Battle droid

"Do not confuse me with one of your mass-produced, fall-in-line, 37-percent kill-rate-at-best, military drones."

- AD-W4, on Separatist battle droids

Battle droids, also known as combat droids, were a type of droid designed for combat. Over the years, many different models of battle droid have been utilized by various factions throughout the galaxy. One such faction was the Confederacy of Independent Systems, which used a number of different models of battle droid during the Clone Wars to make up the Separatist Droid Army. Under the command of General Grievous, varying models of battle droid fought against the Galactic Republic's clone troopers until the final days of the war, when the Confederate battle droids were deactivated by the Galactic Empire. The most commonly manufactured battle droid deployed at the time was the B1 battle droid.

Later, during the Galactic Civil War, Temmin Wexley owned a modified battle droid named Mister Bones who acted as a companion to him. After the Rebellion on Akiva, the two joined the New Republic in their fight against the Empire.

Clone Wars
During the Clone Wars, the Confederacy of Independent Systems used a variety of battle droids in their droid army. These droids, including B1 battle droids, B2 super battle droids, and droidekas, were produced in large factories on planets such as Geonosis. The Confederate battle droids were often commanded in military campaigns by the Kaleesh cyborg General Grievous. Battle droids were ineffective in small numbers yet had the ability to overwhelm, or "swarm", in large groups. Additionally, they had limited intelligence and needed specific instructions to operate effectively. Battle droids were led by commanders such as Grievous or Asajj Ventress. However, organic commanders were usually assisted by specialized OOM command battle droids. T-series tactical droids and Super tactical droids also commanded various battle droids throughout the Clone Wars, one example of this being Kalani who led Confederate forces against insurgents on Onderon. Kalani then escaped to Agamar.

Age of the Empire
Although battle droids were outlawed by the Galactic Empire in the wake of the Clone Wars, companies such as Holowan Laboratories and Arakyd Industries were able to evade the ban by having their products reclassified as security droids.

Many droids remained active on Agamar due to the intervention of Kalani, who was able to block the deactivation order initiated by Darth Vader after he killed the Separatist leaders. When the Empire arrived on Agamar, Kalani was able to flee with four droids.

Non-canon appearances

 * William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace: Star Wars Part the First
 * Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
 * LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales Episodes I-III
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens