Miragedriver
Brigadier
First of all, the Stormtroopers' reputation for being bad shots is a bit exaggerated. They do quite well against the Rebels at the beginning of A New Hope , and later Ben Kenobi, a jedi Master and respected general, speaks highy of Imperial marksmanship against the Sandpeople tank, and in the Hoth battle in The Empire Strikes Back. For example, they can hit rebel soldiers from at least ten meters away simply by hip-firing. It's mainly in the presence of Plot Armor-wearing main characters that their aim starts to degrade. And in A New Hope, the Stormtroopers were under orders from Tarkin to let Luke and his pals escape so that they could be tracked to the Rebel base — so the troopers (or at least the most fanatical ones) were trying to miss. And in the one scene where the troopers were trying to take prisoners, they were able to hit Princess Leia with a stun gun on their very first shot. However, that still does leave some unexplained scenes where the Stormtroopers were far worse shots than the protagonists.
And the battle droids? The canon explanation for their shoddy aim is that they really are that bad. The Trade Federation's battle strategy emphasized quantity over quality, seeking to overwhelm the opponent with huge numbers of disposable troops. The standard B1 Battle Droids were so disposable that, after Episode I, they were relegated to comic relief, rather than presented as a threat. Upgraded versions, like the Droidekas and Super Battle Droids, do pose a threat in later episodes, but even so, they tended to only succeed against Jedi in situations where the Inverse Ninja Law was working against the Jedi.
Now, for the really baffling part: When Stormtroopers or battle droids fire at a main character with a blaster, they tend to miss entirely. When Stormtroopers or battledroids fire at a main character who is a lightsaber-wielding Jedi, their shots are on-target or darn close—enabling the Jedi to deflect the shots (usually right back at their attacker) with said lightsaber.
if only they could have shot Jar Jar Binks and blown up the Ewoke plant
And the battle droids? The canon explanation for their shoddy aim is that they really are that bad. The Trade Federation's battle strategy emphasized quantity over quality, seeking to overwhelm the opponent with huge numbers of disposable troops. The standard B1 Battle Droids were so disposable that, after Episode I, they were relegated to comic relief, rather than presented as a threat. Upgraded versions, like the Droidekas and Super Battle Droids, do pose a threat in later episodes, but even so, they tended to only succeed against Jedi in situations where the Inverse Ninja Law was working against the Jedi.
Now, for the really baffling part: When Stormtroopers or battle droids fire at a main character with a blaster, they tend to miss entirely. When Stormtroopers or battledroids fire at a main character who is a lightsaber-wielding Jedi, their shots are on-target or darn close—enabling the Jedi to deflect the shots (usually right back at their attacker) with said lightsaber.
if only they could have shot Jar Jar Binks and blown up the Ewoke plant
