C-3PO
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 C-3PO covered with his familiar golden plating | |
| C-3PO | |
|---|---|
| Droid type | Protocol droid |
| Manufacturer | Anakin Skywalker |
| Gender | Masculine programming |
| Height | 1.67 m pg 16, the "C-3PO" entry, infobox; Star wars: the essential guide to characters, Andy Mangels, 1st edition published November 1995, ISBN 0-345-39535-2 |
| Sensor color | Rebel Alliance |
| Home planet | Tatooine |
| Master (owner) | Anakin Skywalker, Shmi Skywalker, Padme Amidala, Raymus Antilles, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, among others |
| Affiliation | Galactic Republic, Rebel Alliance, New Republic |
C-3PO (pronounced See-Threepio, called 3PO for short) is a character from the fictional Star Wars universe, created by Anakin Skywalker circa 32 BBY, for "human-cyborg relations." He is a protocol droid - an android specifically designed to interact with organics - with a very proper manner and Received Pronunciation when speaking in English. He never tires of mentioning that he is "fluent in over six million forms of communication." He is portrayed by actor Anthony Daniels.
3PO's appearance was inspired by the robot in Metropolis.
Background
C-3PO is generally seen with his long-time counterpart, R2-D2, who is a small, quirky astromech droid. His main function as a protocol droid is to assist with etiquette, customs, and translation so that meetings of different cultures run smoothly. Threepio's TranLang III Communicator module combined with his AA-1 VerboBrain allowed him to be "fluent in over six million forms of communication." C-3PO is also comprised of many ancient parts, due to salvage that Watto and Tatooine could provide Anakin Skywalker. He is very loyal to his masters (as his programming dictates) and has served over 40 since his creation (the only masters seen in the original six films were: Anakin Skywalker, Shmi Skywalker, Cliegg Lars, Padme Amidala, Raymus Antilles, Owen Lars and finally Luke Skywalker; masters other than those mentioned were seen in the animated TV series [[Star Wars: Droids]], which may account for some of the rest of Threepio's masters). Jabba the Hutt was also "master" to 3PO for a short while in Return of the Jedi, but as this was part of a subterfuge to smuggle R2-D2 and Luke Skywalker's lightsaber into Jabba's palace, Jabba arguably does not count as one of 3PO's masters.C-3PO is one of the few characters to appear in all six of the Star Wars feature films, and one of the very few to be played six times by the same actor. Fans have suggested he may have had a prior existence before being taken apart; this was before the events in The Phantom Menace, in which we learn that 3PO was built by Anakin Skywalker from those scrap parts. After Anakin leaves to be trained as a Jedi, 3PO is left with his mother, Shmi Skywalker, on Tatooine. Appearing mainly in a skeletal state in the film, he doesn't gain his coverings until [[Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones|Attack of the Clones]], in the property now of Cliegg Lars. After Anakin and Padmé visit the planet, 3PO follows his maker.
As revealed in [[Star Wars: Clone Wars]], 3PO received his familiar gold plating from Padmé to better fit his role as her assistant, though his left thigh inexplicably retains the silver plating. In Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy, 3PO is shown shutting down after seeing Anakin's lightsaber, because his "protocol programming requires him to request that he shut down to protect his ex-owner's secrets," but this contradicts the end of [[Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith]], in which his memory is wiped and, in the process, disavowing any knowledge of Anakin's descent into the dark side of the Force or Padme's death. (However, in Alan Dean Foster's novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye, C-3PO states that he and R2-D2 were shut down by Darth Vader, saying that he 'knew all of the proper shut-down codes', and at the end of the radio version of Return of the Jedi, 3PO recognizes Darth Vader as Luke's father, which may hint that some point after his reactivation 3PO somehow learned about Anakin/Vader's identity, and may also hint at C-3PO and R2-D2's previous ownerships.)
Once 3PO was reactivated, with his memory wiped, his first job under new master, Captain Antilles, was to program binary loadlifters (according to [[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope|A New Hope]]); this is why by the time we get to A New Hope, he wouldn't recognize either Tatooine, the name Skywalker, or Obi-Wan Kenobi.
In most of the movies, C-3PO is damaged at some point. In [[Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones|Attack of the Clones]], his head is knocked off; in A New Hope, he suffers a dent in his head and his arm is ripped off; in The Empire Strikes Back, he is blasted to pieces; and in Return of the Jedi, his eye is ripped out.
C-3PO hates adventure. His motto is, "We're doomed!".
In 2004, C-3PO was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame.
Trivia
[[Image:c3poepisode1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|C-3PO from [[Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace|Episode I]].]]- C-3PO was originally to have the voice and mannerism of an American used car salesman. However, when Daniels was rehearsing with his usual voice, the image conveyed, which many see as something of a prissy, high strung butler, proved very appealing and the character was changed accordingly.
- American voice actor Mel Blanc was one of hundreds of individuals that were auditioned by director George Lucas to provide the voice for the C-3PO character, and it was he who ultimately suggested that the producers utilize Daniels' own voice in the role.
- Daniels appeared without his C-3PO costume in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. He can be seen in the bar on Coruscant as Lt. Dannl Faytonni, and again in Episode III during the opera house scene.
- Daniels also appeared as C-3PO in the Discovery Channel special The Science of Star Wars with R2-D2, and appeared out of costume at the end of it.
- The name C-3PO comes from Lucas' hometown map. The post office was located in grid C-3.
- C-3PO and R2-D2 are the only characters to survive all six movies (If you don't include Force ghosts).
- In Italy, C-3PO's name was changed to D-3BO in the original trilogy. He re-assumed the original name in the prequel trilogy.
- In France, C-3PO's name was changed to Z-6PO in the original trilogy. He re-assumed the original name in the prequel trilogy.
- C-3PO has a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
- C-3PO's relationship with R2-D2 is turned on its head in the Christmas in the Stars CD. While in the movies and most Expanded Universe material, Artoo is treated as the more learned of the two, in the story of the CD he spends most of his time being taught by Threepio.
- Despite being created and "raised" by Anakin Skywalker, C-3PO never seems to have any recollection of the happenings of Episode 1-3 in the original trilogy, and when asked about Obi-Wan Kenobi, replies that he doesn't know him. That happens because his memories are erased when he is given to Captain Antilles in Revenge Of The Sith.
Reference
| Droids of Star Wars | |
|---|---|
| Models | |
| Astromech droid | Battle droid | Buzz droid | Tri-Fighter | Pit droid | Probe droid | Protocol droid | |
| Individuals | |
| 8t88 | Bollux | C-3PO | EV-9D9 | G0-T0 | HK-47 | HK-50 | MagnaGuards | IG-88 | R2-D2 | T3-M4 | YVH 1 | |
| Lists | |
| List of minor Star Wars droids |
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