When is a 3PO not a 3PO? | Star Wars LOREBREAKER

[@StupidMarioBros1Fan]

It baffles me that when looking at TC-14 being a Silver, Female copy of C-3PO, whoever handled the newer lore books decided that there is now an entire line of Female Droids that look identical to C-3PO instead of simply saying "there are voicebox options" Ignoring the older books that you mentioned get contradicted by this new information, it would've been way simpler to just say that the voice is customizable like the outer shell is. Why make an entire new series of Droids simply because the voice is different? Especially when it is literally a recolor, no unique body parts or a different head. Hell, giving TC-14 some kind of "hair" would make it unique enough to argue that it's part of a different series.

[@tk-6967]

I think that this criticism is nonsense though. The older source material didn't have the context of the Prequel Trilogy or any of the years before it, the stories prior to Episode 1 contradict George's vision in a lot of ways. If we know that the 3PO series is a pretty bog standard translator model and we also know that it was created a while prior to Anakin's birth, we'd expect that the Tranlang model would be lower than it was in the Original Trilogy just by common sense. It also makes sense for the Trade Federation to be using luxury models with advanced state-of-the-art hardware, and the lore *does* explain that the TC was a special advanced model.

[@Z1gguratVert1go]

@@tk-6967 I would say a droid has whatever voice you pick from the dropdown menu during initial setup. The droid Anakin built was a homebrew, like building your own gaming PC instead of buying an Alienware. You can't say your PC is an Alienware, but you can say it has the same CPU and video card as a given Alienware. And many homebrews out perform many commercial gaming rigs, so it's not a quality thing.

[@lupaswolfshead9971]

it has kenedies greasy finger prints all over it

[@tk-6967]

@@lupaswolfshead9971 Well it has nothing to do with her or Disney. Good god people are always looking for a reason to shit on them. We get it, Disney bad, but stop bringing them into everything.

[@lupaswolfshead9971]

i never mentioned disney and kennedy has been with lucas film right from the start. Oh god you disney /kennedy arsekissers always have to jump to their defence shitting on any negative criticism of them .we get it starwars fans bad, but stop bringing them into everything.@@tk-6967

[@courier665]

As someone who's been writing a Warhammer 40k Only War campaign I can say with 100% confidence that I understand your need to make this video about a small detail that ultimately doesn't matter and about 10 people would even even remember.

[@lcmiracle]

As someone who spent years compiling various lore titbits into coherent, as non-contradictory as I can wiggle within the boundary of the army books and White Dwarf articles for both 40K and Fantasy, I can confidently tell you that more people need to do this, all the time.

[@courier665]

@@lcmiracle I'm glad I'm not the only one

[@Gabiman66]

I will proudly be one of the 10 people🫡

[@commandercaptain4664]

When expanded universe lore is taken more seriously than the Maker's lore....

[@doodahman2995]

What exactly does it mean to write a War Hammer 40k Only War Campaign? Sounds interesting.

[@darkblades1201]

I always figured tc-14 called itself that because that's part of its serial number just later down the line. The hero C-3P0 is calling himself that because that's what Anakin called him, so that's what he introduces himself as.

[@canisarcani]

this is probably the correct interpritation tbh

[@tiranito2834]

yeah, same, I always thought that those were serial numbers or identificators of some kind, not model numbers.

[@fangslore9988]

the TC series is just the newer version of the 100 year old 3PO series just with new computing hardware and software though the base designs such as the micro hydraulic pistons for movement rather than the micro servo motors newer droids possess. most droids with micro hydraulic pistons for movement are either an old model of droid or they're a remake of an old model of droid

[@DIEGhostfish]

Other 3POs probably find R2 and 3PO exceptionally snooty for using the universal start of their model number

[@MonsieurArlequin]

I work in engineering manufacturing and we have multiple names for the same product, and internal and external name. 3PO could simply be an internal name, given for all 3PO droids, while the TC-14 is the name that customers use. This could explain why there are multiple TC-XXX droid names while all are considered 3PO

[@WickerJig]

There is a canonical precedent for droids using only part of their serial number as their name. AZI-3 in clone wars full designation is AZI-345211896246498721347. Its pretty easy to imagine that all other droids have similarly long-winded and unique identifying codes, that they choose a short section of for organics to use as their name

[@kadenstimpson3167]

Many of them use nicknames as well. Reminds me of how some cultures have very long official names, but simply pick out a nickname for the sake of brevity.

[@timewarpdrive77]

But the clone wars isn't canon to a lot of that other material

[@WickerJig]

@@timewarpdrive77 I'm not sure. Clone Wars sits in a unique sort of weird, limbo state where it exists both legends and canon at the same time, since it came out both before and after Disney got their hands on it. That said I'm in favour of just running with your own head-canon, and picking and choosing what works for you. There's good bits and bad bits to both continuities, and plenty to choose from, so just pick your favourites

[@timewarpdrive77]

@@WickerJig The thing is that, even though TCW was released during the time of the EU, it doesn't really fit with any of it.. Safer to just quarantine it in the new canon.

[@thebreadcircus]

Luckily, this is one of those cases where TCW uses existing lore instead of overwriting it. It's always been obvious that there are more droids in the galaxy than there are names, so this explanation may have existed in the WEG sourcebooks or the original Essential Guide series. At the moment, I have the New EG to Droids open for research. This book expands on something we knew from the TPM Visual Dictionary. As seen in the movie, B1 battle droids have a set of numbers printed on their back, an ID code. "Names such as [OOM-9 and 3B3], usually applied by technicians, are shortened versions of the string of identification code unique to each droid." -DZ

[@Balevolt]

The TC-Series makes more sense as a C-Series under license. It's the same thing made by a different company

[@EWLR89]

We can change the names of our wifi, computers, phones, and virtual characters. We can change the voice on the GPS in the car or the assistant on the phone. The answer that changes nothing in the lore is that when the Traid Federation received its protocol droids, the IT dept plugged them in and configured and "named" to corporate standards. T (Traid Federation), C (C3PO or something), 14 (shorthand for the droids long serial number). We have droids with real names (Chopper, Mr. Bones), and when you played Pokémon as a kid you probably had a Charmander named "Charmander". I thought this blue milk mustache was going to be permanent.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

We know the Trade Federation is large. Like insanely large. So if they ordered 10 million protocol droids, it's feasible that the manufacturer did a lot to please such a huge customer. Which might include changes to the default design that warrant a different model number. The T to represent the federation might indeed mean exactly that.

[@andrewdobrin2928]

Hi the bread circus, I commented a while ago. Since then, youve gained 5k subscribers. If you think the force is strong with me, I believe you deserve 5 million.

[@thebreadcircus]

I remember your name, actually. Thank you for the kind words, Andrew! -ED-1TA

[@clancykohl]

One thing that went unmentioned is that C-3PO got assembled by Anakin from scrap parts, so we don't really know how much he conforms with standard 3PO units. Like his Droid brain is that of C-3PO, wich makes him think he is in fact C-3PO but the rest of his parts could very well be all over the place.

[@uncardedreviews9721]

Exactly 💯 I was wondering why the channel author didn't mention the fact that "C-3P0" was kitbashed in Anakin's spare time from the junk/scrap parts he was able to find. Heck C-3P0 could actually be an IG or HK model that was repurposed and made to look like a "protocol droid" by young Annie 😂😂

[@hackman669]

Perhaps adult Anakin switched out all the junk parts to make 3PO a purely Protocall Droid. 😆

[@brianwhite8465]

Anakin building C-3PO is an unnecessary retcon that contradicts all previous lore and should be discarded just like the junk entries addressed in this video and the Greedo shooting first retcon.

[@strongblade]

@@brianwhite8465 While Greedo shooting first is a RETCON, Young Anakin building C-3P0 is NOT. A RETCON is when things have been altered from their original (like the original trilogy being 'remastered' by George Lucas) and changes the original story. Anakin building C-3P0, while widely regarded as a dumb way to create his origin, does NOT alter previously established facts. In the original trilogy, very little was established to C-3P0's backstory before the events of A NEW HOPE.

[@thebreadcircus]

@strongblade makes a good point. Before the prequels, what we knew about Threepio was that he's a Cybot Galactica 3PO model, his first job was programming binary loadlifters, and his last master was Captain Antilles. This was clearly intended as a gap in our knowledge, an area of history that we don't know about: just like the Clone Wars. Because so much room was set aside, it left space for the prequels. We don't know about C-3PO's life between leaving the factory and ending up as a husk on Tatooine. His early decades still haven't been documented, as far as I know. The biggest retcon I can think of is his memory wipe at the end of RotS. If C-3PO had his memory erased, he couldn't remember his first job being binary loadlifters. As far as Threepio would know, he had only ever belonged to Antilles aboard the Tantive IV. Which would mean that suddenly, he had lied to Owen Lars. -DZ

[@gregmize01]

this channel always oozes quality!

[@thebreadcircus]

Thank you! We give every aspect of production our best effort. -ED-1TA

[@erythrodysesthesia]

this channel positively excretes success @@thebreadcircus

[@xp8969]

​This channel certainly squirts superiority​ ​@@thebreadcircus

[@hibernianperspective6183]

This channel definitely discharges delightful content. @thebreadcircus

[@indiedavecomix3882]

In ANH, R5-D4 is referred to as an "R2 unit" by Luke. I always just assumed some of these things were just designators for a wider scope of variation within the same model. Like a Ford F150 with different trim levels.

[@MrSheckstr]

I equate it something like the Sprinter Van…. Which was also sold by Dodge as a Dodge Ram Van …. And by Freightliner by a third name…. Or the Dodge Aries that was also sold as a Plymouth Reliant ….. in the first example people just referred them as Spinter and the second example as K Cars…..

[@fangslore9988]

exactly the R2 unit is a production line like the 3PO series. all were built on that trusty familiar look and design but the internal parts were much newer

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

From what I've seen, the R2 model was quite popular, but expensive. One could guess there were a lot of them made. Enough that the model became a generic name for all astromech droids of that design. And the R5 hints at a later model from the same series.

[@KaygeeFromNanotrasen]

Finally, I thought I'd have no quality content to watch for tonight!

[@thebreadcircus]

We hope you enjoy it. A lot more content, coming soon! -ED-1TA

[@sentrysapper45]

I can't get over how this channel is seemingly tailor-made for minutiae-obsessed Star Wars nerds like myself. I like how you're not afraid to discard lore that doesn't make sense, regardless of how "official" it is. Kudos for mentioning the J9, one of my favorite Star Wars droids. I've always liked the backstory about its Verpine creators not knowing how to market their protocol droid model to non-insectoid customers, resulting in it being sold at massive discounts and often being misused as a labor droid when people took the "worker drone" moniker literally. In all honesty a TranLang II-equipped protocol droid is probably still quite the capable diplomat. One million different languages is likely sufficient to cover the vast majority of major and minor dialects in the Core, Mid Rim and higher profile Outer Rim worlds.

[@thebreadcircus]

Thank you, and I could not agree more. The J9 is a perfectly adequate translator, and it made a strong impression on me. Now you mention it, the story of the J9 has to be why I love the Verpine so much. I've always thought 8D8 looked fantastic, but I only found out this year that the J9 appears in the movie. The worker drone took me by surprise when reading the book, such a compelling backstory. Much like the PD Lurrian and LOM, which I'm also fond of. -DZ

[@SethAbercromby]

The one thing that kinda messes with this all the way from legacy lore is the assumption that the droids introduce themselves with their model number. The way each droid introduces themselves it sounds a lot more like it's a unique serial code assigned by the owner or manufacturer. If you've ever seen IT in a big company every deceive is uniquely named based on some internal naming scheme so they can be tracked and faults correctly identified. If they hadn't already chained themselves to droids using their model as their name, the difference in naming could have easily been chalked up to the Alderan government and the trade federation using different naming conventions, and both droids are from the same production line.

[@АлексейМомот-щ7о]

Luke calls R2-D2 and "R2 unit." So it's not like they just made it up to make their life harder.

[@SethAbercromby]

@@АлексейМомот-щ7о My point is that it's immediately set a precedent that's difficult to move away from in extended lore. Lucas made that mistake, but it wouldn't have been impossible to clarify better in extended works.

[@az-kalaak6215]

also, I have not yet read the books, but a logical thing for me would be: the full name for TC-14 could be TC-3P0-14[numbers]. the trade federation having multiple 3P0, they chose to name it by the model modification (TC) and part of the discriminant (14) anakin's droid is also based on a TC-3P0, however, when building it little annie did not want to use its serial number, prefering to shorten it to C-3P0 (or 3P0). or, it could even be that TC modifications of 3P0 and C modifications are different (the C could stand for Casing modification and the T for another type of mod. maybe the language one. it's common in real world to append letters to differentiate the variations in the same model (just look at processors or graphics cards). tldr; might be same model (3P0) but different modification (TC vs C)

[@thebreadcircus]

Part of the pre-prequel (1999) description of the 3PO does line up with this. In the time of the New Republic, Threepio's manufacturer created a new model of protocol droid called the C-series. These are officially not based on C-3PO, but we all know that's probably a lie. The model numbers go from C-1 to C-9, so it's hard to imagine what names an individual might have. Droids usually only have one hyphen, which limits the options. -DZ

[@mikedrop4421]

Hello boyos. Glad to see you guys uploaded another thought provoking video Here's a thought/question hybrid. Did you at any point notice how incredibly similar you are to a high quality 3po Droid? No meat based entities I know besides you can teach a management Droid a thing or three about logistics while simultaneously translating wookie.

[@timewarpdrive77]

This is a nothing burger; it doesn't say he's not a 3po, just that anakin used various parts when repairing 3po

[@tk-6967]

This complaint doesn't make that much sense. Of course older source books prior to the Prequel films named 3PO as a 3PO series - they had no idea what his backstory was at that point outside of his service as a diplomat translator droid! You are acting as though the Prequels themselves do not affect the lore, but they do. The fact that C3PO was built from scratch by Anakin changed *everything* we knew about him. It would actually make less sense for him to just be a 3PO series droid because it would be really odd to find all the exact parts to make a correct 3PO series droid just lying around in a junk pile.

[@lba_e_ross2152]

Glad the tumbnail turned out so well. Another great success to the channel and I cant wait for more so you can get that bread. You lot deserve it.

[@thebreadcircus]

Thanks, Ross. Your help was indispensable! -ED-1TA

[@crusader2112]

Good to see you back. 😎👍 Great video. Peace ✌🏻

[@JanoschNr1]

Female 3po's happen when one part is missing ... The logic and reasoning core

[@A-W80]

I always smile when this channel uploads

[@thebreadcircus]

We always smile when you folks comment. For real. Thanks for taking the time. -ED-1TA

[@aghilton8531]

Always blown away by the extreme attention to detail in these breakdowns. Truly awesome stuff!

[@benm6893]

3PO is not a 3PO? Correct. He was built by a (gifted) child in a closet and may not have all the correct parts to be classed as a proper 3PO. (Edit) the correct parts may have been added down the line. I'm not up to date on most of the lore.

[@McShmoodle]

It's been established/reconned that Threepio had a life of governmental service that perhaps went back decades before he fell into disrepair, only for Anakin to rebuild him. So it's less that Anakin built Threepio but more that he repaired and possibly upgraded him.

[@meechthelittle]

haven't seen anybody mention yet that threepio received his gold plating when he became Amidala's personal protocol droid between episodes ii and iii. this would have been when his voice was changed if it were true that this was tied to political service.

[@Sue20022010]

And a Get Smart reference!

[@ericsbuds]

ive always seen him as custom made!

[@somefishs7274]

he was put together by a 9 year old

[@ericsbuds]

right! pretty smart kid wonder who he was :D @@somefishs7274

[@wolfiewoo3371]

Watch the video

[@ericsbuds]

i will once im done playing gta4 lmao@@wolfiewoo3371

[@boxfoxscoot1614]

apparently my starwars book was from 1999 a while before i was born

[@TheCreatureWorksStudio]

I always thought the TC-14 used a female voice only so the audience knew that it wasn't C3P0. LOL

[@hackman669]

Well if the color and plating is interchangeable then the eye color and voice must be as well. 😁

[@Troopertroll]

Ah yes, The New Essential Guide to Droids. The book responsible for making the Exile female in "canon".

[@mousermind]

I figure it's more like a "C + #" designation, with a modifier on one end and a model number extension on the other. So TC-14 would be a C-14 at its core, and C-3PO would be a C-3 at his core.

[@cjalexanderjr8811]

Wasn’t C-3PO a custom built droid made by a young Anakin? Maybe due to this, 3PO is not actually any specific model. 🤖

[@jsnsk101]

I dont understand why people cant grasp droids roll of the production line like Honda Civics, , even if they look the same, they probably are different somehow

[@seanvinsick5271]

Its common for products with the same hardware but different software to have different model numbers. This is especially true if the user can't reprogram the device. Look at tvs or cars for example. However it's very uncommon for these to have wildly different model numbers. Instead you use a base model number and add extra characters as feature identifiers. The argument could be that the softwares have to share base and need to be kept separate to more easily track for support and recall reasons.

[@StephenYang]

I've always thought that because Anakin assembled C3PO, it's very likely that C3PO was bodged together with whatever parts were on hand to a slave kid. Because of that, C3PO really should be considered a one-off, at least until C3PO is brought to an maintainence shop stocked with actual OEM parts.

[@SLagonia]

I can change my Google Nest from male to female with a single command. There's no reason to think you can't also change the voice in a 3PO model.

[@tk-6967]

4:02 This is just silly. the OT lore was focused around the OT and did not account for the creation of the PT. To right off lore as being baseless because previous out-of-date sources say something else makes no sense, it is like saying that the EU story surrounding the Mandalorian Protectors being nearly wiped out was wrong simply because prior lore states that this was done by the Empire. Both of these things no longer work because the SW Galaxy in the 1980-90s was very different to how it was in the 2000s. With the added context that 3PO models have been around since before Anakin was born which hadn't been known prior to the PT, it would make little sense for them to have OT-era Tranlang 3 modules.

[@brianwhite8465]

When two things contradict one another you go with 1. the older source or 2. the better source. In this case both are one and the same. If the prequels contradict the original trilogy, that is a fault of the prequels, not the originals. And considering that Artoo and Threepio have been kicking around the galaxy for decades according to SW lore from 40 years ago, yeah we already knew the model was much older than Anakin and it wasn't some new revelation.

[@tk-6967]

@@brianwhite8465 So you don't think the Prequels are Canon?

[@jacquecortez5014]

I thought the name C3PO was a designated model and unit number set by the factory he was created by.

[@onidaaitsubasa4177]

You have to remember C3PO was custom made, sometimes using spare parts that could be found, so maybe he does have some parts from different models of protocol droids, he's not an off the shelf model.

[@Markm8]

Fantastic hes back!

[@CrashCraftLabs]

maybe the TC series is a bootleg version made on backwater planets like the china of space haha

[@frigginresulrum]

Star Wars needs to get a hold of the guys who write all the lore for Gundam's hundreds of unit designations and histories.

[@RemnantCult]

That line about feminine personalities being standard for protocol droids is such an odd thing to add. A real illogical part of me wonders if it was added just to spite C-3PO fans. For feminine personalities to be standard, that would mean that all cultures found in the Star Wars universe agree that females are the only ones that can be associated with diplomacy and procedure. It'd make more sense for there to be a choice of gendered or nongendered personalities to accommodate with all customers. Also, as far as I know, TC-14 is the only feminine personality 3PO-like droid we see in the main movies. Now I totally understand why y'all follow the earliest lore rule.

[@thebreadcircus]

It's a very odd choice, isn't it? The entire point of a protocol droid is to navigate the countless millions of cultures in the galaxy. Not only is this idea unsupported, it's astonishingly human-centric. The concept of exclusively feminine diplomats doesn't even make sense to Verpine, Hutts, H'nemthe, Vratix, or any number of others. Unfortunately, I get the impression this idea came from thinking about Earth instead of the Star Wars setting. Someone thought it was terribly clever, and nobody was able and willing to veto it. -DZ

[@tk-6967]

I think that this criticism is nonsense though. The older source material didn't have the context of the Prequel Trilogy or any of the years before it, the stories prior to Episode 1 contradict George's vision in a lot of ways. If we know that the 3PO series is a pretty bog standard translator model and we also know that it was created a while prior to Anakin's birth, we'd expect that the Tranlang model would be lower than it was in the Original Trilogy just by common sense. It also makes sense for the Trade Federation to be using luxury models with advanced state-of-the-art hardware, and the lore *does* explain that the TC was a special advanced model.

[@tk-6967]

@@thebreadcircus Given the human centric nature of the galaxy, it wouldn't be that surprising. Remember that the TC series was made for *wealthy* clients, and in the Republic era those are usually humanoids. Plus Hutts aren't exactly known to treat their protocol droids all that well, so it is hard to say whether they would buy luxury

[@lazydayhobbies1540]

so no mention of the fact that C-3PO was build by a 9 year old mostly out of scraps from a junk yard.

[@Nezalu]

Ur making one crucial mistake. Star wars and Disney star wars are two different franchises. One is awesome and ritch other is full of shit and not worth any attention.

[@thebreadcircus]

That is a splendid perspective to have, in fact all our videos are based on this fact. I'm confused about this crucial mistake, though: nowhere in the video makes any reference to the Disney Wars reboot universe. -DZ

[@brianwhite8465]

Not just Disney, though. The prequels, Greedo shooting first, and Crystal Star all came out long before Disney got ahold of the franchise.

[@johnbabylon7626]

I always thought it was better to understand the "name" of the droid like a MAC address, IP address or serial number.. I understand that's not lore accurate--that the name "C3P0" is actually the name of his entire series of products much the same as there is R2, R3 and R4s etc. But let's be reasonable here. This is a galaxy of hundreds of billions, if not trillions of people. And droids among this civilization are pretty ubiquitous so we can safely assume that there are a comparable number of droids if not exceedingly MORE droids than there are organics. To call every droid in this series "3P0" would get REALLY confusing REALLY quickly. And it completely defies the organic tendency to personalize and take ownership of their property--such as giving a sentient robot a unique name. It would be a far better if the lore were altered to call C-3P0 a "Cybot Galactica Series C Protocol Droid." Wherein "C" references the make and model of his construction and "3P0" references the last three digits of his MAC or IP address or serial number. The same would be true of astromech droids: R2 refers to the "R" series of droids constructed by Industrial Automaton; "2" is "Mark 2" or the second and updated version of this droid and "D2" is simply the last two digits of his MAC/IP address or serial number. In the meta, we would probably continue to call astromech droids "R2" units and protocol droids "3P0" units but that would be because Artoo and Threepio were the first two examples of those droids that we saw. But it seems to me that if we are looking for both coherency and believability, it would be best to see the "names" of these droids as being a unique number programmed into each individual unit rather than just calling them all by their series numb

[@thebreadcircus]

That's why I suggested the droids would need to use locally unique names. There definitely isn't enough room for all the droids in the galaxy to have such short names, even if the model number doesn't need to take up half the name on its own. Very few people are going to deal with more than 26 individual 3PO droids on a regular basis. Same goes for astromech droids: there should be room for a couple of hundred R2 names, and if you have more than that, we normally see some R3, R4, and R5 models in the mix. That would make TC-14 a perfect example, since the Trade Federation would have hundreds of protocol droids in their fleet. In cases like that, her link-local ID doesn't include the 3PO series number at all. -DZ

[@Anvil1137]

It's simple. Anakin named him C-3PO instead of using whatever his original number was. Of course, that begs the question: what was his designation before he ended up in the junkyard?

[@tk-6967]

He wasn't 1 single droid model before he ended up in the junkyard most likely.

[@Anvil1137]

@@tk-6967 I suspect that most of the head and torso are original.

[@uncardedreviews9721]

​@@Anvil1137Can't really make that assumption. Remember Anakin was a mechanical genius, so perhaps "C-3P0" is actually a repurposed IG or HK class Droid 🤔

[@TheFuri0uswc]

Some times writers try to explain things that didn't need explaining and that tends to cause problems and contradictory information.

[@tk-6967]

I think that his criticism is nonsense though. The older source material didn't have the context of the Prequel Trilogy or any of the years before it, the stories prior to Episode 1 contradict George's vision in a lot of ways. If we know that the 3PO series is a pretty bog standard translator model and we also know that it was created a while prior to Anakin's birth, we'd expect that the Tranlang model would be lower than it was in the Original Trilogy just by common sense. It also makes sense for the Trade Federation to be using luxury models with advanced state-of-the-art hardware, and the lore *does* explain that the TC was a special advanced model.

[@АлексейМомот-щ7о]

What madman decided 3PO is a model name and not the C- part?

[@hackman669]

Disney in a nutshell.🤫

[@brianwhite8465]

Disney had nothing to do with Star Wars in the 80s, so I'm pretty sure not. If it wasn't mentioned in the novelizations or comics before, then it was likely West End Games, which came up with tons of the backstory and minutiae that are part of Star Wars in-universe history today.

[@schmeaty.1297]

He's a 3PO in a TC's body 🤔

[@VulpisFoxfire]

One thing I'd disagree with...the 3PO line had *both* the TranLang II *and* III, depending on when the unit was made...most likely the III was initially the 'Nvidia 40xx upgrade' of the line, more often seen in use by the wealthy (like, say, Hutt ganglords and Trade Federation higher-ups), then later made a standard component.

[@NostalgiaBrit]

Wait, _what?!_ *9D9* is _female?!_ Until _this very moment,_ at 10.00pm on Saturday the 11th of November, I'd always that that droid was just a particularly nasty, but altogether _male_ character! 😮

[@thebreadcircus]

I'm not sure how widely known that is, I think I only found out from reading the novelisation. "Ninedenine stopped in front of Threepio, raising her pincer hands expansively. “Ah, new acquisitions,” she said with great satisfaction." -DZ

[@NostalgiaBrit]

@@thebreadcircus it's been decades since I last read that book… Time for a re-read, methinks! 😄

[@anthonystigs1992]

i always assumed as a kid that protocol droids have different designated names just like the astromech droids like R2-D2 and R4-P17 and R5-D4.

[@darkblades1201]

0:33 watch ne roll up to the cantina with my RGB protocol droid

[@thebreadcircus]

I keep telling you people, your droids will have to wait outside! We don't serve their kind here. Not after that time I got a pint of grease mixed up with the Guinness. -DZ

[@DaveLennonCopeland]

Surely this is all academic because Anakin made C3-P0. The kid's hobby was not finished when he was taken by Qui-Gon Jinn. Someone else must have put "protocol droid" plating/covers on it to not only finish it but make it ready for sale to the Empire.

[@thebreadcircus]

Wait, who ever planned to sell C-3PO to the Empire? That doesn't seem compatible with the timeline at all. -DZ

[@DaveLennonCopeland]

@@thebreadcircus Yeah, my bad... I meant to say Resistance. 😳🙄

[@MrShrog]

Greetings to K-Dam the Kakapo

[@thebreadcircus]

God damn it, I forgot to add K-Dam in again. I was going to add him in this episode specifically for you, because I forgot last time. Nevertheless, K-Dam put down his protein shake to give you a solemn nod while flexing. -ED-1TA

[@MrShrog]

@@thebreadcircus I'm glad he's doing fine

[@PinkTuskedMammoth]

As someone who deals with part numbers on a regular basis... The fact that TC-14 and C-3P0 are so different isn't really that big of a deal and the exterior being different or not also doesn't really matter the thing that matters is function and the internals. If 1 of those droids is a later model and has new functions too it compare to the old one it will likely have a very evolved part number compared to the older model if that older model is much older. Not only that but C-3P0 was also named and programed by a child... a special one but still a child. It's not like anyone later would have redesignated it or really even known too because no one cares about things like meaning in part numbers lol. *edit- Yea that later book seems pretty jacked up on its lore, I agree with you that book is wrong

[@neelixstfc-server0218]

But I think he shouldn't be either of them.... he was put together from parts by young Anakin ... and forgive me for spelling his name wrong... I'm a trekkie 😂

[@keyrtan]

I always figured C-3PO and TC-14 were names, not models. That's like every human calling themselves human, it's not a name or a way to introduce yourself. If you had a situation where you have multiple 3POs, say you buy 3, you wouldn't call them A-3PO, B-3PO and C-3PO. You'd call them Larry, Curly, and Moe or something.

[@xtremetuberVII]

There is one singular instance of Femine 3PO Programming I found in the originals. C-3PO was cursed at in The Empire Strikes back, by a feminine droid. It was barely there, but the E-Chuta was not spoked by a male actor. "E-Chuta." "How rude!" *Beep Whistle* "Oh my? Was that an R2-Unit?" "Oh, my, I'm terribly sorry to, no no wait, please don't get up! No!" *Soft, confused Wookiee Growl*

[@willgillies5670]

Is it possible TC series droids are like Shelby Mustangs? Shelby Mustangs are a high-performance variant of the Ford Mustang, it takes your basic car and tweaks and tunes it to produce a higher BHP.

[@AzraelThanatos]

One other thing with C-3PO, he might, technically, not be a 3PO droid there...just that he has a pile of 3PO parts along with who knows what else that Anakin scrounged up when building him from scrapped droids

[@viktorkolaric4156]

Look, just because droids look the same on the outside does not mean the hardware is the same. Computers look very similar to each other for decades yet the internals differ wildly. Just because it's the same chassis does not mean it's the same droid. It makes perfect sense for droid manufacturers to make several different variants. Standard, budget, luxury, not to mention specialized variants. A moisture farmer who interacts with perhaps a couple dozen species on a regular basis does not need a droid that speaks 6 million languages. Hell, Anakin built 3PO to help Shmi with housework, he really only needs 1 language for that. Realistically every kind of droid should differ as much as PCs do IRL, if not more.

[@histguy101]

Ypu pick your color, like choosing cabinet hardware, or faucet and ahower head. The choices are black, white, rubbed oil bronze, brass, gold, chrome, or brushed nickel. Chrome is the most popular. Like all protocol droids, you choose which gender/voice you prefer in the settings. as these droids are used for important dinners and other VIP functions, etc. Apparently you can also get red...i guess.

[@jamesendsley2611]

C-3PO was made by Anakin Skywalker from pieces and parts you can get when he was a child so tingly it wasn't a factory made robot he was a DIY protocol buy Anakin Skywalker so C-3PO is what he used when he was manufacturing C-3PO

[@EpochUnlocked]

There must have been a program package with TC-14. THE T as the designation for whom the package was meant for. 14 was the program itself. I'd assert that Droid is C-14.0 Which is a later update to 3P.0 Anaking used parts from a junkyard to make him, which lends to the evidence of 3P0 being an older droid, thus older programming. TC-14 was probably specialized in trade deals, brokerage, galactic law and red tape.

[@_Y.J]

Bro u should see all the R units with incorrect naming, like Ashoka's R7-A7 isnt a R7 unit but either an R2 or R3 Droid, it could be a R7 in one of them casings but R7s weren't about during the clone wars.

[@drtaverner]

If I have a hundred computers I'm not going to designate them all by make and model as those are not unique identifiers. Similarly if I have 100 3PO protocol droids I'm going to give them unique identifiers as per Information Management best practices. For Example: T = Trade Federation C = Station ID 14 = Unique number in series. (or TC = Trade Control) If it were a kind of IP number it might look like: 54.43.1.4 (using Unicode for T and C) That makes far more sense than "It's a totally different droid type".

[@brucemaximus3797]

I always thought that the TC series was an up-modified 3PO, with enhanced "intuitive" or deductive processes, hence why TC-14 was able to accurately surmise that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were Jedi.

[@xtremetuberVII]

I completely forgot Tatooine was hot enough to make 3P0 Leak Oil from his Human replica "mammary pointer things". I forgot 3PO Even had nipples! I guess I didn't ogle his chest.

[@darkblade51224]

Didn't Anakin make C-3PO from a box of I don't understand how any of this can't just true. C-3PO could be made from mainly 3PO parts but also a CT part. Seeing as he was made from scratch by a 12 year old boy. He didn't come from a factory

[@RebelMerc]

I think there are several things to consider here. 1) C3P0 was REbuilt from scrap parts by a boy who worked for a junk trader. So who knows what parts he/it has inside. 2) If all the C3PO units all used the same name it would be confusing but every unit would have been given both a MODEL # and a SERIAL #. So why would it be such a stretch to use the first part of their Serial # as their name? I will leave the rest of my thoughts for you to ponder on your own.... I hope your a mind reader.

[@christopherrcarter3047]

If I had to come up with lore on-the-fly as seems to be expected of modern SW, I would say the designation was something simple, like "Trade Coalition model 14" droid. TC-14 being just an internal naming convention among Trade-fed vessels.

[@105thBattalion]

I'm guessing TC-14 stands for Trade Federation - a way to identify the legitimate owner quickly Cybot - where they purchased the droid from in bulk, as there was also the RA-7 used 14 the last two numbers in the Serial Number, like how stores identify products based on the last few digits on the UPC instead of the whole 14 digit code As for the programming, it would honestly be as straightforward as being an octave or two higher than droids with masculine programming (given Astromechs and 3POs have both, it seems like user preference like you said along side options for paintjobs)

[@bluejaygamer9476]

The TC series is not a protocol droid like C3P0 is in the original films. She is a concierge model. Any type of humanoid droid can have a similar chassis to any other model. In my understanding, The "TC" acronym means, "Totally Concierge". This would somewhat distinguish the two as different applications of use rather than claiming they are the same droid. In other ways, the TC-14 was told to cover for her masters and completely came up with the name. Meaning, "Totally Covering for 14 life forms". The voice box was more likely the type-2 rather than a type-3 or vice versa because C3P0 was still a work in progress at the time. When Anakin grew up and was allowed to finish his droid. He upgraded the voice box to a type-3. Type 2 has two different vocal modes if you want to use that as to why the two different voices exist.

[@Badassest]

Lore-barfing. Then pointing out lore inconsistencies? Really? This isn't expanding the Star Wars universe. If anything it's ad and product probing. The industry that is star wars is not creating much in the way of relatable content. I want to see padme's rise to power not what she ate for a snack. I want to see droid battles and purposing- not their paint options. Anyone can buy a C-3PO and spray paint it or slapchop paint it. But the reatability is in its service potentials. Any time i see "purchase options" for something that functionally does not exist its just depressing. Nobody is manufacturing anything from imagination into fully functional reality. That's why toys are failing. Where is my remote control R2-D2 with bluetooth speaker, can keep a drink cold or hold/deliver messages? I'm not seeing it. This semi-and non-functional product barfing is not progressive. Especially if only the wealthy can obtain it. Why is their no R2-D2 with a plug and play projector? Or built in CD/DVD player? It's not my fault disney execs want a yacht instead of advanced robotics platforms. How does a multimillion dollar company not see this? It's not like star wars is a floppy IP but it needs a higher relatability than a doll that has a kung foo grip. Although a life size elsa would be interesting lol. How come pillow sized stuffed disney characters are so minimal? I want a Stich to rest my head upon. I certainly don't want a lightsaber that can't cut a piece of toast. Do kids really need their fingers? Life lessons- victims, aren't we all. What good is an X-wing really? When the military has no interest. How was an AT-AT walker ever scary? Those are slow as heck. But to have an RC version is hype. The fandom deserves better. Disney can do better. They are wasting millions on agenda crapola instead of useful ventures. But this is all my opinion. Short attention span people can have their dusty POP figurines. Just saying.

[@portland-182]

If you own many C3P0 droids, you can't call them all C3P0 as it would be confusing, you would need a 'local' name like TC14. Alternate explanation - The 3P0 line is a cheapo 'Temu' knock off of the TC range :)

[@richardkirkland6805]

The thing about Threepio not being a 3PO, I think that he isn't a 3PO simply because of 1 thing: He wasn't made by Cybot Galactica. He's a custom build, made by Anakin.

[@milohdd]

I could imagine the TC- series as a marketing variation, like GM cars, where its re-named and re-badged and given something to distinguish it (like say having a feminine default voice) then sold to a different market by a 'different' company

[@mr_h831]

Okay but what does it contradict exactly? I understand if you don't like the idea of Chinese knockoff 3p0, but i don't see any contradiction here. 2:40 Edit: it's the 2006 one with the major contradiction, there's literally zero reason that parts between a TC and a 3p0 can't be interchanged. Everything else before this point isn't contradictory. Or i don't see the contradiction anyway.

[@dwilson284]

Computers have IP (Internet Protocol) addresses which are arbitrary assigned by an internet server. These addresses make internet communication possible and they may be revoked and reassigned according to the need of the network. It’s just software. It’s like a P.O. box address. The hardware address is like an actual street address, called a MAC (Machine Address Code) address. C3-P0 is an IP address…or a method of inventory control…totally arbitrary. It’s named C3-P0 to identify it for maintenance purposes. Not to humanize it. The protocol droid is ordered and modified according to a need, to include a soothing female voice. R2-D2 is also an IP address…or a method of inventory tracking and is totally arbitrary as well. The astromech droid has also been modified (or not) to suit a need.

[@CaptainPantys]

Didn't the neimoidians live in a different sector than the core worlds? TC 14 is the same bot, but different designation because different country. I really doubt that a chevy colorado is called a chevy colorado in Japan. Does this work? Idk dude I'm only half way through the vid and I find this so much more fascinating than I should. I actually want to know why the bot is called TC 14, when it's clearly a C3P0.

[@Eisenwald64]

Maybe TC could also be a rebranding of sorts; maybe the same model with only slightly improved parts but interchangeable with the base model. Probably a "limited edition", customized or license-built brand, but a 3PO nonetheless. Real life companies do this all the time!

[@kmoecub]

Saying "multiple different" = "i have no idea how the English Language works." Also: given that the creator (Lucas) retconned nearly everything as the story went forward (and backward) it's fair to say that there is no consistent logic to anything in the series, other than the desire for profit. In short: George Lucas is a Ferengi. (never-mind that Anthony Daniels does have a girly voice.)

[@JoshuaBloom01]

You're aware that C-3PO is a name, right? Also, 3PO wasn't made in a factory, he was built by Anakin, more than likely part by part over a very long time.

[@Allegheny500]

It would have been far simpler to say TC14 and C3PO were the manufactures prefix numbers, similar to a VIN number on a car or MAC address on a network card.

[@90lancaster]

1. There is no reason the TC-14 could actually be a TC-14 3PO or more simply she's made in an entirely different factory under license also the base systems for 3PO are over a century old she could be made 80 years after him and like Astromech they simply tinker with the numbering a lot there are plenty of Astromech's that look the same but don't share a numbering system. 2. I actually have no problem what so ever with the series being a sub series for say diplomats in the senate that contain special additional security setting to prevent them being used to spy giving it a female voice may be an indicator of other choices. & as such would be useful for criminals or maybe it is a "financial services" version designed to be sold to banking and trade specialists there might even actually be a meaning to the colour in that way too. it might also be as simple as cost C3PO's original model might be a luxury model with gold finish and additional translation modules the silver ones we see may be systems specialists and not diplomatic service droids. Different programming different features different colours and maybe different names and using s female personality module seems like a perfectly good reason to change the name. Besides the droids names are NOT complex enough to make any sense anyway they lack enough digits it would imply there are hundred of thousands of TC-14s not just one. It's not like all 3PO share the same voice as it is anyway the few times others speak they don't sound like Daniels. 3. C3PO likely isn't what he is purported to be as he's made out of scrap parts that Anakin could find he's never been factory spec the entire time we saw him. He could be sporting a load of parts no other 3PO has never even had, Anakin just using what worked. If 3PO was scrapped after being hit in a speed accident then maybe the damage is just a busted leg and some damage memory modules or maybe he'd be partially stripped down already by watto and Anakin had to completely remake and bodge him up out of dozens of droids. But yeah there is a very reasonable argument to be made that C3PO isn't a 3PO "anymore".

[@georgeoldsterd8994]

But how can we even hold C3PO as a standard if he was assembled from random parts by a slave kid on a backsand planet, on the edge of the Galaxy? I mean, all due respect, but how many parts of C3PO were originally parts of _a_ C3PO and not just something Anakin could realistically get his hands on?

[@spacesergeant101]

The trade federation might have numerous 3PO's on just one ship, requiring more "first names". So, TC14-3PO.

[@chrisdorris6207]

C3p0 was built from scrap parts cobbled together by a child in his spare time. It is entirely probable that it was originally made of parts from several models from several brands and makers. The original droid built by Anikin was kind of janky and obviously cobbled together and didn't even have external plating ontill much later

[@dubesquire6329]

You have to remember… Anaikan said he made him from different parts from other droids. It’s mostly a protocol droid. He is basically a custom robot.💯🤷🏾‍♂️🫡

[@cobrag0318]

It makes perfect sense that tc-14 is simply a variant of 3po. By that, I mean, if a client orders enough of a model of something that'd require a dedicated run of it just for them, often they are allowed input on many of its features. A big client orders an entire run of a cell phone, they can often opt to substitute in a different camera, or maybe to have a physical off switch for Wi-Fi/Bluetooth. It's entirely possible that the trade federation could've ordered 3po model and opted for some changes in their run. Though the female voice is likely something they all can do, and it just requires it be turned on in preferences. And the model name difference. Often products will have different model names in different markets. Famicom vs NES anyone? Sega Genesis or mega drive? Maybe the trade federation calls their own variant of the 3po a tc-14? They're really the same, minus some tweaks and a different designation in another nation. Maybe the they initially used the earlier mk2 language model, which still has an impressive 1 million languages. And the trade federation, which probably trades with countless nations and cultures, desired their variant to carry an upgraded module to help facilitate their trade deals with these cultures. Once these were produced, the manufacturer saw the appeal in the the extra linguistics capabilities, since they can boast it in advertisments to boost sales, so they made it a standard part of the package. We see real life examples of similar all of the time. Again, id conclude they're the same, just called by a different name in a different country, that bought enough to request the upgraded linguistics module in their production run.

[@morthim]

well in the prequels annie was said to have built 3po. meaning 3po was a unique machine, not a model of device which already existed. if you can name a pet dog whatever, then you could name a a device you build whatever you want. then through analogy, if you know what your thing is, you could know what another thing is. if you name your dog fido, and you lack the word dog, then someone could convey meaning by saying 'that is a longhaired fido' this also explains why the tubes and wires which emerge out from under the breastplate down into the 'pants' are also custom. moreover there could be hidden differences between the models. like one could use servos, and another could use gyros. or in a less physical way one could use dc power and the other ac. anyway the big thing is that if annie built the droid, then he assembled it partially out of junk but also custom fabricated some parts. if he didnt build any of teh parts himself and only used leftover parts then he didnt build it, he assembled it. by extension he wouldnt have been the inventor of the droid. so ultimately, are the movies cannon? last thing, different organizations on earth have their own naming systems. so having a custom brand name for retail and a different brand name for giant customers like the trade federation, the empire, and other state, near state, and ngo actors mean you could have different price points for each customer's custom needs. if you could sell basicly the same thing for double the price and 5% more cost, then you would do so. so saying that one droid is another droid cause the differences are negligible is a rejection of marketing. i could sell hand soap with a frother, or just bulk. and in a situation where clean water isnt common, a waterless hand sanitizer would be in demand. then there is the topic of capacity to pay. governments with capacity to inflate the currency and their subordinate militaries are basicly blank checks. military grade and government grade then mean you may need to secure some features which other models lack. eg. if you have figured out how to get sign language, and scent language, then perhaps only government droids would need it. and for the more mainstream droid you have written languages and spoken languages.

[@xtremetuberVII]

So, I'm glad you showed that, I still have that thing, and I now know I need to hi res scan the entire book for digital preservation....albeit, it was mine, and uh, 1999 was a while ago, if you catch my meaning.

[@lukestarkiller1470]

There are plenty of droids in Star Wars with names that don’t match their model, like R4-P17 who’s definitely an R2 series. The names can denote which model it is but they don’t always. There are also astromechs like R2-KT that have “feminine programming” so that also doesn’t make it a different model. Droids can pretty much be named anything and have any gender and that doesn’t change what model they are, sometimes Star Wars just tries to put new rules in places that don’t need them and don’t make any sense

[@daltooinewestwood6380]

“C-3p0 did some time in a Jawa sand crawler” man, c-3p0 is just straight up made entirely out of spare scrap parts that anakin painstakingly salvaged from literal junk, the fact that he can even be classified as a factory model droid is baffling

[@keevajazz6286]

C3PO was made by a child who was abnormally proficient in engineering. i thought he only classified as a protocol droid because he had the skills for the title and the droid shell. i assumed everything under the chassis was the equivalent to a custom gaming PC for Anakin.

[@TheRealZamFit]

Any differences among C-3PO and others of his series as well as any similarities between C-3PO & TC-14 is easily explained by the fact that Anakin built him from parts he scrounged up on Tatooine. Anakin’s C-3PO is a unique entity. He is likely considered a 3PO because the chassis Anakin scavenged when building him was that of a 3PO. As far as the TC droid, this is likely a combination of a different model and naming convention used either by the trade federation or by the manufacturer at the time. Let’s compare this one to car models. An S4 is an extra sporty version of the A4 and an RS4 is even sportier. As far as moving the number around in the name, this could be similar to how Mercedes has swapped the number and series letter on multiple occasions over time. Another thing about droid names is that they are always nicknames. Droids have the equivalent of galacticly unique VINs. They’ve nickname is usually a subset of that ID. A 3PO droid that serves on a diplomatic base where thousands of the same model are used to translate for each visiting party of diplomats could not possibly give each 3PO a unique name by using the model name. They’d have to use a different set of characters from their ID or even actual nicknames. They’d also need different voices and finishes to make it easier for others to tell them apart

[@col.mustard1233]

You seem to forget that C3PO was rebuilt by a young Anakin Skywalker, who knows were the scavenged parts came from!

[@szeltovivarsydroxan9944]

Didn't Anakin just call him C-3PO? Sometimes he even bumbled it up and said 3-CPO. He was a dumb child.

[@crazziemonkke]

thank you, almighty algorithm, for suggesting this video, this shit rules. and thank you, bread man, for making it.