Restraining bolt/Legends

"I guess you're too small to run away on me if I take this off."

- Luke Skywalker, to R2-D2

A restraining bolt, also known as a restraining separator bolt, was a small device that could be attached to most droids used to ensure their obedience. More specifically, when fitted with a restraining bolt, droids could not leave the area designated by their owner, and were forced to obey commands given from a small remote device (such as "COME" and "STOP"). When activated, the restraining bolt turned off a droid's motor impulse without actually shutting down the droid. Also, restraining bolts had to be secured to specific locations on the droid.

Restraining bolts could also be used to shut down a droid, and power it back up again. This could be used to force a restart when there was an error in the droid's memory. The shut down could be accomplished with a switch on the bolt, or through the use of a caller. Kell Tainer helped Myn Donos restart his droid Shiner using this method after Empion mines had disabled the squadron.

The astromech droid R2-D2 tricked his new owner Luke Skywalker into removing his restraining bolt, so that he could leave the Lars Homestead and seek out Obi-Wan Kenobi. R2-D2 and C-3PO were also fitted with restraining bolts during the Bakuran Crisis. The assassin/protocol droid HK-47 also had a restraining bolt so that he could not leave the droid shop until he was purchased and collected. Whistler, Corran Horn's R2 unit, had a unique mechanism which shifted control points internally, allowing the astromech to avoid being controlled by restraining bolts at all.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Cloak of Deception
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron ½
 * Star Wars Journal: The Fight for Justice
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novelization
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * To Fight Another Day
 * Star Wars: Yoda Stories
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * The Truce at Bakura
 * X-wing: Wraith Squadron
 * Heir to the Empire
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge
 * Children of the Jedi
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee