50 reasons Star Wars is better than Lord of The Rings

22. AT-STs vs. Trolls

What were AT-STs? All-Terrain Scout Transports in the Empire’s armies

Who were Trolls? Big mean things in Sauron’s armies

Verdict: When throwing endless waves of bodies at a problem isn’t doing the trick, it helps to have the big guns waiting in the wings.

For the Empire, those big guns are usually the AT-ST, or ‘Chickenwalker’. We see them in both Empire and Jedi and they’re kind of like the AT-AT’s younger, more versatile brother. They provide that little bit of something extra you need when the stormtroopers and speeder bikes aren’t doing the trick.

They also appear fragile to a suspect degree. For something that actually had “armored” in their name, AT-STs are surprisingly vulnerable to simple Ewok traps.

Trolls, in contrast, seem like a pretty tough bunch. They fall more often in the LOTR trilogy than AT-STs do in Star Wars, but it’s not easy thing for our heroes to do. Indeed, for all its armor and guns, you’d almost expect an AT-ST to lose one-on-one with a LOTR troll.

That shouldn’t be the case, right? Like the AT-ST should be able to take any and all comers, much in the same way that tanks can in the real world. But for some reason the Empire cut corners or decided to keep things interesting by making their Chickenwalkers about as vulnerable to attack as their namesake.

Lord of the Rings wins

Next: 21. Star Destroyers vs. Fellbeasts