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For the weapons system nicknamed "R2-D2", see Phalanx CIWS. R2-D2 (called R2, or "Artoo" for short), is an astromech droid and colleague of C-3PO in the fictional Star Wars universe, created not long before 32 BBY. R2-D2 was played by Kenny Baker in five of the six Star Wars films, (though credited with appearing in Episode III, he never filmed any scenes) with many scenes filmed using mechanical and computer-generated imagery (CGI) versions of the character. R2 is the only character (despite being a non-living droid) to appear in all six Star Wars films, without changes to appearance or speech, unlike his colleague C-3PO, who did not yet have his gold plating for his appearances in "The Phantom Menace". Along with his resourcefulness, R2 had many tool-tipped appendages that allowed him to be a great starship mechanic and computer interface specialist. A light droid, R2 would often enter dangerous situations without second thought. This adventurous streak has saved the day on numerous occasions, such as saving the Queens royal starship in episode 1, often turning the tide of galactic history. R2 is barrel-like in shape, with a rotating dome which functions as his head, complete with a single robotic eye. He has three appendages, which enable him to walk, and on each appendage there are wheels he uses for locomotion. Unlike his Protocol droid counterpart C-3PO, R2-D2 cannot speak but communicates with a series of beeps, whistles, and warbles, which 3PO can interpret. His masters also seem to have an understanding of what he seems to want to communicate, and some ships automatically translate his speech for the pilot. In The Phantom Menace, R2-D2 is a droid belonging to the Naboo army, and helps repair Queen Padmé Amidala's starship as it attempts to get past the Trade Federation blockade. Later, R2 becomes part of Qui-Gon Jinn's party in Tatooine and meets C-3PO and Anakin Skywalker. Later, he serves as the astromech droid for Anakin's starfighter during the attack on the Trade Federation Droid Control Ship. Ten years later, in Attack of the Clones, R2 is still in Padmé Amidala's possession, and he accompanies Anakin and Padmé to Naboo when her life is threatened, and then to Tatooine when Anakin tries to rescue his mother. Here, he is reunited with C-3PO, and the two get into various misadventures on Geonosis. This includes a bizarre accident where C-3PO's head is knocked off his body. The head is placed on the body of a battle droid, and a battle droid head is placed on C-3PO's body. R2 later takes C-3PO's head and restores it to his body during the Battle of Geonosis. He and C-3PO are later witnesses to Anakin and Padmé's secret wedding. In Revenge of the Sith, R2 helps Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi in their mission to rescue Chancellor Palpatine from Count Dooku's capital ship. He is attacked by Super battle droids, but manages to defeat both of them through ingenious tactics. R2 accompanies Anakin throughout the rest of the movie, but does not play a large part in events. Later, C-3PO's memory is wiped clean to keep the knowledge of the locations of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa a secret from their father, who has fallen to the dark side and become Darth Vader. Due to his inability to communicate verbally, however, R2-D2's memory is not wiped. In The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, though, R2 communicates with Luke on the trip to Dagobah via the computer screen of Luke's X-wing starfighter. This lack of memory wipe makes R2 the only character by the end of Return of the Jedi who knows the entire story of the Skywalker family. Both R2 and C-3PO end up in the possession of Captain Raymus Antilles onboard the blockade runner Tantive IV at the end of Revenge of the Sith. In A New Hope, both R2-D2 and C-3PO are on board the Tantive IV along with Princess Leia of Alderaan, now an adult, when they come under attack by the Star Destroyer Devastator. Leia slips R2-D2 a disc containing a distress message and the plans for the Death Star battle station. Once again on the planet Tatooine, R2 and 3PO are abducted by Jawas and bought by Owen Lars, adoptive uncle of Luke Skywalker. Luke discovers a part of the hidden message but does not act on it, and R2 escapes on his own to seek out Obi-Wan Kenobi. Soon Luke is forced to leave Tatooine with Obi-Wan, Han Solo, and Chewbacca, and they attempt to deliver R2-D2 to the Rebel Alliance. Along the way, they are captured by the Death Star, but eventually rescue Leia and escape. R2-D2 delivers the plans to the Alliance, and becomes Luke's astromech droid during the attack on the station. R2 is severely damaged during the battle, but is restored before the awards ceremony at the end of the film. In The Empire Strikes Back R2 accompanies Luke to Dagobah and later to Cloud City, where he again helps to rescue and repair a heavily damaged C-3PO. He also manages to fix the Millennium Falcons hyperdrive, resulting in a last-minute escape from the Empire. In R2-D2 participates in the rescue of Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, and later joins the Rebel strike team on Endor. He helps to bring down the deflector shield so the fleet can destroy the new Death Star.
Behind the scenes After Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, computer animation was more advanced, so this allowed R2 to be computer animated in many scenes of the following Prequels. There were a total of 15 R2-D2s on the set of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Eight were radio-controlled; 2 were worn by Baker; the remainder were stunt models that could be moved by puppet strings or towed by wires. The sound effects for R2-D2's "voice" were created by sound designer Ben Burtt, using an ARP 2600 analog music synthesizer, as well as his own vocalizations processed through other effects. Analysis The two droids establish the comic relief of the series. However, R2 is decisive and courageous in comparison to C-3PO, who tends to panic and dither in the face of danger. For instance, in A New Hope when they realized that their human companions were in jeopardy in a crushing trash compactor, C-3PO was in a panic while R2-D2 quietly and quickly set to work to stop the machine. There has also been speculation as to whether R2-D2 has some special relationship with the Force, due to the fact that R2, in multiple instances throughout the movie series, is able to calmly roll through a firefight without a scratch (exceptions being the Battle of Yavin, the escape from Cloud city when he is electrocuted, and the battle of Endor). Given that affinity for the Force is based on symbiotic creatures that live within living cells it is impossible by the laws of the Star Wars universe for a non-biological entity to have any affinity with the Force, leading to the conclusion that R2-D2 is simply very lucky, goes unnoticed by Imperial troops (who may understandably be more concentrated on the armed Rebels) or that the Imperial Stormtroopers are truly awful shots (see Stormtrooper effect). There is also the possibility that there are things not known about the Force which would allow R2-D2 some connection (as Yoda stated, everything is connected to the Force), though this is just speculation. R2-D2 is present at the weddings of two generations of Skywalkers: Anakin and Padmé in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and Luke and Mara Jade two decades after . Plot Holes? A notable possible plot hole between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope is that, during Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, R2-D2 has rocket boosters that allow him to fly, but from A New Hope onward these boosters are not used, leading some to conclude that they are not present. The magazine, Star Wars Insider Issue 62, explains that R2's manufacturers at Industrial Automation had limited their factory warranty on astromech rockets to about 20 years, which would explain why R2 doesn't have his rockets in the Original Trilogy. He also had another set of rockets in a cut scene in The Phantom Menace, where he falls off a Coruscant landing platform, only to be saved by his rockets. In "A New Hope" R2 is severely damaged in the final battle and must be rebuilt. It is possible many of his gadgets were reconfigured during this reconstruction, including the removal of rocket boosters. The only scene in the original trilogy where R2's lack of rockets is an issue is in Return of the Jedi, when the little droid jumps off Jabba's barge rather than fly off. Another potential plot hole would be the fact that R2-D2 is not recognized by Obi-Wan Kenobi when R2 leaves the Skywalker ranch to find him. He in fact only says that he did not remember owning a droid. In addition, a possible explanation is that Obi-Wan did recognize R2, as he refers to him as "little friend," but does not make this indication in front of Luke, who at the time does not know his true family history. It could simply be that all R2 units, like any mass-produced good, look more or less the same except for their paint job, and Obi-Wan assumes that he is talking to an R2 unit with the same color scheme as Anakin's droid. These matters, of course, are left for each viewer's interpretation. R2 Saves the Day At least once in every film of the Star Wars Trilogy, R2-D2 performs a droid function that rescues one or more of the series’ human protagonists. Inspiration Expanded Universe Popularity Notable Appearances (outside the Star Wars series) See also Notes | ||||||||
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