commandos. The next one hundred ARCs were designated Alpha-class. Like their predecessors, they reached maturity at an accelerated rate, but they received no mental modifications, and they were personally trained by Jango Fett himself. While all Clone Troopers in Legends were culturally Mandalorian warriors, the ARC Troopers represented this aspect of the Clone Army the most.
In canon, Jango was far less involved in the training of his clones, and thus, they were less influenced by the Mandalorian ways, developing their own distinctive culture instead. Rather than being fundamentally different clones like their Legends counterparts, canon ARC Troopers were simply Clone Troopers who demonstrated exceptional bravery, ingenuity, and battle prowess. Any clone could become an ARC Trooper, and several notable troopers in The Clone Wars, such as Echo, Fives, and Jesse, were shown ascending to the position throughout the series. In addition to being given the Republic’s most critical missions, canon ARC Troopers oversaw the training of new Clone Trooper units and officers.
Due to their training under Jango Fett and lack of mental modifications, the Legends-era ARC Troopers were notoriously less obedient than typical Clone Troopers. The ARC Captain Fordo notably disobeyed direct orders from a panicked Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi to continue pursuing General Grievous, a decision that saved the lives of the few surviving Jedi and Clones on Hypori. During the Battle of Kamino, an ARC Trooper named Alpha nearly carried out a secret posthumous order from Jango to destroy the cloning labs before CIS forces could take control of them. Most Legends-era ARC Troopers refused to follow Order 66, leaving the fledgling Empire to become Mandalorian warriors, bounty hunters, or members of the Rebel Alliance instead.
As a result of being ordinary Clone Troopers, canon’s ARC Troopers retained the most sinister modification made to all clones in canon: a classified brain implant placed in them as embryos. These implants removed a clone’s free will and compelled them to kill their Jedi allies upon activation of Order 66. Because of this, most ARC Troopers in canon followed Order 66 and went against their basic ideology of fighting for democracy. Essentially, the Legends-era ARC Troopers were Jango Fett’s Mandalorian warriors, fighting for the Republic on his orders but leaving when it became a fascist regime. Star Wars: The Clone Wars changes ARC Troopers into a highly sought-after title for exceptional Clone Troopers.
