Let's Get This Straight: Shadow Troopers

Shadow Troopers are another convoluted piece of Star Wars lore.  Also known as Shadow Stormtroopers and informally referred to as Blackhole Stormtroopers, these soldiers are the premier special forces of the Empire's Military Intelligence.  Let's get into this tricky topic.

Shadow Troopers are a very old concept.  They first appeared in the 1979 comic strip series, Gambler's World.  In this story Shadow Troopers were the personal agents of the mysterious character, Blackhole.  They were rooted deep into the Imperial areas of spycraft and surveillance.  In a few scenes they were rather competent, being some of the few troopers to actually defeat Luke and Leia (Albeit briefly.).  Their blend of special tactics and black armor would set a precedent for later elite units.

Years later a similar unit would appear in Dark Empire.  These troopers were known as Darktroopers and wore identical armor.  Were they the same?  Who's to tell?
        Crimson Empire followed Dark Empire.  Shadow Troopers made a clear appearance in this series.  In the comic a unit of these troopers are the personal guards of the current Emperor.  Despite their relocated position they are functionally identical to the Shadow Troopers of the 70's.  If anything, Crimson Empire shows that Shadow Troopers are no match for a Royal Guard.

You see this was the original interpretation of the Shadow Trooper.  Later sources would say Shadow Troopers were nothing more than the marines from Blackhole's star destroyer, given fancy armor.  I said it would get convoluted; Let's get into that!
        Long after these initial appearances the origin of Shadow Troopers would be called into question.  Behold the Clone Wars-era Shadow Trooper!

Shadow Troopers now originated during the Clone Wars.  This goes against the idea of them being former marines.  Shadow Troopers would go on to survive through the Clone Wars and the following Dark Times, making an appearance in The Force Unleashed.  

        Some people have decided to consider the two interpretations separate entities.  My rebuttal is simple; If they look like Shadow Troopers, if they act like Shadow Troopers, if they share the same spot in the ORBAT, and finally if they have the same name, they're the same freaking thing!  

        I basically explained the out-of-universe history of the group.  Now I'd like to explain what I've gathered on their in-universe history.

         Republic Intelligence was an important asset during the Clone Wars.  Special Forces was an essential part of their organization.  For the majority of the Clone Wars, Intel relied on Covert-Ops Troopers.  These troopers were lower in skill than their counterparts in the Special Operations Brigade.  By the last months of the war Director Armand Isard decided to give Intel SpecForce a rebrand.  This new unit was the iconic Shadow Troopers.
        They specialized in infiltration, espionage and target extraction to name a few.  Shadow Troopers were known for a more delicate touch which set them apart from some of their rival units.  Black was a paint job sometimes used by Republic Commandos.  This was merely a personal modification, and was unsupported by the military (With Commandos having to make do with white jetpacks!).  Shadow Troopers colors were quite official and would go on to be the standard for special forces.  These troopers had a great deal of armor and modifications available to them.

The original Shadow Troopers wore a special variant of the standard armor.  This particular suit was laced with durasteel fibers.  This made their armor much stronger than the regular kit and also gave them a greyish appearance.  Sometime after the beginning of the Rebellion Shadow Troopers received an upgrade.  This new armor was made with a stygian triprismatic polymer, which itself was a harder form of duraplast (The material Clone Commandos were known for using.).  Besides the obvious durability it provided, it also enhanced the trooper's stealth and provided them the infamous black appearance.  This stealth boost was itself aiding the Shadow Troopers most famous gadget, the Cloaking Device.  Indeed they were known for their ability to rapidly turn invisible.  

        Shadow Troopers were Intel agents through-and-through as well as being stormtroopers.  They were known to carry Spyeye Drones with them and had the clearance to divert local spies and security streams to their operation.  Shadow Troopers reported directly to the Director of Intelligence, originally Armand Isard.  They were one of the more mysterious units in Intelligence and were sometimes paired with Inquisitors.  When Isard was removed from his position, a mysterious agent named Blackhole became the Acting Director.  During Blackhole's breif reign the organization was put to great use, nearly capturing Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.  It was during this series of counter-terrorism operations that the troopers earned their nickname, Blackhole Troopers.  

Shadow Troopers survived until the end of the original Empire, at least.  In those last days they served as the personal unit of Sovereign Protector-turned-Emperor, Carnor Jax.  A squad was known to accompany him as personal guards.  Unfortunately all of these troopers and Jax himself were assassinated by rogue Royal Guardsmen, Kir Kanos.  This act crumbled the Empire and, shortly after, the organization ceased to exist.  

Later the Empire would be revived, though it is unknown if Shadow Troopers ever made it into the New Empire.  Black-armored special forces were still the standard, so their legacy lived on, at least.