IG-88B, also referred to as IG-88, and pronounced Eyegee-Eightyeight, was a deadly and independent IG-series assassin droid from Holowan Laboratories. This masculine droid, also known as a Phlutdroid, harbored a strong desire to eliminate organic beings and therefore operated as a bounty hunter. After the Battle of Hoth, Darth Vader summoned him, along with other bounty hunters, to the Executor to hire them to locate the Millennium Falcon and its Rebel crew. Failing to find his target, IG-88 followed his primary competitor, Boba Fett, to Bespin, where the bounty hunter destroyed him; however, IG-88 was later reconstructed. At some point, IG-88 attempted a software intrusion into Death Star II, but R2-Q5 single-handedly foiled his scheme. Decades later, the droid convened with mercenary Bazine Netal to discuss the whereabouts of the Millennium Falcon.
Shortly after the Clone Wars, Holowan Laboratories secretly created IG-88B, also known as IG-88, the first of five identical IG-series assassin droids. Also known as a Phlutdroid, the droid became aware of his skill and craving to kill upon activation and attacked his creators, killing everyone in the lab. After a time as a war droid, IG-88 chose to pursue a career as a bounty hunter, which allowed him to murder more organics and earn credits. This also diverted attention from IG-88A, who was planning to overthrow organic life.
From then on, he was among the most dreaded bounty hunters in the galaxy, partly due to the lingering fear of droids from the Clone Wars, especially those capable of battle and assassination. His notoriety was comparable only to that of his main rival, Boba Fett.
During the Age of the Empire, IG-88 partnered with Hondo Ohnaka to collect the bounty on Crimson Dawn lieutenant Qi'ra. After tracking her down, IG-88 and Hondo successfully captured Qi'ra. However, Qi'ra turned the bounty hunter and the pirate against each other by convincing IG-88 to collect the bounty on Hondo instead of her. IG-88 attacked Hondo but was quickly stunned and restrained with binders. After Qi'ra similarly tricked and apprehended Hondo, she led IG-88 away to collect the bounty on him.
Later, Imperial Security Bureau Agent Alexsandr Kallus hired IG-88 to help locate Captain Han Solo of the Millennium Falcon, an Imperial Army deserter turned smuggler.
IG-88 later pursued Princess Leia Organa on Garel, seeking a data-tape containing locations of Imperial bases. Sabine Wren assisted Organa, identifying the droid, and they fled as the assassin fired in the corridors of Garel City Spaceport. Wren then deployed a paint bomb, surprising IG-88 and covering him in purple paint. Leia convinced several stormtroopers to fire at the bounty hunter, and the droid was hit by a blast before retreating.
An Imperial captain hired IG-88 to capture Venga Liss, a thief who hijacked a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle on a jungle planet. The droid eventually killed Liss when he detonated the shuttle. IG-88 allowed himself to be destroyed and taken to the headquarters of the Gillanium Syndicate, where he killed the group's leader and Liss' father, The Underlord.
Duke Blazor of the Black Sun hired IG-88 to capture the Gatto Gang, which included Sylvestarr, Ziggee, and Moggee. Despite the Gatto Gang's attempts to trick him, IG-88 captured all three.
By 0 ABY, IG-88 associated with crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure. He was present in the Hutt's palace when Jabba met with Darth Vader. The Sith Lord dismissed the Hutt's audience, and IG-88, along with other hunters such as Fett and 4-LOM, left the court. In 3 ABY, IG-88 responded to Vader's call for bounty hunters to locate the Millennium Falcon. He and several 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 and Fett tracked the Millennium Falcon to Cloud City on Bespin, where Fett, his longtime rival, destroyed the assassin droid, leaving it for scrap. Boba Fett ultimately captured Han Solo for Vader, who later delivered the bounty to Jabba on Tatooine.
Later, Sly Moore hired IG-88, along with the Droid Crush Pirates of Bestoon, to assassinate Vader. She informed him of the Sith Lord's weakened state and provided the code to breach his armor. A Hutt named Bokku lured Vader and the Sith assassin Ochi of Bestoon into an ambush, sending 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. IG-88 and the pirates then attacked them. During the firefight, IG-88 warned Vader that his mechanics were in worse shape than the droid's.
When Vader said he needed information from IG-88, the droid replied that Vader would have to download it from his severed head. Vader attempted to destroy the droid, but IG-88 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 demanded to know who gave him the code. The droid refused, citing the terms of his employment. While IG-88 was distracted, Vader used the Force to take the remote, using it against the droid to force him to blast himself in the head. After subduing IG-88, Vader and Ochi forced the pirates to retreat and used one of the droid's hands to access a terminal he had been using, discovering various dead ends and the symbol of Crimson Dawn.
After repairing himself, IG-88 returned to Coruscant and reported his failure 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 that together, they would be more powerful than Vader or Sidious. 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 struck down IG-88 again before chasing Moore and her court into the Imperial Palace.
RB-919 found IG-88 on a planet and rebuilt 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.
Later, IG-88 accepted 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.
Before or during 4 ABY, IG-88 attempted a software infiltration of the second Death Star. The Imperial astromech droid R2-Q5 thwarted his plan.
In 34 ABY, after the Battle of Takodana, mercenary Bazine Netal contacted IG-88 to discuss the location of the Millennium Falcon after hearing a rumor about the time IG-88 nearly caught the Falcon. During their meeting, IG-88 told Netal about his near capture of the Falcon with Kallus and again when he lost out to Fett. Netal responded that her employer only paid for results, despite his excuses. She informed IG-88 that someone knew the Falcon's location and would tell her before leaving him to continue her search.
IG-88, a rogue Class four assassin droid, was obsessed with hunting, destroying, and killing due to his incompletely formed droid programming. He typically hunted alone and was known as a merciless hunter. His primary motivation for being a bounty hunter was his desire to hunt and kill organic beings.
IG-88 was a hideous, battered chrome war droid standing 1.96 meters tall. His steady aim and advanced sensors that ringed his head, allowing him to see in all directions, contributed to his success. These sensors included multiple red photoreceptors, a heat sensor, and a sound sensor. IG-88 also had a vocoder at the base of his head. His torso could fully rotate, allowing him to blast enemies on all sides. His tough metal body allowed him to withstand most attacks and featured acid-proof servo wires.
IG-88 was armed with various weapons, including blaster rifles, pulse cannons, a DAS-430 Neural Inhibitor, and a needle dart gun that launched poison darts. He also carried a modified DLT-20A blaster rifle, a modified E-11 blaster rifle, and a vibrocleaver. His most dangerous weapons were hidden inside his frame, including a flamethrower, a sonic device, and toxic gas dispensers. IG-88 also wore an ammunition bandolier carrying concussion discs and vibroblades. As an IG-series droid, he was designed with blasters built into each arm, installed before the search for the Millennium Falcon. IG-88 owned a modified Aggressor-class Assault Fighter called the IG-2000.
IG-88, initially called a "chrome war droid" in the script and "Phlutdroid" during production, was created for the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Bill Hargreaves and Steve Short of the props and special effects teams constructed his mechanical puppet, which was a significant departure from Ralph McQuarrie's streamlined design. IG-88's cylindrical head was originally a combustion chamber from a Rolls-Royce Derwent jet engine, previously used in the distillery setup in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. McQuarrie revised his IG-88 design during the production of 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 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.
Lucasfilm has no official record of who operated IG-88 in The Empire Strikes Back, but the official Star Wars Authentics website credits Bill Hargreaves. However, 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 credited as a member of The Empire Strikes Back's effects crew. Because IMDb often relies on unconfirmed information submitted by fans and Star Wars Insider could not determine who submitted the information, it is unknown whether Klein actually operated IG-88. Oddly, Star Wars Authentics credits Klein instead of Hargreaves in the description of the photograph titled "Darth Vader, Dengar, IG-88 and Boba Fett," despite crediting Hargreaves in the descriptions of nearly every other live-action image of IG-88 available for purchase on the website.
A fan wrote to 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, Shaun Shuey from Wonder Lake, Illinois, claimed to be friends with Klein, who was a then-nineteen-year-old fan who jokingly added himself to the Internet Movie Database as the technician behind IG-88, taking advantage of how only C-3PO and R2-D2 were given credits. Shuey stated that Klein was reading through Star Wars Insider's prior report on the possible technicians behind IG-88 while in a restaurant with Shuey, who stated Klein jumped out of his chair upon seeing himself listed as a lead. Shuey concluded that 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 put their only lead on the case to rest.
Pre-release information for the 2019 Disney+ live-action television series The Mandalorian stated that IG-11 was often mistaken for IG-88 in-universe, though IG-88 is never referenced in the show's first season. Orange stripes and a double bandolier were added to IG-11's design to distinguish him from IG-88. Concept supervisor Christian Alzmann gave IG-11 hands to better enable him to use his blaster rifles, which IG-88 lacked.
IG-88 appeared 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.