Lok Durd

For other uses, see Lok (disambiguation).

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"I am General Lok Durd of the Separatist Alliance. […] You are now under the protection of the Separatist Alliance. I congratulate you on your good fortune."

―Lok Durd to Tee Watt Kaa —

Listen (file info)^[3]

Lok Durd was a male Neimoidian weapons developer and general in the Separatist Droid Army who served in the Clone Wars. During the war, he created an experimental defoliator—an artillery radiation weapon that could theoretically wipe out any organic matter while leaving machinery unharmed. Durd chose to test his weapon on the isolated world of Maridun, as it was home to a colony of pacifist Lurmen. After landing on the planet and setting up a base camp, Durd initially tested the defoliator on a pair of battle droids. Following the experiment's success, he moved to attack the Lurmen in order to impress Confederate Head of State Count Dooku. However, Durd was interrupted by the Jedi Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and Aayla Secura, who had crash-landed on Maridun prior to Durd's arrival. Using shield generators that they had captured from Durd's base camp, the Jedi were able to block the defoliator ray targeted at the colony with a deflector shield. Following a brief battle, Durd and his assistant, Pune Zignat, was captured by the Jedi and subsequently taken into Republic custody.

Biography[]

Early career[]

The defoliator[]

"We test a new weapon, of my own design, which is capable of catastrophic destruction. A weapon which will destroy organic matter, but leave machines unharmed."

―Lok Durd, on the defoliator —

Listen (file info)^[3]

The male Neimoidian Lok Durd hailed from the planet Neimoidia during the Clone Wars.^[1] By 22 BBY,^[4] he had become a general and weapons designer for the Confederacy of Independent Systems.^[3] Durd was assisted in his research by his chief weapons technician, the Aqualish Pune Zignat, whose careful design work and planning had much to do with making Durd a success.^[5] During the war, Durd developed a defoliator, an enhanced radiation weapon that was capable of destroying living matter while leaving inorganic material unharmed, in the hopes that it would enable him to rise up through the ranks of the Separatist Droid Army. Because the Confederate Droid Army was largely made up of battle droids, the defoliator's specific targeting of enemy organics made it ideal for the Confederacy. The defoliator was mounted on a modified heavy artillery gun and, when loaded, fired a large missile that created a large, fiery shock wave upon detonation. However, the wave could be blocked by a deflector shield.^[3]

As the defoliator proved to be very expensive and costly, it needed to be tested before Count Dooku, Head of State of the Confederacy, would back any further development. Durd began to seek out a lush planet with a primitive culture that he could safely subject to experimentation.^[2] After trekking the stars,^[6] Durd discovered the remote world of Maridun, home to a small, peaceful Lurmen colony. Because Durd believed that the pacifist Lurmen would not defend themselves, he deemed Maridun to be the perfect testing site for the defoliator. Landing planetside on Maridun with the defoliator and several squads of battle droids, Durd and his forces built a small but heavily armed base camp and proceeded to the Lurmen colony so that Durd could "claim" the land for the Separatists. Arriving at the colony aboard a C-9979 landing craft, Durd and Zignat met with the colony's leader, Tee Watt Kaa.^[3] To avoid causing a panic,^[5] Durd lied to Kaa, stating that the colony was now under Separatist "protection"—hiding his intentions of targeting the Lurmen with the defoliator—and would remain unharmed as long as it offered no resistance.^[3]

LokDurddude2 — Lok Durd speaks with Count Dooku during the defoliator's first test.

With that, Durd moved forward with a squad of his droids to "inspect his new colony." After ordering his droids to ransack the colony and search for Republic contraband, Durd learned that there was no evidence of Republic weapons. Durd then told Kaa that in the future, more periodic searches would be conducted to "maintain security." Remarking that the Lurmen were "smarter than they appeared," Durd returned to the base camp with his droids^[3] to conduct the defoliator's first field test^[2] and double-check that it would not harm inorganic beings.^[5] Returning to the Separatist base, Durd prepared for the defoliator's test, stationing his forces just beyond the base's walls so that he could speak to them from above on a perch along the front wall Durd announced the creation of his new weapon to the battle droids, and they cheered. However, when he stated that he required two volunteers, the droids' ranks quickly receded, leaving two very reluctant B1-Series battle droids that Durd "picked" as the volunteers to serve as the defoliator's test subjects.^[3]

While the two battle droids moved into position faraway from the base, Durd opened a hololink to Count Dooku to show him the tests and their results. After the two droids were a safe distance away from the base camp, Durd ordered the defoliator to be loaded and fired. Another pair of B1 battle droids loaded the defoliator missile, and Zignat prepared to fire the weapon at the two droids. The Aqualish technician then launched the missile; as it landed, it exploded into a raging and expanding inferno. The two battle droids were quickly engulfed by the shockwave, while Durd and the rest of his troops, along with Count Dooku through the hololink, watched from back at the camp. As the smoke generated by the defoliator dissipated, it revealed the two battle droids, slightly smoking but otherwise unharmed and intact, standing in the middle of a desolate wasteland. To Durd, the defoliator appeared to work: the two test subjects were not damaged, and all organic life around them was completely wiped out. Dooku stated that the new weapon was very impressive and that it should be tested on living, sentient subjects. At Dooku's behest, Durd promised that he would test the weapon on the Lurmen colony. The Neimoidian general then closed the hololink with Dooku and prepared to travel to the Lurmen colony to test the defoliator, taking three squads of droids with him, as well as three Armored Assault Tanks.^[3]

Battle of Maridun[]

"There goes my promotion."

―Lok Durd, after being captured by Anakin Skywalker —

Listen (file info)^[3]

Main article: Defense of Maridun

Durd in command — Lok Durd commands his droid forces on Maridun.

General Durd and his forces arrived at the colony the next day and set up positions a considerable distance away from it, but close enough so that the village was in range of the defoliator. When one of the droids told Durd that a barricade had been set up, the Neimoidian laughed, thinking it was only the Lurmen trying to protect themselves. However, a glance through a pair of electrobinoculars revealed to him the presence of a small Republic force—Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Aayla Secura, Skywalker's Togruta apprentice Ahsoka Tano, Commander Bly, and Clone Captain Rex. The Jedi and the clones had crash-landed on Maridun before Durd had even arrived, in the wake of the Sky Battle of Quell, and had taken refuge with the Lurmen. The force had also witnessed Durd's test of the defoliator, and took measures to protect their Lurmen allies as a result. Upon seeing the Jedi and the clones, Durd ordered that the defoliator be fired at them.^[3]

The enemy saw that the Separatists were loading the defoliator, and they activated several shield generators they had stolen from Durd's camp, and the resultant deflector shield enveloped the colony. As soon as loading was complete on the defoliator, Durd commanded his aide to fire the weapon. The missile landed several meters in front of the deflector shield, and the fiery shockwave began to expand. When the shockwave reached the shield, however, it was unable to break through and was effectively stopped. After the wave had dissipated, the Jedi and clones emerged from behind the pod barricade, preparing for the Separatists' charge. Durd realized he would have to destroy the shields for the defoliator to be effective, and ordered his first squad, consisting of several B1 and B2 battle droids, to charge forward and attack.^[3]

The first squad charged across the newly devastated field and engaged the Jedi, but the Republic forces were able to drive them off. Durd and the rest of his forces watched on as the first squad was obliterated. The general then ordered his second and third squads to charge forward, leaving behind just a few battle droids and the three tanks to guard his own position. As the second wave of droids attacked, the Jedi were unable to destroy all of them, and a portion of the Confederate force got past their line. They eventually were able to push through and destroy the enemy shield generators.^[3]

LokDurddude — Lok Durd is captured by Skywalker.

Seeing that the shield was down, Durd ordered his droids to reload the defoliator and destroy the village; however, Skywalker was already bearing down on him at a rapid speed. Durd ordered his tanks to blast the Jedi Knight, but Skywalker was too fast for the laser fire and managed to evade them. The Jedi destroyed the defoliator along with several of the droids guarding Durd. In the process, a defoliator projectile was dropped by the droids. Durd, afraid that he would be "defoliated" by the projectile rolling toward him, jumped out of his AAT and attempted to run away, but Skywalker lifted him from the ground before the Neimoidian general could run far. Durd's forces were eventually routed by the combined effort of the Republic and Lurmen forces. After the battle, the Jedi prepared to leave the colony with the captured general, and three Republic Venator-class Star Destroyers jumped into the system to pick them up.^[3]

Occupation of Lanteeb[]

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During the war, Durd somehow managed to escape Republic custody and led the Separatists on the invaded and blockaded Outer Rim world of Lanteeb. He ordered a raid on the planet of Taratos IV, where he captured Bant'ena Fhernan, who would work to create a terrifying bioweapon out of toxic raw damotite and other materials. He eventually obtained the keys to the bioweapon, exchanging the scientist's family for the weapon. After learning that Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi were on Lanteeb, he dispatched a droid army to the village the Jedi were hiding in. After several days, the Republic sent a battle group led by Admiral Yulauren, High Jedi General Mace Windu, and Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano. They rescued the Jedi after a whole day of fighting. Jedi Master Tarea Damsin infiltrated the laboratory compound where the weapon was being built, where Fhernan, realizing Durd's threats were false and that her family was safe, destroyed the compound with explosive devices given to her by Damsin, sacrificing herself in the process. Durd witnessed the destruction from afar, and contacted General Grievous, who was commanding a blockade above Lanteeb. The general agreed to accept Durd, who escaped orbit and fled with Grievous' blockade.

Personality and traits[]

"Uh, sir, there's a Jedi heading right for us."
"Then blast him, you idiot!"

―Lok Durd chastises an OOM command battle droid —

Listen (file info)^[3]

Lok Durd was a flamboyant,^[2] bossy,^[1] ruthless,^[5] and merciless individual, and was often disliked by his peers for this.^[2] He hoped to be promoted to a higher and more substantial rank within the Separatist Droid Army, which was one of the reasons he developed his defoliator weapon.^[3] A self-centered Neimoidian, Durd dreamed that with his development of the device, Republic planets would submit to the Confederacy at the mere mention of his name. With a larger salary, he also hoped to spoil his children.^[5] Durd constantly pontificated and bragged to the battle droids under his command on what the success of his defoliator would bring him.^[1] In battle, the general preferred to deploy his troops in large head-on rushes. However, he was cowardly, as seen when he chose to escape from the battle after Skywalker had destroyed his defoliator cannon.^[3]

A Speciesist being, Durd believed that Neimoidians were the noblest individuals in the galaxy, He also hated humans, thinking that they stink and considered them bigots. He chafed under the need to report to the higher-ranking Human Count Dooku; given all that the Neimoidians had done for the Separatist cause, Durd was offended that Dooku was the public leader of the Confederacy, though underneath he also very fearful of the Count. After arriving on Maridun and selecting the pacifist Lurmen as the defoliator's organic test subjects, Durd lied to Chieftain Kaa, stating that the village was now under the "protection" of the Separatist Alliance, when in fact the colony would be destroyed by his weapon. The Lurmen would be obliterated before anyone else would know of the Neimoidian's massacre, and Durd's "little white lie" would die with them as well.^[5]

Durd was very overweight for a Neimoidian,^[2] eating lots of fatty pylat eggs and deep-fried chewgrubs.^[6] As a result of his corpulence, he was a very slow runner.^[3] Durd wore a Neimoidian mitre^[5] with the Separatist insignia set upon it,^[6] as well as a tunic of Ramordian silk adorned with expensive girdles and rank epaulets.^[5] He was able to speak Galactic Basic Standard.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

"We decided that going with this sort of really big, heavy, rolly guy with an even bigger hat than Nute Gunray's would just…would work, would sort of sell that this guy was extremely flamboyant and very bossy and even more gluttonous than your average Neimoidian."

―Series Designer Kilian Plunkett, on modeling Lok Durd^[1]

The character of Lok Durd made his first appearance in The Clone Wars television series episode "Defenders of Peace."^[3] In the episode, Durd is voiced by George Takei of Star Trek fame. Although his character is captured at the end of the episode, according to interviews with George Takei, Durd was intended to be a recurring villain in the series.^[7] Durd received an entry in the 2009 Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Visual Guide Ultimate Battles sourcebook,^[5] and appeared in the 2010 novels, Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth and Clone Wars Gambit: Siege of The Clone Wars novel series.^[8]

Durd's character was created as an alternative to having the Confederate General Grievous appear multiple times and avoid downplaying his "legend" with multiple Republic victories. Durd's corpulent appearance was built off of the television series production crew's desire to deviate from the pre-existing model for Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray, which was similar to that of the Confederate Captain Mar Tuuk made for the episode "Storm Over Ryloth," and helped to further depict his flamboyance and bossiness.^[1]

Ultimately, the character of Durd was not seen in any following episodes of the series, which was canceled in 2013.^[9]