The iconic TIE Fighters saw major improvements from the Star Wars original trilogy era in Rebel Alliance’s X-Wing fighters and Y-Wing bombers during the Battle of Yavin, quickly becoming one of the Star Wars franchise’s most iconic vehicles.

The following two Star Wars movies and the non-movie materials of the Legends continuity introduced a plethora of TIE variants, such as the TIE Bomber, TIE Interceptor, and TIE Defender, all of which were used by the Empire. In the Star Wars: Legacy era, factions like Darth Krayt’s Galactic Empire would use state-of-the-art TIE Predators, proving that the TIE starfighter line continued over a century after the original trilogy films. In the modern canon, the Empire’s successor state – the First Order – introduced their own next-generation TIE Fighters.

The First Order Fixed A Massive TIE Fighter Problem

Two new TIE Fighter variants are introduced in The Force Awakens: the standard First Order TIE Fighter and the advanced Special Forces TIE Fighter. Both new TIEs retain the same basic shape of the Galactic Empire’s standard TIE Fighters (albeit with a reversed color scheme), with both the First Order and The Force Awakens being nostalgic for the original trilogy era, to say the least. Despite this, the two fighters were significant improvements over their Imperial predecessors, not only boasting improved weaponry but also features previously absent from most Imperial TIEs.

The standard First Order TIE Fighter, notably, is equipped with a shield generator, and while the craft typically did not include a hyperdrive, some models were retrofitted with them, allowing them to travel to other star systems independently. The Special Force TIE Fighter – which was reserved for the First Order’s elite Special Forces pilots – included shielding, a hyperdrive, a second seat, ordnance, and a turret for the gunner. Such features were a novelty in the Empire – whose TIE Advanced and TIE Defender craft came equipped with shields and ordnance – but were commonplace in the First Order.

Special Forces TIE Fighters are equipped with mag-pulse warheads, a type of ordnance that originated in the Legends continuity’s 1994 video game Star Wars: TIE Fighter.

Why The First Order Valued Its Pilots More Than The Empire

The First Order was able to achieve these vastly improved TIE Fighters thanks to several factors. In addition to technological advancements, the First Order also needed to protect its pilots more than the Empire’s Starfighter Corps. In the Empire, only the best and brightest could fly TIE Fighters, compensating for the craft’s short range and lack of shielding, but the First Order needed to take things a step further. The First Order was only a military junta in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and thus needed to protect its pilots more than the Galactic Empire had.