The Emperor’s Shadow Guard were the elite special operations unit within the Royal Guards who were formed from force-sensitives recruited from the defeated remnants of the Sun Guard and Jedi Knights who fell to the dark side. They served the Galactic Empire during the Great Jedi Purge and were trained by Darth Vader.
Few knew the true origins of the mysterious and powerful Shadow Guard, an elite special operations unit within the Emperor’s Royal Guard. They were silent and enigmatic warriors that received orders directly from Emperor Palpatine himself and were often sent to eliminate suspected Jedi and other Force users. The job of the Emperor’s Shadow Guard was mainly to guard the Emperor, also known as Darth Sidious.
These guardsmen demonstrated Force powers of their own which led many to suspect that they were in fact former Jedi that had been captured, tortured and brainwashed by Palpatine, but this was a rumor that was never proven. The Shadow Guards commanded a great level of respect within the Empire’s ranks and often led quartets of Imperial Stormtroopers into battle against the Emperor’s most hated foes. Shadow Guard members were always guarded by their own detail made up of Imperial Navy Commandos or stormtroopers, or in certain cases, members of the standard Royal Guard, although they were easily defeated during their battles with Starkiller.
They were capable of using a range of Force abilities such as Force lightning, Force Repulse, Force Push, Force Choke and Force Maelstrom.