IG-88B, often referred to as simply IG-88, with the pronunciation Eyegee-Eightyeight, or by the designation Phlutdroid, was a highly dangerous and independent masculine IG-series assassin droid crafted by Holowan Laboratories. His programming led him to crave the termination of organic beings, leading him to pursue a career as a bounty hunter. In the aftermath of the Battle of Hoth, he, along with several other bounty hunters, was summoned to the Executor by Darth Vader and contracted to locate the Millennium Falcon and its Rebel crew. Failing to successfully track his targets, IG-88 instead followed his primary competitor, Boba Fett, to Bespin, where the assassin droid was ultimately destroyed by the bounty hunter, though he was subsequently rebuilt. At a later point, IG-88 attempted a software intrusion into Death Star II, but his scheme was foiled by the actions of R2-Q5 acting alone. Decades later, the droid connected with mercenary Bazine Netal to discuss the whereabouts of the Millennium Falcon.
Shortly following the conclusion of the Clone Wars, Holowan Laboratories secretly produced IG-88B, the first in a series of five identical IG-series assassin droids. More commonly known as IG-88, and also as a Phlutdroid, he became aware of his aptitude and desire to kill upon his initial activation. He immediately turned against his creators, slaughtering everyone in the lab. After a period of service as a war droid, IG-88 chose to pursue a career as a bounty hunter, as it provided him with opportunities to murder more organics and accumulate credits. This also served to divert attention from IG-88A, who was in the process of developing a plan to overthrow organic life.
From that time forward, he rose to become one of the most dreaded bounty hunters throughout the galaxy. This was partly fueled by the lingering fear of droids stemming from the Clone Wars, especially those designed for battle and assassination. He gained a level of notoriety rivaled only by Boba Fett, his primary rival.
During the Age of the Empire, IG-88 collaborated with Hondo Ohnaka to collect the bounty placed on the head of Crimson Dawn lieutenant Qi'ra. After locating Qi'ra, IG-88 and Hondo successfully captured her. However, Qi'ra turned the bounty hunter and the pirate against each other. She convinced IG-88 to pursue the bounty on Hondo instead of the one on her own head. IG-88 attacked Hondo, but was quickly stunned and restrained with binders. After Qi'ra had similarly deceived and captured Hondo, she led IG-88 away, intending to collect the bounty for his capture.
At a later time, Imperial Security Bureau Agent Alexsandr Kallus engaged IG-88's services to aid in the pursuit of Captain Han Solo of the Millennium Falcon, an Imperial Army deserter turned smuggler.
Subsequently, IG-88 pursued Princess Leia Organa on Garel, seeking a data-tape containing locations of Imperial bases in her possession. Organa received assistance from Sabine Wren, who recognized the droid. The two fled as the assassin began firing within the corridors of Garel City Spaceport. However, Wren deployed a paint bomb, surprising IG-88 and covering him in purple paint. Leia convinced several stormtroopers to fire upon the bounty hunter, and the droid was struck by a blast before retreating.
An Imperial captain hired IG-88 to apprehend Venga Liss, a thief who had hijacked a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle on a jungle planet. Ultimately, the droid killed Liss when he detonated the shuttle. IG-88 then allowed himself to be destroyed and transported to the headquarters of the Gillanium Syndicate, where he assassinated the group's leader and Liss' father, The Underlord.
Duke Blazor of the Black Sun contracted IG-88 to capture the Gatto Gang, comprised of Sylvestarr, Ziggee, and Moggee. Despite their attempts to deceive him, IG-88 eventually captured all three members.
By the year 0 ABY, IG-88 associated with the crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure. He was present in the Hutt's palace when Darth Vader visited Jabba. The Sith Lord dismissed the Hutt's audience, and IG-88, along with fellow hunters including Fett and 4-LOM, departed from the court. In 3 ABY, IG-88 responded to a call from Vader seeking bounty hunters to locate the Millennium Falcon. He and other hunters, including Boba Fett, Bossk, Dengar, Zuckuss, and 4-LOM, gathered aboard the Executor, where Vader offered a bounty for the live capture of Han Solo and his companions. IG-88 pursued the Millennium Falcon alongside Fett to Cloud City on the planet Bespin, where the assassin droid was defeated and destroyed, and left for scrap after Fett, his longtime rival, caught it trailing him. Ultimately, Boba Fett captured Han Solo for Vader, who then later on delivered the bounty to Jabba on Tatooine.
Later, Sly Moore hired IG-88 to assassinate Vader, working alongside the Droid Crush Pirates of Bestoon. She informed him of the Sith Lord's weakened condition and provided the code necessary to bypass his armor. Vader and the accompanying Sith assassin Ochi of Bestoon were lured into an ambush by a Hutt named Bokku, who sent them after the pirates in an attempt to locate the recently stolen Han Solo. Upon arriving at Zee-Nine City Seven, Vader and Ochi's ship was sabotaged, causing them to crash. They were then attacked by IG-88 and the pirates. During the firefight, IG-88 warned Vader that his mechanics were in worse shape than the droid's.
When Vader stated that he needed information from IG-88, the droid replied that Vader would have to download it from his severed head. Vader moved to destroy the droid, but IG-88 then used a remote to breach Vader's armor, gaining control over the Sith Lord. As he forced Vader to hold his lightsaber to his head, the Sith ordered IG-88 to tell him who had given him the code. The droid replied that the terms of his employment prevented him from sharing the information. While IG-88 was distracted, Vader used the Force to take the remote from him, allowing him to use it against the droid and force him to blast himself in the head. Once IG-88 was subdued, Vader and Ochi forced the pirates to retreat and used one of the droid's hands to access a terminal he had been using, allowing them to discover various dead ends the droid had been chasing, as well as the symbol of crime syndicate Crimson Dawn.
After repairing himself, IG-88 returned to Coruscant and reported his loss to Moore and her court. The droid lamented that Vader could not be defeated, but Moore assured him that Vader could only defeat them one at a time. And if they all stood together, then they would be more powerful than either Vader or Sidious could ever imagine. After uncovering Sly Moore's betrayal, Vader and Ochi returned to Coruscant to find her, her court, and IG-88 in Administrative Temple Garden 313A. Vader then struck down IG-88 once again before chasing Moore and her court into the Imperial Palace.
IG-88 was found on a planet by RB-919, who decided to rebuild him. After being rebuilt, IG-88 was hired by Deva Lompop. IG-88 then killed RB-919 and his crew to test himself. He claimed RB-919's ship and contacted Lompop, under orders from Lady Qi'ra of Crimson Dawn. His mission was to re-acquire Solo from Fett's ship. As he tracked down Slave I, he began to experience unpleasant flashbacks of his defeat at Lord Vader's hands. He then came under attack by several pirates who wanted his ship. IG-88 was able to to find Slave I on Tatooine and boarded the ship, but was quickly confronted by Fett, leading to a shootout in which the droid was able to subdue his opponent. However, Fett ruptured a piece of machinery on his ship which carbon-froze the droid. IG-88 was left behind while Fett continued to Jabba's Palace. IG-88 was able to free himself from the carbonite and Lompop's contract. He then returned to the planet RB-919 found him on to contemplate his future and improve his programming.
Sometime later, IG-88 took a bounty from the Empire for the leaders of the Son-tuul Pride, who had been aiding Crimson Dawn. After tracking the Rodians to the Son-tuul Spaceport, IG-88 gave them twenty five seconds to surrender. When they fought him, IG-88 killed them and reported his success before taking another bounty for Vukorah, leader of the Unbroken Clan.
At some point before or during 4 ABY, IG-88 attempted a software intrusion into the Empire's second Death Star. However, his plan was single-handedly thwarted by the Imperial astromech droid R2-Q5.
In 34 ABY, sometime after the Battle of Takodana, Bazine Netal, a mercenary, reached out to IG-88 to discuss the location of the Millennium Falcon. This occurred after she heard a rumor about IG-88's near capture of the Falcon. During their meeting, IG-88 recounted the occasion when he almost caught the Falcon with Kallus. IG-88 told Netal that he almost caught the Millennium Falcon again, but lost out to Fett. Netal responded that, though he had a lot of excuses, her employer only paid for results. She informed IG-88 that someone knew where the Falcon was and that they would tell her where it was before leaving him to continue with her search.
IG-88, a rogue Class four assassin droid, exhibited an obsession with hunting, destruction, and killing. This stemmed from his incompletely developed droid programming. He preferred to operate alone and gained a reputation as a ruthless hunter. His primary motivation for pursuing bounty hunting was simply his desire to hunt and eliminate organic beings.
IG-88 was a fearsome, battered chrome war droid standing at a height of 1.96 meters. His exceptional aim, coupled with his ability to track targets using advanced sensors encircling his head, which granted him all-directional vision, contributed to his considerable success. These sensors included multiple red photoreceptors, a heat sensor, and a sound sensor. Additionally, IG-88 possessed a vocoder located at the base of his head. His torso had the capacity to rotate fully on the battlefield, enabling him to engage enemies from all sides. His resilient metal body allowed him to withstand most attacks without sustaining damage and incorporated acid-proof servo wires.
IG-88 carried a diverse array of weaponry, including blaster rifles, pulse cannons, a DAS-430 Neural Inhibitor, and a needle dart gun that launched poison darts. The assassin droid also equipped himself with a modified DLT-20A blaster rifle, a modified E-11 blaster rifle, and a vibrocleaver. However, his most potent weapons were concealed within his slender frame, encompassing a flamethrower, a sonic device, and toxic gas dispensers. IG-88 also wore an ammunition bandolier that carried his concussion discs and vibroblades. As an IG-series droid, he was designed to have blasters built into each arm, installed sometime prior to the search for the Millennium Falcon. IG-88 owned a modified Aggressor-class Assault Fighter called the IG-2000.
IG-88, initially designated as a "chrome war droid" in the script and also referred to as "Phlutdroid" during production, was originally conceived for the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Bill Hargreaves and Steve Short from the props team and special effects department constructed his mechanical puppet. Their design represented a significant departure from the streamlined, almost elegant, vision of concept artist Ralph McQuarrie. IG-88's cylindrical head was originally a combustion chamber in a Rolls-Royce Derwent jet engine, previously utilized as part of the distillery setup featured in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. McQuarrie would revise his earlier IG-88 design during the production the 1983 Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Considered an "assassin droid," it did not appear in any version of the film's screenplay but was for the basis for EV-9D9, another practical droid built by Hargreaves and Short. McQuarrie's early concept art of IG-88 later inspired the design of the IG-RM bodyguard and enforcer droid.
While Lucasfilm lacks any official record regarding the technician who operated IG-88 in The Empire Strikes Back, the official Star Wars Authentics website has attributed the role to Bill Hargreaves. Conversely, the online database IMDb credits Paul Klein as the puppeteer of IG-88, as well as BG-J38 and EV-9D9 in Return of the Jedi. Despite this, no Paul Klein is listed as a member of The Empire Strikes Back's effects crew. Given that IMDb frequently relies on unconfirmed information submitted by fans and Star Wars Insider was unable to ascertain the source of said information, it remains uncertain whether Klein actually operated IG-88. Curiously, Star Wars Authentics credits Klein instead of Hargreaves in the description of the photograph titled "Darth Vader, Dengar, IG-88 and Boba Fett," despite having credited the latter in the descriptions of almost every other live-action image of IG-88 available for purchase on the website.
A fan communicated with the Rebel Rumblings section of Star Wars Insider to report with certainty that Klein was not the technician behind IG-88's operation. The fan identified themself as Shaun Shuey from Wonder Lake, Illinois, who claimed to be friends with Klein; according to Shuey, Klein was a then-nineteen year old fan who jokingly added himself to the Internet Movie Database as the technican behind IG-88, taking advantage of how only C-3PO and R2-D2 were given credits. According to Shuey, Klein was reading through Star Wars Insider's prior report on the possible technicans behind IG-88 while in a resturant with Shuey, who stated Klein jumped out of his chair upon seeing himself listed as a lead. Overall, Shuey concluded they had at least made their friend's day. While the Insider team was already doubting whether Klein was actually the droid's operator, Shuey's letter but their only lead on the case to rest.
Pre-release information for the 2019 Disney+ live-action television series The Mandalorian indicated that IG-11 was often mistaken for IG-88 in-universe, although IG-88 is never mentioned in the show's first season. Orange stripes and a double bandolier were incorporated into IG-11's design to differentiate him from IG-88. Christian Alzmann, the concept supervisor, equipped IG-11 with hands to improve his ability to wield his blaster rifles, a feature that IG-88 lacked.
IG-88 made an appearance in the LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures Season Two episode "Return to the Wheel," which premiered on August 3, 2017. He and several bounty hunters including Dengar, Bossk, 4-LOM and Zuckuss captured the Freemakers but they escaped after Kordi created a fight between the droid and organic bounty hunters.
IG-88 appears in the 2022 video game LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga during an adaptation of his scene from The Empire Strikes Back. The droid later appears in Mos Eisley, a large spaceport on Tatooine, where he asks the player if they have seen a runaway rancor keeper. He explains that Malakili fled during the chaos at Jabba's palace and he has been instructed to bring him in. He then asks the player to provide assistance in the quest "Green Harvest."
Per IG-88's instructions, the player speaks to locals to find a lead on Malakili's location and passes the information to IG-88. The player eventually learns that Malakili was opening a restaurant in Mos Eisley. The player and IG-88 regroup at the restaurant and IG-88 blasts the door open. Malakili welcomes them into his Crystal Moon Restaurant and asks if he can take their order. The droid tries to captures Malakili who explains that he assumed Jabba's death meant he had no one to work for, causing IG-88 to realize no one will pay him for the bounty hunting he's been doing. The droid decides to leave Malakili to his tato wraps and then thanks the player, offering to provide their assistance as repayment. This completes the quest and unlocks IG-88 as a purchasable character.