Spooder's on the right track. Although it's never been defined canonically, the belief is that it stands for Trooper Korps, giving it that nazi feel that Lucas was going for with the Empire.
TK-421 was the operating number of a human male who was an Imperial stormtrooper during the Galactic Civil War. After a posting on Lasan, a planet that was besieged by the Empire, he was stationed on the Death Star battle station and worked in the Maintenance Unit of Sector AA-345.
Clone stormtroopers were the original elite soldiers of the Galactic Empire. After the fall of the Galactic Republic and the formation of Emperor Palpatine's New Order, the Republic Grand Army's clone troopers were re-designated as stormtroopers.
TK was the designation of the old stormtroopers of the Empire. In the First Order, there were soldiers who still kept that designations, therefore I believe there were still veteran guys in the army even 30 years after the destruction of the 2nd Death Star (freshmen at the said time).
The Tragic Story of a Stormtrooper Who Tried to Befriend Luke Skywalker
When did TK troopers become stormtroopers?
In the aftermath of the Clone Wars and the rise of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, the fledgling Empire inherited its precursor state's military, the clone troopers of legendary Mandalorian Bounty hunter Jango Fett, who were officially rechristened as Imperial stormtroopers.
Yes. They have been explicitly confirmed in the new canon. Even way back in the day, Lucas himself said that there were female storm troopers, though none were stationed on the Death Star (which suggests that they were exceptionally rare, only in certain units, or both.
Despite their intense indoctrination, enlisted stormtroopers were still capable of living civilian lives; they received pay, were given periods of leave time, and under some circumstances were given opportunities to retire from service.
The reasons for the transition from clone troopers to stormtroopers were primarily practical; the clone troopers were genetically engineered and had a limited lifespan, which meant that the Empire would eventually have to replace them anyways. They also were expensive to produce, and the Empire needed to save money.
At some point in 1 BBY, TK-421 went off-duty and went to the Star Tours interstellar travel agency for unknown reasons. His bag was eventually discovered by G2-9T during baggage checks, and upon learning of who it belonged to, decided that TK-421 might have good reason not to be at his regular post before clearing it.
Flametroopers and incinerator troopers carried deadly flamethrower weaponry, burning entire villages to the ground in a matter of minutes. They were regarded as one of the most devastating stormtrooper variants, making them the greatest threat of all the stormtroopers who specialized in specific heavy weaponry.
The commanders were an aesthetic anomaly within the Stormtrooper Corps; the blue markings on their armor separated them from the rest of the plain white-armored soldiers.
The red-armored Sith stormtroopers were the culmination of Darth Sidious' vision of the perfect soldier: a living extension of the Emperor's will. In its ultimate push toward galactic conquest, the First Order readied the army of Sith troopers, whose existence was unknown even to most within the regime.
"As long as your world is a member of the Empire of the Hand, you're eligible." Alien stormtroopers were Non-Humans who served the Galactic Empire and its successor states as stormtroopers.
They don't earn money. I supposed they'd rely on charity and community, the same way anyone would in a monastic organization. @Sonic Revolution the clones were paid for by the Republic Senate. The original commission was likely made through palpatine in secret, and then throughout the war it was the Republic.
According to Star Wars lore, Imperial stormtroopers are men and women who have been recruited (or conscripted) at a young age to serve as expendable foot soldiers of the Empire, gradually replacing clone troopers as their accelerated aging forces them to retire.
Their most distinguishing feature was their all-black armor—a stark contrast to the typical white armor common to other stormtroopers. This unique black armor provided some stealth benefits, which resulted from the stygian-triprismatic polymer material used in the production of the armor.
Finn, formerly designated FN-2187 ("Eight-Seven"), was a Force-sensitive human male and former stormtrooper who served the First Order until his desertion and subsequent defection to the Resistance during the First Order-Resistance War.
Members of this new generation of stormtroopers are trained from birth, growing up with unit designations instead of names and fed a steady diet of First Order propaganda to ensure absolute loyalty.
In Glen Weldon's short story "Of MSE-6 and Men", featured in the anthology From a Certain Point of View, Tarkin is revealed to have been sleeping with the stormtrooper TK-421 during the events of A New Hope, after capturing Leia Organa, but before his armour was stolen by Luke Skywalker in order to rescue Organa.
The two clones actually met their demise in the same arc. Hardcase and Waxer. In my opinion the saddest death was 99's death and every time I see it I can't help but tear up. The second saddest was 5's he died because everyone thought he was crazy about order 66 when really the Kaminoan drugged him.
