IG-88A

"I think, therefore I am."

- IG-88A

IG-88A was the first of the IG-88 assassin droid series produced by Holowan Laboratories. He was created by Chief Technician Loruss and many other scientists as part of Project Phlutdroid. He was the leader of the IG-88s. He (along with the other IG-88s) was known as the second best bounty hunter in the Galaxy. He believed that biological beings were inferior, and that droids would have ruled the Galaxy if it hadn't been for the Rebel fleet that destroyed the Death Star II. He was known to never show any hint of mercy and would sometimes use the crudest and even barbaric ways to get his bounty. (Ironically and contrary to what Han Solo once said, IG-88 could and did pull people's arms out of their sockets, which he demonstrated on a scientist at Holowan Laboratories). He was an illegal assassin droid, which had been banned for decades. Even after his destruction, he was remembered by many as a great bounty hunter.

Early life
IG-88A was constructed at Holowan Laboratories. Soon after his activation, he formed an unstoppable chain reaction of sentience within his droid mind that alarmed his makers so that they prepared to shut him down. IG-88A then realized that he was superior to these biologicals, and by shutting him down it would interfere with his programming. He then turned on his creators. He quickly killed all 15 of them and after unsuccessfully trying to activate the other three IG-88's(who had empty memory cores) he downloaded his memory files and sentience into the other IG-88s and he designated them (in order of activation), IG-88s B, C, and D.



There was another droid present at the lab, IG-72, who declined to join the other IG-88s upon activation, but agreed to help fight their way out of the facility. Once the rogue droids reached the docking bay, IG-72 wished them luck on their mission, and departed in a cargo transport. The IG-88s took a fast courier and left the planet.

Droid rebellion
"We are superior."

- IG-88A

After his escape from Holowan Laboratories, IG-88A developed a plan to have all droids turn on their biological masters and rule the Galaxy. Their first plan was to take over the foundry world Mechis III, which was one of the Galaxy's largest droid manufacturers. They simply hacked into the planet's security system and then rerouted the planet's computer systems and transmitted a code to transfer their sentience into all droid minds, so that the droids followed their orders and killed all 73 human on-planet staff within five minutes. Then they set up their operations as rulers of the planet. IG-88A had come up with the second part of his plan. He would send shipments of droids out from the factory as usual, but would implant sentience programming within their behavior cores so that when he transmitted a code all the droids he manufactured would rise against their biological masters and become part of his own droid army to help him take over the Galaxy. Although the factory sent out its shipments as usual, Darth Vader came to inspect a large shipment of Viper probe droids along with Supervisor Gurdun, the very man who had commissioned Project Phlutdroid for the Imperials. Though they were lucky and Vader didn't find out about the illegal IGs, he still sensed that something, although he didn't know what, was amiss.

Bounty hunters


IG-88A knew that eventually they might run out of luck and be detected. He suggested to IG-88s B, C, and D that they become bounty hunters, to which they all agreed. The IG-88s would go on bounty hunting missions to keep attention away from their primary objectives, with IG-88B being the figurative face of the droids. They quickly gained a strong reputation for always succeeding and getting the job done quickly and efficiently. In 10 BBY, IG-88A encountered C-3PO and R2-D2. He was on a mission to kill Olag Greck at Hosk Station in the Kalarba System, but he was captured. He escaped and held R2-D2 and C-3PO hostage. IG-88A later killed Greck in a space battle over Indobok. He was known as the second best bounty hunter in the Galaxy&mdash;behind only to Boba Fett.

At some point within this time, IG-88A, or perhaps one of his brethren, worked for the Zann Consortium.

Death Star
Their numerous successes and growing reputation led to IG-88B being invited onboard Darth Vader's Super Star Destroyer, the Executor, along with a number of other elite hunters. There, a bounty on Han Solo was offered. IG-88B was destroyed at Cloud City by Boba Fett in pursuit of this bounty, causing IG-88A to send IG-88s C and D to kill Boba Fett and capture Solo.



However before his destruction, IG-88B communicated the content of top-secret files he had stolen and copied from the Executor after the briefing had been concluded. These files contained information on the existence of the Death Star II. Sensing an opportunity to further their plan of galactic domination, IG-88A planned to upload himself, his entire consciousness, mind, memories, and files into the Death Star II core.

He would take 100 battle droids disguised as stormtroopers to help him take over the Death Star computer core that was being shipped to the Death Star at Endor. Once he hijacked the shipment, IG-88A would upload himself into the core, and his droid stormtroopers would deliver it to the Death Star for installation. He would then have complete control over all of the Death Star's systems. He would use it to help his droid rebellion take over the Galaxy and have droids reign supreme over all biological life.

The plan succeeded initially. IG-88A's forces intercepted the shipment and took it over. Then, IG-88A uploaded his consciousness into the computer core, leaving behind the shell that was once his body. During the ambush, Supervisor Gurdun was killed: final revenge for the IG-88s. IG-88 sent a message disguised as Gurdun speaking (which was just a hologram from IG-88A) telling Moff Jerjerrod that he would not be present. Meanwhile, unknown to IG-88A, IG-88C had been destroyed by Boba Fett over Tatooine, which IG-88A had calculated was impossible. Furthermore, IG-88D was destroyed on Ord Mantell by Dash Rendar while looking for information about the carbonite-entombed Han Solo.

The shipment arrived at the Death Star, and the computer core was installed. IG-88A was now in complete control over the Death Star. His plan was nearly foiled when one of his droid stormtroopers was damaged in an accident and it was discovered that it was a droid. The droid then self-destructed, killing all the witnesses. Jerjerrod was disturbed when he heard of the accident: how could a regular steel beam explode and kill more than a dozen stormtroopers? After this incident, IG-88 played a joke on Emperor Palpatine when he arrived, slamming a door shut in front of his face unexpectedly. The Emperor was surprised, lurched back and almost fell. However, IG-88A was confused when the Emperor used some unseen force to try and open the door, though IG-88 simply increased hydraulics, until he was content and released the door. When the Rebel Fleet arrived during the Battle of Endor, IG-88 played along and fired at the fleet when the Death Star technicians transmitted the firing sequence. He was not daunted by the fighters that had penetrated his interior depths, about to prepare to transmit his droid override code, and as they fired at his main reactor he thought to himself his usual phrase, "I think, therefore I am". Then he was destroyed.

Mysterious Rebirth


Shortly after the destruction of the Death Star, IG-88A's dormant body was found and remade by an unknown being&mdash;it could have been one of his millions of droids who were made by him and the other IG-88s on Mechis III. He returned to bounty hunting and took on a bounty on Lando Calrissian given by Drebble, who wanted revenge after Lando cheated him in a sabacc game on Cloud City. IG-88A almost succeeded, but Lando escaped. Drebble later forgave Lando and dropped the bounty after the Rebel Alliance commended him for his actions on Gamandar and Arcan IV.

Somehow, he was soon deactivated once again on Mechis III. That inactive body was found in 24 ABY, by Tyko Thul and reprogrammed to serve and protect his family. He used his great fighting abilities to protect the family well. At first, some were suspicious about the newly-reprogrammed IG-88, but he proved himself and continued to serve the family as a loyal droid.

Appearance
IG-88A was very tall with a cylinder-like body designed to deflect bullets. He weighed a couple metric tons, and as he walked, he would sometimes leave large footprints in the ground. However, he was definitely not clumsy, instead he possessed extraordinarily agility for a droid, especially one his size. He could run very fast and climb with ease. After he (along with the other three IG-88s) got his reputation as the second-best bounty hunter in the Galaxy, sometimes enemies would run at very sight of him&mdash;even from his shadow.

Personality
IG-88A was ruthless, cunning and dangerous with tough determination; he never got off task completely. He would always get the job done no matter what. He would always stay true to his programming as an assassin droid even if he didn't want to. He had a huge dislike for biologicals. He always thought of them inferior to droids. He did have an interest in Darth Vader, who he thought was the perfect mix of biologicals and droids.

IG-88A and the other three units were very arrogant. They thought of themselves as superior, though this was arguably justifiable for droids, considering their sentience. In fact, IG-88A's final thoughts before the destruction of the Death Star II were that the fighters heading for the reactor posed no threat. He comforted himself with his familiar phrase: "I think, therefore I am."

Weapons

 * Pulse Cannon
 * Paralysis Cord
 * 12 grenades (concussion and explosive)
 * Sonic Stunner
 * BlasTech DLT-20A blaster rifle
 * Trion Gas Dispenser (or, in some cases, regular air, since some species such as Kel Dor or Skakoan couldn't breathe regular air)
 * Neural inhibitor launcher
 * Blaster pistol
 * Small, portable ion cannon
 * Flamethrower
 * Neural inhibitor projectile launcher
 * Needle dart gun
 * Blade extension set
 * Concussion discs
 * Flechettes

Personal Equipment

 * Computer input port
 * Vocoder
 * Broadband antenna
 * Motion Sensor
 * Heat Sensor
 * Targeting sight
 * Magnetic Sensor
 * Sound Sensor
 * 360 degree sensor array (allowing IG-88A to see in all directions)

Starship


IG-88A had his own starship, the IG-2000, which he used on missions as a bounty hunter. Although it was larger than most other starfighters, the ship still had excellent maneuverability. This was in part due to the droid's ability to ignore gravitational force limitations which biological beings could not exceed safely. The IG-2000 had two powerful laser cannons, an ion cannon, and two tractor beams. Its armament was designed primarily to capture, rather than destroy, enemy ships, (as most bounty hunting missions involve taking the target alive), but it was still a deadly opponent in a dogfight. IG-88A used this to great effect, capturing C-3PO and R2-D2 with it and defeating Olag Greck in a space battle. IG-2000 could hold eight prisoners in its cells, which were housed in the middle of the ship. The ship also had a powerful hyperdrive, and a typical crew consisted of IG-88A, four assault drones, and one FX-7 medical droid. IG-88A would typically fire a short laser cannon burst at an enemy ship to disable its shields, use the ion cannon to disable the ship, dock IG-2000 with the other starship, and then capture the bounty, sending in the assault drones first to eliminate any resistance.

Abilities

 * Blaster Reflective Body (There were a few weak spots that only IG-88 and his creators knew, but when they were all killed, he was practically invincible - except from the inside or from ion cannons, which Boba Fett demonstrated to IG-88B on Cloud City.)
 * Ability to alter body temperature at will
 * Ability to think as a sentient and regard himself as valuable.
 * Limited ability to feel emotions (such as surprise, horror, and enthusiasm)
 * Ability to link minds with other IG-88's and think as a unified mind.
 * Able to copy his own personality, memories, and files into other droids or computer systems.

Behind the scenes
IG-88 may have been the base of design for the IG lancer droid that appeared in Star Wars: Clone Wars which closely resembles him.

IG-88 is playable in the video game in LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.

The droid F4-MF, which appears in Star Wars Tales 9, also looks somewhat like IG-88.

IG-88A could deflect blasts from a high-powered laser rifle by just lifting his hand. The blast would simply bounce away due to reflective palms. He killed chief technician Loruus at Holowan Laboratories this way. He raised his hand and the shot deflected back and hit Loruus in the forehead, killing her instantly.

Although the IG-88 assassin droid first appeared in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, IG-88A's first appearance was Marvel Star Wars 50: The Crimson Forever.

In Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption, one of IG-88's "hero" abilities is to hack into the Death Star II and turn that weapons destructive firepower against its owners, much as he did in the established Expanded Universe.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Droids: The Kalarba Adventures
 * ''Star Wars Droids
 * The New King
 * Marvel Star Wars 50: The Crimson Forever
 * Marvel Star Wars 71: Return to Stenos
 * Marvel Star Wars 72: Fool's Bounty
 * Marvel Star Wars 85: The Hero
 * Shadows of the Empire
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Tales From Jabba's Palace
 * A Barve Like That: The Tale of Boba Fett
 * The Bounty Hunters: Kenix Kil
 * Young Jedi Knights: Delusions of Grandeur
 * Tales of the Bounty Hunters
 * Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88
 * Young Jedi Knights: Diversity Alliance