imperial guards
Sovereign's elite soldiers
Imperial guards are elite military units charged with protecting an emperor or sovereign ruler.
Historically, such forces served emperors from Rome to China to Japan, often wielding political influence beyond their ceremonial role.
In modern usage, the term appears frequently in fantasy and science fiction: The imperial guards surrounded the throne room.
- praetorianOf elite Roman soldiers
- royalOf monarchs
- eliteSuperior select group
- palaceMonarch's official residence
- palace gatesGrand doors to royalty
sentinels · standing watch · ceremonial · armor · loyalty · swords · regiment · bodyguards · throne · hussars · spears · legionnaires · uniforms · watchmen · escort · centurion · garrison · formation
- East Asian Warfarebattles, warriors, soldiers, generals, infantry formations
- elite guardsbodyguards, Beefeaters, Immortals, Mamluks
- Elite WarriorsImmortals, samurai, Spartans, janissaries
- Japanese Royaltymikado, crown prince, crown princess, Hirohito, Meiji
- military officerscolonel, general, officers, major, admirals
- Mongol EmpireGenghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Mongols, khan, Great Khan
imperial guardsfoot soldiers
Ground-based military fighters
rank and file · grunts · conscripts · cannon fodder · militia
imperial guardsrebels
Armed opposition fighters
revolutionaries · insurgents · mutineers · regicides · rebel forces
imperial, guards, empire, emperor, empress, imperialism, imperialist, imperialistic, imperially