R5-J2

"Lord Vader, this is an unexpected pleasure. We're honored by your presence."

―Tiaan Jerjerrod greets Vader on behalf of R5-J2 and the others present —

R5-J2 was an Imperial modified R5 series astromech droid stationed on board the Death Star II superweapon while the battle station was under construction in the Endor system. The droid was present in one of the Death Star's hangars for the arrival of the Sith Lord Darth Vader on board the station in 4 ABY. R5-J2 was then also present in the hangar for the arrival of Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine shortly before the Alliance to Restore the Republic attacked the Death Star. The astromech was still stationed on board the superweapon during the battle, which ended with the station's destruction.

Biography[]

R5-J2^[2] was an R5 series astromech droid^[3] manufactured by Industrial Automaton^[1] that served the Galactic Empire during its war against the Alliance to Restore the Republic.^[5] In 4 ABY,^[6] the R-series astromech droid^[2] was stationed on board the Death Star II superweapon while it was under construction above the moon Endor in the Endor system. The droid stood beside a similar unit near the wall of one of the Death Star's hangars as part of the group of Imperial personnel led by Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod that were present for the arrival of the Sith Lord Darth Vader when he arrived on the battle station to speed up its construction.^[5]

R5-J2-ROTJ — R5-J2 (center) was present for the arrival of Darth Vader on the Death Star II.

R5-J2 also witnessed the momentous arrival of Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine^[2] on board the Death Star sometime after Vader arrived. The droid stood in a similar position near the wall as to when Vader arrived, but this time in a larger group of Imperial droids.^[5] The astromech was still stationed on the Death Star when^[2] the Alliance Fleet attacked the station shortly after the Emperor's arrival and destroyed it, with Palpatine also perishing during the battle.^[5]

Characteristics[]

R5-J2 was a modified R5 unit^[3] and had primarily sleek black paneling with some copper sections.^[4] The droid had two black sensors on its dome^[2] and stood 0.97 meters tall.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Origins[]

R5astromechs btm — R5-J2 (right) is often erroneously depicted with the three sensors of a separate droid (left) that also appeared in *Return of the Jedi*.

R5-J2 first appeared in the 1983 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.^[5] Both Vader's arrival scene and the Emperor's arrival scene were filmed on Stage 6 at Elstree Studios between February 22 and February 24, 1982.^[7] In 1997, footage of Vader's arrival on the second Death Star was reused for the Sith Lord's return to the Star Destroyer Executor from^[8] the planet^[2] Bespin in the Special Edition release of the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. As such, R5-J2 is seen in the Special Edition version alongside other Imperial personnel from Return of the Jedi,^[8] however, this article assumes these to be separate characters.

The name R5-J2 was first used in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where it originated on an action figure in the Star Wars: The Saga Collection line by Hasbro Inc. in 2006. However, this figure combined visual traits^[9] from two separate R5 units that appeared in the Death Star hangar in Return of the Jedi,^[5] using the paneling colors from a droid with two sensors on its dome, but giving it the three dome sensors of the other droid.^[9] The 2008 reference book The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia then identified the droid with two sensors on its dome as R5-J2.^[10]

Appearances in the current canon[]

"Beep beep?"
"This stormtrooper requires that you charge up that speeder."
"Beep beep."
"Orders are orders. There. I should inform you that he said the drive unit is malfunctioning so there may be unforeseen consequences to charging it."

―R5-J2 and R-3PO's conversation in LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens^[11]

R5-J2-LEGOTFA — R5-J2 appeared on board the *Finalizer* in *LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens*.

In the current Star Wars canon, the droid's name first appeared in the 2015 "Rise Against the Empire" expansion for the non-canon video game Disney Infinity 3.0. However, the purchasable character using the name was depicted as the R5 unit with three sensors on its dome.^[12] The droid was then also a purchasable character in the non-canon video game LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens,^[11] which was released on June 28, 2016,^[13] and depicted the droid with two sensors. In the game, the droid is referred to with he/him pronouns and appears in the mission "Chapter 2: Escape from the Finaliser."^[11]

The chapter is set during the rogue stormtrooper Finn and the Resistance pilot Poe Dameron's escape from the First Order Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Finalizer^[11] in 34 ABY.^[14] The pair find the astromech sat in an uncharged speeder in the Finalizer's hangar and form a plan to use the speeder to cause a distraction, but are unable to interact with the terminal beside the vehicle without a protocol droid. After recruiting the 3PO-series protocol droid R-3PO, the pair have the droid interact with the terminal and then instruct R5-J2 to charge the speeder. In binary, the astromech warns them that the speeder's drive unit is malfunctioning and so charging it might have unforeseen effects but complies with the order and also turns the speeder to face a group of First Order personnel. With R5-J2 still in the seat, the speeder then boosts forward toward the personnel before crashing into the hangar floor and exploding. Completing the chapter unlocks R5-J2 as a purchasable character.^[11]

R5-J2-Sideshow — Various action figures depict an erroneous version of R5-J2.

The first canonical source in the current canon to use the name was a Sideshow Collectibles figure of R5-J2 released as part of the Sixth Scale Figures line^[4] in December 2016.^[15] The figure used the same erroneous combination of three dome sensors with the paneling from the two dome sensor droid^[4] as the previous Hasbro figure.^[9] The 2017 reference book Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia then canonically applied the name to an image of the droid with two sensors on its dome.^[2] A 2019 Bandai figure of the droid then once again depicted the droid with the erroneous combination of features.^[16]