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Droid
Category: Technology
This was the generic term used to describe any of the various automatons used to perform any number of tasks throughout the galaxy. The official definition was provided by Cybot Galactica as "any mechanical and/or electronic construct designed and put into service to assist organic life." Although most beings considered the terms "droid" and "robot" to be synonymous, droids were different in that they were given self-awareness programming that allowed them to act without organic intervention. Droids took a variety of forms, from walking humanoid protocol units to hovering spherical interrogation units. It was generally held that droids "evolved" from the ancient robotic technologies of the galaxy, as soon as the first forms of artificial intelligence were programmed. There were five basic droid classifications:
Most droids designed to interact with sentient life at a higher level were given vocabulators which produced speech in their owners' languages, and many were given sexes and personalities through their programming. These droids, with their near-sentient artificial intelligence, were known to "sleep," or at least go into a state of suspension in order to "rest" their central processing units.
Many droids were happy serving their owners, but some were badly mistreated or abused, and developed abherent personalities. These droids sometimes revolted against their owners, and several infamous droid uprisings during the latter stages of the Old Republic led to a general anti-droid sentiment among the organic inhabitants of the galaxy. During the Old Republic, an owner was responsible for the actions of their droids, even if the droid acted of its own volition. Much of the galaxy's perception of droids was changed during the Clone Wars, when endless numbers of battle droids were developed by the Confederacy of Independent Systems for use as soldiers and fighters. For three years, the galaxy was bombarded with images of droid armies cutting down the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic, and public sentiment began to move toward outright hatred of automata. With the institution of the New Order, Emperor Palpatine sought to have all droids banished from service, but the remnants of the Galactic Senate fought to maintain the use of servile droids. The Empire later established the "Droid Statutes," in an effort to further curb the criminal usage of droids. At the height of the New Order, anti-droid sentiment seemed to be prominent throughout the galaxy. Many historians believed that three factors caused this. First, the Clone Wars had shown how destructive and unfeeling an army of droids could be. Second, droids were viewed by an oppressed galaxy as taking jobs that could be done by an organic being. Third, many beings simply found the idea of non-organic sentience to be offensive, a feeling that echoed the pro-human stance of the Empire. This hatred of droids was nothing compared to the vehemence with which the Yuuzhan Vong destroyed droids, some twenty-five years after the Battle of Endor, as the alien invaders simply hated and destroyed all forms of non-organic technology.
Most droids were given individual serial numbers, and these numbers became the basic names used by their owners to identify them. Because these serial numbers could be quite long, given the millions of droids produced in the galaxy, droid names were shortened to the first four to six characters.
Source Abbreviations Listing - E4N, RASB, SWJ14, FTD, SWI78, E3N, LCM, NEGD, LLOW
For more information, please read or view the following material(s):
Cynabar's Fantastic Technology: Droids, by Drew Campbell and Eric S. Trautmann, copyright 1997, from West End Games
Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, by L. Neil Smith, copyright 1983, from Del Rey Books
Star Wars, by George Lucas, copyright 1977 (by the Star Wars Corporation), from Del Rey Books
Star Wars Adventure Journal, Number 14, by Peter Schweighofer (Ed.), copyright August 1997, from West End Games
Star Wars Insider Magazine (issue number n follows SWI), by Various, copyright 1997, 2008, from Various
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, by Matthew Stover, copyright 2005, from Del Rey Books
Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Droids, by Dan Wallace, copyright 2006, from Del Rey Books
The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi, by Ryder Windham, copyright 2008, from Scholastic Incorporated
The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, by Paul Murphy, copyright 1990, from West End Games
The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, Second Edition, by Paul Murphy and Peter Schweighofer, copyright 1994, from West End Games
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