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"Rex, we've got to take out these walkers. I'll take one, you take the other."
"Don't worry, General. The boys and I can handle it. Hunter, Wrecker, you're with me."
―Anakin Skywalker and Rex[4]

The octuptarra tri-droid, also known simply as the octuptarra droid or tri-droid and nicknamed the "virus droid" due to the biological plagues it sometimes carried, was a model of three-legged droid walker manufactured by the Techno Union. Produced in a number of different sizes, including agile octuptarra combat tri-droids and gigantic octuptarra magna tri-droids, they were used by the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars.

Characteristics[]

"Ah! You're using your electrostaff… but my new octuptarra tri-droid body is fully shielded from electrical attacks—and its hull can't be blown apart by your kyberite-shield blasts."
―The Scourge, to Darth Vader[9]

The larger and more dangerous counterpart of the DSD1 dwarf spider droid,[12] the octuptarra tri-droid,[7] also known simply as the octuptarra droid[14] or tri-droid,[1] was a model of fourth class[5] battle droid[3] walker.[4] Their large heads contained their[11] cognitive modules and sensor suite.[3] Three[11] red[8] photoreceptors allowed them to look in every direction at once, leaving them with virtually no blind spots[11] and making them almost impossible for enemy troopers to attack by surprise from behind.[3] Fully shieled from such offensives, the octuptarra's body was protected from electric-based attacks. The powerful hull was even resistant to the Zaly Shield's blasts.[9]

They had an omnidirectional field of fire,[11] with typical octuptarra tri-droids being armed with three[1] rotating[3] laser cannons[10] placed equidistant below its photoreceptors[11] and around its central stalk,[1] which could spin around and lock onto targets from any side in an instant.[3] They had three triple-jointed,[11] hydraulic limbs[3] that allowed them to scale steep surfaces.[15] However, its three-legged design was its primary weakness, as if one was damaged, the entire droid would topple over.[12] In addition, they were also slow-moving and vulnerable to tripping.[11]

Octuptarra on Utapau

An octuptarra combat tri-droid on Utapau.

Octuptarra tri-droids were produced in a number of different sizes during the Clone Wars.[11] Agile, battle droid-sized versions,[3] known as octuptarra combat tri-droids,[13] stood 3.6 meters in height[3] and featured a highly-mobile chassis. Primarily used as anti-personnel platforms, certain variants stored airborne[13] biological plagues[1] in their bulbous heads, allowing them to wreak havoc on the enemy long after the unit is destroyed,[13] causing them to be nicknamed "virus droids."[1] The largest models,[3] known as octuptarra magna tri-droids, stood at 14.59 meters in height[7] and were used as combat artillery.[3] Large enough to take on heavily armored All Terrain Tactical Enforcers,[11] their laser cannons[12] could be replaced with chain-fed[8] missile launchers.[12]

The octuptarra tri-droid was named for the octuptarra, an eight-eyed, gasbag-headed vine walker found on Skako.[3] At least when corrupted by the Scourge, an octuptarra was able to speak Galactic Basic Standard.[2] A variant of the octuptarra magna tri-droid used on the planet Skako Minor[16] was equipped with an engine at its waist,[17] creating enough thrust to allow it to hover many meters above the ground.[16]

History[]

"Still showing off, eh, General?"
"You know me, Echo."
CT-1409 "Echo" and Anakin Skywalker, as the latter prepares to take on an octuptarra magna tri-droid single-handedly [4]
Tri-droid-TCW

Tri-droids were used by the Separatists during the Clone Wars.

The octuptarra tri-droid was primarily manufactured by the Techno Union division of the Separatist Droid Army,[1] who often fielded them in battle during the Clone Wars.[11] In the year 22 BBY,[18] octuptarra magna tri-droids were deployed during the Battle of Christophsis,[15] with several being destroyed due to the intervention of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and Torrent Company clone troopers with him. Later in the battle, several were stationed outside of the Separatist deflector shield.[19] In 19 BBY,[18] octuptarra magna tri-droids were used to guard the city of Purkoll, headquarters of the Techno Union, on Skako Minor.[16] Towards the end of the Clone Wars,[8] octuptarra combat tri-droids were used to protect General Grievous' Pau City headquarters during the Battle of Utapau.[3] Concurrently, both variants were used by the Separatist in a battle on Mygeeto.[8][10]

DV38-Tridroidreveal

The Scourge finds and corrupts an octuptarra tri-droid in the abandoned Techno Union factory.

After the Galactic Republic was replaced by the Galactic Empire, most octuptarra tri-droids were deactivated.[3] One octuptarra was left abandoned in[2] the secret[20] Techno Union droid factory of Mustafar, where it remained all the way until the scourge of the droids. The Scourge, having corrupted ZED-6-7 with a spider-droid and entering the factory as both, found and corrupted the octuptarra,[2] which the Scourge used to erupt from the ground to attack the Sith Lord Darth Vader and the droid uprising. The powerful octuptarra body protected the Scourge from Vader's electrostaff and Zaly Shield, which Vader was forced to rely on instead of his Force powers during the Force Wave. Through his battle with the octuptarra, however, Vader regained his control over his Force powers. As such, Vader was able to destroy the corrupted octuptarra.[9]

Behind the scenes[]

"This scene introduced us to the smaller scale octuptarra droid. Back in 2005, there was a distinction in labels, calling the smaller ones octuptarras and the larger ones tri-droids, but by The Clone Wars animated series, both terms were combined."
―Pablo Hidalgo[21]
SWPicOctuptarraPrecursor

Early concept art of what became the octuptarra tri-droid, by Ryan Church.

The octuptarra tri-droid was originally created for the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.[8] It was first identified in Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, a reference book written by Adam Bray, Kerrie Dougherty, Cole Horton, and Michael Kogge[7] and released on September 4, 2015.[22] Several variants of the octuptarra tri-droid were visible in Revenge of the Sith;[8] The octuptarra combat tri-droid found on Utapau had its digital model scaled up and modified to become the octuptarra magna tri-droid seen on Mygeeto,[23] with slight cosmetic alterations between the two such as the former's laser cannons being replaced with chain-fed guns on the latter.[24] The octuptarra tri-droid could be found in early sketches of Utapau by Ryan Church.[23]

According to Pablo Hidalgo of the Lucasfilm Story Group, small and large octuptarra droids found their names combined by the time of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series. In Legends, small units were originally called octuptarras, whereas the larger units were known as tri-droids at that time.[21] The large variant was given the name octuptarra magna tri-droid in Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Incredible Vehicles.[25]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

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Notes and references[]

Octuptarra Droid B Techno Union

Concept art of a Techno Union octuptarra magna tri-droid.

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Star Wars: On the Front Lines
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Darth Vader (2020) 38
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 TCW mini logo Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "On the Wings of Keeradaks"
  5. 5.0 5.1 Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia
  6. 6.0 6.1 Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia - Join the Battle!
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Darth Vader (2020) 39
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 StarWars-DatabankII Octuptarra Droid in the Databank (backup link)
  11. 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 Ultimate Star Wars
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Star Wars Builders: Droids
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Octuptarra Combat Tri-Droid (★★★))
  14. ToppsDigitalLogo Star Wars: Card Trader (Card: Octuptarra Droid - Droid Series)
  15. 15.0 15.1 TCW mini logo Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "The Hidden Enemy"
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 TCW mini logo Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "A Distant Echo"
  17. 18.0 18.1 Star Wars: Galactic Atlas
  18. Star Wars: The Clone Wars film
  19. Star Wars: Complete Locations
  20. 21.0 21.1 TwitterLogo Pablo Hidalgo (@pabl0hidalgo) on Twitter: "This scene introduced us to the smaller scale octuptarra droid. Back in 2005, there was a distinction in labels, calling the smaller ones octuptarras and the larger ones tri-droids, but by The Clone Wars animated series, both terms were combined." (backup link)
  21. Amazon-Favicon Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know on Amazon.com (backup link)
  22. 23.0 23.1 Databank title octuptarra droid in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
  23. Databank title tri-droid in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
  24. Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Incredible Vehicles
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