Octuptarra magna tri-droid

The octuptarra combat tri-droids were advanced combat automata used by the Techno Union and the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars.

Characteristics
The stilt-legged spider-like automatons had large balloon-like heads atop their thin stalk bodies, armed with laser turrets. They were named after the eight-eyed, gasbag-headed vine walkers native to Skako.



They were equipped with three laser turrets as standard, one on each side, below each photoreceptor. However, one variant featured four laser turrets. A certain variant was filled with a gaseous virus that would be released upon the droids' destruction, which was highly effective against organic enemy troops. The virus variants were nicknamed "virus droids".

Their rotating multi-jointed assemblies allowed them to change facing almost instantly and they could fire from extended ranges, though they were vulnerable in close-quarters fighting. It was almost impossible to approach such droids, as all sides conceivably faced the front.

Certain battlefield demands led to the creation of a larger model Tri-Droid. The Techno Union decided to reduce costs by scaling up the size of previous models. Chain-fed ordnance launchers replaced the laser cannons of its predecessors, with the reserves of ammunition stored within the hollows of its bulbous head, although some models did retain laser cannons as seen in the Battle of Christophsis. One rocket fired from a single behemoth was powerful enough to annihilate an UT-AT if aimed correctly, as seen in the Battle of Mygeeto. These three-legged artillery droids were formidable in battle, reducing infantry and tanks to rubble.

These are not to be confused with the Separatist's flying droid tri-fighters.

History
On the planet Christophsis, tri-droids were seen under the command of Whorm Loathsom, where they had blue coverings. Near the end of the Clone Wars, during the battle of Mygeeto, tri-droids were used against Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi's forces, decimating front lines.

During the Battle of Coruscant, a group of octuptarra tri-droids used their laser beam cannons against Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Yoda. The beams could be maintained, similar to the OG-9 homing spider droid's turret, so the Jedi were able to destroy several tri-droids with one beam by deflecting it with their lightsabers.



When the battle was over, the remains of the droids fell into the Coruscant underlevels, where strains of the virus leaked out and caused an unfortunate outbreak of moulting in the city's numerous avian species.

Following the execution of the Separatist Council by Darth Sidious's new apprentice, Darth Vader, these units were de-activated, although they remained a common sight on some worlds like Uba IV.

Behind the Scenes
There seems to be confusion on whether the "Octuptarra Combat Tri-Droid and the "Tri-Droid" are the same vehicle or not. The Databank gives the height of the tri-droid as 3.7 meters. However, all other sources portray it as many times larger than a Human. Additionally, the same Databank entry describes it as "gigantic" compared to the 3.6 meter octuptarra combat tri-droid. A value for the tri-droid's height consistent with the rest of the canon has not been stated.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars film / novel
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Evil Eyes
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Evil Eyes
 * Evil Eyes