Despite being a clunky cylinder of machine parts, R2-D2 rolled his way into our hearts with only a few beeps and boops. He was a quirky little droid that seemed to know his way around the universe of Star Wars better than Luke Skywalker did, so it's no wonder that R2-D2 (also known as Artoo) became one of the most recognizable stars of the films. There does not seem to be a character like him anywhere else; he feels so unique (or at least he did until BB-8 made his appearance). R2-D2 will always be our number one droid in Star Wars though (sorry, C-3PO, but your stodginess count𒐪s against you)ꦿ.

When we first meet Artoo, he and C-3PO are stumbling along the halls of Leia's ship, the Tantive IV, right before Darth Vader attacks. His language was unintelligible to our ears, but just by hearing Threepio's exasperated responses, we knew that the smaller Artoo unit had boatloads of spirit. When I look back on my childhood, it's clear that I've underestimated R2-D2's impact on my life. Without consciousl꧂y thinking about it, I have compared the countless wordless sidekicks I've seen in cartoons and movies to Artoo, the pinnacle of all cute sidekicks.

And for such a small guy, a large amount of shocking things have happened to him. As a droid, his life span has far exceeded a lot of the other characters we have met in the Star Wars films. As such, Artoo has seen and experienced much more than the average character. If you are a lover of the little droid as much as I am, read on to learn some n🧸ew and surprising things about him you may not have known.

20 ✃ Beating Bounty Hunters

R2-D2 is so cool, he went toe-to-toe with Boba Fett and came out the winner. Well, he didn't exactly go toe-to-toe with Boba Fett. But he did prove to be instrumental in aiding in Boba Fett's defeat. In a comic telling of what happened after A New Hope, we learn that Boba Fett was on Luke's trail after the destruction of the first Death Star.🃏 Darth Vader hired🉐 Fett to find the mysterious X-Wing pilot who had traveled with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Fett stakes out Obi-Wan's home in the deserts of Tatooine and manages to spring a trap on Luke and Artoo when they arrive looking for 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Obi-Wan's belongings. He throws in a flash grenade that stuns and knocks over Artoo and blinds Luke. Luke manages 💫to use his Je꧟di skills to dodge Boba Fett's attacks. And Artoo helps by just lying there! When Boba backs up, he trips over Artoo's prone form. See, Artoo is awesome without even trying.

19 ꧟ Bystander To The Fall

It is horrible to see a friend go down the wrong path, and it must be especially horr💦ible if that path involves the slaughter of younglings and the betrayal of friends. While Artoo may not have seen the worst of Anakin's behavior once he turned to the Dark Side, he was th🅺ere for the final moments of his turn. Anakin took Artoo with him to Mustafar when he was sent there by Palpatine to get rid of the Separatist leadership. I don't think Artoo got a good look at Anakin's "handling" of the Separatists.

But he was present for when Anakin Force-hurt Padmé.

Since R2-D2 can't talk, we never get to hear his reaction to this, but you can bet that he must have been distraught. Think of all the adventures that꧟ Artoo and🍨 Anakin had together. Bonds aside from Padmé and Anakin's were broken that day.

18 🔴 Let's Go Fly A Droid

Fans had mostly negative reactions to the introduction of R2-D2's rocket boosters in Attack of the Clones. I c🐈an understand 🐓their ire. If Artoo could fly all along, then a lot of problems he and the gang encountered in the original trilogy should have been easily solved. Any time Artoo had to make a quick a getaway, he could have just brought out his rocket boosters and flown off without a care in the world.

However, there is a working explanation for why Artoo no longer has his boosters in the originals.

The corporation that made Artoo and his✃ rocket boosters no longer produced them, so when Artoo's rockets eventually gave out, there was no way to fix them. I call this turkey. Even if the exact parts were no longer made, I'm sure some gear-head could have managed to repair them.

17 🔜 The Man Behind The Curtain ꦆ

Avid Star Wars fans will know who Kenny Baker was, but for those of you who are just casual Star Wars moviegoers, you may not know that there was a man stood 🧜within R2-D2, providing some of the small movements that gave Artoo such c💧haracter.

Kenny Baker was the actor known for being the ultimate droid.

He was placed inside the little droid and controlled some of Artoo's basic movements. The other kinds of motions that Artoomade were controlled remotely. He had to suffer no small amount of discomfort during the original trilogy, but thankfully, later R2-D2 costumes were able to hold Baker more comfortably. Unfortunately, 💮Kenny Baker passed away on August 13th, 2016. Despite his passing, he will forever be remembered as the man who helped bring R2-D2 to life.

16 The Wedding 🍒Gift 🌸

As if to add to the tragedy of Anakin's fall to the Dark Side, I found out what he and Padmé each gave each other after their wedding. C-3PO was all Anakin had to his name aside from his lightsaber, but he gave him to Padmé anyways. As a Jedi, Anakin had no use for a🐼 protocol droid, but Padmé's job as a senator would find Threepio very useful.

In return, Padmé gave Anakin R2-D2.

Artoo had worked for Padmé since she was Queen of Naboo, and Anakin clearly treasured him above and beyond any other droid he's worked with. You can clearly see this in many episodes of the animated series, The Clone Wars. Anakin sometimes even put his missions at risk t🍬o rescue Artoo from trouble. Aside from developing a close friendship with the droid, Anakin also loved Artoo because he was a gift from his wife's.

15 ꦫ🅠 Across The Stars

R2-D2 also has the great honor of being one of the characters in Star Wars that has appeared in every film so far. He played an integral part in the prequels and the originals, and he has made appearances in the next two films, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. He even makes a short appearance in Rogue One. I don't know if he will show up in the final installment of the sequel's trilogy or in the Han Solo movie, (artfully called Solo), but as of this writing, Artoo is the one character (along with Threepio, of course) to have been in all Star Wars movies. It's a dubious honor, because as such, Artoo ge💦ts to see the fresh horrors that always seem to faജce our protagonists from different enemies.

14 🌳 ಞ Sneaking Into Star Trek

You always hear about the rivalry between the Star Trek and the Star Wars franchises. Fans from each side will argue with each other about which universe is best. But real sci-fi fans know that there should be no argument. Any universe that can help us escape from the mundane is a good universe. The more the better, in fact. Without Star Trek, there would be no Star Wars, and without Star Wars, there would be no Star Trek.

J. J. Abrams demonstrated his appreciation for Star Wars when he made his new Star Trek films by including Artoo in them. When starships were being torn apart in space, in both the first movie and in Into Darkness, you can just make out a little R2-D2 being sucked out into the cold vacuum. Er, well, these aren't exactly happy cameos, but 💃at least we got to see our favorite little astromech.

13 🦋 Help Me, Obi-Wan Kꩲenobi...

No part in The Last Jedi cut me up more than when Luke got on board the Millennium Falcon after isolating himself on Ahch-To for so long. It was wonderful to see Han and Chewie reclaim their ship in The Force Awakens, but there was something bittersweet when Luke revisited the Falcon after so long. Reluctant to train Rey in the ways of the Force, it is Artoo who drives the emo꧂tional knife in and convinces him to mentor 🎶her at least somewhat.

He does this by showing Luke the old hologram recording of Leia asking Obi-Wan Kenobi for help.

This recording is what set the hopeful, young Luke off on his adventures. Artoo becomes the king of guilt trips by doing this, reminding Luke not only of who he used to be, but of how muc꧅h his sister needs his help.

12 🎀 Revealing Everything

Humans aren't the only ones who can be placed under duress. Poor Artoo was captured and sold to General Grievous duri🧔ng the Clone Wars. Since Anakin refused to regularly wipe Artoo's memory banks, Artoo's capture proved very dangerous because the Separatists would have had access to the Republic's gravest secrets.

In order to get at that information, Artoo was torn apart.

He was dismantled in a way that was disturbing to witness. I know that Artoo is a droid and he is made of mechanical parts, but I've always seen him whole. It was shocking to see him strewn about on a table. Luckily, Anakin was able to rescue Artoo before anything damaging could be donᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚe to the Republic. And Anakin would never leave Artoo behind regardless.

11 🐓 Sol♑e Survivor

Pure luck is what brings Artoo to Luke Skywalker in A New Hope. Artoo could have been obliterated from the face of the world (or rather the side of a ship) in a heartbeat before he ever got a chance to meet the Skywalker family. When the shields were damaged on the Naboo starship trying to flee the blockade surrounding the planet, astromech droids were sent to repair them. One by one, they were all blasted away by the barrage of fire the Naboo ship was taking. 🧸All but one.

Artoo survived not by skill, but by the luck of fate.

With the rate of astromechs getting blown up, Artoo should not have survived. By all odds, he should have gotten lasered like the rest of them. But he did survive, because he's R2-D2. You 𒀰can't kill R2𒅌-D2.