A poster in the 2016 Star Wars canon book Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy by Pablo Hidalgo appears to hint at the existence of sex droids. Star Wars droids are designed with certain functions in mind. While they are able to have varying degrees of self-control and interpersonal communication depending on their programming’s complexity, they ultimately serve masters for an indeterminate amount of time. Droids don’t always serve good intentions, however. During the Clone Wars, for example, General Grievous became the leader of the Confederacy Droid Army under Separatist Head of State Count Dooku and his crimes are well-documented. During his time, the Separatist Confederacy declared independence from the Galactic Republic. Upon the Separatists’ dissolution and the Droid Army’s deactivation after several council deaths, the Galactic Empire under Emperor Sheev Palpatine’s rule absorbed much of the former Separatist Confederacy.

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Grievous’ heinous actions appeared to have generated propaganda material, such as a poster with what initially appears to be a sex droid. The poster, shown below, features a female droid with her back facing the poster’s front, looking over her shoulder suggestively. Her shadow is General Grievous’ mask acting as a silhouette, accompanied by the message, “Do you know who else she’s talking to?” Underneath the words “Keep Our Republic Secure!” in the lower-left corner is the subtitle telling subjects to “Wipe Your Droid’s Memory Regularly.” 

The subject of the sexually-implicative propaganda poster isn’t a sex droid, however, but a personal assistant droid, or PAD, whose function in the Clone Wars was to work at various administrative centers. In Pablo Hidalgo’s canon book Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy, he explains that it was feared in the Galactic Republic that PADs could be compromised and serve as spies for the Separatists. Hence, it was encouraged to wipe their memory on a regular basis so as to prevent them from trading secret information with the enemy, i.e. General Grievous. As erotic as the droid seems, her function wasn’t to perform sex acts. However, PADs were designed to look like “ideal organic forms,” which raises a whole host of questions as to why personal assistant droids were designed with the archaic and oudated “sexy secretary” stereotype in mind.

The Clone Wars sparked droid hate in Star Wars and propaganda posters like the one seen above fueled much droid distrust. While actually designed by artist Russell Walks for the book, the in-universe Star Wars illustrator is Yosyro Modoll, who was part of the Zeltron species and worked as an artist for the Galactic Republic. Modoll was known for her more sensually-suggestive illustrations and made propaganda posters for the Republic in lieu of receiving an obscenity charge. But while Modoll put the droid in a more enticing pose, the droid’s depiction might not have been too sexually exaggerated from its real design.

Like any war, the Clone Wars used propaganda efforts to strengthen allegiances. Droids are an integral part of the Star Wars universe, with works like the semi-canon Star Wars: Droids TV series following the adventures of C-3PO and R2-D2 prior to the events of A New Hope. Even if the poster’s subject was never actually a sex droid, it’s still a little strange that Star Wars canon would include something so sensual after family-friendly Disney acquired the Star Wars franchise in 2012. As the Star Wars universe expanded to become one of the largest franchises in existence, so, too, did its lore on droids and the Clone Wars.

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Allison Wonchoba
(79 Articles Published)

Allison Wonchoba is a Features writer on Screen Rant. She holds a degree in Cinema and English, and she knows (probably) all things film and TV. Working at Hot Topic for a couple years also helped her know all things pop culture-y. Once upon a time, she also interned at a radio station in Dublin, Ireland where she got more media training – and built up her Sudoku skills on the side. She likes Pina Coladas and gettin’ caught in the rain – and she knows that’s NOT a Jimmy Buffet song.

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