Droid/Legends


 * "Well, if droids could think, there'd be none us of here, would there?"
 * &mdash; Obi-Wan Kenobi, 22 BBY


 * "We seem to be made to suffer; it's our lot in life."
 * &mdash; C-3PO, 0 BBY

Droids are robots: mechanical beings, often possessing artificial intelligence.

Common Types

 * Assassin droids are used to kill selected targets.
 * Astromech droids are used aboard starships for navigational and maintenance purposes.
 * Battle droids are used as weapons of war in place of living troops.
 * Interrogation droids are used to question subjects; under some governments, they are particularly common as torturers.
 * Medical droids are used as doctors.
 * Protocol droids are used to handle diplomatic affairs, and aid in translation between various languages.

Degrees of Droids
Droids are divided into five basic "degrees."


 * First-degree: Capable of creative, complicated thought.  Used in medical fields, or the sciences.
 * Second-degree: Technical droids.  Probe droids and the like also fit in this category.
 * Third-degree: Social interaction droids, for example protocol droids.
 * Fourth-degree: Security or military droids.  They are often capable of harming sentients, and so are strictly regulated.
 * Fifth-degree: Menial labor droids.

Manufacture
The two leading droid manufacturers are Cybot Galactica and Industrial Automaton.

Legal Status
Droids are typically treated as property. More advanced droids sometimes receive proportionally more respect. Some protest the status of droids as slavery. This is a contentious issue, owing in part to the difficulty of assessing levels of artificial intelligence, and determining which droids if any may be considered properly sentient.

Although emancipation of droids is a radical concept, some oppose memory wipes except for very simple droids.