The 7 Most Lovable Droids In 'Star Wars'
"Look sir! Droids!"
-Imperial Stormtrooper (Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope)
As I'm sure everybody would agree, one of the most charming and enduring elements of the Star Wars franchise, which has been incorporated in pretty much every single movie and TV series, has been the droids featured in them. Every single Star Wars movie and series has introduced new and interesting droids that have become enshrined in the Star Wars universe as major characters that have played pivotal roles in the events transpiring in the various stories. As a lifelong Star Wars fan, I want to talk about whom I would choose as the seven most lovable droids in the franchise. Aside from the top two, these will be in no particular order.
Honorable Mention: Mr. Bones
Although I haven't finished the entire Aftermath book series yet, I really enjoyed the introduction of "Mr. Bones," the scrappy former B1 Battle Droid who was reprogrammed by and serves Temmin "Snap" Wexley, as Snap and his friends evade both local criminals and the Empire on Akiva. Although Mr. Bones is destroyed at the conclusion of the first book, he does get rebuilt. Sadly, he is not seen or even referenced in any of the sequel trilogy, which seems like a missed opportunity.
7. Chopper
Created especially for Star War Rebels (but briefly glimpsed in Rogue One at the Rebel Base on Yavin 4), Chopper is a grouchy and stubborn but still multi-talented and faithful astromech droid who serves the Ghost crew in their private struggle against the Empire.
6. L3-37
Created especially for Solo: A Star Wars Story, L3 is featured as Lando's companion who seems uncharacteristically smitten with him (for a droid). L3 helps Lando and company navigate to Kessel aboard the Millennium Falcon and winds up leading a droid revolt that helps distract the Kessel mine authorities while Han, Qi'ra, and Beckett steal fuel from the mine. Sadly, L3 is terminally damaged during the ensuing firefight, but Lando is able to plug her into the Falcon at the last moment and download her brain into the Falcon's navigation computer. So, based on what happened, technically, she is now literally part of the Falcon. I was actually quite curious to see if that might be explored somewhat in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which would have actually been ideal, given Lando's reappearance in that movie. This aspect is explored a little bit in the anthology book From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back. I guess we will just have to wait and see if more projects in the future bring this intriguing twist up at all.
5. IG-11
Created specifically for The Mandalorian and played to the hilt by director Taiki Waititi, we are first introduced to IG-11 in the very first episode of the show. He is a bounty hunter droid (similar in appearance to IG-88 as featured in The Empire Strikes Back as one of the bounty hunters commissioned by Vader to find the Falcon) who, like Din, is tasked with locating Grogu (aka "The Asset") for the Empire. Din and IG-11 initially team up to defeat Grogu's captors, but Din winds up "destroying" him when he discovers that IG-11's orders are apparently to terminate Grogu. He makes a surprise re-appearance later on in season 1 when we find out that Quill has restored and reprogrammed IG-11 to be a seemingly harmless servant droid. Although distrustful of IG-11 because of previous events, IG-11 accompanies Din, Cara, and Quill to Navarro, to help settle Din's previous betrayal of the Bounty Hunter Guild. When they, along with Greef, fall into an Imperial trap, IG-11 is activated to serve as Grogu's protector ("nursemaid") and ends up rescuing Grogu from Moff Gideon's forces, treating Din's severe injuries, and helping Din, Cara, and Greef ultimately defeat Gideon, sadly sacrificing himself in the process. RIP IG-11. I do hope that we see other IG droids in the show and/or Star Wars universe in the future, as the IG droids are really neatly designed, especially with their ability to rotate their head and torsos to attack enemies.
4. BB-8
BB-8 was introduced right away in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, serving Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, who gives the tiny and round astromech droid a piece of a map to Luke Skywalker being sought by the Resistance and the First Order alike. After BB-8 is sent away and Poe is captured by the First Order on the desert planet of Jakku, BB-8 escapes and finds the mysterious scavenger, Rey, who protects him as they flee the First Order and, along with Finn, attempts to get him back to the Resistance with his valuable information. BB-8 eventually awakens R2-D2, who has been mostly shut down since Luke left years before and combines his map with BB-8's map to give Rey and the Resistance Luke's location. BB-8 goes on to serve the Resistance throughout the sequel trilogy, including helping Poe solve his X-Wing's technical problems as he leads an offensive against the First Order fleet in Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, as well as later accompanying Finn and Rose as they try to find a way to prevent the First Order from tracking the Resistance fleet. BB-8 also helps the Resistance with locating the Emperor's wayfinder, as well as being part of the battle against the Final Order in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker.
3. K-2SO
While maybe not as "charming" or "friendly" as the top two entries in this list, K-2SO, a tall and lanky humanoid-appearing droid, became a surprise favorite of mine after viewing Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. K-2SO was originally an Imperial Security Droid, but he was later captured by the Rebels and re-programmed to serve alongside Rebel operative Cassian Andor, which gave him a somewhat unique personality. He is introduced in Rogue One helping extract Jyn Erso from Imperial custody. While initially skeptical of Jyn's loyalties, he serves his master Cassian faithfully and eventually joins Jyn's rogue efforts to break into the Imperial vault on Scarif to steal the Death Star plans. He ultimately sacrifices himself in a touching moment to give Jyn and Cassian a chance to locate the plans. Although it may seem kind of weird to get sentimental about the death/destruction of a droid, K-2SO's demise during the Scarif operation hit me hard when I first saw the film, and it continues to make me sad whenever I rewatch it. Although he is destroyed in Rogue One and unlikely to reappear in any (chronologically) future Star Wars stories, we may get to see him again in the Disney+ series Andor, which will be set prior to Rogue One and centered around Diego Luna's Cassian Andor character.
2. C-3PO
C-3PO is a humanoid-appearing protocol droid who plays a pivotal role in galactic events in the Star Wars universe. While we don't see much of C-3PO (chronologically) until Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, we do learn in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace that Anakin Skywalker is, surprisingly, his creator, and originally intended him to help serve his mother. Along with R2-D2, C-3PO becomes a long-time companion to the rest of the characters in the Star Wars universe and contributes to saving the galaxy on numerous occasions. In Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, he and R2-D2 are tasked with safely delivering the Death Star plans to the Rebellion. In Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, C-3PO helps establish a critical alliance with the Ewoks on Endor in order to defeat the Empire. Most recently, C-3PO plays an even more critical role in helping Rey, Poe, Finn, and Chewbacca with locating the Emperor's wayfinder in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, bravely risking a permanent loss of his memory to translate for the team. C-3PO is a droid icon of galactic importance, and to leave him out of the discussion of droids in galactic history would be a grave injustice indeed.
1. R2-D2
R2-D2 is undoubtedly one of the quintessential heroes of the entire Star Wars universe. R2-D2, a small astromech droid, is featured in nearly every Star Wars movie and series (with the exception of Solo: A Star Wars Story), and, as such, R2-D2 has been a constant companion and served many masters, starting with Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker (prequel trilogy and Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan (Star Wars Rebels and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Luke Skywalker and the Rebellion (original trilogy and The Mandalorian), and General Leia Organa and the Resistance (Star Wars Resistance and sequel trilogy). R2-D2 went on many adventures and saved other characters' lives and the galaxy-at-large too many times to mention here.
I hope that you have enjoyed this trip though the Star Wars universe, specifically, my discussion of some of my favorite droids of the series. Feel free to share in the comments who your favorites are.