• Jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.ml
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    21 days ago

    Well I must admit I’ve only really seen bits of various Star Wars films save for being taken to see Episode 1 as a kid so I don’t really know much about it, besides what you can pick up from pop culture, I was just following what seemed a logical inference. Are “protocol droids” one and the same as whatever C3P0 is? I guess I figured a “kit build” in my mind is something like an amateur, enthusiast’s project for kids or something so the fun and silly “personality” would be part and parcel with that design while ubiquitous robots made for more serious utilitarian reasons would I guess be less inclined have such features as they’d not be of great use to anyone.

    • Dragon Rider (drag)@lemmy.nz
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      21 days ago

      Protocol droids are butlers, ambassadors, and receptionists. “I am fluent in over six million forms of communication.” He’s a translator. Luke’s uncle bought him to translate R2-D2’s beeps and whirrs into basic (the language Luke speaks). On starships, they’re used for jobs like communicating with highly alien life forms, serving drinks, and delegating to droid crews. Jabba the Hutt has a protocol droid to translate for him, because he thinks he’s too important to deign to speak basic like some commoner, and not every visitor knows Huttese. After Anakin meets Padme, he ends up giving C3PO to her, because as a queen/senator/ambassador, he’s way more useful to her.

      In short, Anakin made a super fancy high society robot that’s mostly useless for any kind of manual labour, and made him way more annoying than diplomat robots are supposed to be.

      And this makes a lot of sense, because Anakin’s day job is working on pit droids and other kinds of useful technology. He’s an expert on that. Anakin’s hobby project was something completely useless to him and his boss, made from parts that nobody cared about. But making a fancy domestic servant robot to help your mum out around the house is a really sweet thing for a kid to do.