R3-T2

R3-T2, or just R3, was an R3-series astromech droid with red, blue, and white paneling. They lived in Mos Eisley spaceport on the planet Tatooine and in 9 BBY stood in one of the streets when a transport carrying three Inquisitors landed nearby. In 0 BBY, the droid passed by a X-34 landspeeder as they moved along Corporations Road in the spaceport.

Biography[]

R3-T2, also known as just R3, was an unaffiliated^[4] R3-series astromech droid resident of the spaceport of Mos Eisley on the planet Tatooine during the Imperial Era.^[1] Over the years, the droid had several owners who kept R3-T2 in order using parts scavenged from members of the Jawa species.^[4]

In 9 BBY,^[5] the droid was stood among the crowds on one of Mos Eisley's streets when the transport^[6] Scythe^[7] flew overhead and landed nearby to allow three Sith Inquisitors to disembark, although the droid did not turn to face the Inquisitors with the rest of the crowd.^[6]

In 0 BBY,^[8] R3-T2 was rolling down^[3] Corporations Road^[9] in Mos Eisley when an X-34 landspeeder carrying the locals Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi and Skywalker's droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO, passed them. A recklessly piloted Flare-S swoop^[9] then caused a ronto to rear up in front of R3-T2, causing a Jawa to fall from the ronto's back in front of the droid. The astromech droid later passed by the same landspeeder again outside Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina.^[3]

Characteristics[]

Standing 1.09 meters tall,^[2] R3-T2 had a black sensor on their red dome and white-and-blue paneling on their chassis.^[3] They were part of the R-series manufactured by Industrial Automaton.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

R3-T2-Ronto-ANH — R3-T2 (far right) first appeared in *Star Wars*: Episode IV *A New Hope*.

R3-T2 first appeared in the 1977 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.^[3] The droid's scene was shot between April 2 and April 4, 1976 on location in Djerba, Tunisia.^[10] The droid was recreated based on the original for the Obi-Wan Kenobi television series, with the crew using R3-T2 as the model's identifier.^[11] R3-T2's scene was shot on the fourteenth day of shooting for the series^[12] and the droid then appeared in the show's first episode,^[6] which aired on May 27, 2022.^[13]

In the current Star Wars canon, the droid was first identified in the 2016 reference book written by Michael Kogge included in the Star Wars: R2-D2 Deluxe Book and Model Set.^[1] The designation originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where they were first used on the "R3-T2 (Arthree-Teetoo)" card in the Special Edition Limited expansion set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game, which was released by Decipher, Inc. in 1998.^[14]

A LEGO figure of R3-T2 was created for the 2018 set "75198 Tatooine Battle Pack."^[15] Images of this figure were re-used in the 2023 non-canon reference book LEGO Star Wars Galaxy Mission to represent the separate character R2-Z2C. The book was written by Julia March with LEGO models by Rod Gillies.^[16]