TC-14

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"I'm TC-14, at your service. This way please."

―TC-14 greets the Jedi —

Listen (file info)^[4]

TC-14 was a silver-plated TC-series protocol droid with feminine programming who was manufactured by Cybot Galactica. She served aboard the Trade Federation flagship, Saak'ak, where she frequently received memory wipes that left her permanently confused and with no personality. In 32 BBY, she was aboard the Saak'ak when it was part of the Federation's blockade of the planet Naboo.

The droid greeted the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi when they arrived aboard the vessel to negotiate an end to the blockade and reported that the visitors were Jedi to the Neimoidians in charge of the starship. They sent her back to distract the Jedi and then attempted to assassinate the pair while TC-14 was serving the Jedi drinks. The Jedi allowed TC-14 to leave unharmed, but she was later destroyed during the Battle of Naboo after being transferred to the Lucrehulk-class Battleship Vuutun Palaa.

Biography[]

Greeting the Jedi[]

"What? What did you say?"
"The ambassadors are Jedi Knights, I believe."

―Nute Gunray and TC-14 —

Listen (file info)^[4]

TC-14 distraction — TC-14 was sent to distract the Jedi when they arrived aboard the *Saak'ak*.

Manufactured by Cybot Galactica, TC-14 was a TC-series protocol droid^[3] with feminine programming^[6] who served the Trade Federation^[4] as the personal assistant of Viceroy Nute Gunray.^[7] Due to the paranoid nature of her masters, TC-14 had her memory wiped every two to three weeks to prevent her from picking up vital Federation secrets to pass on to their competitors.^[5] During a trade dispute^[7] in 32 BBY,^[1] she^[6] was stationed on board the Federation's flagship,^[4] Saak'ak,^[7] when the group blockaded the planet Naboo in the Naboo system under the orders of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious.^[4]

The Galactic Republic sent the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to negotiate an end to the blockade, and after the Republic's cruiser landed in one of the Saak'ak's hangars, it was TC-14 who greeted the two Jedi at the hangar's entrance. She then led them to one of the flagship's conference rooms and left them upon arrival to report back to the bridge. On the bridge, she informed the viceroy and Captain Daultay Dofine^[4] as quickly as possible^[8] that the ambassadors were Jedi, which horrified the Neimoidians. Gunray ordered Dofine to distract the Jedi while he contacted Sidious, but the captain refused and ordered TC-14 to keep the ambassadors occupied instead.^[4]

Disposable distraction[]

"Distract them, I will contact Lord Sidious."
"Are you brain dead? I'm not going in there with two Jedi. Send the droid."

―Nute Gunray and Daultay Dofine send TC-14 to distract the Jedi —

Listen (file info)^[4]

TC-14 and battle droids — TC-14 was spared by the Jedi.

TC-14 returned to the conference room with a tray of drinks for the two Jedi, who were growing restless. After they had both taken a cup from the tray, the pair leapt up and drew their lightsabers, having sensed the destruction of their cruiser in the hangar. TC-14 dropped the tray of drinks in shock and apologized as poisonous dioxis gas began pouring into the room through its vents.^[4]

After some time, Gunray—who had ordered the death of the Jedi after hearing from Sidious—sent a squad of battle droids to check if the pair had perished. They opened the door to the conference room, which had been sealed, and readied their blasters; however, only TC-14 emerged, once again carrying the tray. The protocol droid quickly moved out of the squad's way^[4] and down a corridor,^[5] after which the two Jedi emerged from the gas and struck down the battle droids. The Jedi ultimately escaped from the flagship and the Federation, which then invaded Naboo.^[4]

TC-14's next scheduled memory wipe was brought forward in order to erase any evidence of the Neimoidian's attempts to kill the Jedi, but before it could take place,^[5] TC-14 was transferred^[2] along with Dofine^[4] to the Lucrehulk-class Battleship Vuutun Palaa, where she perished when the ship was destroyed by Anakin Skywalker at the culmination of the Battle of Naboo.^[2] The B1-series battle droid R0-GR later wrote about TC-14 in his Droidography book, musing that if she had not followed her programming quite so precisely when dealing with the Jedi ambassadors then the Clone Wars might never have occurred.^[8]

Characteristics[]

"Oh, sorry!"

―TC-14 apologizes as the Jedi sense danger —

Listen (file info)^[4]

TC-14 Disney — TC-14 was a TC-series protocol droid who was left without a personality by constant memory wipes.

TC-14's duties included carrying out the basic roles of a droid in her position, such as welcoming guests and serving refreshments. TC-14 received frequent memory wipes from the Trade Federation, far beyond what was recommended for a droid, and as a result had no personality,^[3] conscience,^[7] or memory of any secrets she may have been privy to. The constant memory tampering also resulted in the droid having no life experience to compare to, meaning that she found everything slightly confusing and had a permanently baffled demeanor. As such, she found life aboard the Neimoidian vessels constantly bewildering as her owners began preparing for war, and she was confounded by the assassination attempted on the Jedi as she served them drinks.^[3]

TC-14 was bit programmed for duplicity and murder and so often found herself out of her depth working for the Trade Federation. Despite the protocol droid's programming, being caught in the crossfire between the battle droids and the Jedi produced levels of stress that TC-14 could not cope with. She also did not feel that aiding her masters in assassinating diplomatic visitors fell within her duties as a protocol droid, although, as she was endlessly polite, she did give her best efforts when keeping the Jedi busy and apologized to the battle droids while leaving the gas-filled conference room. TC-14's accessories included auditory sensors, a broadband antenna receiver, a logic functions computer, a microwave emitter/sensor, photoreceptors, and a vocabulator.^[5] She had silver plating, yellow photoreceptors,^[4] and stood 1.67 meters (five feet, six inches) tall.^[5]

Behind the scenes[]

Film appearance[]

"What's quite nice is it isn't very robotic. It has, if I may say so, a very charming quality to it."

―Lindsay Duncan, on TC-14's voice^[9]

TC14 parts — TC-14's costume was made from the same template as C-3PO and worn by John Fensom.

TC-14 was physically portrayed by John Fensom and voiced by Lindsay Duncan in the prequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace,^[4] which was released on May 19, 1999.^[10] Design director Doug Chiang drew concept art of TC-14 serving drinks to Obi-Wan Kenobi, finishing the piece on April 16, 1996, after three days of work on it.^[11] Casting director^[4] Robin Gurland offered Duncan the role after the actress auditioned for the role of Shmi Skywalker. She was sent an artist's rendition of the character and then recorded her dialogue over a fairly short amount of time in a London recording studio. Director George Lucas and Gurland were present for the recording and played a rough cut of the film for Duncan. She claimed that the film was the only work she had ever done that impressed her young son.^[9]

TC-14 was built from the same costume template as C-3PO.^[12] An alternate version of the scene where TC-14 greets the Jedi was animated and included two computer generated droids discussing the arrival of the Republic cruiser, with one stating that it must be important if Gunray sent a "useless protocol gearhead" to greet them.^[13] This scene was included in a revised fourth draft of the script dated to June 23, 1997, which also uses the name "TC-3" for TC-14 and refers to the character with male pronouns.^[14] In the Star Wars Legends continuity, TC-14 appeared prior to the release of The Phantom Menace in the film's novelization, which was written by Terry Brooks^[15] and released on April 21, 1999.^[10]

LEGO[]

"Hello. Do you know who I am? Or what I assuposed to be doing? I appear to have no memory of my current identity or directive. Given the circumstance, I have ascertained that I am either a new model or have had my memory wiped. Any more information you can find woud be invaluable."

―TC-14 greets the player in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga^[16]

TC-14 appears in the 2022 video game LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga during an adaptation of her scene from the The Phantom Menace with slightly altered dialogue. The droid later appears in Theed, the capital of Naboo, where she reveals to the player that she has lost her memory entirely and asks them to investigate what happened in the quest "Mysterious Endeavor." If the player refuses, she is understanding, but realizes that the answers she seeks are unlikely to reveal themselves on their own. Once the player accepts, TC-14 notices a masked Neimoidian watching nearby and asks the player to locate him after he flees. After questioning several citizens, the player locates the hiding Neimoidian and then chases him down when he once again tries to run.^[16]

Once the Neimoidian is caught, TC-14 joins the player as the Neimodian explains that he served with TC-14 onboard the Vuutun Palaa, but when the ship's destruction looked imminent he decided to escape. TC-14 refused to abandon her duties and join him in deserting, so he deactivated her and smuggled her into Theed before wiping her memory so that she would not remember that he had forced her to desert. TC-14 then reveals that she has heard the Neimoidian's confession, and after he apologizes and claims he planned to tell her the truth at some point, she forgives him, as if he had not smuggled her off the ship she would have perished and been unable to perform her duties anyway. The Neimoidian then describes his actions as heroic, but TC-14 disagrees.^[16]

With the mystery solved, the droid then also thanks the player, offering to enter their service since she no longer has any duties. This completes the quest and unlocks TC-14 as a purchasable character costing 35,000 studs. Later, in the Trade Federation hideout in Theed, the Neimoidian laments TC-14's departure: he had planned to ask her to stay as a helper droid; instead, he has to do his own dishes and scrub his own floors, left to wish that he had remained on the Vuutun Palaa.^[16]