During the Clone Wars, R2-D2 was both a pilot's assistant to Anakin and a secret weapon to the Republic. In one of his many adventures, he joined four other droids in D-Squad: an elite unit tasked with recovering an encryption module from a Separatist ship.
Like its forerunners, the R2 astromech was designed to work in and around space vessels as a diagnostic and repair unit. But unlike the clunky R1-series or the overly large P2-series, this rounded, waist-high droid was made specifically to fit in military starfighter astromech slots.
A smart, spunky droid who would serve a multitude of masters over his lifetime, R2-D2 was never given a full memory wipe nor did he ever receive new programming, with these factors resulting in an adventurous and independent attitude.
In addition to his electrical gear and retractable saw arm, R2 wields a range of other repair tools for mechanical maintenance. Welding, splicing, soldering, and other such skills are all within R2's toolkit, and he's used them all many times to help characters like Padmé, Anakin, Luke, and Leia get out of tough spots.
Being primarily focused on diplomacy and negotiations, C-3PO and R2D2 are not for combat at all. Although they can provide utility to a ground army with their repair abilities, they should practically never be involved in combat unless the player is using a specific strategy and is very careful with them.
R2-D2 was portrayed entirely by a radio controlled unit, operated by Mick Garris (Lucas' receptionist at the time). In the credits, R2-D2 is credited as playing himself. Garris later went on to operate the radio controlled R2-D2 at various events, including the Oscars.
Yes, both used batteries. We actually see R2 being plugged into some kind of portable generator in The Empire Strikes Back shortly before they meet Yoda on Dagobah. Based on what we saw in Clone Wars, it seems likely that both droids are designed to be able to last several days on a charge at the very least.
After the Clone Wars, however, Brooks Propulsion Devices, the company responsible for the development of his boosters, was shut down, and his rocket boosters were eventually damaged and thus could not be repaired. Despite this, however, R2 hardly regretted the loss of his ability to fly.
Absolutely. Growing up on Tatooine, Anakin Skywalker was already accustomed to grasping and understanding many different languages. Not to mention, he was a droid fanatic himself—being a great mechanic—and most likely knew the language of Artoo's “droid language” or picked up on it quite quickly.
secondly, in Legends, R2 was given programming that actually restricted him. from sharing any information with Luke or Leia. about their parents or relation to one another. this was all part of the plan. to conceal this information from the twins.
However, the same could not be said for R2-D2, who never had his memories erased. While there isn't a canonical reason for this decision, the likely explanation may have been that Threepio was more likely to say something he shouldn't have.
He's had several owners over the course of the movies. He is initially property of Naboo - an emergency repair droid on the queen's ship. The R2 appears to become Padme's property although Anakin seems to have a “personal” connection with him.
Darth Vader's true identity as Anakin Skywalker was a highly guarded secret, known only to a select few individuals including Palpatine, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke, Han, Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO, Master Yoda, Bail Organa, Ahsoka Tano, Darth Maul, Grand Moff Tarkin, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Jocasta Nu, Ferren Barr, Verla, Reva, ...
R2-D2 was present when Padmé gave birth to Leia and Luke, so he knew Luke was Anakin's son – but what he didn't know was that Anakin became Darth Vader. In addition to that, Anakin's fall was surely a painful event in R2-D2's life, one that he definitely wouldn't like to remember or even talk about.
[and] wanted to fix something in one of the tracks,” recalled Lucas in a 1980 interview. “So Walter asked me to go over to the rack to get R2D2, that's Reel 2, Dialog 2, and I said, 'I like that, that's a great name. ' I wrote down in my little book, 'Great name.
The base assumption of why Obi-Wan doesn't remember R2-D2 -- in light of the prequels -- is that Obi-Wan is feigning ignorance in A New Hope to downplay the importance of the droid's arrival. That explanation holds the most water for a number of reasons.
Since Obi-Wan and Anakin often fought together, Obi-Wan was friends with R2-D2 as well. This means that although R2-D2 might not have immediately recognized Obi-Wan on Tatooine due to his age, Obi-Wan should have recognized the droid.
Why doesn t Darth Vader recognize R2-D2 and C-3PO?
Darth Vader acts like he doesn't even know C-3PO or R2D2. They were with him since he was a child. He did everything he could to forget his past. Also, his plating had been replaced many times, and protocol droids all look very similar.
