In the Star Wars fictional universe, battle droids are droids designed for combat and Security, especially the ones used by the Trade Federation and Confederacy of Independent Systems in the prequel trilogy.

Overview

Battle droids are designed to win through numbers, even though a swarm of battle droids can be cut down by only two Jedi Knights, as evidenced several times in the prequel films.

Battle droids are frequently portrayed as being controlled by a large computer mainframe most often on heavily defended starships. The control system is a central point-of-failure: if it is destroyed, the battle droids it controls become inactive. This occurred during the Battle of Naboo in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, in which Anakin Skywalker destroyed the Droid Control Ship. The monumental defeat spurred interest in independent droids, and this technique gained ground following the battle.

Battle droids have speech abilities and can be programmed to have male or female voices. They often acknowledge their orders with the words "Roger, roger."

History

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones revealed that there are battle droid foundries on the planet Geonosis and other Outer Rim Planets. As depicted in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, there is also a Battle droid factory on the planet Mustafar.

Super battle droids were created for the Battle of Geonosis. Droidekas are another type of battle droid seen in the films. In Revenge of the Sith, all battle droid units were ordered to be deactivated by Emperor Palpatine, to be replaced by his army of clone troopers, who in turn are replaced by Stormtroopers. Gizor Delso, a Geonosian Separatist who survived Darth Vader's slaughter, designed a third kind of battle droid during an uprising, but the plans were destroyed by Imperial stormtroopers.

Droid types

There are several battle droid types for different tasks, mostly of which are characterized by a color worn on the droid's head, shoulders and/or chest or by other differences from others in physical appearance.

Name(s)	Appearance	Function
B-1 (Standard) battle droids	tall, skeletal, armed with blaster rifles, with augmented backpack	combat infantry
Pilot droid, Engineer droid	as standard battle droid, with blue shoulders and chest with no backpack	operates starships and other vehicles
Security battle droid	as standard battle droid, with maroon shoulders and crest with no backpack	patrols in squads to eliminate intruders and guards captives
Battle droid commander	as standard battle droid, with yellow forehead and shoulders; circular symbol on chest with small backpack	receives orders from control ships and in turn commands infantry and security battle droids
Assault droid	as standard battle droid, with Blue shoulders	uses missile launchers to take down Republic vehicles, turrets and other large defenses.
Droid Sniper (also known as assassin droids)	red shoulders	uses sniper rifles to pick off enemy infantry from afar.
B-2 Super battle droid (also known as super battle droids)	broad-chested, sand blue, metallic bodies	advanced combat infantry, built-in wrist blasters and wrist rocket launcher
Geonosis battle droid	same build as standard battle droid, with red markings	combat infantry for desert terrain; used only during Battle of Geonosis
Droideka	Cobra on a three legged gait with two arms; with blasters, metallic body; transforms into ball shape for increased speed	heavy infantry with twin-cannons and deflector shield; rolls into wheel for swift travel
IG Lancer droid	tall, black and lanky, pointed cylindrical head	cuts through heavy armor with lances, pilots Speeder bikes (Closely resembles IG-88 from The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Droids: The Lost Prince, due to being manufactured by the same company)

Pilot droids

Pilot droids, also known as Engineer droids, distinguish themselves from their battle droid brethren because they are not designed for combat duty. While at a first glance one cannot determine any difference between this class of droid and any other, like most of the Confederacy's droid designs the difference lies within the programming. The pilot droid is designed to simply fly the vehicles and craft of the Confederacy. If they need to protect themselves, they essentially take it upon themselves to attack. They can also provide minor repair capabilities to droid forces on the battle field. With blue shoulder markings, they stand out for their duties. When Pilot droids simply have to fight, they use powerful shotguns. Pilot droids are in Star Wars: Battlefront II. In this game and its prequel Star Wars: Battlefront, pilots are armed with laser shotguns as well as grenade launchers.

Battle droid commanders

Battle droid commanders are droids that function as the officer class. Battle droid commanders are seen in the prequel trilogy.

Battle droid commanders distinguish themselves by having yellow markings on their head and abdomen; otherwise they are superficially identical to standard battle droids. They have greater autonomy and strategic skills when compared to standard battle droids, although they are still ultimately subservient to the Droid Control Ships. They were used by the Trade Federation in Episode I during the Battle of Naboo and, presumably, by the Separatists during the Clone Wars. An example of a battle droid commander is Commander OOM-9, who is seen giving the order to a unit of AATs to open fire on the Gungan shield in The Phantom Menace. In the novelization of The Phantom Menace, OOM-9, the commander battle droid, is leader of the droid armies during the invasion of Naboo. He reports and responds directly to Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray and the leaders of the Trade Federation.

Assault droids

The Assault droid is a member of the Confederacy Droid Army, uses missile launchers to destroy the Clone Army's various vehicles such as the AT-TE, LAAT gunships, or the Republic IFT-X Hover Tank. The BAW E-60R is the common weapon used by the Assault Droids. Although not as powerful as the ARC Trooper of the Galactic Republic, the droids are still a threat to the Galactic Republic. Clone Engineers of the Republic learned to stay away and fear its presence on the battlefield. Assault Droids are also equipped with Conner Ship Systems HX2 Mines.

Super battle droids

Super battle droids are upgraded battle droids used by the Techno Union, as portrayed in Episode II and the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars. They were first unleashed by the Confederacy of Independent Systems in the Battle of Geonosis, the closing battle in Episode II.

One of the main design flaws of the standard B-1 battle droid was its reliance on a Droid Control Ship to provide a signal; if the ship is disabled, the battle droids would become utterly useless. The super battle droid (or B-2) does not rely on such a signal and has a greater capacity for independence, as well as much more aggressive combat intelligence. In the Battle of Geonosis, Super Battle Droids were known to mow down older-model B-1s in order to get a better shot at the enemy (as seen in Attack of the Clones, a Super Battle Droid shoved a damaged battle droid out of the way) , and could sometimes go berserk by simply shooting its blaster arm faster than a Droideka's. Their frames are larger and more heavily armored (to that of a droideka in certain parts) but remain skeletal to emphasize intimidation. Blasters are mounted on their arms, but they are capable of using certain external weapons, though their large hands make it difficult for them to use smaller blasters. Due to the high cost of manufacturing a new droid, the super battle droid uses some of the same parts as the standard B-1.

Though more advanced than standard battle droids, super battle droids are still no match for the creative intelligence of clone troopers, but they were physically far superior to clones. Both super battle droids and clone troopers first saw combat at the Battle of Geonosis, and the new B-2 designs proved formidable but ultimately inferior. All of this is mainly due to the CIS giving little effort for its lack of a secondary blaster arm and possibly a wrist rocket launcher.

A second type of super battle droid was produced, the B-2A, which was used for clearing Republic starships and protecting vital assets. These droids were often encountered by Clone Commandos. These droids replaced one arm, with a huge cannon, which was strong enough to cause damage to Katarn armour. These droids were able to utilize an energy shield to protect themselves from Grenade blasts and had more advanced armour which was able to take damage from a DC-17m assault repeater. These droids, however, had deadly weaknesses, which were exploited by Clone Commandos. They often wore darker armour than the battlefield configuration of the B-2 series.

Tens of thousands of super battle droids saw use throughout The Clone Wars as "marines" for the Confederacy along with its smaller cousins and the dreaded Droideka. Though the first Super Battle Droids seen on Geonosis wore an unpainted dull silver tone, many of the droids used in later battles of the Clone Wars were painted a metallic blue, likely to help them stand out from the red coloration the Confederacy used for its standard battle droids.

It is unclear who invented the B-2 battle droid; the Geonosians designed the standard B-1 and even modeled it after themselves. It is believed that the B-2 upgrade (which had some design elements of the B-1) was produced following a deal between Count Dooku and Poggle the Lesser, but other sources claim that the Techno Union foreman Wat Tambor took the existing design and upgraded it. The Techno Union and its member world of Geonosis are the chief suppliers of both kinds of droids for the Confederacy.

B-3 Ultra Battle Droids greatly resembled the super battle droid, however, it towered at a height of 4 meters, and also had four arms, two fitting the droid's size and wielding wide spray plasma cannons, and two smaller arms brandishing blaster cannons. On the droid's shoulder was a mounted rocket launcher. The B-3 ultimate battle droid was not used frequently, as it was much more expensive to mass produce compared to the other CIS war machines.

In the PC game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, the super battle droids in the Clone Campaigns expansion pack have robotic voices similar to the older battle droids but much deeper. In Battlefront II, Super Battle Droids are assigned as soldiers although this is pretty debatable when Standard Battle Droids are considered the primary class.

Advanced Droids

Droid Sniper

Known as Assassin droids, these droids featured red shoulder or camo markings. It was programmed to hunt the enemy's commanders or leaders, using accurized Sniper Rifles. They were mostly seen in the Battlefront Series, and hardly seen in the Films.

Vulture Droid/Droid Fighter

Built in the Cathedral Factories of Charros IV, Vulture Droids were used first by the Trade Federation, then by the CIS. The Vulture Droid is a walker unit that can convert to a flight mode, allowing it to navigate space (much like a starfighter). In fighter mode they have blasters concealed within their wings - these wings unfold into 4 spider-like legs in walking mode. They are large units and, like many other battle droids, they attack through numbers. Like other Trade Federation droids, they are controlled remotely by a central computer. They first had a brown and tan colour scheme (episode I), then became a light blue (episode III). In Star Wars: Battlefront, this droid was a vehicle instead of a playable droid.

Hailfire Droid

Used in the Battle for Geonosis, the Hailfire Droid is an artillery droid designed for fast travel. It uses two large hoop-like wheels to navigate terrain, and is armed with shoulder-mounted rocket launchers. The rockets can be identified by the thick black exhaust they leave behind. They are among the most destructive droids used in the CIS army.

Droidekas

The Droideka, or Destroyer Droid heavy infantry unit are seen in the prequel films. These droids can transform, appearing first in a "wheel" state allowing rapid movements and easy storage, then unfold into insect-like attack-robots with a slow three-legged gait. In their walking state, Droidekas have powerful twin blasters on each of their arms, extremely accurate in close range and a personal shield generator. The Droidekas used their shield generators in the prequel movies The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith to protect themselves. These shields make the Droidekas very valuable assets on the battlefield, as they are somewhat impervious to small arms fire (although not strong enough to resist vehicle or starfighter-mounted cannons). Due to their built-in shields and the strength of their blasters, the Droidekas give some Jedi Knights pause. The Droidekas sometimes have limited speech abilities (as seen in Episode III, when they said to Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi on the Invisible Hand: 'Nobodymovenobodymove;' in the script and novel-version of Episode I, the Destroyer Droids that attack Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi inside the Droid Control Ship are shown to have spoken as well, although this is not evident during the actual movie) and their gender would be male or female depending on their programmings, which is similar to the battle droids, but those droids speak in Droid language. They were deployed at Naboo, and Geonosis, and Coruscant, and are mainly the property of the Trade Federation and the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

Destroyer Droids actually come in two series: Heavy Units (shielded) and Infantry Units. ^{[citation needed]} Infantry Units are not produced with shields because tactically their shields can be of hindrance to their own infantry trying to fire at the enemy, and also to drastically reduce cost. 40 Infantry Type Droidekas can be transported in the Open Chamber type MTT. The Droideka can fire up to 240 dual blasts a minute (unless their system for their blaster arms features overheating) making it virtually impossible for enemy infantry to defeat a squad of them in good time (even if they aren't shielded). However, it's recommended that the droidekas' opponents "circle" around them or go directly close to them and between their twin blasters; they can't hit their foes. In The Phantom Menace, when the droids are first seen, they drop their shields as they pursue the fleeing Jedi. This was either because the shield was a hindrance to movement, or because they were attacking a fleeing enemy with no way of attack.

According to the expanded universe, the original design was developed by the insectoid people of Colla IV, who were displeased by the limitations of Baktoid Combat Automata's basic battle droids, and chiefly manufactured there. The Trade Federation, and presumably the Confederacy, used trading in rare meats as a way to ease bargaining with the ravenously carnivorous Colicoids, and were able to get special rates on these special infantry droids. Before the Federation's defeat at Battle of Naboo, these droids were usually slaved to a central computer, although this technique fell out of favor in the aftermath of this battle. Although the droids are not shown en masse in the films (mainly Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith), they were still mass-produced (in comparable numbers to Super Battle Droids) with full specifications. A Droideka made a rare post-prequel era appearance in Survivor's Quest, where it proved a formidable opponent for Luke Skywalker and his wife, Mara Jade.

MagnaGuards

Main article: IG-100 MagnaGuards

The elite MagnaGuard is a droid built to specifications provided by General Grievous. They wield electrostaffs, which cannot be cut through with a lightsaber, have reflexes "operating at almost the speed of light" and shoot electricity or mini-missiles out of both ends. Nute Gunray, the head of the Trade Federation claims that these droids cost a fortune to make unlike any droid created from the past. These droids were used during the end of the Clone Wars. On Kashyyyk, Delta Squad had to battle these droids, learning that they had remarkable acrobatic ability and superb stamina.

MagnaGuards were also are seen in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and during the Battle of Coruscant, they fought Obi-Wan and Anakin on the bridge of the Invisible Hand. Later on, four of them attacked Obi-Wan at Utapau but were defeated before they could strike a blow when Obi-Wan used the Force to drop part of the roof on them. Throughout the Clone Wars, one can conclude that MagnaGuards were superior to any infantry droid ever made because of their superior duranium armor, their ability to "feel" what surrounded them, backup processors, and their ability to wield a variety of deadly weapons as well as fight like the Jedi. Unlike the other droids, MagnaGuards can still fight if their head is cut off. Their colors are white, blue, and red; whites directly serve General Grievous, blues act as saboteurs, and reds are elite soldiers.

Cortosis droids

The Cortosis Battle Droid is an improved version of the Super Battle Droid, armored with its namesake, a rare mineral only found on the planet Dxun. Being difficult for Jedi to destroy (Cortosis shorts out lightsabers), they were rushed into mass production during the Clone Wars. It fell to Anakin to destroy the factory that produced them, and during this mission, he discovered a critical weakness in their design; a small gap that ran vertically in their torso armor. After his success, no more Cortosis Battle Droids were produced.

External links

• Battle droid in the Star Wars Databank
• Battle droid on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki

Donate to Wikimedia