Duwani Mechanical Products

Duwani Mechanical Products
Organizational information
Primary role(s)	Droid manufacturer
Major product(s)	Juggernaut war droid KM1 mining droid T1-series utility droid T3-series utility droid T7-series astromech droid
Chronological and political information
Founding	Before 4800 BBY
Date dissolved	Before 22 BBY
Affiliation	Galactic Republic

Warning: This infobox has missing parameters: headquarters and unrecognized parameters: BG1, BG2, hidec, hideo, era, imageBG

"Beep boo weep. Twee twee."

―A Duwani Mechanical Products 3C-series utility droid

Duwani Mechanical Products was a droid manufacturing company active during the time of the Old Republic. Founded well before the Gank Massacres of 4800 BBY, the company specialized in the production of utility and astromech droids, but it also produced various models of rugged and utilitarian probe droids, protocol droids, mining droids, and battle droids. Duwani remained in business throughout conflicts such as the Jedi Civil War, the Dark Wars, and the Great Galactic War, and two of its products—the T3-series utility droid T3-M4 and the T7-series astromech droid T7-O1—played pivotal roles in galactic events during their lifetimes. However, Duwani eventually went out of business sometime before the Clone Wars, and their products were rarely seen outside of private collections by the time of the New Republic.

History

"TARIS: We received a dreadful welcome when T3 droids at the starport made off with our baggage."

―Trampeta's Star Guide

A droid manufacturing corporation that also produced computer systems and droid repair equipment, Duwani Mechanical Products was founded well before the year 4800 BBY, when they were commissioned by Supreme Chancellor Vocatara to produce the juggernaut war droid to aid the Republic's rocket-jumper corps in the conflict known as the Gank Massacres. In the centuries that followed, Duwani became one of the most successful companies in the droid market alongside the Czerka Corporation and the Aratech Repulsor Company, and they maintained their position in the decades before 4000 BBY. They continued to produce utility droids, mining droids, and other models throughout the next several centuries, surviving the Mandalorian Wars, Jedi Civil War, and the Dark Wars—a series of conflicts that occurred in the decades after 4,000 BBY. Duwani acquired the T1-series trademark from Kellenech Technologies after their LB-series bulk-loading droid fell out of popularity over a century before the Great Sith War, and they used it for their flagship T1-series utility droid. Duwani's T3-series utility droid, which went into production sometime before 4086 BBY, was one of the earliest predecessors to the astromech droid, and the company continued to improve upon the T3-series over the next century.

T7-O1, a T7-series astromech around the time of the Great Galactic War

The T7-series astromech droid was a model offered around a century after the Dark Wars, and droids of similar design were common throughout the galaxy during the Great Galactic War between the Republic and the Sith Empire. In the years after the Mandalorian Wars, pilots began to retrofit utility droids with starfighter interface packages, allowing their droids to plug directly into their ships, though Duwani did not officially endorse such modifications. By the time of the Republic's reorganization into the Galactic Empire at the end of the Clone Wars, Duwani had long been out of business, and models such as the T3-series were rarely seen outside of private collections by the time of the New Republic.

Products

"Statement: Oh, do shut up, you beeping little trash compactor."

―The assassin droid HK-47, to T3-M4

The company's droids were known for their utilitarian and minimalist design, but even their early models were durable and efficient. In the years before the Great Sith War, a conflict that pitted various Sith organizations against the Galactic Republic, Duwani produced the humanoid 3DO protocol/service droid, though the price had decreased to 1,500 credits by the time the Jedi trainee Andur Sunrider purchased A-3DO several years before 4,000 BBY. Around the same time, Duwani offered the UniSlice—a compact device that jammed electronic systems while a low-power energy torch literally sliced through locking mechanisms—for 2,000 credits, as well as the Breather-1, a breath mask costing 150 credits.

One of their earliest products was the juggernaut war droid, a combat model designed specifically as a remote resupply and combat droid for the Republic's rocket-jumper corps. The droids became a common sight on the Republic's capital of Coruscant, serving as part of the planet's defense forces, but that ended when the HK-01 assassin droid reprogrammed many juggernauts during the Great Droid Revolution of 4015 BBY. Most juggernaut war droids had their intelligence matrices removed, and production of the droids ceased as many active units were retired. Another droid produced by Duwani in the years before the Mandalorian Wars was the popular DP-2 probe droid, a large ovoid model intended for use by scouts and explorers in the deep of space. The KM1 mining droid was a crab-like model that saw great use in the Outer Rim Territories at mining complexes such as the Peragus Mining Facility.

File:T3M4-NEGD.jpg

Duwani's popular T3-series utility droid

With the production of the T1-series, Duwani pioneered the new class of utility droid, and subsequent models such as the 3C-series, IT-series, and T3-series utility droid built on the T1's success. Duwani's utility droids were easily recognizable by their four wheeled legs, flat rotating head, and short stature. T3-M4 was a T3-series droid who became a companion of the famous Jedi Revan during the Jedi Civil War, and he continued to serve aboard Revan's ship the Ebon Hawk even after Revan disappeared, working alongside Revan's ally Meetra Surik during the Dark Wars. In the years after the Dark Wars, Duwani continued to refine and produce their droids, eventually shifting from utility droids to the more starship-capable astromech droids, and their T7-series astromech droid went into production around a century after the Jedi Civil War. Another Duwani droid, the T7-series astromech T7-O1, was in operation for more than two centuries after his creation, and he became a companion of the legendary Jedi Knight known as the Hero of Tython as the Galactic War broke out between the Sith Empire and the Republic in 3,642 BBY.

Behind the scenes

Duwani Mechanical Products was first mentioned in the 1996 reference guide Tales of the Jedi Companion, and reappeared in 2006's The New Essential Guide to Droids. T3-M4, a companion character in the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, was identified as a Duwani product in the 2008 Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide. The Scavenger's Guide to Droids further expanded on the company and their products, and the Jedi Knight companion T7-O1 in the MMORPG The Old Republic was later confirmed to be a creation of Duwani Mechanical Products in the 2012 guide Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia.

Sources

• Tales of the Jedi Companion (First mentioned)
• The New Essential Guide to Droids
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Handbook
• Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. III, p. 207 ("T3 series droid")
• Scavenger's Guide to Droids
• Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia

Notes and references

In other languages

• Deutsch