Jokes surrounding Stormtroopers' aim have been around since the original trilogy's release. It's so noticeable that even other Star Wars media has pointed out their terrible shots -- such as The Mandalorian, which dedicated a scene to two troopers failing to hit a still object. While the jokes may sometimes feel like an overreaction, it's been revealed just how many blaster shots were missed during the Princess Leia rescue mission in Star Wars: A New Hope, and it's an unreasonably high amount.
While missed blaster shots are common throughout Star Wars, it's easily at its worst during A New Hope. In fact, the Stormtroopers' aim is so poor that numerous fan theories have spawned to try to explain the phenomenon. Some believe it's due to faulty equipment, while some suggest their poor aim is caused by the Force. Either way, some scenes of missed blaster-fire border on being ridiculous.
How Many Times Stormtroopers Missed During the Death Star Escape
As Luke, Han and Chewbacca attempt to break Leia out of the Death Star, they face a constant onslaught of gunfire. Here the missed shots are so noticeable that fans have set out to count just how many there are. Yet it's not only fans who have tried to count, as a 2017 Star Wars canon reference book even detailed the exact amount. Titled Star Wars Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away, the book states that there were a staggering 119 blaster shots missed during the scene.
While this number is canon and is already bad enough, there's also a large amount of missed shots during the escape from Cloud City and the Battle of Endor. The Stormtroopers' aim is so terrible that even soldiers with no training would likely hit something. And so, other than simple plot armor, fans wonder if there's any canonical reasoning behind their appalling aim.
The Empire's Financial Strategy Potentially Impacted Stormtrooper Weaponry
Despite there never being an exact reason behind this phenomenon, the plethora of lore since A New Hope's release has provided some convincing speculation. Most has to do with a constant theme throughout the Empire, which was cost-efficiency. Their military prioritized cheap assembly-line products over everything else. And due to cheap training, armor and weaponry, the Empire was able to maintain a massive army that was good at overwhelming but not surviving.
Out of all the theories, cheap weaponry seems like the most likely cause for the poor aim. The 2017 canon reference book also goes into detail about blasters and, more notably, the meaning behind blaster bolt colors. It's said that the red bolts used by Stormtroopers and Separatist battle droids were made from cheaper gas, most likely meaning they dealt less damage and strayed from an intended target. However, the ionized blue bolts that the Republic Clone Troopers and Resistance used cost slightly more. Then there are the rarer green bolts, seen on Naboo, which are said to be far more expensive and powerful.
The Stormtroopers' cheap ammo, combined with their low-quality imperial weaponry, is the best explanation for all their missed blaster shots and likely played a big part in the Empire's downfall. All that mattered to the Emperor was power and intimidation, and the best way to intimidate was to have millions of disposable Stormtroopers. But they were so disposable that they couldn't even hit four rebels running through their own battle station, which renders them practically useless.