The Star Wars universe is known for its wide range of droids. However, droids have never been more prominent in the galaxy far far away than in the Clone Wars, where the Republic fought against the Separatist forces. They employed huge armies of battle droids.
While originally presented as incredibly scary and dangerous, over time they became more and more useless. There's a number of interesting details about the design of these droids though that many fans might have missed. These details go a long way in telling the story and the evolution of the Separatist army.
Inspired By Animals
Many of the droid designs are actually inspired by animals. The useless battle droids are very similar to insects, with the super battle droids taken on the form of larger beetles. The same can be said even for vulture droids, which do look like birds of prey.
This imagery is so these metallic creatures are associated with birds and bugs that would likely create fear in many. However, in exactly the same way, much like a bug the battle droids can be squashed quite easily.
Super Battle Droid Size Change
The super battle droids have been a large part of the army ever since the Clone Wars started. But they have evolved significantly throughout, to be far more menacing. The first versions seen on screen were a lot slimmer and perhaps even more agile.
As time has gone on they have been made bulkier and more threatening. Treated more as the heavy for the army and equipped with significantly more dangerous weaponry, the super battle droids became more expensive to create but harder to take down in battle.
Repurposed Antenna
The antenna on the first version of the standard battle droids was introduced in order to connect the soldiers to the main ship. They received a signal that continued to power them. However, this was proven to be a terrible way to operate the droids.
The idea was scrapped by the antenna remained. Used instead to receive communications, every droid still has one, but it has certainly decreased in its usefulness. Having said that, it's a design feature that did at least have a purpose.
Tactical Droid Design
The tactical droid is completely different from many other models in the Separatist army. The droid has a completely different purpose though. While it is capable of using a blaster effectively, its main role is to stand tall as a commander.
As such the design of the droid is almost like a bit computer hard drive. Containing all the tactical knowledge there is to have and detailed information on their opponents, tactical droids can store so much data in their much larger frame.
Male Programming
Nearly every droid in the army is actually programmed with male characteristics. This is an interesting choice as the vast majority of combatants in the Clone Wars were male, since the Clones themselves were modeled after the bounty hunter, Jango Fett.
There's only a handful of droids with female programming, although one tactical droid that was female was given a far superior role to many of the male droids. It appears that those designing the droids thought men were more appropriate for battle; ironic considering how many female Jedi cut through them with ease.
B1 Cheap Materials
The materials that B1 Droids are made out of are clearly very cheap. These droids are mass-produced since they are pretty pathetic by themselves. They are far more useful in huge numbers, which is why worse materials are used on them.
The rest of the droid army is actually made out of sturdier stuff. Most droid factories focus on these kinds of droids since they are the easiest to produce and most in demand. One of the biggest facilities that had access to these materials was on Geonosis.
Limited Camouflage
Strangely enough, it's really only the battle droids that are given any camouflage. The super battle droids, droidekas, and even vulture droids are all given a standard color scheme, but there may be a good reason for this.
With jungle, snow and even desert versions of the battle droids, vast numbers of these fearful warriors can be put onto the battlefield without being noticed. This means that large swarms of them can be hidden in plain sight. The other droids are too rarely used to need this kind of large scale way of hiding them.
Powering Down
Many of the droids have been designed to take up very little space when they power down. This was famously seen in Episode 1 of the franchise, where the battle droids folded up into tiny parcels.
However, from the vulture droid to the droideka, many of these metallic beasts have been created in a way that they can be stored and transported easily, alongside hundreds and thousands of others. It's a feature that makes the design so useful.
ST Series Old Republic Influences
The Super Tactical droid was a huge improvement for the Separatists as this was one of their most intelligent designs to date. Far superior to the previous line of Tactical droids, this was a commander that Clones genuinely feared.
The droid often worked alongside senior members of the army, usually with the Sith themselves. Due to holding such an important role, it's clear that the design has taken influence from the Old Republic, perhaps to demonstrate its heritage and a long line of data strategy.
Imperial Guard Predecessors
While there's plenty of hilarious droids the MagnaGuard droids were genuinely dangerous and extremely terrifying. However, it's clear to see how their design is linked heavily to the future Imperial guards that secured the Emperor's safety.
Using a very similar cloak, a head designed in the same way to the Imperial helmets, and even a staff as a weapon, there's a number of visual connections between the two that demonstrate the evolution of the role of a guard to the Sith.