R2-D2/Legends

"For a mechanic you seem to do an excessive amount of thinking."

- C-3PO

R2-D2 (also R2 for short; pronounced Artoo-Detoo or Artoo) was an astromech droid, the most famous unit of the R2 series, and long time counterpart of Protocol droid C-3PO. Along with his resourcefulness, R2 had many tool-tipped appendages that allowed him to be a great starship mechanic and computer interface specialist. A bold droid, R2 would often enter dangerous situations without second thought. This adventurous streak saved the day on numerous occasions, often turning the tide of galactic history.

Description
R2-D2 was a diminutive droid, standing 0.96 meters tall. He rolled on two legs (three if one were to include his retractable third 'foot') and had a silver and blue domed head. His white, blue, and silver body housed many arms, sensors, and other apparatus, many of which were not readily seen by the typical humanoid eye. This often made the droid seem like a sort of 'box of tricks,' unexpectedly pulling out some previously unseen but much needed device at a critical moment.

While R2-D2 contained many specialized gadgets, he was also quite good at taking the initiative and often employed unorthodox means to help his friends. This may be partly due to the fact that&mdash;as far as is known&mdash;he never underwent a memory wipe, thus increasing his capacity for creative thought and adding to his personality.

Known features

 * Booster rockets
 * Cable gun
 * Oil injector
 * Claw arm
 * Fusion welder
 * Holoprojector
 * Periscope
 * Electric pike
 * Propeller
 * Hidden lightsaber compartment with ejector
 * Fire Extingisher
 * Small Saw
 * Air Cannon
 * Crashmat
 * Lariat
 * Submarine Mode
 * Collapsable Umbrella
 * Flea Remover
 * Distractor
 * Headdress Detangler
 * Breakdance Mode

Blockade of Naboo
At the time of the Blockade of Naboo (32 BBY), R2-D2 was in the possession of the Royal Engineers of Naboo. The Royal Engineers were famous for their after-market additions to their R2 units, making them some of the most sought after units in the Galaxy. He was commended for playing an important role in the escape of Queen Amidala from the occupied planet, making vital repairs after the queen's starship suffered damage from a Trade Federation battleship. When the ship had safely made its way to Tatooine for more repairs, R2 accompanied Qui-Gon Jinn into Mos Espa. It was here that he met C-3PO, his eventual counterpart, and Anakin Skywalker. Back on Naboo, R2 displayed the hologram of Theed Royal Palace as the team were briefed in preparation to infiltrate it. The little droid accidentally boarded the very same N-1 starfighter that Anakin chose to hide in. The pair thus ended up flying into orbit together and destroying the Trade Federation's Droid Control Ship at the Battle of Naboo.

Clone Wars


Ten years later, near the outbreak of the Clone Wars (22 BBY), R2-D2 was still in the possession of the Naboo, serving Senator Padmé Amidala. When Padmé's life was threatened by assassins, he helped guard her against attack and later accompanied Anakin and Padmé to Naboo and then to Tatooine. On Tatooine, he was reunited with C-3PO, and the two accompanied Anakin and Padmé to Geonosis in an attempt to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi.

After the Battle of Geonosis, R2-D2 was present with C-3PO at the wedding of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, and was one of the few who knew of their secret relationship.

Just after Anakin was elevated to the rank of Jedi Knight Padmé presented R2 to Anakin as her devotion-gift to her husband. When Anakin reminded her that the Jedi were not allowed to own anything, she replied "I’m asking you to look after him. He’s not really a gift. He's a friend". For the remainder of the Clone Wars, whenever Anakin flew into battle R2 was right beside him.

R2 served Anakin as his astromech in the Battle of Coruscant, where he played a role in the rescue of Chancellor Palpatine. Over the course of events which led to the end of the Clone Wars, the rise of Darth Vader, and the death of Padmé, both R2-D2 and C-3PO came into the possession of Bail Organa. Organa then handed them over to Raymus Antilles, captain of the Tantive IV.

R2-D2's servitude on the Tantive IV did not last long, though. Chief Petty Officer Corla Metonae supervized a drill involving the launching of the ship's escape pods. During the exercise, the Tantive IV was attacked by a pirate group from the Karthakk system, and forced to flee without recovering its jettisoned pods. It was soon discovered that R2-D2 and C-3PO were aboard one of the abandoned pods. Bail Organa placed high priority on retrieving the droids. C-3PO and R2-D2 began being traded around by various owners. During this time, many of R2-D2’s peripherals were removed and replaced with miscellaneous accessories such as laser pointers and underwater propellers.The droid duo served many different masters around the edges of the Galaxy before they were eventually found again, and reassigned to the Tantive IV.

Galactic Civil War
"Artoo, why do you have to be so brave?"

- C-3PO during the Battle of Endor



In 0 BBY, both R2-D2 and C-3PO were aboard the Tantive IV, which was on a secret mission to obtain the plans for a new battle station, the Death Star, when it came under attack by Devastator, Darth Vader's Star Destroyer. Leia Organa, then the owner of Tantive IV (having been given it by her adopted father), stored the Death Star plans in R2-D2 and recorded a distress message on him. R2 then jettisoned in an escape pod, along with C-3PO, on a new mission to find Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Once the escape pod had landed on Tatooine, R2 and 3PO were captured by Jawas and then purchased by Owen Lars. While cleaning the droids for his uncle, Luke Skywalker discovered Leia's hidden message. He told his uncle, who ordered that their memories be wiped. Before this could be done, R2 had escaped into the desert to seek out Obi-Wan. R2 was successful in finding Obi-Wan, who then secured passage from Han Solo in order to deliver R2&mdash;and the Death Star plans&mdash;to Bail Organa on Alderaan. When they arrived where Alderaan should have been, it was no longer there, having been blown away by the Death Star.

The Millennium Falcon was then captured by the Death Star, which was still in the system, allowing the rescue of Leia Organa, in which R2-D2 played a vital role. After escaping from the Death Star, R2 was finally delivered to the Rebel Alliance on Yavin 4, bringing the Death Star plans with him and allowing the Alliance to defend themselves against the battle station. R2-D2 then acted as Luke's astromech during the attack on the station. He was severely damaged during the battle, but Rebel mechanics were able to restore him. R2 remained in the service of the Heroes of Yavin, accompanying Luke to Dagobah and later to Cloud City, where he helped to rescue and repair a heavily damaged C-3PO. He also played a part in the escape from Cloud City, slicing computer systems, providing smoke screen, and fixing Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive at the last minute, facilitating escape from the Empire.

R2-D2 also participated in the rescue of Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, and later joined the Rebel strike team on the forest moon of Endor. He helped to bring down the deflector shield so the fleet could destroy the new Death Star.

After the victory at the Battle of Endor, R2-D2 helped the New Republic defeat the reborn Emperor Palpatine's forces on numerous occasions, including the defeat of a World Devastator attack on Mon Calamari and the destruction of the Emperor's remaining two superweapons: the Galaxy Gun and the Eclipse II. R2 would continue to travel with Luke while he tried to rebuild the Jedi Order, and even served as ringbearer when Luke married Mara Jade.

Post Galactic Civil War
R2-D2 would continue to serve his Master Luke Skywalker at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. It would accompany Jedi trainees Anakin Solo and Tahiri Veila during their discovery of the Golden Globe in the Palace of the Woolamander. R2-D2 also accompanied them on their trip to Dagobah and would later play a role in the trip to Exis Station and the defeat of Orloc.

R2-D2 later played major roles in the Yuuzhan Vong invasion and the Killik conflict. At the start of the Yuuzhan Vong War R2 was nearly smashed to pieces by Yomin Carr on Belkadan. During the Killik conflict, when Luke was fixing R2, the Jedi encountered a recording of his father and mother discussing a dream of Anakin's, in which his mother had died in childbirth, and another recording of Padmé talking to Obi-Wan Kenobi about Anakin. The recordings, however, were apparently encoded (probably by Alderaanian technicians). R2 himself refused to show Luke or Leia the recordings and insisted he was trying to protect them. The only way to remove the recordings safely was to either find the original designers of the unit, a prototype, or erase R2's memory (an idea only C-3PO seemed to take seriously). Because the recordings hadn't been removed, R2 began to malfunction. By 36 ABY, a year after the first recording was shown, R2 seemed to be functioning again, though he remained unwilling to show the recordings. It wasn't until the Swarm War, when Luke needed to see it to help him in his fight against Lomi Plo, that R2 finally revealed Padmé's death to Luke, as well as his and Leia's birth.

Behind the scenes
The name R2-D2 supposedly derives from 'Reel 2, Dialogue Track 2', which is an example of technical nomenclature used in filmmaking. R2 was played by Kenny Baker in five Star Wars films; although he received onscreen credit, he did not perform in Revenge of the Sith. Many scenes were also filmed using mechanical versions of the character, or as digital-doubles in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

R2-D2 was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in 2003.

In the Italian version of the original trilogy, R2-D2's name is changed to C1-P8. The original name is restored in the new trilogy.

When asked in an interview, "Is there a character you are going to miss?", George Lucas replied, "Well, R2D2...because he's the hero of the whole thing. He's the one that always comes through and saves everybody. I'd like to have a pal like that that would come and save me once in a while..."

Speculation
It has been speculated that R2-D2 relates the tale of the Skywalkers to a Keeper of the Whills about one hundred years after the fall of the Empire, around 104 ABY. This theory is based on a single comment from George Lucas which is mentioned on page 72 of The Making of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith: ''George remarks to Rob Coleman that the story of Star Wars is actually recounted by R2-D2 to the Keeper of the Whills, one hundred years after Return of the Jedi. Journal of the Whills is what Lucas titled his first outline of Star Wars back in 1972.'' Whether a single remark constitutes canon is a subject of much debate.

R2 saves the day
On every official Star Wars film, R2-D2 saves the life of one or more of the series' heroes:
 * The Phantom Menace: Artoo fixes the shield on the J-Type 327 Nubian royal starship, allowing it to escape the Blockade of Naboo.
 * Attack of the Clones: He shuts down the machine before it can pour boiling lava onto Padmé Amidala.
 * Revenge of the Sith: He starts the elevator so Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi can rescue Palpatine.
 * A New Hope: He stops the garbage masher crushing Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca and Luke Skywalker.
 * The Empire Strikes Back: He fixes the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon so they can escape Executor.
 * Return of the Jedi: He gives Luke his lightsaber, allowing him to save his friends from Jabba the Hutt.

Abilities controversy


In the prequel trilogy, especially Revenge of the Sith and Attack of the Clones, Artoo seems to have far more abilities and maneuverability than he did during the original trilogy. The introduction of claw guns, tow ropes, oil slicks and most notoriously, booster rockets&mdash;have led many fans to speculate on why the R2 unit has far less tools at his disposal during the Galactic Civil War. Some believe Artoo's systems could simply have deteriorated from "old age", as mechanical objects tend to do over long periods of time, and so more impressive feats, such as jet rockets, no longer function.

Others have theorised that more recent owners, such as Raymus Antilles, may have removed these abilities&mdash;either for the adventurous little droid's own good, or to install more practical modifications. Many simply believe R2-D2 had no need for some of the abilities showcased in the prequel trilogy, and therefore never used them. One little-known theory is that after Artoo was damaged during the Trench Run, his robot brain was transfered to another shell.

Although never shown on-screen, there are some scenes in the original trilogy where R2 appears to utilize some form of booster equipment. Moving underneath the swamp-water on Dagobah, for instance, would be almost impossible if R2 could only roll along the bottom, as a swamp lake-bottom would be far from smooth and easily navigable. The droid also appears to have somehow lifted himself into his X-wing socket as Luke Skywalker prepares to leave the planet in ESB.

Although the story itself is canon, there is a humorous scene in the Droids cartoon series where R2 turns on a jukebox and begins to breakdance. This was probably meant as humor for the children, seeing their favorite robot dance in a funny fashion. So far, it is accepted that it is impossible for R2 to complete the moves he does in the cartoon, but one never quite knows...

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars: Republic
 * Star Wars: Clone Wars
 * Obsession
 * Sithisis
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars: Droids
 * ''Star Wars Droids: The Kalarba Adventures
 * ''Droids: Rebellion
 * ''Droids: Season of Revolt
 * ''Droids: The Protocol Offensive
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Marvel Star Wars
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale
 * Star Wars Empire 13: What Sin Loyalty?
 * The Keeper's World
 * Weapons Master
 * The Star Wars Holiday Special
 * Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina
 * Star Wars Empire: The Wrong Side of the War
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Shadows of the Empire
 * Tales from Jabba's Palace
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * The Truce at Bakura
 * X-wing: Rogue Leader
 * Shadows of the Empire: Evolution
 * The Glove of Darth Vader
 * The Courtship of Princess Leia
 * A Forest Apart
 * Tatooine Ghost
 * ''Dark Empire
 * ''Dark Empire II
 * ''Empire's End
 * Jedi Search
 * Dark Apprentice
 * Champions of the Force
 * I, Jedi
 * Children of the Jedi
 * Darksaber
 * Planet of Twilight
 * The Crystal Star
 * The Black Fleet Crisis
 * Corellian Trilogy
 * The Hand of Thrawn Duology
 * Specter of the Past
 * Vision of the Future
 * Star Wars: Union
 * Junior Jedi Knights
 * Junior Jedi Knights: The Golden Globe
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Lyric's World
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Promises
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Anakin's Quest
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Vader's Fortress
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Kenobi's Blade
 * Young Jedi Knights
 * New Jedi Order
 * ''Dark Nest Trilogy
 * Betrayal
 * Star Tours
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game

Non-canon

 * R2-D2 appeared, along with Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, and C-3PO on an episode of The Muppet Show in 1980.
 * A series of segments on Sesame Street, aired in 1980 (guest starring with C-3PO)
 * He and C-3PO appeared on the Donny and Marie Show in 1977.
 * He and 3PO have appeared in numerous television commercials over the years.
 * He and C-3PO appeared on a Saturday morning preview show in 1985 on ABC, to promote their new Star Wars: Droids cartoon. The host of the special was Tony Danza. While they were on stage, the spooky chest from The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo showed up, allowing for a brief, if non-canon, Star Wars/Hanna-Barbera crossover.
 * He and C-3PO appeared (in their animatronic Star Tours form) with Danza and the Muppets (again) in the NBC special Disneyland's 35th Anniversary Celebration, in 1990.
 * R2-D2, along with all the other canon Star Wars characters, appear in the non-canon Star Wars Infinities, which is like a "what if?" spin-off on Star Wars Episodes IV-VI
 * Return of the Ewok
 * Star Wars: Revelations and any other fan films he appears in