The so-called feral droids were droids which, according to the tales, were programmed to eliminate sentient lifeforms. This very legend was later validated by the experiences of Jax Pavan and his companions. These malfunctioning automatons were found in and around a droid plant located in the Factory District, a derelict area on Coruscant that had decayed significantly after industrial activities relocated to other planets. Primarily consisting of older construction and demolition droids, they were abandoned upon the district's desolation.
The Factory District's abandonment occurred centuries before Jax Pavan's arrival, and it was approximately around this period that the droids began their descent into a feral state. Many of these droids were destroyed during the explosion of Falleen Prince Xizor's laboratory, which was situated within the very droid plant where many of the feral droids were located. It is likely that a significant number of droids survived the explosion and continued to inhabit the Factory District.
The appearance of feral droids was varied, as the term simply applied to any droid within the Factory District exhibiting a propensity for killing sentient beings. However, some of the BXL-99 labor droids encountered by Jax Pavan had undergone unusual modifications. One featured Plasticine tubing filled with multicolored fluids, another had lights that erratically blinked and traveled along its arms, and a third had tall, slender vanes extending from its head, between which electric discharges occurred. All of them had archaic electronic components haphazardly welded onto their bodies.
Feral droids were known to assault any sentient being they encountered, while emitting random Binary code. They also seemed to destroy machinery indiscriminately, including Xizor's laboratory. They were known to violently dismember sentients, as demonstrated in the lab where they decapitated a Drall scientist and splattered the walls with the blood of Human and Aqualish beings.
The prevailing theory regarding the droids' behavior suggested the presence of a worm or virus that corrupted their core programming, transforming them into murderous entities. The sentient droid I-5YQ proposed that prolonged exposure to radiation from reactor core within Xizor's lab had driven them insane.
- 8D smelting operators
- ASP-series droids
- BXL-99 labor droids
- J9 worker drones