Stone guardian

The stone guardians, also known as the Zardossa droids, the Zardossa Stix statues, and the clay warriors of Zardossa Stix, were a model of droid which were used on the moon Zardossa Stix outside of the Temple of Malmourral. Despite their appearance, they were not made of stone but were instead sculpted and painted to appear as decorative statues or stone columns. They were also intended to be representations of an ancient fallen army, and according to Zardossan legend, were the only reason the warriors remained dead, and they would return to life if the statues were ever destroyed.

The stone guardians were equipped with a sensitive "Night-sight" passive detector suite which allowed them to see in dim and dark conditions and hear a wide range of sounds. If one were to approach the domain of the guardian or touch it, they would be activated and then resemble semi-humanoid creatures animated by unknown powers. The droids also were armed with heavy energy projectors, which unleashed powerful torrents of energy.

In 232 BBY, Jedi Master Cohmac Vitus, Jedi Knight Orla Jareni, and Padawan Reath Silas discovered a set of four statues which, initially unbeknownst to them, held the sentient carnivorous plants known as the Drengir in stasis. Upon beginning to understand the statues' true purpose, Vitus was reminded of the clay warriors and brought them up to Jareni, who had also heard the legends about them.

In 19 BBY, the temple was visited by members of the Frangawl Cult, who controlled the Temple of Malmourral and thus the stone guardians. Soon after the cult's arrival, their pursuers also arrived—Jedi Master Mace Windu and Junior Representative Jar Jar Binks. While approaching the temple, Binks accidentally touched one of the stone guardians, which caused all of them to come alive and attack both Binks and Windu. After a brief engagement, all of the guardians defending the temple were destroyed, and Binks captured one of their heavy energy projectors.

Text and facts from the “Stone guardian” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.