Walker (Star Wars)


All Terrain Walkers are armoured fighting vehicles from the Star Wars universe that traverse the landscape on mechanical legs. They are used by the Old Republic, the Galactic Empire, and the First Order for ground assault, reconnaissance or transport. Throughout the saga walkers have played a pivotal role in the fate of characters and the outcome of battles. Industrial Light and Magic is responsible for their animation and design, often using models, stop-motion animation, and relevant matte paintings to depict their presence in the films.
There are a variety of walkers: The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi introduces the All Terrain Armored Transport and All Terrain Scout Transport. ', ' and ' introduced earlier Clone Wars-era models of walkers, such as the All-Terrain Tactical Enforcer, and the All Terrain Recon Transports. The Star Wars Legends continuity features numerous walker variants, several which have been merchandised in popular culture, while the later films Rogue One and ' depicted, respectively, the former the AT-ACT variant to the standard AT-AT, the latter a restyled AT-AT for its new and more modern setting, and a new, even larger walker known as the AT-M6.

All Terrain Armored Transport (AT-AT)

The All Terrain Armored Transport, or walker, is a quadruped mechanized infantry combat vehicle used by the Imperial ground forces. Standing over tall with blast-impervious armour plating, these massive constructs are used as much for psychological effect as they are for tactical advantage.
The AT-AT was first introduced in The Empire Strikes Back and also appears in Return of the Jedi and in Rogue One. The also appears in a destroyed form in , explained in the video game Star Wars Battlefront to be a residue of the Battle of Jakku, which was the Empire's last defeat and resulted in its dissolution. [|Modified forms] appear in The Last Jedi.

Origin and design

's original design for the Empire's war machines was a giant, multi-wheeled vehicle; this design later became the "Juggernaut" in West End Games' roleplaying material, and the design was reworked into the clone turbo tank for . Johnston said Lucas wanted the walkers to look like anthropomorphic walking tanks to make them frightening.
For The Empire Strikes Back, however, the final design was a four-legged walker. Inspiration for the came from Paraceratherium, an extinct genus of rhinoceros and the largest land mammal in history. George Lucas later dismissed claims that the design was inspired by container cranes at the Port of Oakland, calling it a "myth"; animator Phil Tippett told the San Francisco Chronicle the same thing.
ILM created models ranging from in height. ILM filmed the using stop-motion animation against matte paintings created by Michael Pangrazio because attempts at compositing miniature footage against live-action background footage yielded mediocre results. Additionally, ILM studied elephants to determine the best way to animate the four-legged. Although the stop-motion animation style gave the a jerky, "staccato-like" effect on film, ILM found this movement acceptable because of the mechanical nature.
The sound of the AT-AT walking was created by sound designer Ben Burtt by using the sound of a punch press.

Depiction

Dialog in National Public Radio's says that "look like animals"; the character goes on to describe the vehicles as carrying "extremely heavy armor and armaments". The, designed to favor "fear over function", can carry up to five speeder bikes and 40 Imperial stormtroopers. The head/cockpit armament consists of two side-mounted medium blaster cannons and two chin-mounted heavy laser cannons. It is manned by two Drivers, which are combat drivers specialized in operating the Imperial Army's walkers, wore distinct battle armour, similar in design to that of a modified basic Stormtrooper. The drivers operated the walker's movement and firing controls, and are overseen by a commander who sits behind them in the cockpit.
Manufactured by Kuat Drive Yards, Expanded Universe sources describe the as being either or tall. The rate of stride is not fast, but this fact is mitigated by the immense height of its legs. They can outrun opponents that underestimate walking speed, while their neck can pivot quickly enough to bring their heavy weaponry to bear against even fast-moving craft like snowspeeders. Their blasters and laser cannons do not have a high rate of fire, but the shots are powerful enough to destroy most small targets in one to two shots. Their armor is resistant to most standard blaster weapons; however, the "neck" column of the walker holds no such invulnerability and, if shot, can cause the entire walker to be destroyed.
The AT-AT is the primary assault vehicle during the Battle of Hoth, first depicted in The Empire Strikes Back. In the film, the squadron of, lead by General Maximilian Veers, are responsible for destroying the shield generator protecting the Rebel headquarters, taking out soldiers, artillery batteries, and snowspeeders in the process. Luke Skywalker, realizing that the walkers are all but impervious to artillery and snowspeeder blaster fire, orders his squadron's snowspeeders to entangle their legs with tow cables, a trick he remembered using on Tatooine to rein in hard-to-control farm animals. Wedge Antilles and his gunner Wes Janson successfully bring down an AT-AT using the tow cable: shortly after, another snowspeeder scores a direct hit on the fallen AT-AT's neck, causing a huge explosion. Skywalker, after being shot down and narrowly escaping his stricken snowspeeder before it is crushed beneath the AT-AT's leg, used his hoist cable to latch upon that AT-AT's underside, with a slash of his Lightsaber cutting away a panel so he can toss a thermal detonator inside, causing a series of internal explosions culminating with the cockpit and the walker toppling over. In the novelization of The Empire Strikes Back, General Veers' is destroyed when its cockpit is rammed by a snowspeeder piloted by Derek "Hobbie" Klivian, however this never made it into the final cut of the film.
An AT-AT makes a brief appearance in Return of the Jedi; one walks up alongside a landing platform on Endor to deliver Luke to Darth Vader.
The first appearance of an in the Star Wars Rebels TV series occurs in the second-season episode "Relics of the Old Republic", when Agent Kallus unsuccessfully confronts the rebels while on Seelos, with a trio of the four-legged walkers challenging Captain Rex's retired clone cohorts and their own much-modified six-legged walker, where the rebels are hiding out. This walker is significantly bigger than those seen in the films and depicts an earlier model.
A ruined appears in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as the makeshift home of the scavenger Rey on the planet Jakku.
The First Order uses an updated model of the AT-AT during the Battle of Crait at the end of Star Wars: The Last Jedi alongside a similar but larger walker called the AT-M6.
The theme park attraction, set after The Last Jedi, features two full-sized AT-ATs in a hangar bay. These walkers, while mostly static, can move their cannons to allow for a scene in which the walker's drivers spot the ride vehicles and fire at them.

All Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST)

The All Terrain Scout Transport is a two-legged mech walker introduced briefly in The Empire Strikes Back and featured extensively in Return of the Jedi. These vehicles were designed to screen and protect the flanks of slower moving AT-ATs and the larger tanks used by the Empire.
Due to their design and movement, they are often dubbed as a "chicken walker". The name Scout Walker is also used to refer to an. This name was used for the official toy instead of the name.
An AT-ST also appears briefly in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, patrolling Jedha City following an attack by Saw Gerrera's forces.
A modified AT-ST later appears in The Mandalorian under the possession of a group of raiders, as the Empire has ceased to exist by the time of the series.
An updated model of the AT-ST is used by the First Order in The Last Jedi. Shortly before the film's climax, an AT-ST is commandeered by BB-8.

Origin and design

A single AT-ST makes a brief appearance in The Empire Strikes Back alongside the larger during the Battle of Hoth. The was meant to have more screen time; however, one scene depicting a snowspeeder shooting at the model was ruined when the set's background shifted.
For Return of the Jedi, ILM made the design more detailed. Numerous models were created, including a full-sized for on-location shooting. Director Richard Marquand and producer Robert Watts had cameos as operators for the scene in which Chewbacca and a pair of Ewoks commandeer an AT-ST.
Lee Seiler sued Lucasfilm in the mid-1980s, claiming that the infringed on his copyright on what he called a "Garthian Strider", which he said he created in 1976 or 1977. The case was dismissed with the court noting that not only did Seiler not produce the supposed drawings at trial, but that the copyright came one year after The Empire Strikes Back debuted.

Depiction

Star Wars guidebooks describe the as a "reconnaissance or defensive vehicle is lightweight and built for speed". Their agility allows them to defend the larger slower AT-ATs or support other Imperial ground forces. Two, with their legs folded up, can be carried inside the cargo hold of an. are tall and seat a pilot and co-pilot. are armed with laser cannons on the "chin" and sides, feet claws for destroying small defenses, and side-mounted concussion missile launchers.
In The Empire Strikes Back, an scouts for and supports the slower during the Battle of Hoth. Video games recreating the Battle of Hoth feature numerous AT-STs which are vulnerable to snowspeeder blasters unlike the larger AT-ATs. During the ground skirmish of the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi, after initially taking heavy casualties from four, the protagonists and the local Ewok tribes destroy several and commandeer another one; the precariously balanced nature proves highly vulnerable to the Ewoks' primitive booby traps. Their armor is also significantly weaker than that of the AT-AT's: their own lasers proved sufficient to completely destroy one, and another one was crushed by two large tree trunks launched against it.
In the Expanded Universe, AT-STs are often featured in Imperial attack forces. Some more advanced Imperial walker designs have been influenced by the. Video games such as ' and ' include numerous, and these can be destroyed by direct shooting from the player's craft, in contrast to the heavily armored which have to be tripped by tow cables. are also player-controllable units in several real-time strategy games.
The so-named "All Terrain Defense Pod" depicted in Star Wars Rebels was used by the Empire on Lothal, Ezra Bridger's homeworld, to enforce their will against the planet's inhabitants during the first season of the series. It is stated as being among the fastest-moving "walkers" of any of the variants, and is only lightly armed with a single, forward-aimed energy cannon.

All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AT-TE)

The All Terrain Tactical Enforcer, or AT-TE walker, is an mechanized infantry combat vehicle used by the Grand Army of the Republic ground forces. Having six grappling legs and a low centre of gravity, this armoured walker could navigate any terrain – even climbing vertical cliffs. It appears in Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, multimedia campaign, Star Wars Battlefront II and in the early episodes from the second season of Star Wars Rebels.

Origin and design

Conceived by Ryan Church as a predecessor to the AT-AT, the AT-TE's animation for Attack of the Clones was supervised by Rob Coleman. Tom St. Amand, who worked on the AT-AT scenes in The Empire Strikes Back, provided his experience to create a similar appearance for the AT-TE.

Depiction

AT-TEs are depicted as assault vehicles that appear at the Battle of Geonosis, as depicted in Attack of the Clones and various Clone Wars media. It has magnetic feet, which allows it to scale steep embankments if they are magnetic, like the mesa on Teth in . The low profile, six legs and overall flexibility made it vulnerable to IEDs and reduced its acceleration and maximum speed, but lowered its center of gravity closer to the surface it was traversing, traverse speed, mobility and stability; moreover, its low speed allows it to walk through energy shields. The vehicles are well-armed with laser turrets, a powerful mass driver cannon, and protected by heavy electromagnetic armor. AT-TEs are manufactured by Rothana Heavy Engineering, a subdivision of Kuat Drive Yards. AT-TEs have the distinct tactical advantage, common among many of the Old Republic's larger walkers, of being able to be carried into combat by LAAT/C dropships. This allows their swift deployment to the battlefront from distant landing zones and ground bases. In any case, a well-deployed and utilized AT-TE would win in a battle against an AT-AT

List of ''Star Wars'' walkers

Many vehicles were created for various Star Wars media and depicted as technological evolutionary predecessors and successors to the walkers featured in the original trilogy.

In film and television

;Utilized by the Republic, Empire and First Order
;Utilized by other factions
released AT-AT and AT-ST toys as part of their Empire Strikes Back line, and Hasbro released toys based on those molds when the Special Edition trilogy was distributed. Micro Machines also released AT-AT, AT-ST, and AT-TE toys. Both Decipher Inc. and Wizards of the Coast published AT-AT and AT-ST cards for their Star Wars Customizable Card Game and Star Wars Trading Card Game, respectively. Lego has released AT-AT, AT-ST, AT-DP, AT-AP, AT-OT, AT-RT, AT-TE, AT-M6, and AT-HS models.