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 its products were rarely seen outside of private collections by the time of the New Republic.

History[]

A droid manufacturing corporation that also produced computer systems and droid repair equipment,^[1] Duwani Mechanical Products was founded well before the year 4800 BBY, when it was commissioned by Supreme Chancellor Vocatara to produce the juggernaut war droid to aid the Galactic Republic's rocket-jumper corps in the conflict known as the Gank Massacres.^[2] 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 it maintained its position in the decades before 4000 BBY.^[3] The company's logo resembled a light blue ellipse containing numerous lines, and several dark red streaks stemmed from each side of the ellipse.^[2]

It 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 4000 BBY. Duwani acquired the T1-series trademark from Kellenech Technologies after their LB-series bulk-loading droid fell out of popularity^[4] over a century before the Great Sith War between the Republic and various Sith factions,^[2] and the company used it for its flagship T1-series utility droid. Duwani's T3-series utility droid,^[4] 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.^[2]

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 reconstituted Sith Empire.^[5] 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, although Duwani did not officially endorse such modifications.^[4] By the time of the Republic's reorganization into the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY 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.^[2]

Products[]

The company's droids were known for their utilitarian and minimalist design, but early Duwani models were durable and efficient.^[3] In the years before the Great Sith War, Duwani produced the humanoid 3DO protocol/service droid; the Jedi trainee Andur Sunrider purchased A-3DO for 1,500 credits several years before 4,000 BBY.^[1] Around the same time, Duwani offered the UniSlice—a compact device that jammed electronic systems while a low-power energy torch cut through locking mechanisms—for 2,000 credits, as well as the Breather-1, a breath mask costing 150 credits.^[1] Security code breakers like the UniSlice were considered to be archaic by the time of the Galactic Civil War some four thousand years later, though, as many places in the Outer Rim relied on older security measures; the UniSlice continued to see frequent use for breaking and entering.^[7]

One of the earliest Duwani products^[2] 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^[2] as many active units were retired.^[4] 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.^[4]

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.^[6] T3-M4 was a T3-series droid who became a companion of the famous Jedi Revan during the Jedi Civil War,^[8] and he continued to serve aboard Revan's ship, the Ebon Hawk, even after the Jedi disappeared, working alongside Revan's ally Meetra Surik during the Dark Wars.^[6]

In the years after the Dark Wars, Duwani continued to refine and produce droids,^[5] eventually shifting from utility droids to the more starship-capable astromech droids,^[4] and its 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 while the Galactic War broke out between the Republic and the reconstituted Sith Empire^[5] in 3641 BBY.^[9]

Behind the scenes[]

Duwani Mechanical Products was first mentioned in the Tales of the Jedi Companion, a roleplaying reference book published by West End Games in 1996 as a tie-in to the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi comic-book series.^[1]

Sources[]

• Tales of the Jedi Companion (First mentioned)
• Gundark's Fantastic Technology: Personal Gear
• 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
• Scavenger's Guide to Droids
• Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia

Notes and references[]