Lok Durd/Legends

General Lok Durd was a male Neimoidian weapons developer in the Separatist Droid Army who served in the Clone Wars. During the war, he created an experimental defoliator, an artillery radiation weapon that could theoretically completely wipe out any organic matter while leaving machinery unharmed. Durd planned to do an experiment of the weapon on the planet of Maridun upon his discovery of a small Lurmen colony there. After landing on the planet and setting up a base camp, Durd tested the defoliator on a pair of battle droids successfully. He then tried to use the weapon on the colony to impress Count Dooku, the leader of the Separatist movement. However, he was interrupted by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, his Togruta apprentice Ahsoka Tano, and Twi'lek Jedi Knight Aayla Secura, who had crash landed on the planet prior to Durd's arrival. Using shield generators they had captured from the Separatist base camp, the Jedi were able to block Durd's defoliator by surrounding the Lurmen village with a deflector shield, and Durd was captured by the Jedi following a brief battle.

The defoliator
Lok Durd was a male Neimoidian from Neimoidia who became a general and weapons designer for the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. Sometime during the war, Durd developed a defoliator weapon, an enhanced radiation weapon that could destroy all living matter while leaving inorganic material unharmed, such as his own combat units, the battle droids. He created the weapon in hopes that it would allow him to rise in the ranks of the Separatist Droid Army. The defoliator was mounted on a modified heavy artillery gun, and when loaded, fired a large missile that contained the explosive itself. Upon detonation, the warhead created a large, fiery shock wave; however, the wave could be blocked by a deflector shield. After trekking the stars, Durd decided to test the weapon on the remote planet of Maridun and show the results to the Sith Lord Count Dooku, the leader of the Separatist movement, as Maridun was home to a small, peaceful Lurmen colony. As Durd believed that the Lurmen would not fight back, he thought it to be the perfect testing site.

After landing planetside with the defoliator and several dozen battle droids, Durd's forces built a small but heavily armed base camp and went to the Lurmen colony. When they arrived there in a Separatist landing craft, Durd met with the colony's leader, Tee Watt Kaa. To avoid causing a panic, Durd lied to Kaa, saying that the colony was now under Separatist "protection," and would remain unharmed as long as it did not fight back. He then boarded his shuttle and returned to the base camp to conduct the first defoliator test and double-check that it would not harm inorganic beings.

Testing the defoliator
Back at the Separatist base, Durd prepared to conduct the first field test of the defoliator. When he told his battle droids about his recently developed weapon, they cheered. However, when he stated he required two volunteers, the droids' ranks quickly moved back, leaving two very reluctant B1 battle droids for the defoliator to be tested upon.

Durd opened a hololink to Count Dooku to show him the tests, and their results. After the two battle droids were a safe distance away from the base camp, Durd ordered the defoliator to be loaded and fired. Another pair of B1 battle droids loaded the defoliator missile, and Durd's Aqualish chief weapons technician, Pune Zignat, prepared to fire the weapon at the two droids. The Aqualish aide launched the missile, and as it landed, it exploded into an inferno.

The two battle droids were quickly engulfed by the shockwave, while Durd and the rest of his troops, along with Count Dooku through his hololink, watched back at the camp. As the smoke generated by the defoliator dissipated, it revealed the two battle droids, slightly smoking but otherwise unharmed and intact, standing in the middle of a desolate wasteland. To Durd, the defoliator appeared to work: the two test subjects were not damaged, and all organic life around them was completely wiped out. Dooku stated that the new weapon was very impressive, and that it should be tested on living, sentient subjects. Durd promised that he would test the weapon on the Lurmen colony. The Neimoidian general then closed the hololink with Dooku and prepared to travel to the Lurmen colony to test the defoliator, taking three squads of droids with him, as well as three Armored Assault Tanks.

Battle of Maridun
General Durd and his forces arrived at the colony the next day and set up positions a considerable distance away from it, but close enough so that the village was in range of the defoliator. When one of the droids told Durd that a barricade had been set up, the Neimoidian laughed, thinking it was only the Lurmen trying to protect themselves. However, a glance through a pair of electrobinoculars revealed to him the presence of a small Republic force&mdash;Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Aayla Secura, Skywalker's Togruta apprentice Ahsoka Tano, Commander Bly, and Clone Captain Rex. The Jedi and the clones had crash-landed on Maridun before Durd had even arrived, in the wake of the Sky Battle of Quell, and had taken refuge with the Lurmen. The force had also witnessed Durd's test of the defoliator, and took measures to protect their Lurmen allies as a result. Upon seeing the Jedi and the clones, Durd ordered that the defoliator be fired at them.

The enemy saw that the Separatists were loading the defoliator, and they activated several shield generators they had stolen from Durd's camp, and the resultant deflector shield enveloped the colony. As soon as loading was complete on the defoliator, Durd commanded his aide to fire the weapon. The missile landed several meters in front of the deflector shield, and the fiery shockwave began to expand. When the shockwave reached the shield, however, it was unable to break through and was effectively stopped. After the wave had dissipated, the Jedi and clones emerged from behind the pod barricade, preparing for the Separatists' charge. Durd realized he would have to destroy the shields for the defoliator to be effective, and ordered his first squad, consisting of several B1 and B2 battle droids, to charge forward and attack.

The first squad charged across the newly devastated field and engaged the Jedi, but the Republic forces were able to drive them off. Durd and the rest of his forces watched on as the first squad was obliterated. The general then ordered his second and third squads to charge forward, leaving behind just a few battle droids and the three tanks to guard his own position. As the second wave of droids attacked, the Jedi were unable to destroy all of them, and a portion of the Confederate force got past their line. They eventually were able to push through and destroy the enemy shield generators.

Seeing that the shield was down, Durd ordered his droids to reload the defoliator and destroy the village; however, Skywalker was already bearing down on him at a rapid speed. Durd ordered his tanks to blast the Jedi Knight, but Skywalker was too fast for the laser fire and managed to evade them. The Jedi destroyed the defoliator along with several of the droids guarding Durd. In the process, a defoliator projectile was dropped by the droids. Durd, afraid that he would be "defoliated" by the projectile rolling toward him, jumped out of his AAT and attempted to run away, but Skywalker lifted him from the ground before the Neimoidian general could run far. Durd's forces were eventually routed by the combined effort of the Republic and Lurmen forces. After the battle, the Jedi prepared to leave the colony with the captured general, and three Republic Venator-class Star Destroyers jumped into the system to pick them up.

Occupation of Lanteeb
During the war, Durd led the Separatists on the invaded and blockaded Outer Rim world of Lanteeb. He eventually obtained the keys to a "terrifying" bioweapon from a captive scientist. After learning that Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi were on Lanteeb, Durd chased the two across the planet with his own battle droid army.

Personality and traits
Lok Durd was a flamboyant, bossy, ruthless, and merciless individual, and was often disliked by his peers for this. He hoped to be promoted to a higher and more substantial rank within the Separatist Droid Army, which was one of the reasons he developed his defoliator weapon. A self-centered Neimoidian, Durd dreamed that with his development of the device, Republic planets would submit to the Confederacy at the mere mention of his name. With a larger salary, he also hoped to spoil his children. Durd constantly pontificated and bragged to the battle droids under his command on what the success of his defoliator would bring him. In battle, the general preferred to deploy his troops in large head-on rushes. However, he was cowardly, as seen when he chose to escape from the battle after Skywalker had decapitated his defoliator cannon.

A Speciesist being, Durd believed that Neimodians were the noblest individuals in the galaxy. He chafed the need to report to the higher-ranking Count Dooku; given all that the Neimoidians had done for the Separatist cause, Durd was offended that Dooku was the public leader of the Confederacy. After arriving on Maridun and selecting the pacifist Lurmen as the defoliator's organic test subjects, Durd lied to Chieftain Kaa, stating that the village was now under the "protection" of the Separatist Alliance, when in fact the colony would be destroyed by his weapon. The Lurmen would be obliterated before anyone else would know of the Neimoidian's massacre, and Durd's "little white lie" would die with them as well.

Durd was very overweight for a Neimoidian, eating lots of fatty pylat eggs and deep-fried chewgrubs. As a result of his corpulence, he was a very slow runner. Durd wore a Neimodian mitre with the Separatist insignia set upon it, as well as a tunic of Ramordian silk adorned with expensive girdles and rank epaulets. He was able to speak Galactic Standard Basic.

Behind the scenes
"We decided that going with this sort of really big, heavy, rolly guy with an even bigger hat than Nute Gunray's would just&hellip;would work, would sort of sell that this guy was extremely flamboyant and very bossy and even more glutunous than your average Neimoidian."

- Series Designer Kilian Plunkett, on modeling Lok Durd

The character of Lok Durd made his first appearance in The Clone Wars television series episode "Defenders of Peace." In the episode, Durd is voiced by George Takei of Star Trek fame. Although his character is captured at the end of the episode, according to interviews with George Takei, Durd will be a recurring villain in the series. Durd received an entry in the 2009 Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Visual Guide Ultimate Battles sourcebook, and he is set to appear in the upcoming novels Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth and Clone Wars Gambit: Siege of The Clone Wars novel series.

Durd's character was creative as an alternative to having the Confederate General Grievous appear multiple times and avoid downplaying his "legend" with multiple Republic victories. Durd's corpulent appearance was built off of the television series production crew's desire to deviate from the pre-existing model for Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray, which was similar to that of the Confederate Captain Mar Tuuk made for the episode "Storm Over Ryloth," and helped to further depict his flamboyance and bossiness.

Appearances

 * Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Siege
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Siege