An old model astromech droid abandoned after the capture of its owner, R1-G4 was one of the droids that the Jawas scavenged to rebuild and sell to Tatooine colonists. Using cobbled-together weaponry, the Jawas probably incapacitated the droid then dragged it to their immense treaded sandcrawler. R1-G4 was one of the droids rounded up when Imperial Stormtrooper arrived on Tatooine looking for the escaped droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.