Star Wars Black Series Emperor's Royal Guard

The Emperor’s Royal Guard is one of the Original Trilogy’s most visually striking anonymous soldier types — the scarlet-robed warriors who flank Palpatine in every throne room appearance, whose function is entirely protective and whose visual identity is defined by the colour that separates them from every other Imperial unit. The Black Series has given them four figures across different production eras, making them one of the better-covered anonymous guard types in the line. For the Throne Room Duel display, they’re the essential flanking figures that communicate the Emperor’s absolute authority.

The Royal Guard in Star Wars

The Emperor’s Royal Guard are human — Imperial soldiers selected through an intensive process that the expanded universe describes as among the most demanding in the Imperial military, whose entire operational identity is defined by proximity to Palpatine. They don’t speak in the films. They don’t engage with anyone who isn’t the Emperor or his immediate business. They stand and they watch and they are present as a constant signal that approaching the Emperor requires passing through them.

Their scarlet robes and the specific helmet design — the full visor, the smooth lines, the complete absence of the functional military aesthetic that defines Stormtroopers and AT-AT Drivers — communicate something specific about their role. This isn’t combat armour. It’s ceremonial protection: the visual language of someone who cannot be approached casually, who is guarded by people whose entire presentation says that entry into his presence requires permission.

The colour itself is the design’s most deliberate choice. The Imperial military palette is white, grey, and black — stormtroopers, officers, Vader. The Royal Guard’s scarlet is the only warm colour in the Imperial aesthetic, and it sits against the grey backgrounds of the throne room, the Emperor’s quarters, and the Senate chamber as a specific visual accent. Where the rest of the Imperial military communicates efficient industrial control, the Royal Guard communicates something older and more personal: the guard of a king.

Their combat capability is established more in the expanded universe than in the films — the scarlet-clad warriors with force pikes are not incapable fighters, but the films use them as set dressing rather than participants. Return of the Jedi places them in the throne room throughout the final confrontation without deploying them, which is itself a character choice: the Emperor believes his own power is sufficient, and the Guard is present as symbol rather than defence.

The Figure Range

The Red Line Phase 3 Emperor’s Royal Guard from 2017 is the original Black Series treatment — ROTJ configuration at the production quality of the mid-line era. As a fully robed and helmeted figure with no exposed face, the pre-Photo Real gap is entirely irrelevant: there’s nothing that Photo Real would improve. The sculpt quality of the robes and the helmet is the relevant measure, and the Red Line figure delivers the design accurately. It remains a legitimate army-building option for the throne room display.

The 40th Anniversary ROTJ Emperor’s Royal Guard from 2023 is the modern production version — the same ROTJ configuration in the anniversary wave context, with the Kenner cardback packaging that defines the 40th Anniversary programme. As with the Red Line figure, the fully costumed design means production era gap is minimal. The choice between the two is primarily packaging preference — anniversary wave context or standard Red Line.

The Emperor’s Royal Guard and TIE Pilot Carbonized Amazon exclusive two-pack is the chrome finish application to both figures — the Carbonized programme’s metallic treatment on two of the ROTJ’s most anonymous but visually distinctive Imperial types. For collectors who engage with the Carbonized aesthetic, the two-pack offers both figures in a single exclusive purchase.

The Halloween Edition Imperial Royal Guard Target exclusive uses the scarlet robes for their obvious seasonal application — the full-face helmet, the dramatic robe, the ceremonial guard aesthetic maps naturally to Halloween contexts. It’s the seasonal programme acknowledging the design’s inherent theatrical quality.

Army Building

The Royal Guard is one of the Black Series’ better anonymous figure army-building targets precisely because there’s no face printing quality differential across the range. A 2017 Red Line Royal Guard and a 2023 40th Anniversary Royal Guard side by side on a shelf will look comparable in ways that two different era human figures wouldn’t. This makes the Red Line figure a cost-effective secondary market option for collectors who want multiples without paying current retail pricing for each additional figure.

For the Throne Room Duel display specifically, two Royal Guards flanking the Emperor’s throne is the minimum for visual accuracy — the films show them in pairs, and a single guard reads as incomplete. Four creates the full ceremonial presence of the throne room sequences.

The design’s specific visual impact at 6-inch scale is significant. The robes create height and volume that most armoured figures don’t have, and the scarlet against the grey and black of the surrounding Imperial figures creates immediate visual contrast. Multiple Royal Guards turn a corner of a shelf into the Emperor’s presence rather than just a collection of Imperial figures. That’s the specific display effect that anonymous guard figures achieve better than named characters — they communicate a location and a power dynamic rather than an individual, and enough of them creates an environment rather than a cast.

All Emperor’s Royal Guard Figures in the Black Series

Check off the figures you own with the Black Series Checklist.

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Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Characters. Related: Human | Throne Room Duel | Death Star Corridors | Emperor Palpatine.