I-5YQ, referred to as Eye-Fivewhycue or simply I-Five, represented a customized 5YQ-series protocol droid whose creative inhibitors were deactivated by information broker Lorn Pavan. Discovering a connection with I-Five, Lorn welcomed him as his business associate, treating the droid as an equal partner.
However, their alliance was short-lived, as Darth Maul, a Sith Lord, murdered Lorn after the pair became entangled in Hath Monchar's scheme, a Trade Federation officer, to trade details regarding the impending blockade of Naboo by the Trade Federation. Aware of his impending doom, Lorn entrusted I-Five to Tuden Sal, a Sakiyan restaurant proprietor and minor criminal, just before his death. However, Sal betrayed him, as he had long desired the droid. Sal promptly wiped I-Five's memory and commenced reprogramming him. Nonetheless, before the reprogramming could be completed, Sal's financial ruin led him to sell the droid to a spice smuggler.
During the era of the Clone Wars, I-Five served as a medical assistant at RMSU-7, where he encountered Den Dhur, a Sullustan reporter, and Barriss Offee, a Jedi Padawan. By the conclusion of the Battle of Drongar, I-Five had recovered his erased memories. Following the battle, he journeyed to Coruscant to deliver a sample of bota to the Jedi Temple and to fulfill his commitment to Lorn Pavan – to safeguard his son, who had been taken by the Jedi Order for training.
In approximately 19 BBY, I-Five and his companion Den Dhur were searching the undercity of Imperial Center for the young Jedi. After locating Jax at Rokko the Hutt's fortress, I-5 convinced Jax to accept his and Den's assistance. I-Five and his friend subsequently joined the Whiplash and aided in the evacuation of individuals from Coruscant. While arranging secure passage for Ves Volette, a light sculptor, and his lover Dejah Duare, they became involved in the investigation of Volette's murder. Sometime later, Tuden Sal contacted Jax Pavan and his team, seeking I-Five's assistance in a scheme to assassinate Emperor Palpatine. Despite initial opposition from the other team members, I-Five agreed, driven by a desire to avenge his friend. Concurrently, Darth Vader dispatched the Inquisitor Probus Tesla to pursue Jax Pavan and I-Five. During the Duel at Rainbow Parkway and Gallery Row, Pavan discovered that I-Five possessed a Force signature. Despite the implication that he could be detected through the Force, I-Five and Pavan resolved to proceed with the assassination attempt. However, when their friend Laranth Tarak, the Gray Paladin, and the young Force-adept Kajin Savaros were captured by Tesla and Vader, the mission transformed into a rescue operation. During the ensuing confrontation, I-Five sustained damage but was later repaired by Whiplash mechanics.
Initially, I-5YQ belonged to a family that assigned him as the guardian of their spoiled children, who frequently requested that I-Five jump off the roof to observe his bounce height. Subsequently, Lorn Pavan, an information broker seeking information for sale, acquired I-Five. Following the purchase, Lorn implemented several modifications to the droid, including the ability to project lasers from his fingertips and emit a high-frequency sound capable of either alleviating hangovers or inducing debilitating pain. Lorn treated him less as a droid and more as a business associate.
In 32 BBY, Lorn and I-Five acquired a holocron detailing the planned blockade of Naboo by the Neimoidian Hath Monchar. Consequently, Lorn and I-Five were hunted by Darth Maul, a Sith Lord, who sought to retrieve the holocron. Accompanied by Darsha Assant, a Jedi Padawan, the trio fled to the city's lower levels with the Sith in pursuit. After being cornered by the Sith, Assant sacrificed herself to enable Lorn and I-Five to escape. Devastated by the Jedi's death, Lorn deactivated I-Five to prevent the droid from accompanying him in his pursuit of vengeance for Assant. He entrusted I-Five to Tuden Sal, one of his contacts, instructing him to deliver I-Five to the Jedi Temple, before pursuing the Sith. However, Sal, who had long coveted I-Five, instead wiped his memory for his own personal gain. I-5YQ eventually found employment with spice smugglers on the Kessel Run, and after being seized and sold by authorities, he was employed by a noble family on Naboo.
Years later, during the Clone Wars, I-Five resurfaced on the planet Drongar, working as a medical assistant at RMSU-7. There, he befriended Den Dhur, a Sullustan reporter, surgeons Jos Vondar and Zan Yant, nurse Tolk le Trene, and Barriss Offee, a Jedi Padawan. Under Dhur's tutelage, known for his fondness for alcohol, I-Five successfully became electronically intoxicated one evening at Rimsoo's cantina and even had one of his arms dislocated by a Wookiee.
Gradually, I-Five began to recover his lost memories, and by the end of the Battle of Drongar, he had regained nearly all recollection of his past, including a promise made to Lorn: to watch over his son, Jax Pavan, who was training as a Padawan at the Jedi Temple. Upon learning this, Offee provided I-Five with a sample of the extraordinary drug bota and instructed him to deliver it to the Temple for examination, thus providing the droid with a plausible justification for neglecting his medical duties. Subsequently, I-Five departed Drongar for Coruscant, accompanied by his new friend Dhur.
I-Five encountered Jax at Rokko the Hutt's stronghold in the Yaam Sector of Coruscant after impressing Rokko with his sabacc skills. Eventually, I-Five persuaded Jax to allow him to join his cause, after saving Jax's life multiple times while attempting to locate the rogue droid 10-4TO, who had been obtained by Prince Xizor, an operative of Black Sun. I-Five, Dhur, Jax, and Laranth Tarak, a Twi'lek Gray Paladin, joined the Whiplash resistance group to aid individuals seeking to escape Coruscant. I-Five also assisted Jax in the pursuit of the murderer of Ves Volette, a renowned Caamasi light sculptor. The murderer was eventually revealed to be the protocol droid of the Umber family, motivated by the family's financial decline resulting from the purchase of several Volette sculptures.
Around that period, Sal discovered I-Five's survival and devised a scheme to employ him as an assassin in a plot against Palpatine. Initially, I-Five displayed hostility toward Sal, holding him at laserpoint. Dejah, Den, and Rhinann opposed the plan. Den emphasized that I-Five was an older model compared to those in Palpatine's court, Rhinann deemed the plan excessively risky, and Dejah cautioned that failure would draw Palpatine's attention to the Whiplash. As Sal outlined his plan, I-Five declared that he would consider everyone's opinions before deciding whether to participate, but would prioritize Jax's perspective. Jax admitted uncertainty about his answer. Following a meeting with Thi Xon Yimmon, the leader of Whiplash, Pavan decided against the plan. Upon informing I-Five of his decision, Jax triggered a message from his father. After listening to the message, he resolved to proceed with the assassination attempt and informed I-Five accordingly.
Meanwhile, Dejah and Rhinann had taken Kajin Savaros, the young Force-adept whom Pavan was training, for a walk when they were ambushed by three Inquisitors – Yral Chael, Mas Sirrah, and Probus Tesla. Shortly after the battle between the Inquisitors, Kaj, and Laranth commenced, Jax and I-Five arrived at the scene in Pol Haus's airspeeder, the Police prefect. I-Five killed one of the Inquisitors with his fingertip lasers. During the battle, both Pavan and Tesla detected a peculiar Force-echo emanating from I-Five. This prompted Jax to reconsider his approval of Sal's plan, as I-Five's detectability through the Force rendered him less than the ideal assassin Sal envisioned.
Nevertheless, Sal remained determined to proceed with his plan and sought a means for I-Five to assassinate Palpatine, regardless of Pavan and Tesla's reservations. He concluded that the only solution was to strip I-Five of his programming to its most basic level, which would also prevent him from harming any organic being. The only way to circumvent this limitation would be for I-Five to have a handler who would reinstate his programming when he was in proximity to the Emperor, enabling him to assassinate Palpatine. However, upon the restoration of I-Five's sentience, Palpatine would easily detect and destroy him. Jax expressed concern for I-Five's well-being and hesitated to have his programming removed. Amidst Pavan and Sal's argument, I-Five interjected, inquiring about Sal's plan to bypass the Senate's security. Sal proposed disguising I-Five as part of a delegation. As Pavan insisted on serving as I-Five's handler, they decided to disguise Pavan as an Inquisitor.
Meanwhile, Laranth escorted Kaj to a gallery intended to serve as a safe house for the young adept. En route, they were ambushed and captured by Inquisitors. Unbeknownst to anyone, Dejah had betrayed Kaj and Laranth to Vader. Upon learning of Laranth and Kaj's capture, Pavan, accompanied by I-Five, went to speak with Yimmon, while Rhinann was tasked with informing Sal of the change in plans – from an assassination plot to a rescue mission. While they were devising the operation, I-Five pointed out that Laranth and Kaj were being used as bait for him and Pavan, and proposed an exchange – himself for the Gray Paladin and the boy.
They anticipated that Vader would set a trap, so they factored it into their plan. When Sal requested the inclusion of the Emperor's presence at the site so the droid could assassinate him, I-Five suggested leaking information about the bota to Palpatine, ensuring his attendance. Ultimately, the idea of an exchange was accepted, and they contacted the Dark Lord. It was decided that Dejah would escort the droid, as she had the best chance of keeping Kaj and Rhinann calm. They were escorted by Inquisitors to an abandoned docking chamber control room, where Vader, Tesla, Kaj, Laranth, and Palpatine were waiting. Rhinann questioned why I-Five wasn't firing, before realizing that the Emperor was merely a hologram, which promptly vanished. Vader then inquired of Dejah who possessed the bota, and revealed that she was the traitor. While Vader tortures Laranth, Pavan, disguised as one of the escorting Inquisitors, reactivated I-Five's personality. When Vader demanded that Pavan instruct the droid to give him the bota, I-Five stated that he did not have it. Vader expressed interest in the fact that he could perceive I-Five's intentions as emotions, and that he was very protective of those he held dear. The Sith Lord then threatened to make I-Five witness the destruction of his friends unless he revealed who possessed the bota. I-Five had entrusted the bota to Laranth for safekeeping, and after a mental nudge from Pavan, she surrendered it to Vader.
When Vader demanded the pyronium crystal that Anakin Skywalker had given Jax Pavan years earlier, and the Sith Holocron, I-Five informed him that they did not possess it. Despite not having the holocron, which contained information on how to combine the effects of the bota and the pyronium, Vader injected himself with the bota. The effect caused Vader to unleash Force energy in random directions. One of his blasts sent a durasteel frame crashing down on I-Five, trapping the droid. Another shattered the window, and one struck the EMP field that had been scrambling Laranth's Force-senses, while the other killed Dejah.
As Pavan fended off Vader's Force blasts, I-Five used the laser in his one remaining arm to work his way free. The arrival of Den Dhur and a Whiplash team led by Yimmon distracted the Dark Lord, and Rhinann's surprise attack, fueled by rage, sent the Sith Lord over the edge of the broken window. The damages inflicted on I-Five were repaired by Whiplash's mechanics, and I-Five received some new modifications – monofilament line, a small automatic slugthrower, and the ability to project streams of non-lethal gases.