The Road to Episode Infinity: Astromechs Ranked

#12
R2-KT

As far as origin stories go, R2-KT may have one of the most interesting in all of the franchise. R2-KT was named after Katie Johnson, the young daughter of Albin Johnson (the founder of the 501st Legion fan organization). When Katie was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Albin and the R2-D2 Builders Club created a pink astromech droid to stay with her by her bedside. Since then R2-KT has been used to visit children's hospitals and when the droid appears in merchandise the proceeds always go to charity.

In Star Wars canon R2-KT appeared in two theatrical Star Wars films including the 2008 Clone Wars film and “The Force Awakens”.

#11
R3-A2

Careful viewers will notice R3 units all over the original trilogy. There are a couple aboard the Death Star 1 and a couple more on Hoth. The R3 series was similar to the R2 line but the transparent dome gave the droid more sensor range and showcased its newly updated Intellex V CPU.

One notable example of the R3 line is R3-A2 who can be seen in the Hoth Echo Base in the film “The Empire Strikes Back”. R3-A2 was released in a 2003 Battle of Hoth multipack, in the 2009 “Build a Droid” series, and as a Lego Minifigure in 2016.

#10
R2-Q5

R2-Q2 served the Galactic Empire aboard the Death Star II. Allegedly the droid thwarted a plan by IG-88 to infiltrate the second Death Star. Since “Return of the Jedi” the droid has appeared in several video games including “The Force Unleashed”.

R2-Q5 has a sleek design which includes a black and bronze color scheme. In 2008 R2-Q5 was released as part of Sphero’s robot line-up.

#9
CB-23

During the events of the TV series “Star Wars: Resistance”, CB-23 replaces BB-8 as Poe Dameron’s astromech unit, while while BB-8 was stationed on the Colossus with Kazuda Xiono. CB-23 has a red and blue color scheme and a femanine personality. Though BB-8 was originally jealous of CB-23 they later became friends and Poe Dameron even referred to them as “Love Droids”.

#8
R4-P17

R4-P17 was Obi-Wan Kenobi’s astromech during the Clone Wars. Fans of “Attack of the Clones” wondered how an astromech was able to fit into the thin wings of a Jedi Starfighter and apparently they don’t. Instead the “Attack of the Clones” version of R4-P17 is just a dome that is integrated (built right in) to Jedi Starfighters. This explains why R4-P17 never left Obi-Wan’s ship in Episode II.

When astromechs became compatible with new Jedi starfighters during the Clone Wars, R4-P17 received a full body. However during “The Battle of Coruscant”, R4's dome was torn apart by a buzz droid, effectively killing her.

#7
R1-J5

R1-J5 served as a member of Team Fireball, a racing team on the Colossus refueling platform. On the outside R1-J5 looks like a heap of junk. Many of his innards are exposed and his friends and teammates called him “Bucket”. “Bucket” always wears his Team Fireball racing helmet and feels “naked” without it.

A “Bucket” lego minifig released in 2019. A 3.75-inch action figure version of “Bucket” was packaged with Jarek Yeager, also in 2019.

#6
BB-9E

During the war between the First Order and the Resistance, BB-9E served aboard the starship Supremacy. The First Order, like the Empire before them, believed droids should be kept docile with frequent memory wipes. Therefore BB-9E had a cold and calculating personality. BB-9E was perceptive and shrewd and alerted the crew of the Supremacy of the infiltration of Resistance agents, Finn & Rose.

During the production of “The Last Jedi”, BB-9E was nicknamed BB-H8 as in “BB-Hate”.

#5
R5-D4

There are many legends built around the droid R5-D4. Some claim that R2-D2 deliberately sabotaged his motivator (see Star Wars Radio Drama, 1981). Others claim R2 managed to convince R5 to sabatage his own motivator so that R2’s mission could be fulfilled (see From a Certain Point of View, 2017). Still others claim that R5 is a force sensitive droid named Skippy who used the force to blow his own motivator (see Star Wars Tales 1, 1999). The truth is probably R5-D4 just had a bad motivator and the Jawa’s were trying to pull a fast one on the Lars Family.

R5-D4 apparently survived his motivator explosion and is set to appear in the TV series “The Mandalorian”, later this fall.

#4
BT-1

BT-1 assassin droids looked like common astromechs, but packed some surprising punches. Some have even nicknamed them “Blastromechs”. The idea of blastromechs go all the way back to the 2003 MMORPG game “Star Wars Galaxies”.

The specific BT-1 on this list served Lord Vader and Doctor Aphra during the Galactic Civil War. BT-1’s partner was 0-0-0 a psychotic protocol droid. Together, they represented a “Darkest Timeline” version of C-3P0 and R2-D2.

BT-1 first appeared in the comic series “Darth Vader” and later in “Doctor Aphra”, its spiritual sequel. A 6’’ version of BT-1 was released as part of Hasbro’s Black Series in 2019.

#3
C1-10P

C1-10P is a stout, often ill-tempered astromech nicknamed “Chopper” by his friends. He belonged to Hera Syndulla, who found him as a young girl. Chopper was a member of the crew of the Ghost early in the formation of the Rebellion. Chopper survived the war, along with Hera Syndulla.

Chopper played a lead role in the TV show, Rebels. His design is based on early sketches of R2-D2. His personality is brusk when compared to most astromechs. Dave Filoni once said that if R2 is the family dog, then Chopper is the family cat. Chopper also had a cameo in the film “Rogue One”.

#2
BB-8

BB-8 is Poe Dameron’s orange astromech who fought for the Resistance against the First Order. BB-8 is remembered as being extremely loyal and having a good judge of character.

“The Force Awakens” director J.J. Abrams first conceived of BB-8 when he drew a sketch on a napkin. Though the droid was a puppet on the set of “The Force Awakens”, Sphero later built a fully functioning model.

#1
R2-D2

R2-D2 served as a maintenance droid for the Royal Starship of Naboo. He later became a favorite droid of Queen Amidala and she continued to employ his service as a senator. Later, R2 served Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, who had a secret relationship with Amidala.

For many years after the Clone Wars, R2 was employed aboard the Tantive IV which served the Royal House of Alderaan, (which was secretly a part of the Rebel Alliance.) Princess Leia, the Alderaanian princess, gave the droid a mission to hunt down a Clone Wars general. It was on this mission that R2 met Luke Skywalker who he would have many adventures with, including destroying the Death Star. Years after the Battle of Yavin, Luke Skywalker disappeared causing R2 to feel abandoned, yet the two were reunited shortly before the death of the old Jedi.

R2-D2 is portrayed by Kenny Baker in the Original Trilogy and Prequels. He is portrayed by Jimmy Vee in the sequel trilogy. R2 has appeared in nine Star Wars films, with the upcoming “Rise of Skywalker” being his tenth.

Honorable Mention:
R4-I9

I felt that I should include an R4 model on my list and R4-I9 is a good candidate. The droid was owned by the Imperials and was assigned to the first Death Star. Many have mistaken R4-I9’s color scheme as black, although it is actually a dark blue.

Though the same model was used when filming the Yavin Rebel base scenes, officially this is a different R4 unit named R4-D6.