Surprisingly, not as many of the wars in Star Wars take place in space. But when they do, they're some of the biggest space battles in sci-fi history. Pretty much all of them involve the Imperial fleet. The Galactic Empire has one of the largest and most imposing armadas around, even if their track record in victories is not exactly great.
The Imperial fleet is composed of iconic ships like Star Destroyers, as well as numerous support craft and fighters for every kind of scenario. Together they present a challenge for the Rebel Alliance but an endless fascination for fans of the Dark Side.
10 Outland TIE Fighter
The Imperial fleet always has new TIE Fighters. That's kind of the fun of new Star Wars movies. Still, it was a bit surprising to see them continuing to innovate five years after the fall of the Empire in the first season of The Mandalorian. The Outland TIE Fighter maintains the basic design of the classic ship but features a foldable wing design that allows it to land like a typical fixed-wing craft. It's possible this variant had always been around, though it's unclear at this point. It's definitely not a one-off; multiple versions of this fighter are visible in the trailer for season two.
9 Imperial Light Cruiser
The Imperial Light Cruiser played a prominent role in some of the key battles of Star Wars: Rebels. This much smaller and - naturally, lighter - craft still packed quite a punch. The ship was equipped with multiple quad laser turrets and double-barreled turbolaser batteries. The ship had roughly the same basic design as the Star Destroyer, but notably, its hyperspace engines were of a design much more common in the Republic era, just one of its many connections to the prequels.
8 Imperial Interdictor
The Imperial Interdictor is a ship that survived the purging of the Expanded Universe and made it into official canon thanks to Star Wars: Rebels. This unique ship played a key role in a major conflict between the nascent Rebel Alliance and Imperial forces over Lothal. The primary function of this ship was to create gravity wells that would pull starships out of hyperspace, and also prevent them from jumping into it. That definitely put a damper on any Rebel efforts in big battles.
7 TIE Bomber
The TIE Bomber makes a brief but intriguing appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. The epic sequel built out the Star Wars universe in big ways, and the expanding Imperial fleet was one of the ways it improved the franchise. The bomber proved that the Empire's tactics against its enemies are as broad and cruel as they come.
The bomber hasn't really featured significantly in media since trying to smoke out the always crafty Millenium Falcon in an asteroid field, though it did make an appearance in Rebels.
6 Imperial Shuttle
The Lambda-class Imperial Shuttle makes for one of the most striking and unique silhouettes in the Imperial fleet. Composed of long, thin lines, this craft is a stark contrast to the typically gray and bulky ships in the line. The shuttle debuted in Return of the Jedi as the principal transport for high-ranking officials like Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. It continues to feature heavily in tie-in fiction as well as on-screen in everything from Rebels to the Clone Wars, where it can be seen in the iconic final scene of the series.
5 Star Destroyer
The Imperial Star Destroyer is the cornerstone of the Imperial fleet. This massive, heavily armed ship is said to be able to bombard entire planets on their own (which kind of renders a Death Star pointless, but having the most powerful weapon in the galaxy is kind of its own point). The Star Destroyer is one of the most iconic space ships in all of cinema thanks to its role in the opening moments of the original Star Wars film, A New Hope. Fans around the world all remember the first time they saw the ship scraping across the screen from above.
4 Super Star Destroyer
If there is anything more imposing than a Star Destroyer, it's the Super Star Destroyer. This gargantuan ship dwarfs the standard vessel by an unthinkable degree. Size comparisons show the largest ship in the Imperial fleet to be about the length of the island of Manhattan, which is insane. This city in space showed up in The Empire Strikes Back as the command ship of Darth Vader, and can be seen again in some theaters as the film returns for its fortieth anniversary. The original Super Star Destroyer crashed into the second Death Star, but the ruins of Jakku in The Force Awakens showed there was at least one other in service.
3 TIE Interceptor
The TIE fighter was superimposing when it debuted in the original Star Wars movie. Somehow the ship got even more so with the introduction of the TIE Interceptor. This version of the ship switched out the tall, thin panels for small forward-facing ones that ended in dagger points.
The smaller, faster version of the standard TIE remains the most menacing iteration of the classic ship, even though its speed and superior numbers didn't exactly help out at Endor.
2 TIE Fighter
As cool as the TIE Interceptor is, the original still takes the cake in terms of sheer coolness. The TIE Fighter is a marvel of sheer simplicity. The screech of the TIE Fighter is one of the most iconic sounds in all of the movies, and it's a sound no one ever wants to hear (even though technically, no one can hear anything in space). The Imperial TIE Fighter functions off of ion engines, a different system than its enemy counterpart the X-Wing. It plays a role in every single battle in the original Star Wars trilogy and the Sequel Trilogy as well, where it played a role in The Force Awakens' most iconic scene.
1 Darth Vader's TIE Fighter
The best ship in the fleet - and the best version of the TIE Fighter - belongs to Darth Vader. Though this ship was seen only once in the final battle of A New Hope, Darth Vader's TIE Fighter wreaked havoc on Rebel forces. He singlehandedly took out numerous fighters and R2-D2 and would have gotten Luke too if not for the timely intervention of Han Solo. This experimental version of the TIE features a unique angled wing design and longer, bulkier fuselage.
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