Battle droid

During the time of the Clone Wars, the Confederacy of Independent Systems made use of a wide assortment of battle droids within their droid army. These droids, which included B1-series battle droids (the primary infantry of the Separatists), B2-series super battle droids, and droidekas, were manufactured in expansive factories located on planets such as Geonosis. The Kaleesh cyborg General Grievous commanded the Separatist Droid Army. While B1 battle droids were not effective when deployed in small numbers, they could overwhelm their adversaries through sheer volume. Commanders like Grievous or Asajj Ventress led the battle droids, and specialized OOM command battle droids could assist organic officers. Furthermore, T-series tactical droids and super tactical droids were responsible for commanding battle droids during the Clone Wars, and these units were able to support organic leaders. Kalani, a super tactical droid general, commanded Confederate forces against insurgents on Onderon. However, following the Onderonian Civil War, Kalani fled to Agamar.

The clone troopers of the Galactic Republic were the primary adversaries of the battle droids. In contrast to the "dim-witted" B1 battle droids, which were readily defeated by clones, the troopers demonstrated independent and creative thought. Nevertheless, the Separatist battle droids outnumbered the clones. Count Dooku once asserted that clones were outnumbered by a ratio of one hundred to one. Throughout the conflict, clone troopers, and even some of the Jedi, commonly referred to battle droids as "clankers." The Jedi modified their training remotes to replicate the movements of battle droids, thereby better preparing Padawans for combat against the Droid Army.

The Chiss Ascendancy became aware of the Clone Wars and the fact that battle droids comprised the majority of the Confederacy military. When Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo, also known as "Thrawn," shared this information with sky-walker Che'ri, she questioned the tactical advantage of such a military. She understood that an enemy could deactivate droids by accessing their controls and that their programming could be altered if an enemy infiltrated a factory. Thrawn also noted that the intended programming might contain exploitable weaknesses. He concluded that the desire to reduce deaths by using droids instead of organic soldiers was futile if it led to losing the war.

Following the Clone Wars, the Galactic Empire outlawed battle droids. However, entities like Holowan Laboratories and Arakyd Industries circumvented the ban by reclassifying their products as security droids. The general public's distrust of class four droids contributed to the Joint Chiefs' decision to avoid using battle droids. Despite this, Instructor Pell Baylo believed that Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine expected his military personnel to follow orders without question, as if they were mindless droids.

Even in the early months of the Imperial Era, surviving Separatist equipment, including battle droids, was deemed obsolete compared to Imperial technology, such as the Star Destroyers of the Imperial Navy. The smuggler Has Obitt anticipated that remaining CIS equipment, including battle droids, would be dismantled or destroyed. Indeed, the decommissioning (effectively destruction) of all surviving battle droids was authorized in specialized decommissioning facilities on planets like Corellia. However, some Separatist equipment was intentionally allowed to fall into the hands of anti-Imperial insurgents, providing the Imperial Military with a pretext to seize control of legacy worlds.

The design of the TRD-2 sparring droid was based on the SD-series battle droid. During the Imperial Era, former battle droids established the Droid Gotra. The crime lord Faazah also utilized repurposed battle droids to reinforce his ranks of bodyguards on Murkhana, a former Separatist stronghold. Kalani's intervention allowed battle droids to remain active on Agamar, as he managed to block the deactivation order issued by Darth Vader after he killed the Separatist leaders. When the Empire arrived on Agamar, Kalani escaped with several B1 battle droids.

Later, during the Galactic Civil War, Temmin Wexley possessed a modified battle droid named Mister Bones, who served as his companion. Following the rebellion on Akiva in 4 ABY, they both joined the New Republic and Wexley's mother, Norra Wexley, in their fight against the Galactic Empire. Mister Bones was destroyed during the Battle of Jakku in 5 ABY.

Around 9 ABY, an Imperial Remnant under the command of Moff Gideon continued the Empire's Dark Trooper project, successfully deploying several Phase-III Dark Troopers. Gideon's entire platoon of combat droids, considered third-generation battle droids, was annihilated by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker during the second rescue of Grogu. Simultaneously, battle droids dating back to the Clone Wars, originally intended for destruction by the New Republic, were utilized for mass labor on Plazir-15.

During the New Republic Era, Kiza, an Acolyte of the Beyond, fell under the influence of the mask of Exim Panshard, a long-dead Sith Viceroy who clung to existence through the mask. Panshard promised Kiza power if they reached the Sith world of Exegol. Guided by Panshard, Kiza amassed an army of old battle droids from both recent and past conflicts, housing them within a crashed Separatist core ship on a large asteroid adjacent to the Red Honeycomb Zone, which isolated Exegol from the wider galaxy. Kiza's droid army, which included B1 battle droids, remained dormant inside the core ship until 21 ABY, years after their last movement. Kiza modified at least some of the droids to contain a fragment of a bled kyber crystal each, enabling them to track Skywalker, who possessed other fragments of the same crystal. Panshard hoped that combining Skywalker's crystals with their own would lead them through the Red Honeycomb Zone to Exegol, where the larger crystal mound was held by the Sith Eternal.

Kiza ultimately deployed a mixed force of battle droids against Skywalker, but the eleven droids were destroyed during a skirmish on Polaar. When Skywalker arrived at Kiza's asteroid, he discovered the deactivated army aboard the core ship before engaging her in a lightsaber duel. Many battle droids were destroyed by lightsaber strikes during the duel. The subsequent overload of the core ship's forge melted down many others, and Kiza was killed. Nine surviving battle droids, unable to fully process their new programming from the kyber crystals, ensured that Panshard's mask was salvaged and adorned with the kyber fragments, placing it upon Kiza's corpse before deactivating. One droid even scarified an arm for its lord, ensuring that Kiza's broken arm could be replaced. However, their master met his final end on Taw Provode's solitary moon when Skywalker destroyed the mask. Kiza's body and the droid arm were left lifeless and consumed by a native serpent.

R0-GR, a B1 battle droid, eventually served under the Resistance and authored "droidography," a guide to various droid models in the galaxy, intended to educate organics about the droids they encountered. R0-GR claimed to be the last B1 battle droid but acknowledged learning about Mister Bones, suggesting that his statement might not have been entirely accurate. Another battle droid was being worked on by the droidsmith Babu Frik, but he was forced to abandon the unit before the destruction of Kijimi.