The Emperor's Royal Guard, sometimes referred to as the Imperial Royal Guard or Imperial Guard, were the personal bodyguards to Galactic Emperor Palpatine. Their exact number was unknown, with speculations ranging from less than fifty to tens of thousands, although their numbers were estimated to be at least four hundred at any one point. In addition to strict requirements of size, strength, intelligence, and loyalty, only the most skilled stormtroopers in the Stormtrooper Corps qualified for duty and answered directly to the Emperor.

The Royal Guard was based out of the Imperial Royal Guard Academy on Yinchorr, a barren planet rendered lifeless by genocidal airstrikes by the Empire. Candidates for tutelage under the Academy, picked from various units in the Stormtrooper Corps, underwent rigorous training programs designed to build a sense of extreme loyalty to the Emperor, with students often being forced to kill each other in live combat. Guardsmen were trained in various forms of martial arts, including Echani. Guardsmen were commonly equipped with vibroswords and force pikes, in addition to heavy blaster pistols for ranged combat.

The Royal Guard was the successor of the Red Guard of the Galactic Republic, also taking influence from the Sun Guard. Following the first death of the Emperor during the Battle of Endor, the unit, without a leader, was scattered for several years. However, during the Emperor's subsequent reincarnations in the form of cloned bodies, the unit was reconvened on Byss, fighting for the reborn Palpatine and being nearly destroyed by the destruction of Byss by the Galaxy Gun and Palpatine's flagship, the Eclipse II. When a member of the unit, Carnor Jax, was implicated by Palpatine's personal physician with ensuring the failure of his clone bodies in a bid to become Emperor, he led a slaughter of the unit's survivors on Yinchorr, leaving only Kir Kanos. Jax made a bid for the empty throne previously held by Palpatine before being assassinated by Kanos, whose undying loyalty to the Emperor and his ideals led him on a crusade to murder anyone involved with his death.