DDM-38

DDM-38 was a droid owned by Brendol Hux, the commandant of Arkanis Academy, an Imperial installation that specialized in training officers. At the academy, DDM was responsible for directing cadets and keeping them away from restricted areas, such as Area Null. The cadets believed DDM also monitored any off-world communications. When cadet Zare Leonis was transferred to Arkanis from Lothal, DDM greeted Leonis and showed him to his dormitory, answering questions along the way. Upon entering the room, DDM switched on the lights; waking the sleeping cadets.

Several days later, DeeDee caught Zare trying to follow Anya Razar and several cloaked members of the Commandant's Cadets, a secret society established by Commandant Hux, into Area Null. Anya was being inducted into the Commandant's Cadets after passing a deadly trial. She reprimanded Leonis for leaving his dormitory at night and informed the cadet that he would be issued with demerits. Unknown to DDM and her master Hux, Leonis was a secret rebel sympathizer who had infiltrated the Arkanis Academy in order to find his missing sister Dhara Leonis; who had forcibly been inducted into a secret program called Project Harvester.

The following day, DDM escorted Leonis for a private meeting with the Grand Inquisitor after dinner. She led Zare to the Commandant's balcony where the meeting took place. The Inquisitor interrogated Leonis about his attempt to breach Area Null. Before he could question the cadet further, DeeDee interrupted the conversation to inform the Grand Inquisitor that he had received a priority encrypted communication from the planet Lothal. The Inquisitor departed for Lothal to deal with the Spectres but was killed during a confrontation in the Mustafar system.

Several days later, DDM summoned the Arkanis cadets to report to the cliffside under Commandant Hux's orders. There, the crowd witnessed a sea monster devouring a stray nerf that had ventured onto the beach. Commandant Hux used this episode to teach the cadets about the importance of discipline and natural selection in training.

Following a military exercise on Sirpar, Zare learned that he had been offered a place in the Commandant's Cadets but learned that he had to kill his classmate Penn Zarang to pass the trial. Leonis related this information to his mentor Lieutenant Chiron, who had been sent by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin to investigate reports that Hux was creating a secret society independent of the Imperial Military hierarchy. Chiron came up with a plan to fake Zarang's death by burying a rotten side of nerf in a makeshift grave. To avoid alerting DeeDee's suspicion, Chiron arranged a "special assignment" for the droid. This enabled Chiron, Leonis, and Zarang to complete their plan.

The following evening, DeeDee stood beside Commandant Hux during a banquet to celebrate Leonis' induction into the Commandant Cadets. During Hux's speech, she silently watched her master address the cadets about his vision for reforming the Empire's stormtroopers. Before Leonis could be formally inducted, he was exposed as a traitor by his former friend Beck Ollet, who had been subjected to a re-education program known as Project Unity.

The next day, DDM sat beside her master Hux during a military tribunal held to try Zare Leonis. The cadet pleaded guilty to all the charges against him including treason and false enlistment but also took the opportunity to give a speech denouncing the Empire. Leonis was expelled from military service and sentenced to death by Colonel Julyan. However, he managed to escape with his sister Dhara due to a rescue mission hatched by Merei Spanjaf and the Spectres.

In around 24 ABY, DDM-38 accompanied Hux on an expedition to the ruined world of Parnassos to recruit warriors for the First Order, a remnant of the Old Empire. By then, Hux had become a general in the First Order and ran their stormtrooper training program. While approaching Parnassos, Hux's ship was shot down by the planet's automated defense system. DDM, Hux, and three stormtroopers managed to evacuate the stricken ship in an escape pod that landed in the wasteland between the territories of the rival Scyre and Claw clans.

DDM-38 along with Hux and the stormtroopers were rescued by the Claws, who were led by the Dug Balder. Since the locals spoke a different variation of Galactic Basic Standard, DDM translated on behalf of Hux. Hux offered the impoverished locals supplies and technologies if they would help him reach his ship, which had landed on a different part of Parnassos. Seeking access to these supplies and technologies, the Scyre military leader Phasma and her warriors attacked the Claws, killing Balder and eleven of his people.

Though Phasma managed to evacuate Hux and his stormtroopers, DDM was lost during the skirmish. Phasma managed to recover one of the droid's legs, which was refashioned into a prosthetic leg for her brother Keldo, the leader of the Scyres. Ten years later, the encounter was recounted by the Resistance spy Vi Moradi to the First Order stormtrooper Captain Cardinal, a rival of Captain Phasma.

DDM-38 had jet-black plating and a head that held a blank, metal faceplate with two black photoreceptors According to Phasma, the droid had a humanoid configuration and was made of matte-black metal. DDM moved through legged locomotion, and she had at least one hand, which was cold and unyielding. The droid struggled to climb plateaus due to its weight and its inability to climb.

She had a feminine programming and spoke with a vaguely female, monotone voice. When Zare Leonis first arrived on Arkanis, DDM occasionally ignored his questioning and interrupted him. The droid generally walked with a deliberately slow pace, but later, when she brought Leonis to see the Grand Inquisitor, she quickened her strides.

DDM was charged with enforcing Commandant Hux's authority and rules throughout the Arkanis Academy. She regularly patrolled the academy grounds at night and issued cadets who were out after curfew with demerits. DDM seemed to lack a personality of her own and was entirely devoted to serving her master's will and commands. By the time of the First Order, DDM-38 also served as General Hux's translator droid and was able to understand the variation of Galactic Basic spoken by the inhabitants of the ruined planet of Parnassos.

DDM-38 first appeared in Servants of the Empire: The Secret Academy, the final installment of the Servants of the Empire junior novel series. Written by Jason Fry, The Secret Academy was published by Disney–Lucasfilm Press on October 6, 2015. While unnamed, a droid matching DDM-38's appearance makes a brief cameo in Delilah S. Dawson's 2017 novel Phasma, which was produced as part of the promotional Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi series. Like DDM-38, the droid is described as having a humanoid shape and limbs, and being made of matte-black metal.