INTERIOR: DEATH STAR — CELL ROW.

Luke stops in front of one of the cells and blasts the door
away with a laser pistol. When the smoke clears, Luke sees the
dazzling young princess-senator. She had been sleeping and is
now looking at him with an uncomprehending look on her face.
Luke is stunned by her incredible beauty and stands staring at
her with his mouth hanging open.

LEIA: (finally) Aren’t you a little short to be a stormtrooper?

Luke takes off his helmet, coming out of it.

LUKE: What? Oh…the uniform. I’m Luke Skywalker. I’m here to rescue
you.

This scene from Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope has been bothering me for years. Was Luke really too short to be a stormtrooper? Let’s take a look…

In this scene from Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones we can see that Obi Wan is clearly taller than Jango Fett by at least 3 or 4 inches. It has been assumed that after the Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire, the Clone Troopers got new uniforms and were renamed Stormtroopers. It is also believed that additional non-clone soldiers were conscripted by the Empire to become stormtroopers, but the many of stormtroopers were still clones. Obviously, your run of mill stormtrooper, descended from Jango Fett could not have been a tall and imposing figure.

Nineteen years later, on Tatooine, we see Obi Wan standing next to Luke. Although still not as tall as Obi Wan, I think it is safe to say that Luke Skywalker was taller than Jango Fett. Which means he was taller than all of the Clone Trooper and hence, taller than many of the stormtroopers. So why did Princess Leia say those fateful words to Luke Skywalker, “Aren’t you a little short to be a stormtrooper?”

This paradox is further confused by George Lucas’ attempt to create a link between Jango Fett and the stormtroopers. After his battle with Obi Wan on Kamino, Jango bumps his head while entering his ship Slave I. This was reportedly and homage to the stormtrooper bumps head scene aboard the Death Star in Episode IV. In that scene, a stormtrooper, obviously taller than his compatriots bangs his head while entering a control room on the Death Star. So if this tall stormtrooper is, in fact, a clone, that would make the other stormtroopers on his team even shorter than Jango Fett and his clone.

It seems the Empire was forced to recruit some rather short-statured individuals to bolster the ranks of the clones. So Luke is obviously taller than Jango Fett and the clones, and is much taller than the non-clone stormtroopers acquired by the Empire. Which begs the question, why did Princess Leia think that Luke Skywalker was short stormtrooper?