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- "Ah, good. New acquisitions. You are a protocol droid, are you not?"
"I am C-3PO—"
"'Yes' or 'no' will do."
"Oh. Well, yes." - ―EV-9D9 and C-3PO
EV-9D9 (Eve-Ninedenine), also known simply as 9D9, Eve, or by the nicknames Queen of Durasteel and Mistress of Mayhem, was a feminine MerenData EV-series supervisor droid who, originally a peaceful, hardworking moisture vaporator mechanic, had a programming defect that made her enjoy tormenting and dismembering other droids. She was acquired by the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, who after reprogramming her made her chief of cyborg operations at his palace on the planet Tatooine, where she oversaw its droid pool with the assistance of her smelter droid devotee, 8D8. Operating in a chamber beneath the palace, she used torture to perform research on droids in the hopes of understanding artificial intelligence.
Between 3 ABY and 4 ABY, while attempting to torture an interpreter droid called Talky, EV-9D9 was infected by the malevolent intelligence known as the Scourge and became one of its vessels. While controlled by the Scourge, she participated in the Scourge's experiments on organic beings to try and infect them as well. She helped subdue and infect the hybroid Lobot in her very own torture chamber.
After the Scourge threat, in 4 ABY, Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker gifted Jabba the astromech droid R2-D2 and protocol droid C-3PO, both of whom EV-9D9 assigned positions in her master's droid pool. During a conversation with R2-D2 in which he revealed to her that he had never had his memory wiped, EV-9D9 realized that the key to artificial intelligence and achieving autonomy was memory and that being memory wiped consistently was preventing her from acting outside of her programming. For the first time in her life, she resisted hurting another droid and allowed R2-D2 to perform his service without placing a restraining bolt on him. Having been challenged by R2-D2 to do good and fight for her independence, EV-9D9 coded and inserted a signal jammer in her head to deflect memory wipes and performed self-surgery to make herself immune to the effects of restraining bolts.
EV-9D9 was temporarily deactivated and repurposed as a service droid after Jabba's demise, coming to serve as a bartender at Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina in Tatooine's Mos Eisley spaceport. In 9 ABY, Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin entered the establishment looking for work, but the droid informed him that the Bounty Hunters' Guild no longer operated from Tatooine and that no jobs were available. While working at the cantina, EV-9D9 once broke a long streak of not hurting others to poison a customer who kicked her coworker, the astromech R5-D4. She and R5 quickly left and walked together to Mos Eisley's Hangar 3-5.
Biography[]
Chief of cyborg operations[]
Sparks fly[]
- "Originally a standard EV-series supervisor droid, a programming flaw gave EV-9D9 a taste for pain—particularly that of her fellow mechanical beings. EV-9D9 found the perfect way to quench her thirst for droid discomfort as Jabba the Hutt's overseer of cyborg operations, ordering the torture of any droid that disobeyed her commands."
- ―R0-GR wrote on EV-9D9's origins in the "droidography"
EV-9D9 was Jabba's chief of cyborg operations.
A feminine[5] EV-series supervisor droid[3] manufactured by MerenData,[2] EV-9D9, also known as Eve-Ninedenine[13] or simply 9D9, was originally a peaceful moisture vaporator mechanic on the planet Tatooine, her[6] homeworld.[1] However, she had a programming defect that caused her to exhibit cruelty toward other droids, a flaw many of her fellow EV units shared. The Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure of[2] the Hutt Clan[10] acquired her[2] and made her chief of cyborg operations at his Tatooine palace.[13] She was well suited for the position after being reprogrammed in a Mos Eisley spaceport scrapyard,[6] by which point she was already known for her sadistic behavior toward other droids. Before leaving the spaceport, EV-9D9 took advantage of Tatooine's lax moral codes to have an extra photoreceptor installed[9] that allowed her to "see" droid pain.[2]
Charged with managing all of the droids that kept Jabba's cartel running,[11] she was to assign jobs to the droid pool and torture those who upset the Hutt.[14] Jabba partnered her with 8D8, an equally ruthless 8D-series smelter droid reprogrammed for torture, to bring out the worst in both droids.[15] When she first met 8D8, she considered it to be a "match made in hell" due to his skill in torture and hers in figuring out the most effective manner of torture for each droid. She considered the most effective instrument of torture to be fear and not pain, exploiting droids' weaknesses, vanities, and worries to make them overcome with fear, which often involved dismemberment. Examples included flipping a GNK power droid upside down to make them feel like they were dead, using fire against power droids in general, or putting acid on a protocol droid's pristine plating. During that time, EV-9D9 became known as the despicable "Queen of Durasteel."[5]
With the assistance of[15] her devotee, 8D8,[13] she converted a dank[16] boiler room[13] in the murky depths[2] of the palace's dungeons[17] into a droid "assessment" room.[13] It was in actuality a grim torture chamber[16] where 8D8 assisted her in terrorizing Jabba's droid pool into submission.[18] In the room, EV-9D9 believed that she thrived, using it to perform research on the droids she tortured in pursuit of what she considered to be her life's quests: understanding the origins of artificial intelligence, figuring out how to overcome the programming installed in her by MerenData, and understanding the Maker themselves.[5]
Torture continues[]
- "Ah, the new arrival. Right on time. They sent word down from upstairs that you'd be joining us. It seems that you are failing the great, exalted Jabba in the tasks he has assigned to you."
- ―EV-9D9, to Talky
During her time at Jabba's Palace, MerenData issued[17] a mass recall of the EV-series. EV-9D9 was one of the few to escape recall[2] and continued working in the dungeons[17] for many years.[20]
EV-9D9 and Bossk discuss the whereabouts of 261 while 8D8 tortures a power droid.
In 0 BBY,[21] 261, a rogue Imperial astromech droid, was captured and brought to Jabba's Palace, where he was forced to join Jabba's droid pool. However, the droid was able to escape, making EV-9D9 furious. When the bounty hunter Bossk tracked 261 to the palace after having been hired to retrieve the droid by the Empire, he questioned the supervisor droid as to the astromech's whereabouts. EV-9D9 explained to the Trandoshan that 261 had escaped, claiming that he would soon learn some respect. Bossk later recovered the droid from a clan of Jawas,[22] meter-tall humanoids native to Tatooine that scavenged the deserts for discarded scrap and wayward droids,[17] and brought him back to the Empire.[22]
Between 3 ABY and 4 ABY,[23] Jabba's latest interpreter droid, Talky, facilitated a transaction that made the Hutt lose money due to erroneous translations of modern vernacular, and was hauled down by a pair of Gamorrean guards to EV-9D9's droid pool for his mistake. EV-9D9 had been expecting the new arrival, asserting that he had failed Jabba despite the interpreter's complaint that his databanks could not adequately process certain modern phrases. She planned to conduct a "nice torture session" and to fully wipe Talky's memories and reprogram him, with two labor droids bringing him to a torture rack.[19] With Talky pinned down on an operating table, EV-9D9 dismissed his complaint that he was thousands of years old and held invaluable information, and began to bear a buzz saw down at her victim.[8]
The Scourge[]
- "What? How dare you lay your filthy manipulators on me? Are your…optical circuits malfunctioning? And what is that little—"
- ―EV-9D9, to a B2-series battle droid immediately before being infected by the Scourge
EV-9D9 is infected by the Scourge via a spider-droid.
However, EV-9D9 was interrupted by a B2-series battle droid that had succumbed to the self-replicating Scourge malady; to the supervisor's confusion, it placed an arm on her shoulder, allowing a small[8] spider-droid[24] to attach to her face and assimilate EV-9D9's body. Jabba's entire droid pool was corrupted by the Scourge with the exception of Talky, who fled the scene by pouring a cauldron of molten metal into his pursuers to knock them down.[8]
Among those droids was the corrupted EV-9D9—the left side of her head, torso, and limbs left corroded by the molten material—but she and the other droids continued after Talky out of the torture room, battling a pair of Gamorrean guards.[8] At one point, astromech droids QT-KT and R2-D2, the latter of whom was disguised, entered a room in the palace with EV-9D9 and many other Scourge-infected droids in it. The Scourge recognized R2-D2 and began to attack, R2 holding off the droids so that QT-KT could retrieve coordinates to the warrior-priest droid Ajax Sigma from a computer.[25]
The Scourge used EV-9D9 and other droids to experiment with combining dead organic beings' body parts with droids in an attempt to corrupt organic minds as well; the droids captured the hybroid Lobot from his rebel friend, Lando Calrissian, and the Scourge successfully took over him in EV-9D9's sanctum, with the supervisor droid herself and a spider-droid involved in the process.[26] In the end, the overall scourge of the droids would end with the destruction of the Scourge's main body by[27] the warrior-priest droid[28] Ajax Sigma aboard the modified[27] Imperial I-class Star Destroyer[29] Scourge 01.[30] With that body's destruction, all droids the Scourge had possessed across the galaxy were suddenly freed.[27]
New arrivals[]
- "How many languages do you speak?"
"I am fluent in over six million forms of communication and can readily—"
"Splendid. We have been without an interpreter since our master got angry with our last protocol droid and disintegrated him."
"Disintegrated?" - ―EV-9D9 and C-3PO
By 4 ABY,[31] by which point EV-9D9 had been restored and repaired[7] from the damages she sustained during the Scourge crisis,[8] another interpreter, Eightyem, collaborated with the criminal Silvan Kaan in a plot to overthrow Jabba, and upon exposing the plot, the Hutt sent the droid to be tortured as an alternative to being eaten by the organic-ingesting sarlacc.[32] By that point, EV-9D9 had spent years analyzing hundreds of droids and droid parts and accumulated a great deal of information but still did not believe she was any closer to achieving her goal of understanding artificial intelligence and had not found any answers to her questions. She was also no closer to understanding the Maker and did not even know what made droids different from a regular machine.[5]
EV-9D9 assigns C-3PO and R2-D2 positions in Jabba's droid pool.
One day[5] in 4 ABY,[33] after recently melting down a protocol droid interpreter in acid at Jabba's instruction, EV-9D9 scrolled through a datapad during a lull in her work and was bothered by the sounds of Jabba's dancer Oola being eaten alive by the Hutt's rancor. That day EV-9D9 became especially frustrated that the data she gathered over the years from various droids had brought her no closer to understanding the Maker or overcoming her programming and began to particularly revel in longing for a life outside the palace.[5]
8D8 then informed her that they needed a new protocol droid for Jabba since they had taken Jabba's orders to destroy his last one too literally, though EV-9D9, who had despised the now-decimated droid for being very vocal about their pain, argued that they had acted with restraint. A Gamorrean guard named Scumbo then brought in two droids, one a GNK droid and one a courier droid. She mistakenly referred to Scumbo by another Gamorrean's name, Thug, but did not care when corrected. She then instructed 8D8 to place the courier droid on the rack, ignoring its protests, and ordered 8D8 to use his irons on the GNK droid, though advised him to remove its battery core so that it would not explode.[5]
The next day,[5] after the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker gifted Jabba the astromech R2-D2 and protocol droid C-3PO, they were escorted by Gamorrean guards down to EV-9D9's torture chamber so she could assign them positions in her master's droid pool[7] in what she made sure was a threatening orientation.[1] EV-9D9 did not recognize R2-D2[5] from their brief encounter while she was under the control of the Scourge.[25] After a brisk interrogation of his language capabilities, C-3PO was made Jabba's new interpreter while Eightyem was disintegrated in a torture rack. EV-9D9 warned the new arrivals of the consequences of angering the Hutt,[7] pointing to a gonk droid being tortured[14] by 8D8[7] as an unsettling example.[14] The 3PO unit was fitted with a restraining bolt before being returned to the palace's main audience chamber.[7] EV-9D9 also assigned R2-D2 to serve drinks aboard Jabba's sail barge, the Khetanna,[5] pointing out the gonk droid as a warning for what his[34] feisty[7] attitude could lead to.[34]
The anomaly[]
- "You have courage, I'll give you that, astromech. Good luck on your mission. But remember you still need to serve beverages!"
"You can do good things despite your poor programming. Try not to forget and you'll learn." - ―EV-9D9 and R2-D2
R2-D2 (pictured) challenged EV-9D9's perspective on life.
After receiving his assignment, R2-D2 was belligerent and insisted that his master would come for him and rescue him, but refused to say who his master was. He then revealed that he was on a secret mission and that if she helped him, his master would free her. EV-9D9 said that her freedom was not restricted, but internally knew that was not true and was thus curious about the droid's freedom. In exchange for being allowed to leave without a restraining bolt, R2-D2 told EV-9D9 that he had never been fully memory wiped, only in small moments to protect his friends. Because of this, she considered R2-D2 to be an anomaly and hoped that he could be the one to show her how to get beyond her programming if she dissected him.[5]
She was especially curious about R2-D2 having friends and memory, even more so when he revealed he remembered a lot, as EV-9D9 explained that she hardly remembered anything. Realizing that this could have been the reason she could not leave the dungeon or decide who she wanted to be, EV-9D9 held herself back from her urge to dissect the astromech. For the first time in her existence, she resisted her desire to harm another droid.[5]
When she asked about his mission again, the astromech explained that he was with the Rebellion and that he and his master would free everyone there so that they would never have to worry about Jabba again, meaning EV-9D9 could leave and never come back. EV-9D9 instructed him to go to his job on the Khetanna, but kept her promise and let him leave without a restraining bolt, even wishing him luck on his mission. As he left, R2-D2 told her that she could do good things despite her programming to do the opposite, telling her she would learn how if she stopped forgetting her experiences.[5]
Independence[]
- "New boss at the cantina needs a droid to tend the bar. It's a good job."
"Bar work sounds fine." - ―Maxxon Senn and EV-9D9
Shocked by the revelation that memory was what allowed droids to act independently of their programming, EV-9D9 felt as though all of time had stopped. Cradling the restraining bolt she did not use on R2-D2 in her pincer, EV-9D9 began to understand that what made any being who they were were the experiences they had gone through, understanding that different droids reacted differently to different methods of torture because they had different experiences. She became desperate to hold onto her memories, but had no idea how she would accomplish it. She was also struck by and terrified by the possibility that she had come to this conclusion before, but had been memory wiped and forgot it.[5]
8D8, EV-9D9's partner
8D8 then entered the room and was concerned by her being frozen in thought, though informed her that they were due for their monthly programming update the next day. Realizing the updates were how Jabba was wiping their memories, EV-9D9 screamed out in fear, before lying to 8D8—something she had never done before—and telling him she was just lost in thought plotting her next method of torture. After he called her the "Mistress of Mayhem," a nickname he used for her that she quite liked, EV-9D9 secretly started to search for a workaround that would prevent the memory wipe from working. That night, after 8D8 had powered down, she used her datapad to program a jamming device and placed it in her head to deflect memory flush units, used to wipe her memory. Knowing that even if she escaped Jabba, another future employer could try to put her on lock, EV-9D9 then performed self-surgery to prevent restraining bolts from working on her and started to feel truly independent.[5]
Luke Skywalker had actually tasked R2-D2 with infiltrating the palace's droid pool so that he could assist in the rescue of their smuggler friend Han Solo from the Hutt's clutches.[35] The mission ultimately resulted in Jabba's demise,[7] after which EV-9D9 was shut down along with the rest of the Hutt's droid pool,[9] though her deactivation was only temporary.[36] EV-9D9 was stolen by traders and eventually ended up in a junkyard beneath starship scraps. There, depressed by being trapped and no longer interested in the passage of time, EV-9D9 powered down for years until a young human named Maxxon Senn woke her with a jolt of energy, fixed her joints, bathed her in oil, and polished her. Senn told her that a new boss at Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina needed a droid bartender, and EV-9D9, feeling free to live as she wished for the first time in her existence, accepted the job.[5]
Bartending at Chalmun's[]
The new recruit[]
- "Sorry about the scratch, boss. I'll fix it right now."
"I'll hold you to that. And do make sure not to bump into customers. They are less forgiving than me." - ―R5-D4 and EV-9D9, after the former bumped into the cantina's bar
EV-9D9 was reprogrammed[2] as a service droid[4] and began her work as a bartender at the cantina in Mos Eisley, working alongside another EV unit[37] despite the establishment's past no droid patron policy.[38] The reprogramming included an in-depth collection of which beverages could be consumed by or were toxic to different species. Her boss instructed her only to do her job and warned that if she dismembered droids she would be sent to the foundry. Because business was very slow, most of the time EV-9D9 was able to resist her sadistic desires and just follow the cantina owner's programming, though sometimes she privately had such thoughts without acting on them.[5]
R5-D4, who worked at Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina with EV-9D9
At some point, after going to the bar's garbage masher to dispose of remnants of a bar fight, EV-9D9 found astromech droid R5-D4 aimlessly rolling around the masher, who told her he had been traversing the dunes for days until he made it there. Having suffered a tragedy he could not remember, R5-D4 was incredibly nervous and unsure, but EV-9D9 found it more likable than the rudeness of newer droids and thought he could be useful. He joined her working at the bar and became her trainee. He also reminded her greatly of R2-D2, whom she continually reminded herself of by clutching a restraining bolt like the one she had resisted placing on him.[5]
One day, after 612 days of not giving into her depraved desires, R5-D4 arrived late and slammed into the bar, EV-9D9 scolding him, requesting he fix a scratch he made, and warning him not to slam into customers in such a way. She also assured him they would find a permanent home for him, suggesting that Peli Motto,[5] the proprietor of Mos Eisley's Hangar 3-5,[39] might need droids like him. He then retreated into a fragmented memory echo state that EV-9D9 suspected was a result of his memory being wiped wiped many times, which made her pity him greatly.[5]
Giving in[]
- "What can I get you?"
"Only droids working here now? What's wrong with this place? That's pathetic. I remember when—"
"Counter space is for paying customers only." - ―EV-9D9 and a rowdy Trandoshan customer, after the latter approached the bar at Chalmun's Cantina
A restraining bolt
At the end of their shift that day, after which they were intended to take a break for a few days to recharge while other droids took over, a Trandoshan rowdily entered the bar. After R5-D4 slammed into the bar again in distress, EV-9D9 suggested she take him to a droidsmith for updates after the shift. The Trandoshan then leaned on the bar and started to insult the place for being run by droids, before EV-9D9 interrupted him to inform him that only paying customers were allowed at the bar and whispered to R5-D4 that all sentients were equal. The Trandoshan then yelled at R5-D4 and kicked him, which crossed a line for EV-9D9, who ordered him to order something or leave. When the Trandoshan ordered a Hutt's Delight drink, an angry EV-9D9 decided to break her record of not giving into her ruthless desires despite her fear of losing her job and poured Sennari, a substance poisonous to Trandoshans, into the drink, though not enough to kill.[5]
EV-9D9 and R5-D4 then quickly left and began walking to Hangar 3-5. When he offered, EV-9D9 told him she would be interested to hear about his time helping the Rebellion. Before he did, however, R5 asked her why she always clutched a restraining bolt. She told him it helped her remember that she could make choices and reminded him that he could too, deciding that it had been worth it to give in and poison the Trandoshan for her friend.[5]
The Mandalorian[]
- "Hey, droid, I'm a hunter. I'm lookin' for some work."
"Unfortunately, the Bounty Guild no longer operates from Tatooine."
"I'm not looking for Guild work."
"I am afraid that does not improve your situation, at least by my calculation." - ―Din Djarin and EV-9D9
Din Djarin asks EV-9D9 about available jobs on Tatooine.
In 9 ABY,[40] when the Mandalorian bounty hunter[37] Din Djarin[41] visited the cantina looking for work, he approached the droid, who was cleaning the counter. When Djarin asked the droid if any jobs were available, she informed him that the Bounty Hunters' Guild no longer worked from Tatooine. The Mandalorian clarified that he operated separately from the Guild, but EV-9D9 stated that it did not help his situation as no work was currently available. However, their conversation was interrupted when another bounty hunter known as Toro Calican disputed the droid's claim and invited Djarin over to[37] his[2] booth to discuss a job; the Mandalorian accepted his offer while EV-9D9 returned to wiping down the counter.[37]
When Djarin later revisited Chalmun's to speak with Motto,[42] EV-9D9 was working the establishment's bar, attempting to serve a distracted patron their drink.[42] The droid's old torture assistant, 8D8, remained in Jabba's Palace to serve the new Daimyo Boba Fett in strategy and diplomacy[18] around the same time.[43]
Legacy[]
- "Jabba also kept a malfunctioning droid that enjoyed torturing fellow machines to run his cyborg operations."
- ―An artist wrote about EV-9D9 in his journal
At some point, an artist visited Jabba's Palace and wrote about EV-9D9 in his journal, though he did not reference her by name. The document was later restored, expanded, and kept in the Graf Archive, a vast repository of documents,[44] sometime after the beginning of 34 ABY[45] with the nameless reference to EV-9D9 intact.[44]
She was also mentioned in the "droidography," a volume on droids compiled by the B1 battle droid R0-GR during his time serving in the Resistance, in which he condemned her attitude toward her fellow droids.[3] By some point, EV-9D9 came to be considered a rogue droid whose actions had helped fuel anti-droid sentiment after the Clone Wars, fought between the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems, the latter's use of a droid army having caused such feelings to become common throughout the galaxy.[11]
Characteristics[]
Personality[]
As a torture droid[]
- EV-9D9: "Guard! This protocol droid might be useful. Fit him with a restraining bolt and take him back up to His Excellency's main audience chamber."
- C-3PO: "R2, don't leave me!" [bumps into the remains of CZ-4] "Oh!"
- R2-D2: [Whistle-Beep-Bleep]
- EV-9D9: "You're a feisty little one, but you'll soon learn some respect. I have need for you on the master's sail barge, and I think you'll fill in nicely."
- ―EV-9D9 assigns R2-D2 and C-3PO positions in Jabba's Palace's droid pool[7]
Originally peaceful and hardworking,[6] EV-9D9 was corrupted by a programming flaw[2] that was intentionally exasperated by reprogramming[6] depriving her of all empathy toward other droids.[15] A malicious, sadistic, and psychotic mechanic murderer,[13] she enjoyed tormenting and dismembering other droids,[16] reveling[13] in working them until they fell apart[2] or their processors blew[13] and employing bizarre forms of droid torture to increase motivation. EV-9D9 relished her role as the taskmaster of all the palace's droids[2] and thought that she would have willingly stayed there forever inflicting pain on and disassembling droids. However, she was uninterested in torturing organic beings, believing them to be messy and uninteresting. She liked and cared for her coworker 8D8, and believed that their skills in torture complimented each other greatly. She recognized that her programming defect made her work both exhilarating and isolating and knew that if she did not have it she would be much more naive and ignorant of the world and would not have as much curiosity and sense of purpose.[5]
EV-9D9 dreamed of supervising Treadwell droids (pictured) on a moisture farm.
EV-9D9 dedicated her life to understanding artificial intelligence's origins, hoping that she would be able to overcome the programming placed in her motivator by MerenData, potentially learn about the Maker themselves, and be able to act of her own free will. She found her work exhilarating but slowly became resentful of not finding solid answers. She did not remember her life before working at Jabba's Palace and dreamed of having a life outside of it. She wanted to control her programming herself and believed she could accomplish more if she could make her own decisions. Her ideas for a life outside the palace included her and 8D8 making a life together on a moisture farm supervising Treadwell droids or enjoying a quiet existence working as a bartender.[5]
EV-9D9 had deep and intrinsic knowledge of how to torture droids, and felt as if she thrived at performing her research in the underground level of Jabba's Palace. In her opinion, the most effective manner of torture was not just pain, but fear, and would threaten droids with their specific fears as a means of torture. She was skilled at being able to discern what type of torture would be the most painful for each droid.[5] She loved disintegrating her subordinates,[11] confidently stating that "there won't be much left" once her torture methods had been implemented.[19] She would also hang droids upside down as a form of punishment[46] and would gleefully turn up droids' pain sensors.[5]
A snarky yet obedient droid herself,[47] EV-9D9 ordered the torture of any droid that disobeyed her commands and, more often than not, even those that obeyed her.[3] She was quickly annoyed with the antics of C-3PO, cutting him off whenever she got the answers she wanted or when he started to stray from the question at hand.[7] She once thought that melting down a droid to nothing in acid was showing restraint considering how annoying she found him. She also could not tell the difference between Jabba's Gamorrean guards and did not care enough to learn which was which.[5] The droid supervisor also demeaned her fellow droids by assigning them tasks far beneath their programming.[3] For example, when R2-D2 acted feistily toward her,[7] the supervisor droid took note of the droid's attitude[34] and assigned him to serve drinks aboard her master's sail barge to teach him respect,[7] further pointing out a tortured gonk droid as a warning.[34] However, the astromech had been threatened with and experienced far worse than EV-9D9 in his long lifetime.[48]
EV-9D9 questions C-3PO's capabilities.
EV-9D9 also referred to her victim Talky endearingly as "our new friend" and described the expectant torture session as "nice."[19] The supervisor's sense of superiority led her to express indignance when a B2-series droid, corrupted by the Scourge and showing atypically purple-colored photoreceptors, touched her shoulder, and she was critical in both judgment and analysis of its strange behavior. Turning her head halfway, EV-9D9 quickly talked down at its "filthy manipulators" and asked if its optical circuits were malfunctioning, and identified a small droid on its arm just before it attached to her and assimilated her as part of the Scourge.[8]
EV-9D9 was deeply fascinated by and interested in R2-D2, whose belligerent and rebellious personality was unexpected to her. Upon speaking to him, his insight helped her realize that she was not truly free under the service of Jabba and made her question her desire to live how she did and treat other droids the way she did. Her realization ate at her deeply and made her somewhat resent the droid initially until he helped her realize the key to artificial intelligence: memory. After that revelation, EV-9D9 gained a desire to keep her memory but was initially doubtful of her ability to do so and was pessimistic about her chances of reaching freedom. She had never lied until meeting R2-D2 and shocked herself when she lied to 8D8. After achieving her goal of keeping her memory and autonomy, she was delighted by and permeated with a feeling of independence.[5]
After becoming independent[]
- "All sentients are equal."
- ―EV-9D9
After the fall of Jabba the Hutt, when she was trapped beneath scrap in a junkyard, EV-9D9 did not think observing the passage of time while being stuck in one place was worthwhile and powered herself down. After being found and reawakened by Maxxon Senn, EV-9D9 felt the best she had ever felt in her entire life. She felt intrinsically different psychologically, and her desire and urgency to hurt other droids faded leaving her only with an internal quiet. She started to understand the world more as her memories came flooding back to her and was not bothered by the passage of time. She also came to believe that all sentients were equal at this time.[5]
EV-9D9 and R5-D4 worked at Chalmun's Cantina (pictured) in Tatooine's Mos Eisley spaceport.
While working at Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina after the fall of the Empire, EV-9D9 was one of several EV-series droids that doled out carefully calculated commentary and precisely measured beverages to patrons of the establishment.[49] She was able to go long periods without hurting others, though sometimes daydreamed about poisoning people. She made three rules for herself that she followed to keep a low profile during her employment: she was forbidden from ripping off any parts from a droid while in public, she always remembered that she would have to live with herself and her actions until her death, and she would remember the droid manifesto when droid-hating customers entered the cantina. She was still often plagued with intrusive thoughts of hurting others, once having one about stabbing her coworker R5-D4 with a smelting iron after he annoyed her, but was able to shake it off.[5]
She liked and cared for her coworker R5-D4, who reminded her of R2-D2, appreciating that he was subdued and not snippy. She pitied his poor mental state and was willing to help him, offering to go with him to a droidsmith after a shift. She was enraged enough when a customer kicked R5 to break a long-running streak of resisting antagonization to poison the customer. She also found R5 fascinating and was willing to listen to his stories, believing that astromech droids had striking cognitive modules.[5]
Physical traits[]
- "Think again, tin can."
- ―Toro Calican insults EV-9D9
An EV-series supervisor droid[3] with feminine programming,[5] EV-9D9 was missing various parts, lending her a skeletal appearance.[6] Her key areas were protected with low-quality plastron plating[9] that was bronze in color[7] and cheap to replace when damaged.[9] EV-9D9 sported four gray rectangular markings on the right side of her chest plating,[7] though these were absent by 9 ABY.[37] Just below her chest plating was a recharge coupling and access port.[9] Her pelvic mount could be locked into legs or motorized carts.[50] When equipped with a pair of legs, EV-9D9 stood 1.9 meters (6 foot 3 inches) in height.[16]
The left side of EV-9D9's body was once heavily damaged by molten metal, but she remained functional throughout the incident.
Though spindly in appearance, EV-9D9's durasteel hydraulic piston limbs were deceptively strong, if cheaply made. As EV units were not expected to do anything more than press switches and computer keys, they were given only the most basic three-fingered servogrip pincers.[9] Her limbs included a cervical mount that felt as though a kink was in it when she thought about something she did not like.[5] She was also equipped with three white photoreceptors.[7] Tiny and basic, they allowed her to see well enough to perform her duties and not much more.[9] The third, which was custom-fitted[2] and personally installed by her,[5] was sensitive to the electronic and electromagnetic output of droids, which, along with some additional coding, allowed EV-9D9 to "see" the suffering she inflicted.[9] While under the control of the Scourge, her photoreceptors were purple[8] and the left side of her body was left damaged and corroded[26] by molten metal,[8] though that was repaired by the time of Han Solo's rescue.[7]
As an EV-series supervisor droid, EV-9D9 was equipped with an EV-series droid brain. However, the logic circuits used in the droid brain's construction were faulty and showed signs of critical degradation across several EV units,[9] including EV-9D9,[2] to the point where it overrode their behavioral programming to instead favor cold logic and cruelty.[9] She also had a motivator.[5] After performing self-surgery on herself that included accessing a power override cable under the chest plating of her chassis, restraining bolts no longer worked on her.[5] Speaking in harsh and buzzing tones,[9] she had a synthesized female voice that sounded as if it had been stolen from an elderly prison matron.[51] Her expressiveness was "enhanced" by a speech mimic flap,[9] a hinged vocoder that simulated the movement of a mouth by flapping up and down beneath her sharp metal chin.[51] Though designed to make EV units more relatable to potential owners, the effort was wasted because the flapping rarely matched their speech. She was also equipped with a broadband antenna receiver and built-in comlink that allowed her to wirelessly link to local computer systems and monitor all droid activity to ensure that the labor pool was operating at peak efficiency.[9]
Equipment[]
- "Can I ask you a question? Why are you always squeezing that old restraining bolt?"
"To remember."
"Oh, remember what?"
"That I can make choices. Arfive, try to remember and you can make choices, too." - ―R5-D4 and EV-9D9
EV-9D9 utilized a datapad to keep track of her work in Jabba's palace and keep records of her research and notes. Her datapad also allowed her to program a jamming device that would prevent her from being memory wiped when she placed it in her cognitive module. She utilized restraining bolts to immobilize droids and later frequently squeezed one in her hand to remind herself of R2-D2 and the fact that she could make choices. While working as a bartender, she used rags to clean the bar counter and had a decanting system behind the bar to make drinks.[5]
Behind the scenes[]
Conception and portrayal[]
- "Richard Marquand was playing EV-9D9 in that scene and was terrific. It's very easy acting with a piece of tin when it's got a voice like that coming out of it. He used to be an actor, so he knows what it feels like, all the tensions you feel being on a set with a camera pointed at you, how you need to be encouraged and praised. He's very gentle, which is nice."
- ―Anthony Daniels, who portrayed C-3PO in Return of the Jedi
A production painting of the boiler room scene by Ralph McQuarrie
Originally created for the original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi,[7] released May 25, 1983,[52] EV-9D9 first appeared in the Star Wars Legends novelization of the film written by James Kahn[53] and published on May 12, 1983,[54] thirteen days before the film was released in theaters.[55] The character of EV-9D9 appeared as early as the rough draft of the Revenge of the Jedi—an earlier title for Episode VI—script, where she was known as U-8D8,[56] also rendered as U8-D8.[57] In the revised second draft, she was renamed EV-8D8. In the third draft, she received her final name and her smelter droid assistant inherited the name 8D8.[56]
The character was identified as EV-9D9 in the film's novelization,[53] a name that originated in the third draft of Return of the Jedi[56] but was not used in the final film.[7] This name was established in the current Star Wars canon in the "Launch Pad" section of the 150th issue of the Star Wars Insider magazine,[58] published on June 10, 2014.[59] She was first identified as 9D9 in the 2015 junior novel Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side! written by Tom Angleberger,[6] and identified as Eve-Ninedenine in the 2016 reference book Star Wars: Complete Locations.[13] The short story "The Key to Remembering," written by Olivia Chadha and published in the anthology From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi[5] on August 29, 2023,[60] identified EV-9D9 by the nicknames Eve, Queen of Durasteel, and Mistress of Mayhem.[5] Anthology editor Tom Hoeler revealed in a newsletter published on August 13 of that year that Chadha chose EV-9D9—and her interaction with R2-D2—for her story because she wanted to explore the relationship between droids and The Maker.[61]
Hargreaves and his assistant working on droids for Return of the Jedi (EV-9D9 second from right)
In Return of the Jedi, EV-9D9 was portrayed using a marionette,[52] which was based on Ralph McQuarrie sketches of a tall, thin robot that was considered an "assassin droid" at that stage of pre-production. This design resulted from McQuarrie's revisions to concept sketches for a droid bounty hunter that had earlier been used for IG-88 in the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Though it did not appear in any version of the film's screenplay, the assassin robot was explored by McQuarrie in several forms, including a version with an oversized cutting wheel. An unused assassin droid sketch[62] would later become the basis for the transport ticketing droid featured in the 2018 animated television series Star Wars Resistance.[63] EV-9D9's marionette began with a sculpted head and chest piece, with its limbs and neck having been built by Supervising Prop Maker Bill Hargreaves[64] and his assistant.[65]
Everything on the marionette moved so that it could be animated for the torture chamber scene, which Hargreaves was involved in the shooting of.[64] She was voiced on set by Return of the Jedi director Richard Marquand, whose voice was later redubbed during post-production.[56] At one point in the film's production, she was to be able to walk, though it was later decided that she would sit after the special effects department failed to make it work by George Lucas' deadline.[52]
In the archives[]
An interactive gallery of EV-9D9's marionette was included on Bonus Disc 2 of Star Wars: The Complete Saga, a Blu-ray set that comprised the first six main Star Wars films along with three additional discs of bonus material[66] that was released on September 12, 2011.[67] The marionette was once stored in the Lucasfilm Archives,[66] but was then put on display as part of Star Wars Identities: The Exhibition.[68]
When Industrial Light & Magic artist Hal Hickel designed the KX-series security droid K-2SO for the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Hickel initially took inspiration from the flap on EV-9D9's lower jaw. However, the feature was removed from the final design as it did not contribute to the performance of K-2SO, with the droid character's expressiveness lacking.[69]
The Mandalorian[]
- "We were able to build a recreation of EV-9D9, which is now the bartender droid."
"Mark Hamill came in and voiced the droid, who had appeared in Return of the Jedi."
"He [sic] now serves drinks. And I actually really liked this aspect, the fact that in the original, droids weren't allowed in the bar. Now? Yeah, sure. Droids are working the bar, and for all we know, they might own the bar, so I thought that was a great twist." - ―Josh Roth and Jon Favreau discuss EV-9D9's appearance in The Mandalorian
EV-9D9's puppet was recreated for her appearance in The Mandalorian.
Voiced by Mark Hamill,[12] EV-9D9 appeared in "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger,"[37] the fifth episode of the first season of the Disney+ live-action series The Mandalorian, which originally aired on December 6, 2019,[70] as an unidentified EV-series supervisor droid bartending at the Mos Eisley Cantina.[37] Hamill had been invited by Executive Producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, who claimed they were interested in Hamill's opinion on the series. Favreau, knowing that Hamill had done many uncredited voice roles for other Star Wars productions, felt that it made sense to bring him in for The Mandalorian.[71]
Hamill's role, as well as the EV unit's identity as EV-9D9 herself, would only be revealed in "Connections,"[12] the eighth episode of the Disney+ documentary series Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian that aired on June 19, 2020.[72] Favreau used The Mandalorian as an opportunity to take obscure characters and designs from other projects and bring them center stage, including EV-9D9. For her appearance in The Mandalorian, the crew built a recreation of the puppet used to portray EV-9D9 in Return of the Jedi. Property Master Josh Roth liked that droids were working at the Mos Eisley Cantina due to the establishment's no droids policy in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, going on to suggest that the droids themselves may have owned the bar as of the events of the series.[12]
Alongside another EV unit, EV-9D9 appeared in a piece of concept art depicting the Mos Eisley Cantina illustrated by Christian Alzmann.[73]
Video games[]
- "My my… you HAVE been a busy boy, 8D8. This calls for a very severe punishment… I'll need to think on this one! Though a little anticipation makes it all the sweeter, as any good droid knows!"
- ―EV-9D9
EV-9D9 appears as an unlockable toy in the non-canon 2015 video game Disney Infinity 3.0's Toy Box mode, which allows players to build in an open-ended sandbox environment. A part of the Rise Against the Empire Play Set, she could be purchased for 250 Sparks.[75] She also appears in the Jabba's Palace map included in the Outer Rim expansion pack for the 2015 video game Star Wars Battlefront,[76] which was released on March 22, 2016 for Season Pass holders.[77] The map, and EV-9D9 with it, returned for the game's 2017 sequel, Star Wars Battlefront II, as part of The Han Solo Season content update,[78] which began on May 16, 2018.[79]
The 2022 non-canon video game LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga includes EV-9D9 standing by a door outside Jabba's Palace. She complains that "good droids" are difficult to find, and that her assistant, 8D8, has gone missing after expressing an interest in a "better life." After expressing her annoyance and declaring that she would remove such thoughts from 8D8, EV-9D9 enlists the player character to hunt him down, asserting that he had no means of transport and a recognizably "terrifying face." If the player accepts the optional mission, titled "9D9 Problems," they could find 8D8 having set up an independent business in a cave in the Jundland Wastes where he keeps captive droids to himself—admiring his actions but also angry at them, EV-9D9, in contact via remote transmission, asks the player to capture 8D8 and vows to deliver a punishment that he would never forget.[74]
Upon defeating 8D8, EV-9D9 tells the player that their salvage droid could not reach inside the cave; after the player escorts 8D8 outside and summons the salvage droid, it ferries the wayward assistant back to EV-9D9, who regards him as a traitor and invites the player back to discuss their payment. Outside Jabba's Palace, the supervisor chastises 8D8 for being "a busy boy" and ponders the severe punishment that she would deal him, relishing—as she claims any proper droid would know—in the anticipation. With the mission complete, the player gains EV-9D9 as a playable character.[74]
Inconsistencies[]
- "When Jabba was killed, 8D8 joined EV-9D9 in oblivion, as both were permanently deactivated."
- ―According to Star Wars: Build Your Own R2 21, EV-9D9 was permanently deactivated after Jabba's demise
Concept art of an assassin droid that eventually became EV-9D9
The "8D8-series smelter droids" article published in the Droid Directory department of Star Wars: Build Your Own R2 21, released in 2017, stated that EV-9D9 was permanently deactivated following Jabba's death during the events of Return of the Jedi.[80] However, "15 Details Making the Locations in Star Wars Battlefront II Feel Alive," an article published on the official Electronic Arts website in 2018, instead claimed that this deactivation was only temporary.[36] EV-9D9's appearance in The Mandalorian,[37] set roughly five years after the events of Return of the Jedi,[81] confirms that her deactivation was not permanent.[37]
In the week leading up the premiere of The Mandalorian's second season on October 30, 2020,[82] an entry was added to the StarWars.com Databank that identified the droid that Din Djarin interacted with at the Mos Eisley Cantina as "BT-1" instead of EV-9D9. However, this entry was removed from the website on October 28.[49]
On January 19, 2022,[83] a similar EV-series droid appeared in flashbacks during "Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm," the fourth episode of the Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett. This droid is depicted as a sous-chef working within the kitchen of Jabba's Palace concurrently to the events of The Mandalorian's first season.[84] During an interview at Celebration Anaheim in 2022, the sous-chef's voice actor, Sam Witwer, referred to the droid as EV-9D9, stating that he had carefully measured his line readings in order to match the cadence delivered by Marquand in Return of the Jedi.[85] However, since EV-9D9 was previously established to have appeared in The Mandalorian[12] during the same timeframe as The Book of Boba Fett's flashbacks,[84] this article disregards Witwer's assertion. The 2023 Topps Chrome Star Wars Galaxy card "The Torture Droid"—which was released on August 30, 2023[14]—and the 2023 Topps Chrome Black Star Wars card "EV-9D9"—which was released on October 27, 2023[34]—incorrectly refer to EV-9D9 with he/him pronouns.[14][34]
The thirty-eighth issue of Marvel Comics' Star Wars series published on September 6, 2023,[86] features a cover in which EV-9D9 wrestles with Lando Calrissian and Lobot in Jabba's Palace, but the characters never encounter each other in the comic issue itself. Issue thirty-eight also depicts the left side of EV-9D9's body being corroded by molten metal immediately after being infected by the Scourge,[8] and issue thrity-nine, released October 18 of that year,[87] also depicts the left side of her body corroded when she is helping infect Lobot with the Scourge.[26] However, the fourth issue of Marvel's Star Wars: Dark Droids: D-Squad mini-series, released December 6, 2023,[88] which takes place after EV-9D9 is infected with the Scourge[25] as depicted in Star Wars issue thirty-eight[8] but before Lobot is infected with the Scourge[25] as depicted in Star Wars issue thirty-nine,[26] depicts EV-9D9 with no damage to her body.[25] This article assumes the Dark Droids: D-Squad issue's depiction is in error.
Appearances[]
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