B5-56, alternatively known as B5 or Bee, functioned as a faithful astromech droid and close partner to the former Sith warrior known as the Ronin. He journeyed alongside the Ronin on the fringes of the Outer Rim Territories during the period following the Sith rebellion against the Jedi Order. During their travels together, the droid initially held the secret of Ronin's identity and past, a secret that B5-56 kept to himself.
Also going by the monikers B5 or Bee, B5-56 was an astromech droid who served as the loyal companion to the individual only known as the Ronin, with whom the droid traveled for at least two decades in the era after the Sith rebellion. As a Dark Lord of the Sith, the Ronin spearheaded the uprising against the Jedi and the feudal lords of the Galactic Empire; however, after betraying the Sith, the Ronin became a hunter of his former followers. The droid possessed knowledge of the Ronin's actual identity and history, and he would skillfully evade questions from others seeking this information.
While the pair traversed the Outer Rim, B5-56 often worried about the Ronin's lack of self-care and disinterest in acquiring credits. The Ronin frequently opted to sleep in the open and trade his abilities for food.
B5-56 carried a missile launcher as a weapon, which he deployed to aid the Ronin in overcoming the bandits commanded by Kouru. When separated, they maintained communication via a wrist cuff worn by the Ronin; B5-56 also possessed a matching cuff.
The droid had a fondness for wearing thatched hats and disliked them getting wet. Aboard the pleasure barge owned by Eternity Enterprises, he chose to wear a more elaborately woven hat than his previous ones, prompting the Ronin to call B5-56 a hypocrite for his criticisms of the fashion choices of the barge's other patrons.
This droid character originated in "The Duel," a short film featured in the Star Wars: Visions anthology produced by Kamikaze Douga and directed by Takanobu Mizuno. The character designs for both Ronin and his droid, created by Takashi Okazaki, were among the initial concepts developed for Visions.
The droid was never explicitly named within the content or credits of "The Duel," his debut appearance. A StarWars.com blog post initially identified the droid as B5-56, but it was later modified, claiming a correction, to R5-D56. The name "R5-D56" was subsequently used in the official episode guide. However, the published e-book edition of Ronin: A Visions Novel, along with its audiobook, consistently used the name B5-56.
Emma Mieko Candon, the author of Ronin: A Visions Novel, mentioned on her Tumblr blog that B5-56 was nicknamed "Hat Droid." When questioned about the apparent name change of B5 to R5-D56, she responded that she had been instructed to use the name B5-56, but suggested the studio might have been experiencing a game of "telephone."