#clone troopers especially in legends were fond of vader as their commanding officer and the respect was mutual

[cienie-isengardu]

I see a lot in fics this portrayal of stormtroopers/501st as being intensely loyal to Vader, sometimes even over the Empire. Is that really true in canon/Legends? I know Lords of the Sith referenced this, but otherwise I haven't read enough of the EU to confirm how much of this is just fanon. I'm assuming you know bc of your Vader's Men tag lol

The intensive stormtrooper training is conditioning people to be loyal to Empire and so obedience to Vader, as the one of highest imperial commanders is a natural order of the things but yes, there are stories and tie-in materials that strongly suggest or outright says that certain stormtroopers and imperial officers in fact admire Darth Vader and their loyalty run beyond the usual level of allegiance required from imperial soldiers. So no, this portrait in fanwork is not solely invention of fans as it has a solid ground in source materials although it should be taken into account that: 

a) the level of personal loyalty will vary from one character to another  

b) there are not many stories in which imperial soldiers are forced to choose between Vader and the Emperor so it is really hard to predict if those people are in fact more loyal to Vader as a person than to the Empire(Palpatine) as a whole. When it comes to imperial army, in most cases Vader and the Empire/Palpatine are seen as inseparable as Vader is the epitome of loyalty to Empire to most Imperials (which makes sense, as Vader usually rely on bounty hunters or his vast different sort of agents if his personal goals are against Palpatine’s will and the discretion is needed. Otherwise he is commanding troopers to kill/destroy whoever incur his anger and then deals with his master’s displeasure). 

The second point is especially vital in regard to imperials like admiral Piett that in general is acknowledged in sources as one of officers that Vader truly respects but through the decades Firmus sadly didn’t get that much focus as character to give us absolute certainty of his allegiance beyond the general idea of “serving the Empire”. Which makes it hard to make an objective analysis if Piett was forced to choose, would he betray the Empire out of loyalty to Vader or not. A scenario that has been a common thing in fanwork for years. Which is why I’m bringing Piett to illustrate that fans’ interpretation of imperial characters and their loyalty to Vader may be exaggerated beyond what sources provided. Which doesn’t necessarily mean it is a wrong assumption but rather that focus of tie-in materials is pretty much limited when it comes to Imperials, especially those of Old Trilogy or stormtroopers in general.

At the same time, Vader was introduced from the start as someone that has a better working relationship with common troopers and the imperial officers serving directly under him than with high-ranking Imperials. There is no need to look further than A New Hope to see the difference between how the Sith Lord acts around his men and Admiral Motti (or later in The Empire Strikes Back, how he treats Admiral Ozzel or Captain Needa). It shows up in his speech patterns, like “There'll be no one to stop us this time” or “We’ll have to destroy them ship to ship” when he is talking to his men (as he is including himself and his men in the “us/we”) but it is for sure a me vs you talk with Motti during a meeting on Death Star. When questioned by Commander Daine Jir* Vader is willing to explain himself and shows zero anger at the man for not obeying at once 

while having no second thought about force-choking admiral Motti. Through the Original Trilogy, Vader did not threaten common imperial troopers but he did not have any reservations about killing the officers if they failed him. What is even more important, Vader is one of few high-ranking imperials that takes an active part in widely understood “warzone”, be it the search of stolen Death Star’s plans or taking part in space battle to protect the imperial station or taking over rebel Echo Base on Hoth - and tie-in material even claims that Vader flying his own fighter into battle(s) incurs the wrath of high officers,which implies the Dark Lord of the Sith’s active part during fight breaks imperial norms.

 This is the ground on which I believe was built the idea that stormtroopers may feel a great respect and even personal loyalty for Vader - and to be honest, from the perspective of common soldiers it makes perfect sense. Vader is the right-hand man of Emperor Palpatine, a man that wields a mystic power and runs the Empire and who for sure does not need to risk his life on the battlefield yet he is marching alongside stormtroopers into one battle after another, sometimes even saving said troopers in the process (x)(x)(x) while most high-ranking officers (especially those presented in the Old Trilogy) usually stay behind in the safety while soldiers die fighting. Also, quite often the sources provided examples in which Vader on purpose does not involve troopers accompanying him into fights as he prefers to face dangerous and personal foes/tasks alone (x)(x)(x)(x)("Go," Vader said to them. "The ship is lost." Most of them nodded, turned, and headed off immediately, but three of the stormtroopers remained. "Sir, we should accompany you to an escape pod." "Unnecessary," Vader said. "I'll find my own way. Now go. That's my order.", Lords or the Sith) which I suspect is another habit of Vader that common stormtroopers may interpret as specific sign of their commander’s care for their well-being - is it truth or not is up to debate of course, but whatever the reasoning, it really looks like Vader did not endanger the lives of soldiers unnecessarily and even could kill an officer that ordered the troops into an unwinnable scenario. Or like Ozzel did, lost the element of surprise for imperial invasion.

And really, the image of Vader leading troops or being surrounded by stormtroopers is one of the most common things in the Star Wars franchise that is included in films, comics, books, games and other tie-in materials. Considering what a powerhouse Vader is on his own, it is easy to imagine how his presence on battlefront raises morale of imperial soldiers or why it means so much to stormtroopers to know the Dark Lord of the Sith is there with them on battlefront.  

Another thing that adds a lot to common troopers’ perception of the Dark Lord is that Vader does not care for people’s place of origin, family or political connections or even species. Through the sources Vader favors skills, competence and loyalty above anything else. Which means that people born in Outer Rims or people for whatever reason not meeting the specific standards set by the military/political elite can easily get promoted under Vader’s wings if they prove themselves - be it on battlefront or thinking outside the box (x followed by x). And this especially was visible in older sources, when aliens, women and droids were part of a wide range of Vader’s agents despite the bias toward those groups within the Empire. So working with Vader often resulted with many benefits in the long run for those who managed to impress the Dark Lord. What is very important, as many promising troopers and officers that normally would be hold back by lack of proper connection or birthplace were hand-picked personally by the Dark Lord of the Sith, either for his 501st Legion or for general benefit of the Empire - what for many “lowly cogs in the imperial machine” literally means new possibilities opened up solely thanks to Vader and this probably adds a lot of weight to their personal loyalty. Serving under Vader could bring a person a chance for fast promotion (general Veers is the best example) but also provide protection (x)(x) or access to the best medical help even when said person couldn’t anymore serve the Dark Lord, as happened with Erv Lekauf:

Vader’s suit could withstand nearly every assault. But Lekauf, a man trained to react without pausing to debate, flung himself in front of him and took the brunt of the flame. He fell, gasping, as the clones closed in on the Dark Jedi and Vader burst apart their Force shields with pure focused rage. [A Two-Edged Sword]

and

“My granddad thought the world of him. When he got badly burned on a mission and had to be discharged from the Imperial Army, Lord Vader made sure he was taken care of for the rest of his life. Whatever some people say about Vader, monsters don't look out for lieutenants." [Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice]

As I mentioned before, a great number of people serving Vader were hand-picked personally by the Dark Lord of the Sith which includes his own 501st Legion - and that for sure increases the reason for personal loyalty of said soldiers. 

Members of the 501st are hand-picked by Lord Darth Vader from within the stormtrooper units. Battlefield promotions are awarded to those who earn his respect [The Imperial Handbook].

or 

Worse, walking into a local garrison or fleet anchorage meant taking whatever they had available, whether good and competent or lazy and useless. Picking out random stormtroopers was an even shakier proposition these days, given Vader’s habit of periodically combing through the ranks and transferring all the best and brightest into his personal 501st Legion. [Choices of one]

or

When Lieutenant Daine Jir first spoke out against one of Darth Vader’s suggestions, murmurs of “dead man walking” immediately followed. But instead of choking the life out of the Imperial officer, Vader promoted him to the rank of commander. 

Jir was one of few officers, along with Admiral Piett and Captain Janus Bonn, to earn Vader’s respect. The Dark Lord appreciated Jir’s brutal honesty, in contrast to the manipulative rhetoric of most Imperial lackeys. Jir, a competent and ruthless member of the 501st stormtrooper legion [...]

The New Canon also seems to follow this special bond that Vader has with some stormtroopers, as could be seen with sergeant Kreel (x) who was even gifted the Jedi lightsaber by the Dark Lord (though so far Kreel is also loyal to Palpatine… who has like zero idea or care who the stormtrooper is).

So to answer your question, yes, there are plenty of stormtroopers (or in general imperials) who greatly respect Darth Vader and in some cases this respect runs as deep as personal loyalty toward the Dark Lord of the Sith. And this specific bond between Vader and troopers can be traced through various source material, like:

For reasons that went beyond the armor and helmets, the imaging systems and boots, Vader felt more at home among the troopers than he did around other flesh-and-bloods.

And Appo and the rest of Vader's cadre of stormtroopers seemed to be at ease with their new superior. To them it was only reasonable that Vader wore a bodysuit and armor. Some had always wondered why the Jedi left themselves exposed, as if they had had something to prove by it. [Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno]

or

After Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side, his 501st Legion clone troopers remained loyal to him. For their brutality and efficiency, they became known as “Vader’s fist”.

(And no, this has nothing to do with the chip-in-brain nonsense of TCW/New Canon)

(and here a fun fact! The Anakin/Vader's personal stormtrooper legion is named after fan organization 501st Legion that was introduced into canon thanks to Timothy Zahn and Lucasfilm, as a nod to fans and their great hand-made costumes and charity work! Which adds another layer why 501st Legion is always seen as the elite between elites and so important part of Anakin/Vader's legacy)

or

As the shuttle descended through Hockaleg’s atmosphere, Vader said, “I am curious about the details of your demotion.”

“It’s all on record, sir,” the trooper said, angling the shuttle toward the spaceport.

“I would prefer to hear it from you.”

“Permission to speak freely, sir?”

“Granted.”

The trooper cleared his throat.

“You are aware I’m a clone, sir?”

“Yes.”

“Well, twenty years ago, after Shadow Squadron was disbanded, I had a new commanding officer-a non-clone. When he ordered me to kill my gunner - who had been wounded in combat, but not mortally - I refused. And when my commanding officer tried to shoot me for refusing, I broke his jaw. I spent a year in solitary.”

Vader considered the details, then said, “What happened to the injured clone?”

“He recovered, although he was killed several months later during a bombing run.”

“Do you regret your actions?”

“No. sir. Everybody dies. I’m just glad I helped a friend live a bit longer.”

As the spaceport came into view, Vader said, “If you were to serve under my command, would you ever disobey an order?”

“Yes, sir, but only if it helped you live longer.”

Vader was stunned by the aged clone’s words and the implication that he might disobey one of his orders…or that he might consider the Sith Lord a friend. Before he could ask the clone for an explanation, the clone tested the comm and received a loud burst of static. [Vader Adrift]

or mentioned Erv Lerkauf

The assassins paused for a frantic reload.

“Lord Vader…” said Lekauf, but he was pinned flat by the Force, arms flailing.

“Stay down,” snapped Vader. […]

One man dropped instantly without his intervention. Vader lunged forward and sliced through two more, left-right. The fourth lost his arm and blaster in the same slicing movement and dropped to his knees, utterly silent, mouth open wide in frozen agony as he stared at the seared stump. Vader brought the lightsaber down across his neck. The hangar was silent now except for the sound of his own breath. He looked down at the back of the one man he hadn’t killed. The black tunic was still smoking a little.

“Fine shot, Lekauf,” said Vader. He released his Force pressure. “I told you to stay down.”

Lekauf got to his knees and holstered his blaster. “I never rose, my lord. I can fire from a prone position, though, and you made no mention of that.”

Lekauf stood up and went to him as if to check him for injury. It suddenly struck Vader that he was solid and a good height. And he was loyal enough to step in the line of fire, and then-defy him to cover his back.

Good man. At least one possible template, then. [In his Image]

and

""Me, too." Jacen found he enjoyed the company of 967. They all had the corporal's general optimism. "How long have you been in the army?"

"Since I graduated, sir. Four years."

"What made you sign up?"

Lekauf smiled, almost embarrassed. "My grandfather served under your grandfather in the Imperial Army, sir. He always talked about how Lord Vader put himself in the front line. Meant a lot to him, that did."

Jacen patted Lekauf's shoulder. It was humbling to see how loyalty could last generations. Whatever sins Anakin Skywalker had committed as Vader, there were still those who recognized his qualities as an inspirational commander. Jacen decided it might be safe to walk back in time and watch him again. [Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines]

or a nostalgia trip of retired stormtrooper:

Dark Lord told us it wasn’t our fault the Falcon got out from the Hoth blockade. Then he executed half the squad. But you could tell he was proud of us.

or

“Supreme confidence reigned in the heart of every crew member in this Imperial death squadron, especially among the personnel on the monstrous central Star Destroyer. But something also blazed within their souls. Fear - fear of merely the sound of the familiar heavy footsteps as they echoed through the enormous ship. Crew members dreaded these footfalls and shuddered whenever they were heard approaching, bringing their much feared, but much respected leader.” [The Empire Strikes Back]



or

I’ve heard that the regular officers hate him, but the Stormtrooper Corps almost worships him. [Lords of the Sith]



or

and

The Truest Duty by Christie Golden [From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back]

And to be honest, this special stormtroopers’ admiration for Vader is not seen only in “serious” source material but also in humorous variations like Lego Star Wars Vader reading book to stormtroopers  or Droid Tales episode 5, in which C-3PO and Lando distract stormtroopers with a tale about Darth Vader (and how the Lord of the Sith saved rebellion on Endor) and just look at the troopers happily listening about their boss.

So in general, fans may sometimes exaggerate the intensivity of stormtroopers or in general imperial soldiers' loyalty toward Vader but this specific bond between Dark Lord of the Sith and common soldiers is grounded deeply in star wars lore.

[cienie-isengardu]

Vader and droids

dragonmonday45 replied to your post: Anakin and marginalized groups (p. I)

And yet when he BECAME a machine (Vader) he had no respect for machines. Though he did treat droids better than his own living crew. Ah, irony.

As much as I agree that Vader treats people and droids different than he did as Anakin, I wouldn’t say he has no respect for machines. Of course, all depends on sources we take account, but Vader in general is quite pragmatic person who can and is willing to use everyone around him for his own purposes - yet that doesn’t mean he is doing it for his own pleasure (as, for fun) or is unable to feel connection to others. As much as Vader is usually presented as ill-mannered, brash person ready to kill and destroy anyone or anything standing in his way, there are various examples through Expended Universe (of new canon and Legends) that provide more complex view of Vader. Including the way he treats droids.

I mean, it’s one thing how Vader interacts with droids like Triple Zero (0-0-0) and Bee Tee (BT-1) - a dangerous, very inteligent machines who love killing living organisms and who a) could betrayed him any moment and b) couldn’t be left unchecked for too long because of their psychotic behaviour. But then the same Darth Vader series gives us moments like that:

This is an unnamed droid that Vader used during his mission that allowed the Darth Lord of the Sith to gain important informations AND erase all traces of his own illegal activities. At first, it’s just a droid used in Vader’s shemes. Here, the way he put a hand on droid is the same thing Anakin did with Artoo. Even if this is just a old habit (and those die hard), this is physical show of familiarity / affection that Vader rarely shows to anyone. Of course, the droid must die to secure Vader’s secrets, but before the machine ends in cosmic space and destroys itself, there is that moment:

Vader is kneeling, to be “face to face” with the droid. He did something similar for his own men, who were either dying (clone trooper CT-4981 / Contrail) or seriously injured (Erv Lekauf). This droid - a machine - get from Vader much more respect than most people around him, especially during that comics storyline. Imperial officers, particularly those corrupted, incompetent or selfish were usually political threat to his plans or Empire’s welfare in general. Most of them were seen by Vader just as a tools to use. The difference between them and droid(s) is that Vader could trust machines.

Droids. One can always trust droids is very powerful thing coming from someone who has a long list of reasons why trusting anyone is a bad idea. Of course, Vader may be seen as a lone wolf, but even he has his own men (and droids) that gained his respect and limited trust. The Darth Vader series isn’t the only one that shows that.

I already complained about this short non-canon story, but still the mouse droid was the only one character who was praised by Vader as competent, while three - THREE! - imperial officers have died. The little mouse droid failed in the end too, but the contrast how Vader feels about imperial officers and machine(s) is clear.

In the much older sources like classic Star Wars comics (#74 - 76)  a droid K-3PX was one of Vader’s trusted agents. K-3PX kept Vader informed about situation on Iskalon and on Sith’s orders imprisoned admiral Tower. And we talk about a droid giving commands to stormtroopers and imperial officers on Vader’s behalf when in general machines (even the inteligent ones!) were seen as lesser beings during Empire era. And those issues of classic star wars comics were written around 1983. What is also worth to mention, the stormtroopers who learned that K-3PX is Vader’s agent didn’t question it. Their reaction - how  easily accepted by them was the idea of droid directly working for Vader - makes me think that imperial soldiers didn’t think it was something too unlikely for Vader’s unusual behaviour. It raises question, how many other droids were working as agents of Dark Lord.

And let’s no forget about Vader “meeting" C-3PO on Bespin (Star Wars Tales #6: Thank the Maker). The comics covers missing scenes from The Empire Strikes Back, focusing on imperial forces & Boba Fett working together to capture Luke.The droid was destroyed by stormtroopers and its parts were presented to Vader who recognized C-3PO. That brought also memories from the past - in which the readers have a chance to see how Anakin found the damaged and abandoned on the dumpster droid, how Shmi allowed him to smuggle it to home and kept as his own. At first, Vader declared that destroyed droid was useless and  ordered his men to destroy it completely (how much of that was not caring and how much Vader protected his own secrets / connection to this rebel protocol droid is debatable) but when imperial officer reported that droid was saved by Wookie, Vader reconsidered situation and changed mind about C-3PO’s fate.

Once again, we learned more of Anakin’s memories from childhood. Not only how he cared for unwanted droid (whose life seemed similar to slave’s) but though he was allowed to keep C-3PO, Shmi warned him that “droid is your responsibility. And unless you’re prepared to care for something... you don’t deserve to have it.”

Shmi’s words still “echoed” in Anakin’s mind, even many years after he became merciless Dark Lord of the Sith. This is important scene, because Vader is not in position to care for C-3PO, not like he used to do as Anakin. Even if he allowed himself the luxury to care for his long lost friend droid, his political AND apprenticeship situation wouldn’t allow that. Vader acknowledges that change, so he is giving droid to the one person that cares and protect it - to Chewbacca. For imperial soldiers it may seems like some unexcepted Vader’s whim, but he made a decision to spare C-3PO and gave him to someone who already proved that he cares for the droid in a way Anakin can’t anymore. C-3PO could have an important information about rebellion (like the lieutentant assumed was a reason why rebels kept destroyed machine) yet Vader gifted (returned) the droid to his enemies. When imperial officer asked why, Vader’s answer is similar to the words of his mother:

Vader gives the Wookie what he deserves. For observer, it may looks like Wookie deserves destroyed machine, blasted into pieces. But from context one may think Vader gave something more than that - his own creation that he doesn’t deserve anymore.

Frankly, this is one of few(?) examples of Vader returning droid to its caring owner. Of course, usually he did that for reasons that I like to call “pragmatic kindness”, but still it required some effort on his part. In SW "what if...?” comics he gave C-3PO to captured princess Leia. There is also case of Falco Sang, bounty hunter imprisoned by Vader, who wanted to use Falco’s skills for his own plans. The bounty hunter wasn’t empathetic person, but he was very fond of his droid, IZ-00T. However the droid was destroyed by Jedi Dass Jennir (that Falco tried to capture for bounty) before Falco himself were captured by Darth Vader. At some point, Vader gave to his prisoner repaired IZ-00T, what really suprised and pleased the man. Falco’s reaction, how he was looking after the Sith Lord, showed how much such gesture meant.

In all cases, Vader gave to his enemies / prisoners something more than a droid; he allowed them to keep their mechanical friends / close allies. This is my personal feeling, but I think Vader did so - beside all selfish motives - because he understood the importance of friendship with droids, even though his own situation didn’t allow him to have such relationship with them.

And since I already mentioned bounty hunters, let’s not forget the famous scene from TESB, when Vader called the best bounty hunters to catch Luke Skywalker / rebels. Among the best, there was IG-88B and 4-Lom. The second one worked with alien, Zuckuss, but IG-88 was one of rebelled assassin droid that even Empire didn’t want to deal with; there was even an imperial order to "dismantle [IG] on sight" but since the droid was one of the best, Vader didn’t care for the fact that IG was just a machine. To be fair, Dark Lord of the Sith rarely cared for someone’s gender, race or origin. Only someone’s result meant something for him.

There is also one thing worth to mention: Vader’s life depended a lot on machines. Be it his mechanical suit to keep him alive, or his meditation chamber (that allowed him to breathe outside helmet/armour) or his modificated personal starfigher(s). Despite being so busy with Empire’s bussiness he still had time to work with machines. If he not personally constructed them, then at least he designed droids (like his personal training droids) or space ships (his own starfighters, Legends!Executor). 

In short: Vader’s relationship with droids is much complex than one may think, but a lot depends on sources taken into account. Vader does not treat others nice most of the times, he lacks patience for “civilized behavior”, quite often sounds angry or cynical / ironic. Vader’s behaviour in general is very unusual, sometimes brash compared to imperial norms. Still, droids (the same as common troopers) have bigger chance to be respected in his own ways than most imperial high-ranking officers. Because droids are less likely to betray him and are willing to take any, even suicide mission for his benefit. While most imperial officers want either get rid of Vader or get his patronage for their own political career. So the presence of machines create for Vader much safer and more stable environment than dealing with people on daily basis.

At least that’s how I see Vader’s relationship with droids & machines.