Droideka

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"They're no match for droidekas!"

―Rune Haako^[5]

Droidekas, also known as destroyer droids (destroyers for short),^[19] or as rollies in clone trooper slang,^[20] were a type of battle droid^[3] used by the Trade Federation during the Invasion of Naboo and, later, by the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. Manufactured by the Colicoids^[19] on Colla IV,^[2] droidekas were dangerous and deadly, designed to exterminate their adversaries with extreme prejudice. They could transform their shape by curling into a ball and moving up to 75 kilometers per hour^[2] across a surface, or stand on three legs and utilize a shield generator while firing at a target. Before the Invasion of Naboo, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi had to face droidekas on a Droid Control Ship.^[5]

Description[]

"Destroyers are quick, pack twin blasters, and come with their own shield generators. Nothing short of a cannon will pierce it, but they do have two weaknesses, and you will need to work together to exploit them. The shields deflect high velocity attacks. What the shields don't stop are slow or stationary objects. They're designed to absorb them so nothing hinders their movement."
"Destroyers are blind from behind. A distraction combined with a rear assault will give you a kill. The trick is to get the right speed on the droid popper."

―Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, on how to take out a Droideka^[21]

Droideka-USC — Droidekas were equipped with a shield generator.

Shelled in bronzium^[22] armor, droidekas came equipped with numerous armaments, both defensive and offensive. In particular, they made use of twin repeating blaster cannons and personal deflector shield generators, which meant that when clones conducted mass attacks, they were scythed down by the droideka's twin repeating blaster cannons, and nothing could be done, unless the clones could get an EMP through the shield, or artillery could be called in.^[21] Some destroyers were referred to with he/him pronouns^[23] while others were referred to with she/her. Additionally, a droideka could be referred to with it/its.^[17]

A droideka's shields were so strong and powerful that they could easily repel or deflect short-range, high-velocity attacks; rendering sidearms or blasters ineffective. The droideka was able to fire through its shield because the shield was polarized (meaning that it was phased) to allow the droideka's blaster bolts to travel out, but would stop any projectiles from coming in. Most hand-held weapons did not have enough power to pierce it. Although powerful, they featured several flaws that could be exploited to guarantee a kill; droideka were blind from behind and their shields were ineffective against slow and stationary objects. Rear assaults, coupled with a distraction and a well-thrown Electro Magnetic Pulse grenade, were an extremely effective combination.^[21] Another effective way to destroy a droideka was to crush it with a large, heavy object.

History[]

"Great. Rolling death balls."

―Ahsoka Tano, on droidekas^[24]

Rex-vs-droidekas — Droidekas fought against the clone army during the Clone Wars.

During the Battle of Naboo, droidekas cut a path through the Gungan formation with their deadly repeating blaster cannons and then shot the shield generators that the Fambaa were carrying.^[5] Later, they served as part of the Separatist Droid Army during the Clone Wars against the Galactic Republic.^[20] After the Separatist Council was massacred by Darth Vader, the droidekas were ordered to shut down.

After the war, a droideka known as "The Unwinder," was champion in a gladiatorial arena,^[25] and another droideka was in a scrap pile operated by the Bidvel and Davil, but was activated by, and was able to save, C1-10P from the two. When a B2-series super battle droid questioned what they should do now that they were safe, C1-10P suggested forming a group to help other droids.^[26] On the planet Koboh, droidekas and other former Separatist forces were reprogrammed and used as soliders by the Bedlam Raiders.^[11] During the Galactic Civil War, the Droideka Oppressor and Droideka Sentinel variants were used by smugglers, and were also used by the Alliance to Restore the Republic and Galactic Empire.^[27] At least one droideka was used as a security droid by Quarantine World III, and chased after Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra when she attempted to steal the Triple-Zero protocol personality matrix.^[14] Aphra later reprogrammed a droideka mark one, Dek-Nil, making him into a probability droid.^[15] The Scarabi, a mercenary group, used a droideka to guard one of their safe houses.^[18]

Behind the scenes[]

When Doug Chiang designed the droideka in concept art, he did not do so with a walk cycle in mind; in his mind, the droideka was only able to move via rolling up and would stay in place when ready to fire, becoming a de facto weapons platform. However, George Lucas wanted the droideka to have the feel of a gunslinger thanks to its two large blasters one each side, and, thus, it was decided that the unit could indeed walk. Figuring out how to make the droideka unfurl and walk fell to Hal Hickel of Industrial Light & Magic, who had a difficult time getting a walk cycle out of a design originally not meant to move in such a way.^[28]