EV-9D9

EV-9D9 (Eve-Ninedenine), also referred to as simply as 9D9, was a feminine MerenData EV-series supervisor droid who, originally a peaceful, hardworking moisture vaporator mechanic, had a programming defect that made her enjoy tormenting and dismembering other droids. She was acquired by the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, who made her chief of his palace's Cyborg Operations after a reprogramming, where she oversaw its droid pool with the assistance of her smelter droid devotee, 8D8. When Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker gifted Jabba R2-D2 and C-3PO in 4 ABY, shortly before the Battle of Endor, EV-9D9 assigned them positions in her master's droid pool and was temporarily deactivated sometime after his demise.

BiographyEdit

A feminine^[1] EV-series supervisor droid^[2] manufactured by MerenData,^[1] EV-9D9, also known or simply as 9D9, was originally a peaceful moisture vaporator mechanic on the planet Tatooine.^[7] However, she had a programming defect that caused her to exhibit cruelty towards other droids, a flaw many other EV units shared. She was acquired by the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure,^[1] who made her chief of Cyborg Operations at his Tatooine palace,^[8] a position she was well suited for after being reprogrammed in a Mos Eisley spaceport scrapyard.^[7] She was one of the few EV units to escape MerenData's mass recall.^[1] EV-9D9 converted a dank^[4] boiler room^[8] in the murky depths^[1] of the palace's dungeons^[6] into a droid "assessment" room,^[8] in actuality a grim torture chamber,^[4] where her devotee, 8D8,^[8] an 8D-series smelter droid reprogrammed for sadism, assisted her in terrorizing Jabba's droid pool^[9] into submission.^[6]

In the year 0 BBY,^[10] 261, a rogue Imperial astromech droid, was captured and brought to Jabba's Palace, where he was forced to join its droid pool. However, the droid was able to escape, making EV-9D9 furious. When the Trandoshan bounty hunter Bossk, working to retrieve the droid for the Empire, tracked it to the palace, the supervisor droid explained that 261 had escaped, claiming that he would soon learn some respect. Bossk later recovered the droid from a clan of Jawas and brought it back to the Empire.^[11]

After the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker gifted Jabba R2-D2 and C-3PO^[5] in 4 ABY,^[12] shortly before the Battle of Endor, they were escorted down to EV-9D9's torture chamber so she could assign them positions in her master's droid pool. C-3PO, a protocol droid, was made Jabba's new interpreter, as his last one was disintegrated after it had angered him, and was fitted with a restraining bolt before being returned to the palace's main audience chamber, and R2-D2, an astromech droid, was forced to serve drinks aboard Jabba's sail barge,^[5] the Khetanna.^[6] However, R2-D2 was actually tasked with infiltrating the palace's droid pool so that he could assist in the rescue of Han Solo from the Hutt's clutches,^[13] a mission that ultimately resulted in Jabba's demise,^[5] after which EV-9D9 was temporarily^[14] deactivated with the rest of the palace's droid pool.^[15]

CharacteristicsEdit

Originally peaceful and hardworking,^[7] EV-9D9 was corrupted by a programming flaw^[1] and some very nasty reprogramming.^[7] A malicious, sadistic, and psychotic mechanic murderer,^[8] she enjoyed tormenting and dismembering other droids,^[4] reveling^[8] in working them until they fell apart^[1] or their processors blew^[8] and employing bizarre forms of droid torture to increase motivation. EV-9D9 relished her role as taskmaster of all the palace's droids^[1] and 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 acting feistily towards her, EV-9D9 assigned him to her master's sail barge to teach him respect.^[5]

A gangly bronze and silver colored mechanical with feminine programming,^[5] EV-9D9 was missing various parts, lending her a skeletal appearance.^[7] Her manipulator arms^[1] and legs were motivated by exposed pistons, and both of her hands terminated in three multi-jointed digits.^[5] Her pelvic mount could be locked into legs or motorized carts.^[16] She stood at 1.9 meters in height^[4] and had three yellow photoreceptors,^[5] one of which she custom-fitted to allow herself to "see" droid pain. EV-9D9 had a degraded logic center^[1] and spoke with synthesized female voice that sounded as if it had been stolen from an elderly prison matron. As she spoke, her hinged vocoder flapped up and down beneath her sharp metal chin,^[17] simulating the movement of a mouth.^[5]

EquipmentEdit

EV-9D9 performed her duties while sitting^[5] behind an ancient, rickety computer console^[17] in the palace's boiler room.^[8]

Behind the scenesEdit

Originally created for the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi,^[5] EV-9D9 first appeared in a Star Wars Legends novelization of the film written by James Kahn^[18] and released on May 12, 1983,^[19] thirteen days before the film was released in theaters on May 25.^[20] The character was identified as EV-9D9 in the novel,^[18] a name that originated in the third draft of Return of the Jedi^[21] but was not used in the final film.^[5] This name was established to be canon by Ultimate Star Wars, a reference book written by Patricia Barr, Adam Bray, Daniel Wallace, and Ryder Windham^[6] and released on April 28, 2015.^[22]

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.^[21] She was portrayed using a marionette^[23] created by Bill Hargreaves and Steve Short,^[24] which was based on Ralph McQuarrie concept art of an assassin droid,^[23] and was voiced on set by director Richard Marquand, whose voice was later redubbed during post-production.^[21] At one point in the production of Return of the Jedi, EV-9D9 was to be able to walk, though it was later decided that she would sit after the special effects department failed to make it work by George Lucas' deadline.^[23] An interactive gallery of EV-9D9's marionette was included on Bonus Disc 2 of Star Wars: The Complete Saga, a Blu-ray set that comprised the first six main Star Wars films along with three additional discs of bonus material^[25] that was released on September 12, 2011.^[26] The marionette was once stored in the Lucasfilm Archives,^[25] but is now on display as part of Star Wars Identities: The Exhibition.^[27]

AppearancesEdit

• Star Wars Battlefront II (DLC)
• Bounty Hunt
• Star Wars: The Original Trilogy – A Graphic Novel
• Star Wars Battlefront (DLC)
• Star Wars 69 (Variant cover only)
• Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi (First appearance)
• Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side!
• Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

Non-canon appearancesEdit

• Disney Infinity 3.0

SourcesEdit

• Ultimate Factivity Collection: Star Wars (Picture only)
• Ultimate Star Wars (First identified as EV-9D9)
• Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
• "The Return of the Jedi Archives of James Kahn, Part II"—Star Wars Insider 161
• Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded
• Star Wars: Complete Locations
• Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia
• Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded
• Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary, New Edition
• Star Wars: Geektionary: The Galaxy from A - Z
• Star Wars: Droidography
• Star Wars: Alien Archive (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: New Edition
• Every Droid in Star Wars on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel
•  8D8 in the Databank (backup link)
•  EV-9D9 in the Databank (backup link)
•  R2-D2 in the Databank (backup link) (Indirect mention only)

Notes and referencesEdit

External linksEdit

Wookieepedia has 11 images related to EV-9D9.

•  Character Building at Star Wars Identities on StarWars.com (backup link)
•  Interview: Bill Hargreaves—Former Jawa Scavenger and Galactic Prop Man on StarWars.com (backup link) (Picture only)