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C-3PO (also spelled See-Threepio, called Threepio for short) was a protocol droid—a droid specifically designed to interact with organics. Threepio's TranLang III Communicator module combined with his AA-1 VerboBrain allowed him to be "fluent in over six million forms of communication." He was also equipped with "over thirty secondary functions." C-3PO was generally seen with his counterpart, R2-D2: a small, wheeled astromech droid. C-3PO's main function as a protocol droid was to assist with etiquette, customs, and translation so that meetings of different cultures ran smoothly. In his time, C-3PO loyally served over forty masters. He hated adventure and space travel, as they often resulted in him coming out on the wrong end of a fight, losing parts, and having them reattached.

Biography

Construction and early years (32 BBY)

C-3PO was sometimes said to have been activated on the Cybot Galactica foundry world of Affa in 112 BBY; but for all intents and purposes, he was born on Tatooine around 32 BBY, built from scrap parts by a prodigal young boy named Anakin Skywalker. He and Kitster Banai discovered the head and discarded, gutted chassis of a standard 3PO-series protocol droid in a Mos Espa street.

Later, Anakin decided to smuggle C-3PO home piece by piece. Kitster asked him what use the droid would have at home and Anakin told him that the droid would be used as a servant as a Cybot Galactica protocol droid. Anakin found that the droid's balance gyro was quite old dating back several decades.

Anakin made the droid functional with scrounged and improvised parts; while Threepio boasted a standard protocol droid verbobrain and communicator module, it is unknown whether these parts originated with his chassis, or if they were acquired independently by Anakin.

Anakin was very proud of his new droid and hastily dragged his future wife, Padmé Amidala, to see him. Threepio's wiring and construction were sound, but Anakin could not afford even the simplest of droid coverings. C-3PO found this out when his future partner R2-D2 remarked that he was naked. He was extremely embarrassed by this but he was soon given an old set of silver coating when he and Anakin's mother Shmi went to live with his new master Cliegg Lars, so that he might last longer in the sandy environment.

Clone Wars (22 BBY–19 BBY)

After Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala's visit to Tatooine, C-3PO left with his old master on Owen's wishes, who said it was what Shmi would have wanted. Threepio later became an unwilling combatant in the Battle of Geonosis when he went to find Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. He found himself in a droid construction facility and, after being pushed onto one of the platforms by his "friend" Artoo, his head was taken off and temporarily attached to the torso of a B-1 battle droid, while the head of the droid was placed onto Threepio's torso. After being rescued by Artoo and reunited with his body he, with the rest of the Republic, left Geonosis. He became one of the only witnesses to Padmé and Anakin's marriage a while later back on Naboo.

C-3PO was given to Senator Amidala as a gift from her husband, Anakin Skywalker. C-3PO served as Senator Amidala's personal protocol droid for most of the Clone Wars. He was a reluctant participant in many adventures of the ex-Queen, including a rather harzardous mission during the Battle of Ilum, where his loyalty was essential in helping Jedi Master Yoda rescue fellow Jedi Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee.

Often chastising his funny yet rude astromech companion, R2-D2, for being reckless, C-3PO finally earned what he had long desired: his coverings were upgraded from a dull gray to his final shiny bronzium coating due to his tenure as Amidala's servant. He also, in a meeting of the Loyalist Committee, became the first entity in the Galaxy to address Supreme Chancellor Palpatine as "Your Majesty." He also severely disapproved of combat droids, once demanding to "have a serious talk with [their] programmer."

However, C-3PO became a witness to his maker's turn to the dark side when he accompanied Padmé to Mustafar. When Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi's duel moved to the interior of the facility on Mustafar, C-3PO and R2-D2 took it upon themselves to get the injured Senator aboard her cruiser. When Obi-Wan returned to the ship, C-3PO piloted it to the asteroid facility of Polis Massa where Padmé gave birth to the Skywalker twins and died shortly afterwards. C-3PO and R2-D2 fell into the custody of Bail Organa, who ordered his memory wiped on the Tantive IV in order to protect the twins from the Emperor and their father, Anakin Skywalker, who had become the Sith Lord known as Darth Vader. After his memory was erased, Threepio would state that he had first worked with binary loadlifters.

Even though his memory was wiped, it is possible that he could have regained some knowledge of life before his mind was wiped through R2-D2, as he could communicate with him.

Early Imperial era (19 BBY–0 BBY)

Though he and R2-D2 were officially part of the droid complement of the Tantive IV for the next 19 years, C-3PO also served Alderaan's royal house, the Organa family, on Alderaan on occasion. While accompanying them to the Emperor's Ball, he mistook his maker, now Darth Vader, for a new droid, and was reassigned as a preschool teacher for a year as punishment.

The droid duo's servitude of the Tantive IV was short lived, however. During a routine drill—supervised by Chief Petty Officer Corla Metonae—that invloved the launching of the ship's escape pods, the Tantive IV was attacked by a pirate group from the Karthakk system. The Corvette was forced to flee, leaving its jettisoned pods behind. It was later discovered that C-3PO and his counterpart were aboard one of the abandoned pods. Bail Organa placed high priority on recovering the droids.

Following this alarming event, C-3PO and R2-D2 found themselves travelling the galaxy serving a series of different masters, such as Ambassador Zell of Majoor. One owner, a glitterstim smuggler, left the droids on Ingo. It was there that they were owned by Thall Joben and Jord Dusat. This got them involved in a speeder race against none other than bounty hunter Boba Fett. After that, the two helped Jann Tosh and Mon Julpa restore the Tammuz-an monarchy. Later, Tosh, on his way to enroll in the Imperial Academy, left the droids on Manda. It was there that they got jobs at a hotel. From there they went to Biitu and were involved with the Great Heep. Mungo Baobab saved them from the Heep and took the droids back to Manda. Later, on Roon, Baobab found some Roonstones which C-3PO told him were etched with the ancient poem Dha Werda Verda. But when the droids went with Mungo to the Baobab Archives, they were separated from him and sold to a used technological goods trafficker.

When another owner, Governor Wena, put the droids up for auction, they ended up goig to Hosk Station. Between there and Kalarba, the droids had a number of adventures with Nak Pitareeze and his family, Olag Greck, and Jace Forno. One time, Threepio feel out of a speeder and cracked his faceplate. The crude repair job he got afterward was two pieces of tape in the shape of an X. That X on his head led him to be mistaken for C-3PX, an extremely dangerous assassin droid who was wanted in seven systems. Some Hosk Arena promoters that thought Threepio was 3PX tried to make him fight in a droid death match. 3PX later sacrificed himself to save 3PO.

C-3PO and R2-D2 later went with a police droid named Unit Zed to Nar Shaddaa, where Threepio lost his left leg below the knee. However, the replacement leg that he got actually contained secret programming that overrode his regular personality. The "new" C-3PO led a droid rebellion against Boonda the Hutt. However, his original programming was later restored when R2-D2 replaced his "possessed" leg. After that, the two droids were owned by an Ithorian botanist named Zorneth and then a diplomat, Councelor Harthan.

Some other masters of the droids during this time included Stigrit Krax, Larka Nimondro, Lott Kemp, Jost Ellon, Vik Idd and Nikki Idd, King Gokus, Quist, Prince Jagoda, and Tyne. After all their many adventures, the droids finally returned to the Tantive IV. Serving the Rebel Alliance, the droids deactivated an Imperial defense system during the Battle of Wayland, allowing the Alliance Fleet to land on Fresia.

Early Galactic Civil War (0 BBY–4 ABY)

When the Tantive IV came under attack by Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer Devastator, C-3PO and R2-D2 were launched in an escape pod on the orders of Princess Leia Organa to deliver a secret message to Obi-Wan Kenobi. On Tatooine, C-3PO and R2-D2 were captured by Jawas, taken into their Sandcrawler, and sold to Owen Lars. While cleaning R2-D2, Owen's nephew, Luke Skywalker, stumbled across a hidden message from Princess Leia. C-3PO claimed he had no idea whom she was and that it may have been old data. That night, R2-D2 made a daring escape from the homestead after Luke had removed his restraining bolt. C-3PO attempted to stop him but was unsuccessful. He would later join Luke in his search through the Jundland Wastes. When they did find R2, they were attacked by Tusken Raiders, resulting in C-3PO to stumble over and have his arm ripped off. Thankfully, Obi-Wan Kenobi had found them and assisted them back to his home, although C-3PO said that there was no need to risk themselves on his account. Soon after being repaired and R2 showing Obi-Wan the message from Leia, they discovered the ruined Sandcrawler and Jawas who had sold him. Luke had sped off to discover that Owen and Beru Lars had been murdered by Imperial stormtroopers, leaving C-3PO and R2-D2 in Luke's care. After traveling to Mos Eisley while evading stormtroopers, C-3PO and R2-D2 escaped on the Millennium Falcon with Luke, Obi-Wan, the ship's captain, Han Solo and his first mate Chewbacca, with whom he would assist R2-D2 against in a game of dejarik. After hearing that Wookiees were known to rip peoples' arms out of their sockets when they lost, he gave R2-D2 one final piece of advice: "let the Wookiee win".

When finally arriving in the Alderaan system, they found the planet gone and themselves brought aboard the Empire's new weapon, the Death Star. He and R2 were left in the hanger control center, with the only advice given to lock the doors if they were to be discovered. Of course this almost became the end for C-3PO's master when Luke, Han, Chewbacca and the now rescued Princess Leia escaped stormtroopers by jumping into a trash compactor and the compactor was initialized. C-3PO had left the comlink he had been using to stay in touch with the group out while he and R2 hid from stormtroopers. Moments after C-3PO had found the comlink, he cursed his metal body that they had been killed. Fortunately, R2 was able to halt the compactor and unlock the door. Finally, the group was able to make it back to the Falcon and escape after Obi-Wan Kenobi sacrificed himself while fighting Darth Vader.

Making haste to the Rebel base on Yavin IV, a plan was made to attack the Death Star. Despite being constantly annoyed by R2-D2's recklessness and impulsive nature, he would tell R2 that he'd better make it back or his life would get boring. When the battle was won, R2-D2 made it back. However, he was badly damaged and C-3PO had offered to donate any of his parts that would be helpful in his repair. R2-D2 was repaired and looked good as new. It is unknown if C-3PO donated any of his parts.

Following the Battle of Yavin, C-3PO accompanied Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca and R2-D2 on numerous missions for the Alliance. During this time, 3PO served as interpreter for and worked with Leia Organa at the Rebels' ring base. He travelled with Luke Skywalker on a mission to Panna to rescue Han Solo for the first time. C-3PO later related many of these events to Mistress Mnemos, an Alliance supercomputer, for historical preservation.

When the Alliance was transferred to the ice world of Hoth, C-3PO continued to work with Princess Leia on some personal matters such as drying out her clothes in the frozen environment. C-3PO was responsible for identifying the Empire's probot, alerting the Rebels to the Empire's awareness of their location. Soon afterward in the Battle of Hoth, C-3PO escaped with Han Solo in the Millennium Falcon, while his partner joined Luke in his pursuit of the mysterious Yoda. During this time, C-3PO and Han developed a strange relationship, with C-3PO quoting odds and Han defying them. Normally, Han would have simply shut C-3PO down but due to the mechanical failures on the Falcon, C-3PO was plugged into the ship and communicated with it to determine the problem (which Han took credit for). He would later comment that the Falcon had a most peculiar dialect. After a chase through the Hoth asteroid field, the Falcon escaped to Cloud City on Bespin.

While exploring a room almost immediately after his arrival, C-3PO was blasted by a stormtrooper. Vader demanded his memory be retrieved and when he saw his parts, recognized his creation and ordered its destruction. However, after being gone for far too long, Chewbacca headed to the Ugnaught recycling facility where he found the dismembered droid. When Darth Vader revealed his presence to the group, Chewbacca was sent into a holding cell but was permitted to rebuild the droid, which, much to the displeasure of C-3PO, was done poorly. While still being repaired, Chewbacca carried C-3PO on his back during Han Solo's encasement in carbonite.

With the help of the city's administrator, Lando Calrissian, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO were able to escape. Although Chewbacca upon instant release attempted to throttle Lando for Han Solo's capture, C-3PO apologized for the enraged Wookiee's behavior, which he feared would be the end of him. Having C-3PO on Chewbacca's back was beneficial: when Boba Fett escaped the city with Han Solo, C-3PO notified them of incoming stormtroopers. Finally, after a chase through the corridors of Cloud City, the group made it to the Millennium Falcon. R2-D2, whom they found after Luke Skywalker arrived to rescue them, unlocked the door to the landing pad under C-3PO's command. After successfully escaping Vader's flagship, the Executor, C-3PO was fully repaired by R2-D2.

Roughly a year after escaping Cloud City, Luke commanded C-3PO and R2-D2 to deliver a message to Jabba the Hutt, the gangster who had the encased Han Solo in his palace. Unbeknownst to him, Luke had given the droids to Jabba as a ploy to gain entrance. C-3PO was placed as Jabba's replacement translator while R2-D2 served on his sail barge. C-3PO's first translation for the crime lord was of Boushh claiming the bounty for Chewbacca, whom he had on a chained leash. The meeting became intense when Boushh demanded 50,000 credits and in surprise, Jabba the Hutt smacked C-3PO who then noticed Boushh had a thermal detonator. Fortunately, C-3PO was undamaged and was able to negotiate the deal of 35,000 credits to Boushh (which came as a relief to the paranoid droid).

While Boushh was discovered to be Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker infiltrated the palace and killed Jabba's pet rancor in a fierce duel. This angered Jabba and he transferred his court to the sail barge with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca as food for the Sarlacc, while Leia served as Jabba's slave. Just as Luke Skywalker was pushed off the plank, he bounded back up and R2-D2 tossed him his lightsaber. In the midst of the battle, C-3PO was attacked by Salacious B. Crumb, yanking one of his sensors out its socket. Salacious was forced off by R2-D2, which gave C-3PO and R2-D2 a chance to escape the sail barge. Making their way to the platform, R2-D2 pushed C-3PO off and rolled off himself into the sands of the Dune Sea. As the sail barge was burning, the two were quickly rescued and the group headed off planet to the Rebels' gathering on Home One.

C-3PO accompanied the strike force to forest moon of Endor to disable the shield generator protecting the Death Star II. When he, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 were captured by the Ewoks, they thought he was a god, thanks to Luke Skywalker, who levitated him above the clamoring crowd. C-3PO then claimed he'd bring down lightning and fire and wrath if his friends were not released (the Ewoks where about to sacrifice them). Later that night, C-3PO acted as a storyteller. (Ironically, when Luke Skywalker first acquired him, he claimed that he was not a good storyteller) This gained sympathy from the Ewoks and convinced them to help the Rebels at the Battle of Endor.

C-3PO's part in the Battle of Endor was not yet complete, however. After infiltrating the shield bunker and being captured by Imperial forces, C-3PO began the Ewoks' assault on the Empire by calling over a group of stormtroopers with a false surrender. Chaos ensued as Ewoks jumped from hiding and attacked the Imperials, allowing for Han Solo and Leia to reach the bunker controls. When R2-D2 was forced to assist in infiltrating the bunker, C-3PO nevertheless followed, evading enemy fire. The battle ended with the Death Star II's destruction and the death of the Emperor. C-3PO was present at the celebration afterward.

Late Galactic Civil War (4 ABY–24 ABY)

After the Battle of Endor and the destruction of the second Death Star, C-3PO continued to travel with his permanent partner, now his friend. C-3PO would assist Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, and their allies in the Alliance (and later, the New Republic) on many missions. At Bakura, he translated Ssi-ruuvi, the language of the Ssi-ruuk, to aid the Alliance. C-3PO and R2-D2 were also members of SPIN for a short time, and underwent transformation by the Droid Modification Team to be disguised as Kessel droids so that they could infiltrate a gathering of Imperials to find out who was planning to take control of the Empire.

In 8 ABY, C-3PO was led to believe that Han Solo was actually the the King of Corellia. He wrote a song (with at least fifteen verses) for Han Solo entitled "The Virtues of King Han Solo". He surprised the everyone when he performed the song, which he not only sang (in a voice reminiscent of that of popular vocalist Jukas Alim), but backed with the sound of a full symphony orchestra. He later discovered that Solo's new-found royalty was actually untrue.

Threepio later went to Honoghr with Leia during the Thrawn Crisis. After her children were born, he was often their caretaker. C-3PO also participated in Talon Karrde's expedition to the Kathol Sector to find Jorj Car'das.

Yuuzhan Vong War and the Dark Nest Crisis (25 ABY–36 ABY)

With the onset of the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion and the stirring up of much anti-droid frenzy, C-3PO entered a phase of contemplation regarding his own mortality, and his place in a biological society. Evidence indicates that he may have emerged from the Vong war more assertive and less tolerant of abuse from his biological companions—from Captain Solo in particular.

The death of C-3PO

Many years later, C-3PO was found in a cave on an unknown planet, which was home to the Vondar, by two youths by the names of Otalp and Remoh, who had been searching for him due to a vision from their Den-mother. He was missing both the lower half of his body, his arms, and even parts of his faceplate but was still semi-functional. At first, he simply muttered nonsense about "Master Luke" and "Artoo" in Basic but, when the two youths started to talk, he adjusted to their language. The trio had a brief conversation in which 3PO told the youths of his past adventures with Luke Skywalker. 3PO was shot by the Vondar a few moments later, but not before inspiring the two youths to start a revolution against the oppressive Vindar. His last gift to the Galaxy was a green lightsaber found next to his destroyed body.

Behind the scenes

C-3PO was portrayed by Anthony Daniels in all six Star Wars films. Daniels gave the voice, wore the costume, and provided the movements from Episodes II to VI. In Episode I, Daniels puppeted the skeletal C-3PO model, and was then digitally removed in post-production.

Daniels also performed C-3PO in the live-action segments of The Star Wars Holiday Special, while only voicing the character in the animated portion. He was also the voice of the character in the two Star Wars animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars and Star Wars: Droids, as well as in the radio drama adaptations of the three films of the original trilogy.

Daniels made several appearances as 3PO on numerous TV shows and commercials, most notably on a Star Wars-themed episode of The Donny and Marie Show in 1977, and on a Star Wars-themed episode of The Muppet Show in 1980.

Daniels revealed that initially he did not agree to be cast as a robot he imagined to be just a mindless box on legs, as was the stereotypical robots in many of the science fiction stories of the time. He changed his mind after reading 3PO's part in the script and seeing a concept painting by Ralph McQuarrie, understanding this robot had a personality.

C-3PO gets destroyed in Star Wars Tales Storyteller. However, it is probably not canon.

C-3PO's name is often misspelled (even in official sources) as "C-3P0" (with a zero instead of the letter "O").

In the Italian version of the original trilogy, C-3PO's name is changed to D-3BO. The original name was restored in the new trilogy. In the French version of the original trilogy, the name is Z-6PO, but the original name was restored in the new trilogy as well.

Appearances

• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
• Star Wars: Clone Wars
• Star Wars Republic: The New Face of War
• Labyrinth of Evil
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
• Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
• Star Wars: Droids
• Droids: The Kalarba Adventures
• Droids: Rebellion
• Droids: Season of Revolt
• Droids: The Protocol Offensive
• Empire at War
• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (First appearance)
• Super Star Wars
• Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina
  • "A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale" (Picture only)
• Marvel Star Wars
• The Day After the Death Star
• The Keeper's World
• Weapons Master
• Star Wars 3-D
• Vader's Quest
• The Star Wars Holiday Special
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
• Super Empire Strikes Back
• The Hoth Adventure
• Shadows of the Empire
• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
• Super Return of the Jedi
• Tales from Jabba's Palace
• The Truce at Bakura
• Shadows of the Empire: Evolution
• The Glove of Darth Vader
• The Courtship of Princess Leia
• Corphelion Interlude
• Tatooine Ghost
• Dark Empire
• Dark Empire II
• The Crystal Star
• Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy
• Union
• Young Jedi Knights
• Junior Jedi Knights: The Golden Globe (Mentioned only)
• Vector Prime
• Chewbacca
• Or Die Trying
• Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
• Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
• Dark Nest III: The Swarm War
• Betrayal
• Storyteller (Non-canonical appearance)
• Return of the Ewok (Non-canonical appearance)
• LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)

Sources

Wookieepedia has a collection of quotes related to C-3PO.

• Databank (various articles)
  •  C-3PO in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link on Archive.org)
  •  Corla Metonae in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link on Archive.org)
• Episode I: The Visual Dictionary
• Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary
• Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary
• Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary
• The New Essential Chronology
• The New Essential Guide to Characters
• Star Wars Diplomatic Corps Entrance Exam
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Movie Scrapbook
• Star Wars Roleplaying Game
• Star Wars Technical Journal (Volume One)
• Star Wars: The Power of Myth
• Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide
• The Art of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (excerpt)
• The Art of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
• The Art of the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition
• The Making of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
• The Rebel Alliance Scrapbook
• The Ultimate Star Wars Episode I Sticker Book

External links

• C-3PO on Wikipedia