R2-R9 was an R2 series astromech droid with masculine programming that served the Royal House of the planet Naboo during the Invasion of Naboo by the Trade Federation in the year 32 BBY. It served aboard the Naboo Royal Starship when Queen Padmé Amidala used the vessel to flee from the besieged planet. When the starship took damage from Trade Federation fire, R2-R9 and several other astromech droids traveled to the ship's exterior to try and repair damage to the shield generator. However, R2-R9 was struck by enemy fire and destroyed while trying to carry out repairs.
The R2 series astromech droid designated R2-R9 served the Royal House of the planet Naboo during the reign of Queen Padmé Amidala. In the year 32 BBY, Naboo was invaded by the Trade Federation, and the planet's capital of Theed was captured. With the aid of the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Amidala and some of her staff escaped from the Federation and boarded the J-type 327 Nubian Naboo Royal Starship in one of the hangars of the Theed Royal Palace.
As standard protocol, the droids assigned to the Royal Starship remained on board when they were not required elsewhere, waiting dormant for long periods, but ready to jump into action at any time. As such, R2-R9 and several of the other astromech droids were stood awaiting their next task in their recharging racks in the droid hold on the ship's lowest level when it departed the hangar to try and escape Naboo. As the starship left Naboo's atmosphere, Kenobi brought the Gungan Jar Jar Binks down to the droid hold, where R2-R9 and the other astromechs were still recharging at droid stations while also monitoring the ship's functions. Kenobi told the Gungan to wait there with the droids, after which the Royal Starship then came under fire from Trade Federation Lucrehulk-class LH-3210 cargo freighters blockading the planet.
R2-R9 was destroyed while trying to repair the Naboo Royal Starship during its escape through the Trade Federation blockade.
A shot from one of the freighters damaged the Royal Starship's shield generator, which set off an alarm in the droid hold. After receiving instructions to conduct emergency repairs, R2-R9 and the other droids immediately left their docking stations and rolled over to a lift that would take them to the ship's exterior. R2-R9 was second onto the hull after G8-R3, and the droids quickly set about attempting repairs, using their magnetic tracks to stay affixed to the ship.
As R2-D2—the last droid onto the ship's exterior—reached the damaged generator, R2-R9 was struck by a precisely targeted shot from one of the Trade Federation vessels and was destroyed. Each of the other droids were then picked off one by one until only R2-D2 remained; however, he was able to complete the repairs to the generator and save the ship, which successfully escaped the blockade.
R2-R9 was an R-series astromech droid with red, silver, and white plating and masculine programming. The droid's equipment included a polarity sink at the base of its body, a sensor hatch in its dome, and magnetic treads. R2-R9's status indicator was red in color when active, and its sensor was black. Like all R2 units, it was manufactured by Industrial Automaton and stood 0.96 meters (3 feet, 2 inches) tall. When the call came to repair the Royal Starship, R2-R9 dutifully carried out its orders at the cost of its life.
R2-R9 first appeared in the 1999 prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. The droid was not named in the film but first received identification in the new Star Wars canon in the "Rise Against the Empire" expansion of the 2015 video game Disney Infinity 3.0. Despite the game's non-canon status, Lucasfilm Story Group member Pablo Hidalgo confirmed that the names it uses for film characters are considered canon. The droid's designation originated in the 1999 Star Wars Legends PC program Star Wars: Episode I Insider's Guide, developed by LucasArts.
R2-R9 uses a fish to repair the royal starship
In the 2022 non-canon video game LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, R2-R9 appears in the mission "Transport to Coruscant," which adapts its scene in the film but with R2-R9 attempting to repair the ship by hitting it with a fish before being knocked off into space. The droid also appears in the Gungan city of Otoh Gunga on Naboo, where it complains in binary that its treads are not well suited to the many slopes in the city, and asks that the player deliver a vital message stored on a datalog as part of the "Spatula Spectacular" mission. If the player refuses to accept the mission then R2-R9 calls them cruel and pretends to power down in response.
Once the player agrees, the droid informs them that the message must be delivered to a spatula-wielding Gungan, who R2-R9 had been unable to find in its travels. When the player tracks down the Gungan, they learn that he is using the spatula as a slug-beetle swatter, and that the message is from the utensil's original owners, who needs it returned in order to cook fish. The Gungan agrees to return the spatula, completing R2-R9's mission and unlocking the droid as a purchasable character. The unnamed astromech droid found in Echo Base on the planet Hoth that gives a hint for the "Wampa Wander" quest reuses R2-R9's model.
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- Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary, New Edition
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