EV-9D9

"Ah, good. New acquisitions. You are a protocol droid, are you not?''" "I am C-3PO, human-cyborg&mdash;" "Yes or no will do." "''Oh. Well, yes."

- EV-9D9 and C-3PO

EV-9D9 was a feminine MerenData supervisor droid who worked as a moisture vaporator mechanic until she was reprogrammed to enjoy the torture and dismemberment of other droids. She was acquired by Jabba the Hutt and assigned to oversee the droid pool in his palace, where she tortured her fellow droids with the assistance of the smelter droid 8D8 to keep them in line. When R2-D2 and C-3PO arrived as gifts for her master from the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, she assigned them positions in her master's droid pool.

Biography
"How many languages do you speak?''" "I am fluent in over six million forms of communication and can readily&mdash;" "Splendid. We have been without an interpreter since our master got angry with our last protocol droid and disintegrated him." "''Disintegrated?"

- EV-9D9 and C-3PO

A feminine supervisor droid manufactured by MerenData, EV-9D9 originally worked as a moisture vaporator mechanic on the planet Tatooine until she was reprogrammed in a scrapyard in the port city of Mos Eisley. This caused her to develop a programming quirk that allowed her to enjoy the torment and dismemberment of other droids. MerenData placed a recall on her, but she was acquired by the crime lord Jabba the Hutt, who placed her in charge of his palace's droid pool. She converted a dank work area in the murky depths of the palace's dungeons into a grim torture chamber where 8D8, an 8D-series smelter droid who was reprogrammed for sadism, assisted her in terrorizing Jabba's droid pool into submission.

After her master received the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO as gifts from the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, they were escorted down to her torture chamber so she could assign them positions in the droid pool. EV-9D9 assigned C-3PO, a protocol droid, to be her master's new interpreter, as he had his last one disintegrated after the droid had angered him. She then had the protocol droid fitted with a restraining bolt and taken to Jabba's main audience chamber, and assigned the feisty R2-D2 to serve drinks aboard Jabba's sail barge, the Khetanna. However, secretly containing his master's lightsaber within himself, the astromech droid was actually tasked with infiltrating the palace's droid pool so that he could assist in the rescue of Skywalker's friend Han Solo from the Hutt's clutches, a mission that ultimately resulted in Jabba's demise.

Characteristics
"Guard! This protocol droid might be useful. Fit him with a restraining bolt and take him back up to His Excellency's main audience chamber.''" "''R2, don't leave me!"

- EV-9D9 and C-3PO

Originally peaceful and hardworking, EV-9D9's reprogramming corrupted her, causing her to enjoy tormenting and dismembering other droids, leading her to use torture to keep her droid pool in line. She was quickly annoyed with the antics of C-3PO, cutting him off whenever she got the answers she wanted or when he started to stray from the question at hand. When R2-D2 started to get feisty with her, she assigned him to her master's sail barge to teach him respect.

A gangly bronze-colored mechanical with feminine programming, EV-9D9 was missing various parts, and as a result she resembled a skeleton. She stood at 1.9 meters in height and had three yellow photoreceptors. EV-9D9 spoke with a grating mechanical voice, and whenever she communicated a flap located at the base of her head opened and closed, simulating the movement of a mouth.

Behind the scenes
"[Whistle-Beep-Bleep]''" "''You're a feisty little one, but you'll soon learn some respect. I have need for you on the master's sail barge, and I think you'll fill in nicely."

- R2-D2 and EV-9D9

EV-9D9 made her first appearance, albeit unidentified, in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and not identified as such in canon until the publication Star Wars in 100 Scenes, a 2014 reference book written by Jason Fry.

On set, director Richard Marquand provided his voice to the droid puppet, which was later redubbed during post-production.

EV-9D9 appeared as early as the rough draft of the Revenge of the Jedi script, where she was known as U-8D8. In the revised second draft, she was renamed EV-8D8. In the third draft, she received her final name and her smelter droid assistant instead inherited the name 8D8.

EV-9D9's puppet is currently on display as part of Star Wars Identities: The Exhibition.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
 * Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side!