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Warning: This infobox has missing parameters: type, pronouns and unrecognized parameters: degree, era
- "I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations."
- ―C-3PO
C-3PO, sometimes spelled See-Threepio and often referred to simply as Threepio, was a 3PO unit protocol droid designed to interact with organics, programmed primarily for etiquette and protocol. He was fluent in over seven million forms of communication, and developed a fussy and worry-prone personality throughout his many decades of operation. Along with his counterpart, the astromech droid R2-D2, C-3PO constantly found himself directly involved in pivotal moments of galactic history, and aided in saving the galaxy on many occasions.
C-3PO was rebuilt from spare parts by Anakin Skywalker, a human slave who lived in Mos Espa, a city on the Outer Rim world of Tatooine. C-3PO's memory was erased, though R2-D2's memory was not. C-3PO and R2-D2 were assigned to the Alderaan cruiser Tantive IV, where they served senator Bail Organa for nineteen years. At some point during this time, 3PO's right leg was fitted with a mismatched droid plating.
They then became embroiled in the Galactic Civil War when Leia Organa of the Rebel Alliance entrusted them to bring a copy of the Death Star plans to the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. After meeting Skywalker's son Luke and the smuggler Han Solo, the droids helped rescue princess Leia from the Empire's Death Star. They became directly attached to the three humans, helping them and their rebellion defeat the Empire and restore freedom to the galaxy, most notably when he convinced the Ewoks to aid the Rebels at the Battle of Endor.
Following the Battle of Endor, C-3PO continued serving the Skywalkers and Han Solo during the time of the New Republic. About thirty years after the events on Endor, C-3PO was still serving as an aide to Leia Organa, who had become a General in the Resistance, a private military group opposed to the First Order, a military junta that emulated the Old Empire. By that time, C-3PO sported a red left arm and had his translating database updated so that he could communicate in seven million different forms of communications.
Biography
Early incarnation
- "Oh, might I remind you, sir, I was once protocol droid to the chief negotiator for the entire Manakron system."
- ―C-3PO
In an early incarnation, C-3PO served as a protocol droid to the chief negotiator for the Manakron system.[18] Additionally, he later claimed that his first job was programming binary loadlifters, which he said were very similar to moisture vaporators in most respects.[7]
Serving the Maker
- "He's perfect."
- ―Padmé Amidala after meeting C-3PO
Anakin Skywalker got C-3PO's photoreceptors in a chase through Mos Espa.
At some point, however, C-3PO fell into disrepair, and his vital components ended up in a junk pile on Tatooine. Anakin Skywalker, a slave boy from the Tatooinian city of Mos Espa, collected scrap parts and started rebuilding C-3PO so the droid would help his mother.[19] Although protocol droids were normally designed for light duty in luxurious environments, Skywalker specially modified C-3PO so he could withstand Tatooine's sand and heat.[20] C-3PO served Anakin and his mother Shmi by performing household chores. During his time with Skywalker and Shmi, C-3PO's wiring was left exposed since Skywalker was unable to outfit him with an outer covering.[2]
Following the Trade Federation's invasion of the Mid Rim planet of Naboo, C-3PO's life entered a new chapter when his owner Anakin met several off-worlders at the shop of his owner, the Junk dealer Watto, and then invited them to seek shelter at his home during a sandstorm. The Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, the Queen of Naboo Padmé Amidala, the Gungan Jar Jar Binks, and the astromech droid R2-D2 were brought to the slave quarters that Anakin shared with his mother Shmi. As a result of this invitation, Amidala and R2-D2 were introduced to C-3PO. Upon meeting R2-D2, C-3PO was shocked when the candid astromech droid commented that he was "naked". Despite the exchange, the two droids fast developed a friendship of sorts, working together to help Skywalker make final adjustments to his podracer in time to race it in the Boonta Eve Classic race. While working on the podracer, the two droids discussed space travel and noted the clumsy actions of Binks.[2]
In Mos Espa, C-3PO helped his owner prepare for the Boonta Eve pod race.
On the day of the race, C-3PO represented his owner in the opening flag parade, carrying Skywalker's flag onto the course prior to the start of the race. He then stood on the sidelines with R2-D2 and two of Skywalker's playmates, Kitster Banai and Wald, who cheered their friend on. Skywalker won the race, which, thanks to a deal that Jinn had struck with Watto, earned the boy his freedom from slavery and secured Jinn the hyperdrive generator he needed to leave the planet. As Skywalker prepared to depart Tatooine, he said his goodbyes to C-3PO, apologizing for not having completed the droid's construction, and expressing his wishes that Shmi wouldn't sell him.[2]
Beyond Tatooine
- "There's been some terrible mistake. I'm programmed for etiquette, not destruction!"
- ―C-3PO during the Battle of Geonosis
Later, his owner Shmi was sold to the moisture farmer Cliegg Lars, who freed them and married her. Shmi brought C-3PO along with her and the protocol droid found himself in the service of the Lars family, who owned a moisture farm in the Jundland Wastes. C-3PO's new owners covered him in a silver plating to shield him from Tatooine's sandy environment. Ten years after his parting with Anakin Skywalker, Shmi was kidnapped by a group of Tusken Raiders, fearsome nomads native to Tatooine's desert wastes. Sensing his mother's pain and anguish through the Force, Anakin returned with his secret lover and childhood friend Padmé Amidala to find his mother. Skywalker had advanced in his Jedi training as a Padawan under the tutelage of Obi-Wan Kenobi, while Amidala had become a Senator in the Galactic Senate.[10]
When Skywalker and Amidala visited the Lars' moisture farm, they found C-3PO working on a moisture vaporator. He initially didn't recognize Skywalker until the latter finished his name for him when introducing himself. Greeting his Maker, C-3PO discovered that Skywalker had come in search of his mother, and brought the two guests into the homestead's courtyard, where they were met by Cliegg Lars, as well as his son Owen Lars and his girlfriend Beru Whitesun. Learning of his mother's peril, Skywalker took Owen's speeder bike to find her, and soon returned with her corpse, having recovered it from a Tusken village. C-3PO was present when he arrived, and later attended a funeral for Shmi on the farm's property. When R2-D2, who had been waiting aboard Amidala's nearby yacht, interrupted the funeral with an urgent message for the Padawan, C-3PO translated the astromech's binary beeps and whistles. After viewing the holocomm message, Skywalker and Amidala departed Tatooine for Geonosis to rescue Skywalker's Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.[10]
C-3PO during the Battle of Geonosis
Thus, C-3PO would become both a witness and participant in the subsequent Battle of Geonosis; the first spark of the Clone Wars, a conflict that would change the course of galactic history. After landing on Geonosis, C-3PO reluctantly followed R2-D2, Skywalker, and Amidala into the Geonosian droid foundry. After being tapped in the factory's conveyor belt system, C-3PO's head was separated from his body and grafted onto the chassis of a B1 battle droid. Meanwhile, a B1 battle droid head was inserted onto Threepio's body. During the ensuing battle, both of C-3PO's "bodies" were knocked out during the fighting. Fortunately for him, he was promptly reattached to his rightful body by R2-D2. Following the events on Geonosis, C-3PO and R2-D2 attended Skywalker and Amidala's wedding in Naboo's Lake Country.[10]
The Clone Wars
Serving Senator Amidala
C-3PO and Senator Amidala trying to escape the Malevolence
During the Clone Wars, C-3PO would serve Senator Padmé Amidala, the spouse of Anakin Skywalker. On one occasion, Amidala was captured by Jabba's uncle Ziro during a mission to reopen communications with the Hutts after Jabba's son Rotta was kidnapped by the Separatist leader Count Dooku. Amidala contacted C-3PO, who in turn contacted the Coruscant Guard, which promptly raided Ziro's Palace and freed Amidala. Meanwhile, Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano managed to rescue Rotta and return him safely to his father. C-3PO and his comrades' actions help the Republic win over Jabba, who later signed a favorable treaty with them.[21]
Following the Rotta affair, C-3PO accompanied Senator Amidala on a mission to contact the InteGalactic Banking Clan's executive, who purportedly wanted to sue for peace. Their planned rendezvous was a point of space near the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center. Unknown to the two of them, this was a trap concocted by Darth Sidious and his apprentice Count Dooku. The Separatist military commander General Grievous's flagship Malevolence had been damaged during a recent space battle and was unable to enter hyperspace. The Sith and Separatists hoped to use Senator Amidala as a hostage to extract leverage from the Republic commander Skywalker, who was pursuing the Malevolence.[22]
Amidala's vessel was trapped in the Separatist warship's tractor beam but they managed to break free by exploding their vessel's engines. C-3PO and Amidala then sneaked aboard and contacted Skywalker for help. Skywalker along with Kenobi and R2-D2 boarded the Malevolence and made arrangements to rendezvous with C-3PO and the Senator at warship's rail jet system. However, they were accosted by battle droids there, which prompted Amidala to shove C-3PO into a moving hover train. After the battle droids were neutralized, Kenobi began levitating C-3PO to safety, but the floating droid was hit full-on by a moving hover train, which was only halted when R2-D2 sliced into a computer terminal and shut it down. The sudden stop launched C-3PO onto a nearby platform, where he quickly regained his bearings and again began wandering the cruiser's corridors before being located by R2-D2. Together, the two droids managed to escape the Malevolence before the Separatist warship crashed into a nearby moon after being sabotaged by Skywalker.[22]
Mission to Rodia
C-3PO and Representative Binks on Rodia
Following their adventures on the Malevolence, C-3PO along with Senator Amidala and the Gungan Representative Jar Jar Binks traveled to Rodia to meet with her old friend Senator Onaconda Farr. Amidala's mission was to ensure that the ailing Rodians remained loyal to the Galactic Republic. While Threepio and Binks remained with Amidala's yacht on the landing platform, Senator Amidala went to meet Farr. An ill-fated attempt to contact local swamp creatures ended with some fruit being thrown into C-3PO's face. Unknown to Amidala, Farr had already struck a deal with the Separatist leader Viceroy Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation.[23]
C-3PO and Binks were soon confronted by several B1 battle droids. During the ensuing confrontation, Threepio became stuck to a magnetic hoist that collided with the Separatist battle droids; throwing them into the water below. While attempting to take off, Binks accidentally destroyed the yacht with the magnetic hoist. Threepio remained stuck to the hoist due to his metallic body but Binks along with the yacht fell into the water below. C-3PO believed that Binks perished during the accident. However, Binks resurfaced and promptly released C-3PO from the hoist. While scouring through the wrecked yacht, Binks found and donned a Jedi robe.[23]
Shortly later, the two of them were separated again and Threepio was captured by Separatist droids, who were ordered to march him off to a dismantling center. However, C-3PO was rescued by Amidala, who destroyed his captors. She then ordered C-3PO to send a distress signal to nearby Republic forces. Threepio succeeded in sending for help before being arrested by two more Separatist droids. Gunray then attempted to execute both Amidala and C-3PO but they were foiled by Binks, who returned with a Kwazel Maw monster which disposed of the Separatist droids. Senator Farr then turned on Gunray and arrested him; revealing that his collaboration with the Separatists had been a ruse to lure the Viceroy into a trap. Republic forces arrived on Rodia and promptly apprehended Gunray. Despite his annoyance with Jar Jar Bink's annoying habits, he conceded that the Gungan's foolishness had saved the day.[23]
Mission to Orto Plutonia
C-3PO played an important role in ending hostilities between the Pantorans and Talz
Later, C-3PO and R2-D2 accompanied Skywalker, Kenobi, and Captain Rex on a mission to investigate the disappearance of a Clone trooper force on the icy planet of Orto Plutonia. Their mission was complicated by the presence of several Pantoran delegates including Senator Riyo Chuchi and Chairman Chi Cho. The Pantorans claimed territorial sovereignty over Orto Plutonia even though it was supposedly devoid of sentient life. After discovering the dead Clone troopers, the Jedi and Republic mission also discovered that a nearby Separatist base had been destroyed. They quickly deduced that a third force had been responsible for these two attacks.[24]
Later, Skywalker and Kenobi discovered that Ord Plutonia was home to a species of primitive bipedal sentient beings called the Talz. After some difficulties, Kenobi and Skywalker managed to establish contact with the Talz and assure them that they had come in peace. The Talz chieftain Thi-Sen wanted the Republic to leave his people in peace and to withdraw their presence from the planet. After the Jedi had made contact with the Talz tribe, C-3PO and Cho joined them in meeting with Thi-Sen. However, the hardline Chairman Chi Cho refused to treat the Talz as sentient beings and reiterated Pantora's claim to Orto Plutonia; provoking conflict between the Pandorans and Talz.[24]
The Jedi managed to end the fighting by convincing Senator Chuchi to contact the Pantoran Assembly, which gave her the authority to negotiate peace with the Talz and to relieve Chairman Cho of his authority. C-3PO and his companions then accompanied Senator Chuchi to the scene of the fighting. There, C-3PO helped Chuchi to broker a truce with Thi-Sen; ending the Pandoran-Talz conflict. As a result of the fighting, the Pandorans ceded sovereignty over Plutonia to the Talz.[24]
The Blue Shadow Virus Crisis
C-3PO interrogating the tactical droid
Following the discovery of a scouting party of Separatist battle droids on Naboo, C-3PO accompanied Senator Amidala and Representative Binks back to Naboo. Amidala had been summoned by Queen Neeyutnee, who wanted to procure more military aid from the Republic. C-3PO questioned a captured T-series tactical droid, which had its photoreceptors removed. After convincing the droid that it was aboard a Separatist starship, C-3PO managed to glean that there was a secret Separatist facility on Naboo producing some sort of virus before Jar Jar Binks accidentally destroyed the droid. Despite this setback, Binks and Amidala discovered a slug-beetle and mud from a swamp; which led them to Naboo's Eastern swamps.[25]
While Threepio stayed behind on Theed with Captain Gregay Typho to examine data from the captured Separatist droids, Amidala and Binks ventured into the swamps and discovered a secret Separatist research facility headed by the scientist Doctor Nuvo Vindi. Vindi was developing a deadly bioweapon called the Blue Shadow Virus for the Separatists. C-3PO and Typho discovered a hologram of Dr Vindi in one of the Separatist battle droids and managed to convey this information to their companions. With the aid of a local Gungan farmer named Peppi Bow, Skywalker, Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, and several Clone troopers, Amidala and Skywalker succeeded in apprehending Dr Vindi and stopping him from releasing his bioweapon.[26]
The Senate hostage crisis
C-3PO being tortured by Cad Bane
When Senator Amidala was organizing a party for Senator Aang, she sent Threepio and R2-D2 to buy some jogan fruit that Artoo had forgotten to buy for garnishing the jogan fruit cake, Aang's favorite dessert. At the market, the two droids grumbled and C-3PO was swindled by a fruit vendor. Following the purchase, another droid approached C-3PO and R2-D2 and suggested that they visit Droid Spa for a cosmetic overhaul. While R2-D2 visited the facility, C-3PO was kidnapped by the Separatist-aligned Duros bounty hunter Cad Bane's droid henchmen, Todo 360 and HELIOS-3E.[27]
Threepio was taken to Bane's hideout in an industrial district on Coruscant where his databanks were scanned for information on the Senate Building's layout. While C-3PO's databank yielded no such information, he mentioned that his astromech counterpart R2-D2 might have the information. Bane's droid henchmen then promptly kidnapped R2-D2 and brought him to Bane. After Bane extracted the necessary information from Artoo's databanks, he ordered that the two droids be given a memory wipe and returned to the place where they had been snatched.[27]
Following the unpleasant shopping trip, C-3PO and R2-D2 returned to Amidala with their purchase. Both droids were completely unaware about what had befallen them. The jogan fruit was added to Senator Aang's dessert, as planned. Meanwhile, Bane delivered the plans from Artoo's memory banks to Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine. The Hutt crime lord then ordered Bane to free his uncle Ziro from prison since he knew information that would endanger the Hutts, who were nominally working with the Republic. Bane then hatched a plan to rescue Ziro.[27]
Following his kidnapping and mind-wipe, C-3PO and Senator Amidala were caught up in the Senate hostage crisis. Cad Bane and several other mercenaries infiltrated the Senate Building and took Amidala, Threepio, Skywalker and several senators hostage in a bid to force a pardon for the imprisoned Ziro. These senators had been meeting to discussed the proposed Enhanced Privacy Invasion Bill. Despite the Republic honoring Bane's demands, Bane planted several explosives in the hall with the aim of killing the senators. Skywalker managed to save the day by using his lightsaber to cut a hole around the group, moments before the explosives went off.[28]
The Separatist Spy
C-3PO advises Amidala and Rush Clovis on Cato Neimoidia.
C-3PO was briefly reunited with R2-D2 when the two droids accompanied their masters Senator Amidala and General Skywalker on a mission to Cato Neimoidia. The quartet were accompanying Rush Clovis, the representative from Scipio and a delegate representing the InterGalactic Banking Clan in the Senate. The Jedi Council suspected that Clovis was secretly spying for the Separatists and sent Skywalker and Amidala to spy on him. During the journey, C-3PO noticed Skywalker's hostile behavior towards Clovis, who was trying to flirt with his secret wife Amidala.[29]
Upon arriving on Cato Neimoidia, the delegation was greeted by the Trade Federation's Senator Lott Dod, who tried unsuccessfully to force Clovis to lend more money for the Separatist cause. When Dod deduced that Clovis was infatuated with Senator Amidala, he arranged for her to be poisoned during a formal dinner. Despite this, Amidala succeeded in stealing a hologram disc which confirmed that Clovis was indeed working for the Separatists. After Amidala began to succumb to the effects of the poisoning, C-3PO and a 2-1B surgical droid attended to the Senator in her quarters.[29]
Meanwhile, Clovis learnt that Amidala was spying on him and went to confront her only to be cornered by Skywalker. Realizing that Skywalker loved Amidala, Clovis offered to get the antidote in return for receiving back the holodisk. C-3PO and his companions brought Amidala back to their ship but were cornered by Dod and his aides. Clovis attempted to bluff his way out but Dod refused to let them leave. After Clovis pulled a blaster and forced Dod to hand over the antidote, C-3PO and his companions fled aboard Amidala's ship. They fled into space but left Clovis behind to face Dod alone.[29]
Serving a Peacemaker
C-3PO and R2-D2 escape from the rampaging Zillo Beast on Coruscant.
As the Clone Wars dragged on, C-3PO continued serving Senator Amidala; who was becoming an active member of a group of Senators that supported diplomacy and opposed the expansion of the Grand Army of the Republic. On one occasion, C-3PO accompanied Senator Amidala and Master Kenobi when they presented evidence in the Galactic Senate that the planet Mandalore wished to be neutral. As a result, the Senate rescinded an earlier vote calling for a military occupation of Mandalore.[30]
Later, Senator Amidala and her supporters including the Alderaanian Senator Bail Organa and the Rodian Senator Onaconda Farr proposed a bill calling for the reduction of military spending. C-3PO also attended several meetings of this informal peace coalition in Senator Amidala's office. On one such occasion, C-3PO was serving drinks when Senator Farr suffered an apparent heart attack and died. Threepio and Amidala later attended the funeral of Senator Farr. Later, Amidala and Organa discovered that Farr had been poisoned by his aide Lolo Purrs, who blamed the late Senator for bringing the war to Rodia.[31]
The Zillo Beast
Following the Republic's victory at Malastare, Chancellor Palpatine ordered the Jedi Generals Windu and Skywalker to transport the Zillo Beast, a gargantuan monster that had been captured and sedated during the fighting. After learning that a lightsaber could not harm the beast, Palpatine enlisted the services of the scientist Sionver Boll to study the beast's scales in order to develop a new type of armor for the Grand Army. Palpatine also planned to kill the monster with Malastarian fuel after it had outlived its usefulness.[32]
Senator Amidala learnt about Palpatine's plan and arranged a meeting with Skywalker and Kenobi. During the meeting, C-3PO had another brief reunion with his astromech counterpart, R2-D2. Amidala succeeded in convincing her husband Skywalker and the delegation met with Chancellor Palpatine and Vice Chair Mas Amedda. However, the Zillo Beast escaped Boll's laboratory at the same time and proceeded to wreck havoc on the streets of Coruscant. Sensing that Palpatine was a Sith, the Zillo Beast made its way to the Galactic Senate building. C-3PO assisted in the evacuation of staff from the building and guided them to an executive ship that was piloted by a Senate Commando.[32]
Before they could flee to safety, the ship was grabbed by the Zillo Beast but Skywalker managed to use his lightsaber to cleave the vessel in half; sending the bow along with C-3PO and the other passengers plummeting into the Senate Building. C-3PO hitched a ride aboard R2-D2, who had used a tow cable to attach himself to the other side of the building. However, R2-D2 was forced to rescue Chancellor Palpatine and activated his booster rockers; leaving C-3PO behind. The protocol droid lost hold of the cable and fell to the floor of the Senate building. Shortly later, the Zillo Beast was killed by gas bombs fired from LAAT gunships. C-3PO survived the Zillo Beast incident and continued serving Senator Amidala.[32]
Staying behind
C-3PO stayed behind on Coruscant while R2-D2 accompanied Anakin Skywalker and Master Kenobi on a mission to rescue Jedi Master Even Piell from the Citadel prison on the planet Lola Sayu. C-3PO was initially alarmed when he saw R2-D2 flanked by three reprogrammed B1 battle droids. Threepio told R2-D2 not to get "uppity" about commanding new battle droids before parting company.[33]
Mission to Aleen
C-3PO and R2-D2 meet the Kindalo.
C-3PO and R2-D2 later took part in a mercy mission to the Mid Rim planet of Aleen, which was experiencing a series of catastrophic global earthquakes. C-3PO served as the translator for the Republic mission led by Clone Commander Wolffe while his astromech counterpart Artoo Detoo was tasked with interfacing with the equipment. Threepio's arrival coincided with a brief aftershock during which he tried to calm the local villages. When the aftershock stopped, the Aleena thought that the golden droid was some sort of divine messenger and asked the Republic soldiers to put the earth to rest; a request that Wolffe reluctantly had to acquiesce to.[34]
During the mission, C-3PO translated while Wolffe explained the function of the Republic's delivered supplies to the Aleena King Manchucho. Later, C-3PO accompanied R2-D2 and several Clone troopers as they entered the local Republic communications station to survey and repair the damage caused by the earthquakes. There, the Aleena villagers led C-3PO and R2-D2 into a collapsed structure, which contained a huge golden seal embedded into the ground. The seal turned out to be the entrance to a tunnel that led to the subterranean regions of Aleen. When another earthquake struck the area, C-3PO and R2-D2 fell into the tunnel and were separated from the Clone troopers.[34]
While exploring the underground tunnels, C-3PO and R2-D2 encountered a species of sentient, tree-like beings called the Kindalo, who demanded that they leave since the surface dwellers "destroyed the peace." After C-3PO managed to convince the Kindalo that they bore no ill will and had come to help with the earthquakes, the Kindalo sent the droids to meet Orphne, a reptilian humanoid with mystical powers. Orphne told the two droids that a mutual balance had previously existed between the Aleena and the subterranean world. Since Aleena's atmosphere was toxic to them, the underground dwellers depended on a filtering process of the planet's soil that made the air breathable for them. The underground dwellers had set off this earthquake as a means of sealing the breach.[34]
When C-3PO agreed to help fix the damage, Orphne gave the droids a parting riddle. R2-D2 quickly deduced that Orphne was referring to a river and used the water seal to activate a water spout that sent the two droids and the chamber's central floor plate back to the surface. The two droids landed at the opening where they were greeted by a chanting crowd of Aleena. Recalling the riddle, Threepio quickly realized that only he and R2-D2 were able to seal the breach, which was in fact the unsettled seal. Together, the two droids closed the seal and brought an end to Aleena's earthquakes. While Wolffe and his clone troopers were skeptical of their story, the two droids' efforts were greatly appreciated by the Aleena.[34]
Further Adventures
C-3PO and R2-D2 encounter the pint-sized Patitites.
Following the events on Allena, C-3PO and R2-D2 were caught up in a second adventure that took them to Patitite Pattuna, Balnab, and the pirate ship Marauder. While traveling aboard the Jedi Master Adi Gallia's Star Destroyer, their starship was attacked by three Separatist cruisers led by General Grievous. C-3PO and R2-D2 escaped the stricken vessel aboard a BTL Y-wing starfighter and crash-landed on the nearby planet of Patitite Pattuna.[35]
On Pattuna, they were captured by the indigenous Patitites, who brought them before their obese leader Hay-Zu. During their meeting, R2-D2 accidentally toppled the tyrannical overlord much to the joy of the Patitites, who released their prisoners and allowed the two droids to leave on their Y-wing. With their starfighter's power systems damage, C-3PO and R2-D2 landed on another planet called Balnab. The indigenous Balnabs captured the two droids and brought them before their leader, who turned out to be a holo-projection created by a group of rogue pit droids. These pit droids had enslaved the Balnabs. After R2-D2 exposed the scam, the Balnabs rebelled against their droid overlords.[35]
C-3PO and R2-D2 took the opportunity to escape and resume their search for a replacement power unit for their Y-wing starfighter. Low on power, the two droids were captured by a band of Weequay pirates, who wanted to use them as gladiators. However, the Weequay's pirate ship Marauder was attacked by General Grievous' cruiser. During the bombardment, C-3PO and R2-D2 were sucked out of the Marauder by a hull-breach. R2-D2 used his rocket boosters to bring him and C-3PO aboard Grievous' ship. Grievous ordered the two droids to be melted down in his incinerator but they were rescued by a Republic fleet led by Master Plo Koon, who had come to rescue Master Gallia. C-3PO and R2-D2 were subsequently rescued by Plo Koon's forces and resumed their services to Senator Amidala and General Skywalker respectively.[35]
Rise of the Empire
C-3PO and Senator Amidala near the end of the Clone Wars
Following the Battle of Coruscant, C-3PO joined the Jedi Master Mace Windu and the Galactic Senate's Loyalist Committee in greeting R2-D2 and his Jedi companions Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi following their successful mission to rescue Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who had been kidnapped by the Separatist General Grievous. C-3PO would continue serving Senator Amidala during the last days of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Purge, which ushered in the Galactic Empire. He also accompanied his master to Mustafar and piloted the skiff; allowing some reprieve for Amidala who was distraught at her husband's turn to the Dark Side and his role in the murder of Jedi Younglings at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.[11]
Unknown to him and Amidala, Skywalker's former Master Obi-Wan Kenobi had stowed aboard the skiff. On Mustafar, Kenobi's presence enraged Skywalker who Force choked his wife. While Kenobi dueled with his former Padawan, C-3PO and R2-D2 attended to the ailing Senator and brought her back aboard the skiff. After defeating Skywalker, C-3PO and Kenobi piloted the skiff to Polis Massa, a remote Outer Rim world where she gave birth to twins, a boy named Luke Skywalker and a daughter named Leia Organa, before passing away. While the Skywalker twins were spirited away to various locations to hide them from the Empire, C-3PO and R2-D2 passed into the ownership of Padmé's friend Bail Organa, the Senator for Alderaan. Due to Threepio's talkative nature, Senator Organa made arrangements for the protocol droid to receive a memory wipe in order to keep Leia's true parentage a secret.[11]
Age of the Empire
R2-D2's solo mission
A year after the end of the Clone Wars, C-3PO served aboard Senator Organa's CR90 corvette Tantive IV, which was captained by Captain Raymus Antilles. When R2-D2 returned from a solo mission to rendezvous with the former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano and bring her to Senator Organa, C-3PO berated his astromech companion. Following the evacuation of Raada, Ahsoka Tano subsequently joined Senator Organa's rebel movement and became the spymaster known as "Fulcrum".[36]
Mission to Garel
C-3PO and R2-D2 on their mission to Garel
About five years before the Battle of Yavin, Senator Bail Organa sent C-3PO and his astromech counterpart R2-D2 to escort the Imperial Minister Maketh Tua and the Aqualish arms dealer Amda Wabo to the planet Garel. Minister Tua wanted to obtain a shipment of T-7 ion disruptor rifles, illicit weapons which had been banned by the Imperial Senate following the brutal pacification of Lasan. She intended to mass-produce the weapons on Lothal, a formerly backwater Outer Rim world that had become a manufacturing base for the Empire. Since Tua could not speak the Aqualish language, C-3PO was assigned the job of acting as her translator. Unknown to C-3PO, but known to R2-D2, their true mission was to prevent the T-7 ion disruptors from falling into Imperial hands.[12]
Upon arriving in Lothal, C-3PO and his companions boarded the Star Commuter 2000 shuttle ST-45, which ferried them to Garel. Unknown to C-3PO, members of a Lothalian rebel cell were also traveling on the shuttle. Two of rebels, the human teenager Ezra Bridger and the astromech droid Chopper created a noisy ruckus. Another rebel, the former Jedi Kanan Jarrus pretended to be irate and demanded that the petulant Chopper be sent to the back of the shuttle. The pilot complied, but in retaliation Bridger demanded that Tua's droids be sent to the back as well. Despite Tua's and C-3PO's protests, the protocol droid and his astromech counterpart were forced to move to the rear compartment.[12]
Bereft of a translator, Tua was forced to turn to the Mandalorian girl Sabine Wren, who posed as an Imperial Academy student fluent in Aqualish. However, Tua was also a member of the Lothalian rebel cell who were planning to deliver the shipment of weapons to the Devaronian crime lord Cikatro Vizago. Sabine learnt that the weapons were stored in Garel's Bay 7 but misled Minister Tua into believing that they were in Bay 17. After the shuttle landed in Garel's spaceport, C-3PO and R2-D2 accompanied Minister Tua and a force of stormtroopers to Bay 17. When they found nothing, C-3PO explained that Sabine might have accidentally mistranslated "Bay 7" as "Bay 17".[12]
While traveling to Bay 7, C-3PO's counterpart R2-D2 was accosted by Chopper, who had been sent to distract the Imperials. Chopper rammed himself right into R2-D2, then shook his arm in apparent anger. In response, R2-D2 whipped out his electroshock prod, but did not use it as C-3PO ordered him to apologize. But then, Minister Tua recognized Chopper from the shuttle ride to Garel and ordered her stormtrooper guards to hurry to Bay 7. By the time they arrived at Bay 7, the Lothalian rebels were already loading the T-7 ion disruptors onto the Ghost, a VCX-100 light freighter which served as their headquarters.
A blaster fight broke out and in the ensuing confusion C-3PO and R2-D2 fled aboard the Ghost, which fled into hyperspace. The two droids were then taken prisoner by the Lothalian rebels who placed restraining bolts on both of them. [12]
The Lothalian rebels then traveled back to Lothal to sell their stolen weapons to Vizago at a pre-arranged rendezvous point. Despite his restraining bolts, C-3PO managed to used the ship's intercom to contact the Imperial authorities telling that he and his astromech counterpart had been kidnapped by "criminals." The Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus answered his transmission and promised that "help" was on the way. Using C-3PO's transmission to trace the Ghost's coordinates, Agent Kallus brought an Imperial attack force consisting of a Gozanti-class cruiser, two AT-DP walkers, and several stormtroopers to the Lothalian rebels' meeting place. Mistaking the Imperials for "friends", C-3PO approached them but was fired upon and narrowly escaped disintegration. Meanwhile, R2-D2 helped the Lothalian rebels to overload and destroy the T-7 disruptors.[12]
Following the brief skirmish, both droids and the rebels managed to escape their Imperial pursuers. The rebels also returned C-3PO and R2-D2 to their rightful owner, Senator Organa, who paid them some credits for destroying the weapons. Due to the stress of his adventures at Garel and Lothal, C-3PO requested that he be allowed to rest for a while; which the Senator obliged. Senator Organa then questioned R2-D2 about the Lothalian rebels.[12]
Galactic Civil War
- "Scarif? They're going to Scarif? Why does nobody ever tell me anything, Artoo?"
- ―C-3PO to R2-D2 as the Rebel Fleet leaves Yavin 4 for Scarif
C-3PO and R2-D2 on Yavin IV.
During the Galactic Civil War, C-3PO was with R2-D2 at the Rebel Alliance's secret base on Yavin 4 at the time the Alliance Fleet prepared to leave for the Battle of Scarif to help reinforce Rogue One who had traveled to Scarif to retrieve the plans for the Galactic Empire's Death Star, a new superweapon capable of destroying entire worlds. C-3PO remarked how nobody told him anything.[37]
Return to Tatooine
C-3PO and R2-D2 aboard the Tantive IV
The Alliance succeeded in stealing the plans for the superweapon. C-3PO and R2-D2 were later aboard Senator Leia Organa's blockade runner, the Tantive IV, which was being pursued by Darth Vader's Imperial-class Star Destroyer, Devastator. Then unknown to C-3PO, Darth Vader was actually his former master, Anakin Skywalker. The Tantive IV was crippled by a laser blast from Vader's ship and Imperial stormtroopers boarded the vessel. After Princess Leia managed to insert these secret plans and a holographic message for Master Kenobi into R2-D2, the two droids fled in an escape pod to the desert planet of Tatooine.[7]
The Lars family buys C-3PO.
After quarreling in the Jundland Wastes, the two droids separated and were captured by Jawas, who sold them to a family of moisture farmers; C-3PO is chosen as a moisture vaporator programmer and having Bocce among his languages, and recommended buying R2-D2 after the first chosen R5-D4 had a motivator malfunction. This family turns out to be Owen Lars, his wife Beru, and their adopted nephew Luke Skywalker, the son of Anakin Skywalker. While C-3PO settled down to his new home, R2-D2 wanted to continue his mission to find Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Unable to resolve their differences, R2-D2 escaped into the Jundland Wastes. Skywalker followed him in a landspeeder piloted by C-3PO and caught up with R2-D2. However, they were then ambushed by a gang of Tusken Raiders, who damaged one of Threepio's arms.[7]
Obi-Wan and Luke helps the damaged C-3PO up.
C-3PO and his companions were then rescued by Master Kenobi, who brought them to his dwelling. Kenobi revealed Skywalker's Jedi heritage and passed him his father's lightsaber; telling the boy that Anakin had been murdered by another apprentice named Darth Vader.[7] After seeing Anakin's lightsaber, C-3PO's protocol programming required him to request he shut down to protect his ex-owners secrets.[38] After discovering Princess Leia's message in R2-D2's compartments, Kenobi attempted to persuade Luke to accompany him to Alderaan, Princess Leia's homeworld. Skywalker was initially reluctant until he discovered that Imperial stormtroopers had murdered his relatives and razed their moisture farm. Later, C-3PO and his companions traveled to the spaceport of Mos Eisley with the intention of finding passage to Alderaan.[7]
Surrounded by stormtroopers.
Upon arriving in the settlement, they were stopped by a stormtrooper patrol. However, Kenobi used a Jedi mind trick to convince the stormtroopers to give them free passage through the town. C-3PO and R2-D2 were not allowed allowed to enter Chalmun's Cantina due to a rule banning droids. While Kenobi and Skywalker negotiated with the smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca, Threepio and R2-D2 wandered the streets of Mos Eisley and narrowly evaded a stormtrooper patrol. Later, C-3PO and R2-D2 boarded Han Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon and fled into hyperspace.[7]
Stopping the Death Star
Upon exiting hyperspace in the Alderaan system, C-3PO and his companions discovered that the Empire's Death Star had already destroyed the planet. The Millennium Falcon was then trapped in the tractor beam of the Death Star. Hiding under the freighter's cargo compartments, they managed to ambush an Imperial scanning team and two stormtroopers. The rebels then seized control of an Imperial control room. While Threepio and R2-D2 stayed behind to watch the Falcon, the other rebels split into two groups. Disguised as stormtroopers, Skywalker and Solo along with their Wookiee "prisoner" Chewbacca went to Detention Block AA-23 to free Princess Leia. Meanwhile, Master Kenobi went to disable the tractor beam projector.[7]
Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca managed to free the Princess but ended up in a garbage chute. The Imperials quickly realized that the rebels were trapped in the garbage chute and proceeded to crush the chamber. Meanwhile, Threepio and R2-D2 narrowly escaped an Imperial patrol by claiming that the rebels had thrown them into the storage compartment. Once the Imperials had gone, the two droids were contacted by Skywalker, who ordered them to shut down the garbage compactor. R2-D2 succeeded in shutting down the garbage compactor just in time. However, amidst the muffled cries of joy over the comlink, Threepio initially believed that they had died. After grappling with more stormtroopers, the other rebels and the Princess managed to return to their hangar bay.[7]
Master Kenobi also managed to shut down the tractor beam projector but was cornered by his former apprentice Darth Vader on the way back. While Kenobi gave his life, C-3PO and the other rebels took the opportunity to flee the Death Star on the Millennium Falcon. After dispatching several pursuing TIE fighters, C-3PO and his companions escaped to the jungle moon of Yavin 4, where the rebels maintained a base. Using the Death Star plans stored in R2-D2's systems,the rebels discovered that the massive superweapon contained a weak point: an unprotected shaft. While Skywalker, R2-D2 and a Rebel strike force assailed the station, C-3PO remained with Princess Leia at the rebel command center on Yavin IV. Following the destruction of the Death Star, C-3PO was present at the victory parade where Skywalker, Solo, and two other rebel pilots including Wedge Antilles were awarded for their courageous actions.[7]
Cymoon 1
- "It appears the Millennium Falcon is being dismantled by native scavengers..."
"Well go out there and stop them!"
"Me? Go out..."
"There's a blaster in the cockpit! Do whatever you have to do! Threepio!?"
"Oh. Oh... dear." - ―Han Solo and C-3PO
C-3PO reaches for the blaster.
Several weeks after the Battle of Yavin C-3PO was involved in the Assault on Cymoon 1. Cymoon 1 was a moon located in the Corellian Industrial Cluster, and Weapons Factory Alpha—the largest weapons factory in the galaxy, was the main target of the assault. Chewbacca and 3PO piloted the Millennium Falcon through the debris fields that surrounded Cymoon 1, and landed in the huge refuse fields that fenced in the factory. Chewbacca left the relative safety of the Falcon and hiked towards the factory, while 3PO stayed behind to wait for the signal to begin the Falcon's autopilot when the team had achieved their objective of hacking into the main power core and rigging it to explode. The Falcon would swoop in and pick up Han, Leia, Luke and R2 while Chewbacca covered their retreat from a large metal structure that overlooked the rendezvous escape point—before he to escaped aboard the freighter.[13]
The team was posing as an envoy from Jabba the Hutt, due to Han's previous ties to the Crime lord. Leia (who was disguised as one of the Hutt's bodyguards) contacted 3PO and Chewbacca via comlink and notified them that they were entering the factory. 3PO was very happy for he had feared that the Imperials would see through their rouse and kill them all on sight. 3PO also noted that the tide of war seemed to be in their favor after the destruction of the Death Star—3PO had a "very good feeling about this". A short time later Leia and Han contacted 3PO and let the droid know that the plan had moved to phase two. Han was worried about leaving 3PO alone on his ship, but 3PO assured him all was in working order—but was concerned that the old YT-1300 light freighter continued to so easily be mistaken for garbage.[13]
3PO received a comlink call several minutes later, it was Han, he told 3PO to start the autopilot so they could begin their escape. 3PO commenced the autopliot—but nothing happened. About five minutes later Han again contacted the droid, 3PO told him what had happened. 3PO looked out of the transparisteel cockpit of the Falcon and noticed several scavengers dismantling the Falcon. Han ordered 3PO to take a blaster pistol and go stop them. But 3PO was unsure of himself—he was but a protocol droid programmed for translation and etiquette.[13]
3PO is shot by the aliens.
3PO didn't act for several minutes until Leia once again got in contact with him. She told the droid that they were going to die if the Falcon did not soon reach them. 3PO reminded her of the scavengers who continued to tear down the freighter, he requested that another member of the team should come assist him he would be better suited to intimidate the aliens. But Leia became angry and ordered the droid to "Do whatever you have to," 3PO gave in—for it was the House of Organa that he served. 3PO took the blaster pistol and addressed the tentacled aliens in Basic, he requested they "at once return to your domiciles," If they would not, 3PO would not hesitate to use force—in the form of the blaster pistol. The protocol droid fumbled and dropped the blaster, it fell at the feet of one creature, 3PO realized he'd made a mistake and surrendered. The creature examined it and shot 3PO in the chest. The super-heated gas did no real damage to 3PO's golden chest plate—but the kinetic energy of the blast blew off the droid's arms and legs. The aliens gathered up 3PO as Han called him and asked what he'd done to the Falcon. The droid asked if he could "close down for a while..." But due to the droids injuries, Han was unable to hear the golden droid as he was carried off by the tentacled aliens.[39]
The scavengers stuffed 3PO into a sack and was carried one one of the alien's back. As a result of the attack, 3PO sustained a memory relapse and believed himself to be talking with Captain Antilles. He requested a peaceful diplomatic mission from "Antilles" before the alien he was strapped to was hoisted into the air and thrown by the might Chewbacca. Chewbacca blasted the other scavengers while 3PO confessed to "Antilles" that he cared for neither action or adventure. The aliens fled while the wookiee went to work repairing the damage they had caused to the Falcon so he and the droid could go rescue the other team members who were under attack by Darth Vader. 3PO heard through Chewbacca's comm, that Han and Leia were doomed. 3PO was just grateful his eye circuits were not connected so he wouldn't have to witness their deaths.[40]
Though they were not killed for Chewbacca repaired the freighter, gathered up 3PO, and flew the Falcon to pick up the other team members. The Falcon fled into hyperspace as the golden droid admitted to "Antilles" that the mission had been the strangest diplomatic mission he'd ever experienced.[40]
Within two days, the Millennium Falcon and its compliment rendezvoused with the Rebel Fleet[41] on the edge of the galaxy.[42] The team was treated for their wounds, and was debriefed by the Alliance leadership. Threepio was completely repaired by Alliance engineers. Soon thereafter, Artoo and Threepio argued whether Threepio had been incorrectly reassembled. Soon, Luke and Artoo left the Rebel Fleet to return to Tatooine.[41]
Escaping the Empire
C-3PO discovers the Imperial presence on Cloud City
Later, C-3PO and his rebel companions ended up on the icy planet of Hoth where the Rebel Alliance maintained a secret base. When Skywalker did not return from a patrol, Threepio and R2-D2 were deeply worried about the safety of their Master. Han Solo then departed on a tauntaun to rescue Skywalker, who had been attacked by a wampa. When R2-D2 calculated that Skywalker had a very poor chance of survival in the frozen wilderness, C-3PO tried to cheer up the others by assuring them that R2-D2 had been known to make mistakes from time to time. The following day, Skywalker and Solo were rescued by a Rebel patrol of snowspeeders.[3]
While Skywalker recovered in the base hospital, C-3PO visited his Master to wish him well. After Solo and Chewbacca encountered an Imperial probe droid, the Rebel Alliance ordered a mass evacuation of their Hoth base. While the Rebel's ion cannon and ground forces held back the advancing Imperial fleet and ground forces, Rebel transports began fleeing the Imperial blockade into hyperspace. Following the Battle of Hoth, Threepio along with Han, Leia, and Chewbacca fled Hoth aboard the Millennium Falcon. Unable to enter hyperspace, the Falcon's crew fled into the Hoth asteroid belt to lose their Imperial pursuers.[3]
The Millennium Falcon hid inside a deep cave, which turned out to be the innards of giant space slug. While C-3PO and his fellow crew made repairs to the Falcon, they encountered several parasitic creatures called Mynocks. Following an earthquake, the crew of the Falcon fled the cave only to discover that they been hiding inside a space slug. Unable to jump into hyperspace, the Falcon feigned a frontal attack on an Imperial Star Destroyer and hid behind the rear of the vessel's command tower. When Threepio protested their plan was suicide, Princess Leia switched him off. After escaping the Imperial fleet, the Millennium Falcon fled to Cloud City, an orbital city in the gas giant of Bespin.[3]
Cloud City was run by an old friend of Han Solo called Lando Calrissian, a former gambler and businessman. Upon landing, C-3PO attempted to greet Calrissian but was rudely brushed aside. While exploring Cloud City, he heard the familiar beep of an R2 unit only to stumble across several Imperial stormtroopers, who promptly disabled him with a stun blaster. The Imperials then gave C-3PO's body parts to several Ugnaught garbage disposal workers who attempted to dismantle him. However, Chewbacca arrived in the nick of time and rescued the protocol droid from being disintegrated. Shortly later, Threepio's rebel companions were betrayed by Calrissian, who handed them over to Darth Vader and the bounty hunter Boba Fett.[3]
While imprisoned, Chewbacca was able to repair C-3PO's head, torso, and arms. Before he could reattach the protocol droid's legs, the rebels were summoned by Vader to a carbon-freezing chamber. There, Darth Vader intended to test Cloud City's carbon-freezing technology on Han Solo as part of his plot to lure Skywalker to Bespin. Despite initial fears that the process would kill Han, Threepio was mollified when he learnt that Solo was merely hibernating. Vader then ordered Threepio and the remaining rebels to be taken to his flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Executor. However, Lando reneged on his deal with the Empire and freed C-3PO and his companions. Reuniting with R2-D2, C-3PO and his rebel companions fled Cloud City aboard the Millennium Falcon, but not before warning the City's inhabitants that the Empire was occupying their city.[3]
On the way out, the rebels also rescued Luke Skywalker, who had lost his hand during a duel with Darth Vader. R2-D2 continued repairing Threepio aboard the Falcon but was forced to adjourn his repairs to fix the hyperdrive. After fixing the hyperdrive, the rebels were able to escape into space and link up with the Rebel fleet. Following their escape, Threepio along with R2-D2 and Princess Leia visited Skywalker in the medical bay. They watched out of the window as Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca departed on the Falcon to rescue Solo from the bounty hunter Boba Fett.[3]
Rescuing Han Solo
C-3PO translating for Jabba
Later, C-3PO and his rebel companions learnt that Han Solo was in the hands of the Hutt crime lord Jabba, who lived in a well-fortified desert palace on Tatooine. While Skywalker kept R2-D2 fully informed about his plans to rescue Solo, he kept Threepio in the dark because he knew of the protocol droid's inability to lie. C-3PO and R2-D2 traveled to Jabba's desert palace bringing a holographic message from Skywalker, who offered to free Solo in exchange for passing these two droids to him as "gift". Jabba rejected Skywalker's offer and revealed that he had kept a carbonated Han on display as a trophy in his throne room. The two droids were dragooned in the Hutt crime lord's service; C-3PO ended up working as his translator while R2-D2 was relegated to working as a waiter on Jabba's sail barge Khetanna.[14]
Later, Jabba was visited by Princess Leia, posing as the bounty hunter Boushh, who presented a captive Chewbacca. Unknown to Jabba, this was a ruse by Leia to infiltrate the castle and free Han from carbonite. Threepio served as a translator when Boushh and Jabba negotiated the sum for Chewbacca's bounty. After a near-confrontation involving a thermal detonator, Jabba and Boushh reached a compromise sum. After Chewbacca was taken to Jabba's cells, Leia briefly spoke with C-3PO and commended him. Later that night, Leia managed to free Han from carbonite only for both of them to be captured by Jabba and his minions.[14]
The following day, Skywalker visited Jabba's palace and demanded that he free Han and his companions. Jabba refused and had Skywalker thrown down into his rancor pit. However, Skywalker killed the rancor; prompting an enraged Jabba to order that Skywalker, Solo, and Chewie be fed to the sarlacc that inhabited the Great Pit of Carkoon in the Dune Sea. Before Skywalker could be thrown to the beast, R2-D2 managed to pass his lightsaber to him. Following a struggle, the rebels managed to kill Jabba and most of his entourage. During the fighting, C-3PO was attacked by Jabba's pet Kowakian monkey-lizard Salacious Crumb, who damaged one of his eye lens. R2-D2 rescued him. He and R2-D2 then dived into the Dune Sea. They were later retrieved by their rebel companions, who fled the scene on a stolen desert skiff.[14]
Battle of Endor
C-3PO tells the Ewoks about the struggle of the Rebellion against the Empire
After rescuing Han Solo, C-3PO and his companions participated in a rebel mission to destroy the Second Death Star that was being built above the Forest Moon of Endor. Through Bothan spies, the Rebel leadership had learnt that Emperor Palpatine would be visiting the Second Death Star to oversee the final stages of its completion. In response, the Rebel leader Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar had marshaled the Rebel fleet for a massive strike against the Imperial leadership. Since the Second Death Star was protected by a shield generator, a rebel force would have to infiltrate Endor and knock it out so that the Rebel fleet could destroy it.[14]
C-3PO along with his companions R2-D2, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, and Chewbacca took part in this Rebel mission to infiltrate Endor. Using a stolen Imperial shuttle, the rebels managed to land on Endor. They soon encountered several Imperial scout troopers and Princess Leia was separated from the group during the struggle. C-3PO accompanied Han, Skywalker, and Chewbacca as they search through the forest for Leia. However, they stumbled into a trap laid by the Ewoks, a species of sentient furry bipeds native to Endor. The Ewoks had already befriended Leia and welcomed her as a guest. Believing that Threepio was a god, the Ewoks attempted to sacrifice Solo, Skywalker, Chewbacca, and Artoo. When Threepio failed to dissuade the Ewoks, Skywalker used the Force to cause Threepio's throne to levitate. Fearing that they had angered their "god", the Ewoks promptly released their prisoners.[14]
Later that night, C-3PO convinced the Ewoks to fight on the side of the Rebels against the Imperial presence on Endor. The following day, C-3PO and R2-D2 took part in the Rebel assault on the Death Star's shield generator. However, the rebel force was quickly captured by the Imperial garrison. C-3PO and R2-D2 managed to evade capture. Under orders from R2-D2, Threepio exposed his position to the Imperials. Shortly later, the Ewoks attacked the Imperial forces massed outside the shield generator. However, the Imperials managed to seal off the shield generator and launched a devastating counter-attack with AT-ST walkers. Meanwhile in space, the Rebel fleet was trapped between the Second Death Star and an Imperial fleet.[14]
C-3PO and his companions celebrating the Rebel victory at Endor
During the fighting, Threepio and R2-D2 made their way to the shield generator's blast door where Han and Leia were attempting to breach it. R2-D2 attempted to access the power socket but was blasted by enemy fire; causing him to short-circuit. Threepio, Han, and Leia were then cornered by stormtroopers but Leia managed to shoot them. Meanwhile, Chewbacca and two Ewok warriors managed to turn the tide of the battle by hijacking an AT-ST walker and using it to destroy the others. Using the hijacked AT-ST, the rebels tricked the remaining Imperial troops into opening the shield generator. After storming the bunker, the rebels planted explosives which destroyed the energy field protecting the Death Star. This enabled the Rebels to destroy the Second Death Star along with Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, and several Imperial ships. Following the Battle of Endor, Threepio took part in the victory celebrations at Bright Tree Village.[14]
New Republic
Shattering the Empire
In the morning after the Battle of Endor, C-3PO was present at Bright Tree Village when Han Solo and the Pathfinders traveled to the far side of Endor to attack an Imperial outpost.[43] Later, Threepio accompanied Han and Chewbacca on a raid on an Imperial Security Bureau black-site at the Wretch of Tayron. After the Pathfinders secured the base, C-3PO was able to access the Imperial data files and uncovered Operation: Cinder, a posthumous order by the Emperor to devastate various worlds following his demise.[44]
Serving Senator Leia
- "How many Centrist speakers have there been now?"
"Seventeen, all of whom addressed irregular protocol during the dedication ceremony. I must say, their attention to these points of etiquette seems . . . excessive." - ―C-3PO was a member of Leia's senatorial staff
C-3PO continued serving Leia Organa following the Battle of Endor. The Rebel Alliance was transformed into the New Republic, which became the dominant galactic government following the Battle of Jakku and the Galactic Concordance. The Galactic Empire disintegrated with the remnants of the Empire retreating into the Unknown Regions, where they established the First Order.[45] About six years before the destruction of the Hosnian system, C-3PO served the-now Senator Organa as an aide at the New Republic's senatorial complex on Hosnian Prime. Leia was a member of the Populists, one of the two main factions in the Galactic Senate. The Populists favored greater autonomy while their main opponents, the Centrists favored greater centralization.[15]
The protocol droid was present at a ceremony to dedicate a statue of Bail Organa, the late adopted father of Leia. The following day, Threepio attended a senatorial meeting where Senator Leia and a Centrist Senator named Ransolm Casterfo agreed to investigate the Nikto crime lord Rinnrivin Di's cartel, which was interfering with trade on Ryloth. When C-3PO reminded Leia that proper protocol dictated that a junior senator labours always be the one to call upon the senior senator, Leia, who was a senior senator, responded that she was going to ignore protocol and be the first to initiate contact.[15]
Threepio then accompanied Senator Organa, her entourage, and Senator Casterfo on Leia's personal starship Mirrorbright to the planet Bastatha, which was home to Rinnrivin's headquarters. Prior to the Organa and Casterfo's meeting with Magistrate Tosta and Xun, the protocol droid offered to record any conversations for posterity and assured them that he was fluent in seven million forms of communication. During the mission, Leia was kidnapped by Rinnrivin, who attempted to bribe the Senator, but was rescued by Casterfo.[15]
After the Centrists passed a motion to create a new powerful office called First Senator, C-3PO encouraged his master Leia not to resign from the Senate. He was also present during a meeting of Populist senators when Leia reluctantly agreed to stand as the Populist nominee for First Senator. Later, the protocol droid ushered in several visitors into Leia's office including a group of lobbyists from the Association of Small Craft Manufacturers, ore traders from Gad, several Populist senators from the Outer Rim, and the Senator Lady Carise Sindian for meetings with Leia. During the last meeting, Leia agreed to support Lady Carise's claim for the Supreme governorship of Birren due to her lack of interest in royal titles.[15]
C-3PO later accompanied Senator Organa during a trip to Ryloth to search the Ryloth archives for information about Rinnrivin and his cartel. During the trip, Threepio greeted Emissary Yendor, whom he had first encountered during his time at Echo Base. The protocol droid recalled that the two had once worked together recalibrating the thermal units at the base precisely five days after they had arrived on Hoth. Yendor recalled working with C-3PO before entertaining Leia and her other staff members Korr Sella and Joph Seastriker. During their, Threepio and his companions found information on Rinnrivin's inexplicable rise from a lowly spice broker to the head of a major crime syndicate. They suspected that Rinnrivin was a front for other forces seeking to destabilize the New Republic.[15]
Unmasking a conspiracy
- "We're bring Threepio."
"We'll want to slice into the central computer core. That's not Threepio's speciality, but his programming is more than adequate for the task. There are other droid's we could bring, but I'd rather stick with the one I know and trust."
"Okay, but even as old as he is, Threepio looks too nice for pilots as broke as we're supposed to be." - ―Joph Seastriker and Senator Organa debating C-3PO's role in the Sibensko mission
After leaving Ryloth, Joph convinced a reluctant C-3PO to help him and Korr download information from one of Rinnrivin's satellites. As a result, they found that Rinnrivin was hiding on the Expansion Region world of Sibensko. After skipping Senator Varish Vicly's gala, C-3PO then accompanied his master to Harloff Minor where Leia arranged for a private meeting with Rinnrivin on neutral ground. While approaching Hosnian Prime, the protocol droid helped Senator Organa sift through her communiques, starting with the high priority messages. One of these messages was from Senator Casterfo, who had been investigating a paramilitary group known as the Amaxine warriors on Daxam IV.[15]
Later, C-3PO managed to convince Leia to delay her trip to Sibensko so that she could prepare for a Senate hearing on her nomination for First Senator. After an animated discussion, Leia accepted Threepio's advice and set the droid to work planning their trip. While Leia, her entourage, and Casterfo were planning their secret Sibensko trip, C-3PO pointed out that Leia's husband Han Solo was an occasional consumer of Port in a Storm, a popular beverage. Later, Greer treated C-3PO to an oil bath. After Leia's true parentage as Darth Vader's daughter was exposed during the Senate hearing, C-3PO received orders not to let anyone into Leia's office with the exception of close friends. He also prepared Leia's holocam for his master to send a heartfelt message to her son Ben Solo, who hitherto had been unaware of his true ancestry.[15]
After Senator Organa obtained leave from the Senate, C-3PO aided her mission to Sibensko by slicing into the central computer core at the underwater city housing the Amaxine base. For that mission, Leia posed as an indentured servant of Joph and Greer Sonnel while Threepio pretended to be her guard. During the mission, C-3PO obtained banking records proving that the Amaxine Warriors and another mysterious entity were funnelling considerable funds into Rinnrivin's cartel. The protocol droid also discovered that the Amaxines had a large base in the underwater city. Leia then instructed C-3PO to return with the data to Joph and Greer while she went to spy on the Amaxine base.[15]
While Threepio left with Joph and Greer on their freight', Leia headed into the Amaxine base only to be cornered by the Amaxines. She managed to escaped with Han on a racer before an explosion from a fallen starfighter destroyed the underwater city and the base; destroying much of the physical evidence linking the Amaxines and Rinnrivin's cartel. Despite this setback, Leia's tram succeeded in neutralizing a threat to the New Republic. Leia later presented the information from C-3PO's databanks to a special Senate hearing. While Leia was greeted with much hostility and disbelief, Senator Casterfo supported her by sharing evidence from his trip to Daxam IV.[15]
Later, Threepio ushered in Senator Casterfo for a private audience with Leia. The two had fallen out after Casterfo had exposed Leia's true parentage at the instigation of Lady Carise, who was secretly working for the First Order. Casterfo had regained Leia's trust and respect after he had spoken in support of her during the recent Senate hearing. Having withdrawn her nomination for First Senator, Leia then made preparations to resign from the Galactic Senate.[15]
Resistance
Rescue of Admiral Ackbar
C-3PO eventually found himself in the service of the Resistance, a military force founded by Leia Organa to combat the First Order. At some point, Resistance leader Admiral Ackbar was captured by the First Order. In an attempt to rescue Ackbar, the Resistance sent a team led by Captain Hoff. The team captured a First Order protocol droid named O-MR1, referred to as Omri, who was believed to know the location of Ackbar. However, the ship carrying the team crashed on Taul before it could return to the Resistance base. The crash killed all organic beings on board, leaving only Threepio, Omri, the constuction droid CO-34, the security droids PZ-99 and VL-44, and the medical droid 2MED2.[46]
Shortly after the crash, the droids picked up a homing beacon signal from what they presumed was a crashed First Order vessel. Despite crashing several cycles ago and that it was 87 kilometers from their current location, the group of droids decided they would have the best chance of survival, if they followed it. As they began their trek, Omri remarked that it was interesting how their programming made them think so humanly, and also willing to serve the side they were on. He went on to observe that any of one of them could have been serving the opposite side due to a droid's frequent memory wipes. While on their way towards the vessel, they were attacked by spice spiders. Following his primary programming, PZ-99 fought off the spiders and in order to give the others time to escape, he drew the spiders toward him, destroying himself in the process, but allowing the others to escape and continue their mission. As they continued walking, Omri stated that he felt protocol droids such as he and Threepio were cursed to having their memories wiped, due to their need for an extra level of sentience. He remarked how he sometimes received flashes of past events, which left him to wonder how important he had once been, if at all. Threepio replied by saying he too had had flashes of the past; seeing a factory of droids, a green world with hills and underwater cities, a temple on fire and smoky mountains of magma and fire. Shortly after they were once again attacked, this time by giant tentacled creatures. They began by ripping Toomedtoo apart and destroying CO-34. The creatures wrapped around Threepio's arm, attempting to drag him away too, however Omri held onto him, and thus they were only able to rip Threepio's arm off. Almost immediately after, a group of can-cells swarmed towards to remaining three droids. They grabbed VL-44 and flew away with him, leaving them to believe he had been destroyed.[46]
C-3PO loses his arm
The only two left, Threepio and Omri continued walking as they exchanged attempts at humor. The two expressed that they wished that they were on the same side. Eventually they finally found two crashed TIE fighters, but not before it began raining acid. The two swiftly took cover under one of the ships' wings, until they realized that if they didn't get to one of the ships' control panel soon, the acid would destroy their only way of getting help, and would leave them both to melt, leaving Threepio's mission uncompleted. Omri told C-3PO that there was nothing in his directive telling him to prevent him from completing his mission and transferred Admiral Ackbar's location to him. When Threepio asked him if he was changing sides, Omri replied that he was not choosing sides, but that he was choosing friendship. With that he started walking towards the ships' control panel in the acid rain, as he stated he would change the frequency to summon Threepio's master, so that at least he could survive. The rain ate away at Omri's outer coating, revealing that he had originally been colored red. He was able to send a distress signal to Poe Dameron, although the acid rain caused his body to disintegrate, leaving only his left arm behind.[46]
After Dameron arrived and rescued C-3PO, Omri's left arm was used to replace Threepio's missing arm. Threepio told Dameron's astromech BB-8 that while his new arm offended his aesthetic sensibilities, he would keep it for a while to remember his fallen friends.[46] Sometime after receiving his new arm, he also received an update to his TranLang III communication module, allowing fluency in over seven millions forms of communication, one million more than previously.[8]
Operation: Sabre Strike
Following the successful Operation: Sabre Strike, C-3PO accompanied General Organa when she went to greet Poe Dameron and his fellow pilots Iolo Arana and Karé Kun. C-3PO complied with Organa's orders to examine the flight computers aboard the Hevurion Grace, the captured luxury yacht of the New Republic Senator Erudo Ro-Kiintor. While examining the computers, C-3PO confirmed General Organa's lingering suspicions that Senator Ro-Kiintor had indeed been secretly colluding with the First Order. In addition, the protocol droid found information relevant to Leia's quest to find her missing brother Luke Skywalker. Using this information, General Organa sent Poe Dameron on a mission to find Lor San Tekka.[47]
Mission to Kaddak
- "I am flattered, sir, as I am a mere protocol droid, and—Shut up. You're my competition. We're both spymasters. You work for Organa and I work for Snoke. I know exactly who you are, and I know the kind of secrets you're carrying around in your memory unit. You're probably more valuable than Poe."
- ―C-3PO meets Terex
As General Organa's spymaster, C-3PO was charged with running the Resistance droid spy network.[48] After the BX-series droid commando N1-ZX ("Nunzix")[49] discovered purportedly valuable First Order intelligence on the crime haven world of Kaddak, General Organa tasked C-3PO with investigating the matter. Since they had lost contact with the droid, C-3PO visited Poe Dameron to request the Resistance starfighter pilot's help in traveling to Kaddak and retrieving the data. Under Organa's orders, C-3PO instructed Poe to bring himself and another pilot in a shuttle to avoid attracting attention. Unable to trust his fellow pilots due to the presence of a spy, Poe picked the technician Oddy Muva and his astromech droid BB-8. C-3PO and the team departed in a freighter.[48]
Upon landing on Kaddak, C-3PO and the others witnessed a man being thrown to his death. While visiting a cantina on Level 45 of the Sliver, C-3PO commented about the presence of criminal factions and wished that his old friend Han Solo were here. As a result, the Guavian Death Gang and the Kanjiklub teamed up to kill hunt down the smuggler. C-3PO also encountered a mouse droid who informed him that their spy droid had been captured by the Ranc gang. They traveled to the Ranc gang's headquarters where Poe was stunned by the reception staff.[50]
C-3PO, Oddy, and BB-8 were surrounded by several gangsters, who wanted to take Poe and destroy them. C-3PO outmaneuvered the gangsters by activating several droid spies, who forced the gang to stand-down. The droids also rescued N1-ZX. Despite C-3PO's orders, N1-ZX refused to release the information he was carrying until he was safely returned to the Resistance base due to his embedded self-preservation programming. Shortly later, Terex, who had retaken control of the Ranc gang, flew over Kaddak in his starship Carrion Spike and issued a bounty on Poe's head. With the help of BB-8, Poe managed to activate several Resistance droid spies who proceeded to block the mob. Despite Oddy Muva's disappearance, the group fled aboard Poe's T-70 X-wing fighter Black One. C-3PO and N1-ZX hid in consoles that were built into the fighter's S-foils.[49]
After fleeing into space, Poe asked C-3PO if he had any luck contacting Oddy Muva. C-3PO apologized that he had not. Poe decided to get N1-ZX back to the Resistance base. C-3PO then remarked that he regarded traveling to hyperspace while attached to a starship as a nightmarish experience. Regarding Kaddak as "bad news", C-3PO opined that he hoped that Master Muva was not in any sort of danger. In fact, Oddy Muva had stowed aboard Terex's ship Carrion Spike[51] with the intent of rescuing his wife Sowa Chuan. Terex had blackmailed Muva into spying on the Resistance using his wife as a hostage.[52]
During the hyperspace journey, Poe confided in C-3PO about his suspicions that there was a spy among their ranks. Poe ruled out General Organa and his Black Squadron mates. C-3PO vouched for General Organa and reassured Poe that she was not a traitor. Poe then concluded that the spy was Oddy Muva since nobody else knew that they were going to Kaddak. Poe decided that they could not risk bringing Nunzix back to D'Qar and told C-3PO to wake him up. C-3PO complied and Poe questioned N1-ZX about the data he was carrying. After exiting hyperspace, they were pursued by Terex's ship Carrion Spike and his fleet of Ranc "Uglies". Poe's X-wing was hit and crashlanded on a desert planet.[51]
C-3PO and the others survived the crash but Nunzix's right arm was severed. The droids and Poe fled into a cave to escape Terex's "Uglies." Terex soon led a landing party into the cave. BB-8 tried to delay the Ranc gang by crashing a stalactite on top of the intruders. After BB-8 was shot down, C-3PO volunteered to stay behind in order to slow down the Ranc gang so that Poe and N1-ZX could retreat. He reassured Poe that he was expendable and could be rebuilt. When Terex and his gang arrived, C-3PO used his knowledge of languages to summon the fjor-bats in the cave to harry the pirates, claiming they had come to steal their younglings. Terex retaliated by shook C-3PO's right leg off. Having found his equivalent spymaster, Terex stole C-3PO's memory unit; disabling the droid.[52]
In C-3PO's absence, Black Squadron arrived to rescue Poe and fought Terex's criminal fleet in space. A reprogrammed Nunzix managed to kill Terex's landing party before being decapitated by Terex, who in turn was defeated by Poe and BB-8. Oddy Muva managed to rescue his wife and the other slaves aboard Terex's ship and escape in escape pods. First Order forces under Commander Malarus subsequently arrived and destroyed Terex's fleet. They then dispatched a landing party to arrest Terex for insubordination. Poe dragged the inactive C-3PO and the defeated Terex out of the cave. Poe allowed Malarus to arrest Terex.[53]
Resistance Base on D'Qar
Thirty years after the Battle of Endor, Threepio was present on D'Qar, serving with General Organa and the Resistance.[54] At this time, he had become the leader of the Resistance's network of spy droids distributed across the galaxy, using his translation abilities to manage the data that they transmitted.[45] After the First Order learned about Black Squadron's secret mission to Ovanis, General Leia tasked C-3PO and his spy network with ferreting out the spy.[55] Shortly before the Assault on Starkiller Base, C-3PO had neglected to turn on BB-8's tracking device before the droid went on a vital mission to Jakku with Poe Dameron. When the droid went missing, Threepio alerted the droid spynet to keep an eye out for BB-8. [45]
C-3PO with R2-D2 and BB-8 shortly after R2's awakening.
When BB-8 was found on Takodana with Han Solo and Finn, C-3PO was part of the Resistance team that arrived to pick them up.[54] As Han Solo was reunited with Leia, C-3PO interrupted them before they had the chance to speak to each other, eagerly introducing himself, stating that Solo must not recognize him because of the red arm. Not realizing they had already seen each other, Threepio went to re-introduce Leia, before noticing he had ruined the moment. Threepio then decided it was best to leave them to talk to each other, walking off with BB-8.[54]
The Restistance looks after the Falcon.
After returning to Resistance Base on D'Qar, C-3PO found BB-8 observing R2-D2 who had been in self-imposed low power mode, ever since Luke went into hiding. Threepio told him it was no use trying to wake him up, and it was very unlikely he would have the rest of the map to find Luke Skywalker stored in his backup data. Shortly after the Assault on Starkiller Base, R2-D2 awoke from his low-power mode, discovering he had indeed got the map to Skywalker, to Threepio and BB-8's excitement and shock. Before Rey left to travel to the system they had found Luke Skywalker on, Threepio had replaced his left arm, and now once again featured golden plating.[54]
Characteristics
- "It's all right, sir [Poe Dameron]. I'm only a droid. I am expendable. I can always be rebuilt. You however cannot."
"I don't know how things got to this point, Threepio... but thank you." - ―C-3PO and Poe
C-3PO was known for his polite, fastidious, and worry-prone personality. As a droid, he exhibited much loyalty and commitment to his masters and sought to serve them to his best ability. Throughout his operation life, C-3PO was able to work diligently for several masters including Anakin Skywalker,[2] Padmé Amidala,[28] Bail Organa,[11] and Luke Skywalker.[7] As a protocol droid, C-3PO could communicate in over seven million different forms of communication.[8] This allowed him to communicate with computer systems including those on the Millennium Falcon.[3]
Unlike his astromech counterpart R2-D2, C-3PO liked to stick to routine and did not respond well to change. When placed in danger, C-3PO had a tendency to panic as shown on several occasions; including infiltrating a droid foundry on Geonosis[10] and a mission to steal Imperial disruptors on Lothal.[12] Despite his loyalty and commitment, C-3PO was generally unable to lie or to keep secrets due his programming. In fact, after the Hijacking of the Harbinger, during which Task Force 99 captured him, they remarked to Darth Vader that they were unable to get him to shut up![56] Despite the droid's talkative nature, he was able to keep Anakin and Padmé's marriage secret. C-3PO's inability to lie came at a disadvantage when he and his companions were captured by Ewoks prior to the Battle of Endor.[14] Due to his general inability to keep secrets, Bail Organa arranged for him to receive a memory wipe in order to preserve the secret of Anakin and Padmé's offspring, Luke and Leia.[11]
C-3PO continued serving Leia Organa in her careers as New Republic senator[15] and subsequently Resistance General.[57] C-3PO managed General Organa's Resistance droid spy network.[48] Despite not being able to run or fight, C-3PO bravely stayed behind to hold back the First Order Agent Terex so that Poe Dameron and the spy droid N1-ZX could flee deeper into the caves. He used his language programming to harry Terex and his Ranc gang associates by summoning fjor-bats to attack them. C-3PO quipped that he was expendable and could be rebuilt.[52]
Equipment
C-3PO was a 3PO model protocol droid,[5] who stood at a height of 1.71 meters[1] and weighed 75 kilograms.[6] He had a masculine programming[7] and had experienced at least two memory wipes throughout his operational life.[27][11] While C-3PO's chassis was originally covered in gray plating,[8] he was largely covered in golden plating by the time of the Assault on Starkiller Base.[54] As a protocol droid specializing in human and cyborg communications, C-3PO could speak six million different forms of communication, including Ewokese.[14] By the time of the Cold war, C-3PO's TranLang III communication module had been upgraded, allowing him to speak in seven million forms of communication.[8]
Behind the scenes
Anthony Daniels, C-3PO's portrayer, met George Lucas in 1975. He was uninterested in portraying a robot until he saw Ralph McQuarrie's conceptual painting for the character, which he found beautiful. When filming the movie, Daniels wrote out what he imagined R2-D2 was saying to help him get through a scene. Daniels reprised the role of C-3PO in Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. J.J. Abrams initially asked if he only wanted to supply the voice due to his age, but Daniels was happy to wear the costume again. To that end, the prop mechanics of the suit were reworked for Daniels from the ground up for easier application and removal, with no changes visible on-screen.[58]
In the French dub of the original trilogy, C-3PO is called Z-6PO. To retcon this name, a line of dialogue has been added in the French dub of The Force Awakens that translates to "I'm C-3PO, previously 6PO". However, C-3PO's original name is preserved in the prequel trilogy.
In the non-canon crossover Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars, C-3PO is voiced by Simon Pegg.
Appearances
Non-canon appearances
- William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace: Star Wars Part the First
- Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars
- Disney Infinity 3.0
- Star Wars Epic Yarns: A New Hope
- Star Wars Epic Yarns: The Empire Strikes Back
- Star Wars Epic Yarns: Return of the Jedi
LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Exit from Endor"- LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Crisis on Coruscant"
- LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Mission to Mos Eisley"
- LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales Episodes I-III
- LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Flight of the Falcon"
- LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Gambit on Geonosis"
- LEGO Star Wars: The Resistance Rises — "Poe to the Rescue"
- LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Star Wars: Puzzle Droids
- Star Wars Blips — "Out of Reach"
Sources
Notes and references
External links
- C-3PO on Wikipedia
- C-3PO at the Internet Movie Database
- The Man (Literally) Behind C-3PO on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Official Star Wars Soundboards - See-Threepio on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
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