Star Wars would be nothing without its Droids. In this galaxy, Droids are everywhere, operating in all sorts of functions that humans are either too scared or lazy to perform.

They are also some of the most memorable characters from the Star Wars movies. Of all the characters in the original trilogy, who can forget the role that C-3Po and R2-D2 play in saving the galaxy?

Today we take a look at 12 of the best and most important droids ever created. Here is Screen Rant's list of the 12 Best Star Wars Droids.

12. BB-8

How many other characters do you know that have people flocking to stores to buy $150 collectibles, even when they don’t know a damn thing about them? With just a couple of seconds of screen time, BB-8 stole the first teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but it wasn’t until his Star Wars Celebration performance that he became a star. That’s when it was revealed to the world that he wasn’t some CGI construct, he was a real rolling ball created with the magic of magnets.

The little fella already shows off more personality than most of the creatures in Star Wars, and we can’t wait to meet him for real in a few short weeks.

11. Huyang

Droids don't usually age well, but when they do, it's for a reason. Huyang was introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars with a special purpose: training Jedi. His specialty is none other than lightsabers, the Jedi’s signature weapon. He holds files on every single one crafted by every single Jedi, all the subtle differences and nuances that went into personalizing them, and helps young Jedi choose materials that will go into making their own.

As if this wasn't the coolest profession you could possibly have, need we mention he’s voiced by David Tennant, aka the Tenth Doctor Who? 'Nuff said.

10. Droideka

These are the most badass droids in the franchise. When these guys roll into town, even Jedi runs.

By transforming into a wheel they can literally roll up to the front line of battle and unfold into their massive weapons platform, which typically consists of two massive blaster cannons. Some even came equipped with buzzsaws and vibroblades for up-close combat, as if they weren't scary enough to face. Installed deflector shield generators can repel everything from laser blasts to even lightsabers, which shows you how tough these things are. One almost took Obi-Wan down (in a novel), after all. As far as the most deadly Droids around, few match these.

9. B1 Battle Droids

Iconic! Innumerable! Annoying!

It’s odd to find robots that were bred for war yet can behave so cowardly. That may be for a reason - what the B1 Battle Droids have in personality they lack in actual battle prowess. The whole idea of using these as an army, much like the TIE fighters that came later, is to simply produce as many as you can and overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers. Sure, they may fall to pieces if you so much as push them over but when you face thousands upon thousands of them you'll likely take a stray blaster round to the face sooner rather than later. The sight of hundreds of these lining up in military formation is one to behold.

8. Probe Droid

At the start of The Empire Strikes Back the empire is still reeling from the destruction of the Death Star and seeking to crush the remaining rebels. The way they go about finding them is by dispatching these robots, possibly the most alien and sinister looking in their arsenal. It looks positively insect-like, with its long legs, huge eyes, and antennae, and it just took one of these guys to transmit a signal back home to almost wipe out the Rebel's base on Hoth.

As if they weren't sinister enough, they're outfitted with self-destruct mechanisms in order to explode and cover up who sent them, although of course on Hoth there's no question that the Empire will be there soon, all thanks to this creepy recon robot.

7. C3PO

He usually plays second fiddle to R2D2, and everyone puts him down because he tends to whine on and on and on, but let’s not forget that he’s critical to the success of the team. Sure, most of the time he’s accidentally helpful, but don't forget this guy was supposed to be translating languages for luminaries, not running around the galaxy with a bunch of space terrorists. Yet somehow he ends up becoming a God by the end of his experience! (Just for the Ewoks, but still...)

Forget his presence in the prequels, which ruined him by turning him into a straight-up coward, instead of an intelligent robot simply unable to understand how stupid his crew was acting.

6. IG-88

When Darth Vader couldn’t find the Millennium Falcon, he went to the best. He put out a call to the best and most trustworthy bounty hunters around, and one was IG-88.

In the Expanded Universe, he was an assassin droid who gained sentience and killed everyone in its way out of the factory it was created, only to keep making a living (such as it is) by killing. He is loaded with an absurd number of weapons, everything from a pulse cannon to a flamethrower to an ion blaster, anything he needs for the task at hand. He's a huge rival to Boba Fett and while he wasn't able to get to Han Solo in time, you just know those cold red eyes are watching and waiting for their next moment to triumph. Perhaps we'll see him again one day…

5. 2-1B Surgical Droid

Is the idea of a robot doctor that features an arm outfitted with syringes terrifying? Sure it is- but you can trust these guys. Without them, Luke wouldn't have made it after either that wampa fight or the loss of his head, and poor little Anni wouldn’t have survived his loss of…. well, nearly everything. In this universe you can survive most any injury and a lot of that is due to hard-working droids like this one, even if it perhaps wasn't the best idea to make him look like he's huffing gas while he's treating you. Bad work on the designers, there.

But fear not and jump into that bacta tank, and you’ll be out in no time, good as new: with maybe just a few more mechanical parts.

4. R5-D4

Want to play a little Butterfly Effect? In A New Hope Luke and his Uncle Owen had already overlooked R2D2 to purchase R5-D4, and were in fact bringing him back home before the movie's red and white hero nearly exploded. This timely malfunction led the quick-thinking C3-PO to suggest R2D2 instead and thus the right droid into the right owner's hands. If this pile of bolts didn’t pick that exact moment to mess up, Leia would have never reconnected with Obi-Wan and Luke might still be hanging out on Tatooine shooting womp rats.

But that's not all this true hero did for us. In the Expanded Universe he managed to get sold to a Rebel spy, who learned about his brief meeting with the Rebel heroes and turned him into a spy himself, which he did until the Battle of Endor.

Heroes truly come from the most unlikely places.

3. Triple Zero

Debuting in the recent (excellent) Darth Vader comic series, 0-0-0, also known simply as Triple Zero, was a protocol droid designed to specialize in etiquette, customs, translation and torture. Wait, run that last one by us again? That's right, he may look like another wussy C3-PO-type robot but this particular model has an assassin droid's personality matrix, and he also happens to work for the Dark Lord of the Sith.

This is a nice combo that lets him utilize all of his skills, from being able to talk to robots in millions of languages to torturing creatures for information. He's the perfect new companion for Vader.

2. HK-47

"I am most eager to engage in some unadulterated violence." Right from when you first meet HK-47 in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (still the best Star Wars story since Return of the Jedi) you know he’s going to be special.

The HK in his name stands for hunter killer, which shows you that this assassin droid knows what he’s doing. In fact, he was programmed to kill Jedi, something that can come in quite handy over the course of the game, depending on which side you turn towards.

1. R2D2

For many people, R2D2 is the face of the entire Star Wars franchise. He’s certainly the heart of it, the one innocent who’s always risking his neck for others, But he’s crucial to everything that happens.

Without him, the Death Star plans never make it to the rebels and Luke, Han, and Leia get crushed in a pile of garbage. Without him the Millennium Falcon never escapes from Cloud City. Without him Luke never retrieves his lightsaber in Jabba’s Palace, and you can go on and on. He’s shown his heroism time and time again and he never complains about it or backs down. He’s perhaps the Rebel Alliance’s most loyal soldier is rightfully loved for it.

Plus, he’s just so damn cute.

 

-

What are your favorite Droids from the franchise? Let us know in the comments below!