LM-432 crab droid

The LM-432 crab droid was a Separatist military unit that excelled at navigating swampy environments. They varied in size; smaller models had four legs, and larger models boasted six. Its armored limbs provided secure purchase when clambering over uneven terrain, and teeth at the tips of the limbs combined with gripping prongs at the joints allowed the crab droid to scale steep inclines. The LM-432's face was dominated by three glowing red photoreceptors, while communications antennae kept the droid in contact with its Separatist commanders. The crab droid had two belly-mounted blaster cannons for long-range threats. Its forelegs were strong enough to punch through vehicle armor.

One of the crab droid's weaknesses was its blind spots. An intuitive attacker could slip past its claws and strike at its vulnerable central processor. During the Battle of Utapau, clone troopers effectively combated several crab droids by jumping on top of them, where they shot them repeatedly in the "head."

During the early years of the Clone Wars, Rodian Republic Senator, Onaconda Farr, was pushed into a deal with the viceroy of the Trade Federation, Nute Gunray, who was secretly aligned with the Separatists. With the proclaimed purpose of protection, crab droids were part of the separatist droid army forces that briefly occupied the Senatorial Residence on Rodia. In the midst of the occupation, Representative Binks, Senator Amidala, and her protocol droid, C-3PO were sent to Rodia to discuss the Republic's aid of the planet, but Amidala was captured by Gunray's droids. Meanwhile, in the hangar, 3PO and Binks were attacked by battle droids, alongwith a crab droid, which charged at Binks, firing its blaster cannon. Binks took cover, as 3PO directed him from above, though the crab droid quickly approached Binks and unintentionally flung him onto its back. In attempt to shake the gungan off, the crab droid lost its balance and fell of the hangar deck into the swamp below. Binks managed to cling to the edge before being dragged down with the droid.

The Confederacy used LM-432 crab droids alongside traditional B1 battle droids, B2 super battle droids, and dwarf spider droids in the Battle of Malastare. They were part of a large battalion of separatists forces in an assault on a Republic base, all of which fell victim to the Republic's test of their prototype electro-proton bomb.

A number of crab droids were stationed at the Citadel Station on Lola Sayu, now under Separatist control. A Republic infiltration team, including Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, padawan Ahsoka Tano, and CC-2224 "Cody," was sent to the prison to rescue Even Piell and Wilhuff Tarkin, where they were pursued by crab droids upon their escape.

When one half of the team, lead by Kenobi, made their way to the airfield where their escape shuttle was located, they were ambushed by battle droids, with a crab droid dropping from above to block their way back inside the prison. Meanwhile, the group lead by Skywalker traveled through a fuel line to reach the rendezvous point, where they would escape. Upon exiting the pipe, they were met with more security forces and two crab droids approached from behind terrain. The group evaded the attack to the other side of the pipe as a crab droid pursued them over it.

Realizing their plan had failed, Skywalker threw a thermal detonator into the open pipe hatch from which they emerged and where a crab droid was now standing right above. The crab droid peered down at the hatch before the detonator ignited the entire fuel line, sending the droid flying and landing right next to the Jedi. Skywalker and Tano confidently walked over the droid's wreckage as they left the scene. Later on, both groups reunited at the airfield with their shuttle, but the droid guards there were informed of the infiltrators' attempted escape, causing more security to engage them. Two more crab droids arrived on the platform and began advancing toward the group, who were formulating a plan of action. Needing to keep back the droids, ARC-5555 "Fives" covered ARC-1409 "Echo" as he threw a charge underneath a crab droid, destroying it.

After fleeing the prison complex, the Jedi and Republic officers again encountered crab droids that crawled along the side of a wall toward them. Cody jumped onto the back of one and shot it several times before it deactivated. Being boxed into the side of a cliff overseeing a river of lava, the group had to grapple down to another ledge, but required that R2-D2's reprogrammed battle droids delay their pursuers. They were quickly defeated, with the last one being knocked over and crushed by a crab droid.

Later, the group was ambushed by crab droids crawling over the cliff's edge, which killed a clone officer and nearly another, but Piell cut off three of its legs before penetrating its photoreceptor. Tano and Piell stayed behind to fight the droids as more emerged over the cliff and began circling Tano. While Tano deflected a crab droid's blaster shots with her lightsabers, Piell evaded another's attacks and cut its body in half as he ran underneath it. The last two crab droids were finished off as the Jedi pierced their bodies.

When the group was eventually greeted by the gunship meant to extract them, they made a swift escape as over two dozen more crab droids appeared at the landing site. The Jedi managed to deflect the blasts and escape successfully.

Just before the end of the Clone Wars, six legged versions of LM-432s were used in the Battle of Utapau against the Republic's 212th Attack Battalion and some Pau'an warriors. Amidst the battle, a clone ran up to a crab droid, jumped onto its back, and fired his blaster until it deactivated; a tactic reminiscent of Cody's maneuver at the Citadel.

The design of the crab droid stems from transformed tank droid concepts created by Ryan Church in the summer of 2002. The finished shape was mostly there in a sketch called "droid soldiers."

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