BD-1, a BD explorer droid, journeyed alongside Jedi Master Eno Cordova throughout the Galactic Republic's final years. After the implementation of Order 66 and the Galactic Empire's emergence, this droid became friends with Cal Kestis, a former Padawan who was committed to rebuilding the Jedi Order that had fallen.
Designated BD-1, this BD explorer droid was specifically an exploration droid. Before the Galactic Republic's era concluded, this programmed droid was the companion of Jedi Master Eno Cordova as the Jedi explored the history of the Zeffo. Cordova, sensing the danger, programmed BD-1 to block its memory, only allowing it to be revealed by someone the droid trusted.
Subsequently, BD-1 stayed on Bogano, near the Zeffo Vault, until 14 BBY. It was then that Cal Kestis, a Padawan who had survived Order 66, arrived on the planet at Cere Junda's request, seeking a holocron that held the key to rebuilding the Jedi Order. BD-1 quickly allied with Kestis, and together they entered the vault. During this journey, the local wildlife damaged the droid's scomp link. Unable to unlock the deepest parts of the vault, Kestis brought the droid back to his starship, the Stinger Mantis, and its crew.
They then journeyed to other planets, seeking the secrets of the Vault and the Zeffo. BD-1 scanned Zeffo artifacts, showing Kestis recordings of Cordova. When the Second Sister confronted them on Zeffo, BD-1 activated a force field, saving Kestis' life. Throughout their travels, Kestis upgraded BD-1 with various gadgets to assist them and repaired the scomp link.
During their Zeffo exploration, a Haxion Brood droid bounty hunter stunned Kestis, and both he and BD-1 were imprisoned on Ordo Eris. Kestis freed them, and they were rescued by the Mantis.
Following a Force vision on Dathomir that damaged the Jedi's lightsaber, they traveled to Ilum to find a new kyber crystal. After fighting Imperial forces guarding the cave, Kestis obtained a new crystal, but it broke. Kestis nearly despaired, but BD-1's support helped him rally and complete his new lightsaber. BD-1 then unlocked his memory, revealing Cordova's recording.
Kestis returned to Bogano, retrieved the holocron, but the Second Sister stole it. The Mantis crew followed her to the Fortress Inquisitorius. BD-1 accompanied Kestis underwater to the fortress. They recovered the holocron but were confronted by Darth Vader. The droid charged the Sith Lord and shocked him, but Vader ignored it. They escaped by breaking the tunnel and riding the water's current. Back on their ship, Kestis decided to destroy the holocron to prevent the Galactic Empire from finding young Force-sensitives, and then inquired about their next destination.
BD-1 remained Kestis' companion on his adventures. On Coruscant, Kestis sought military intel from Daho Sejan's yacht, and BD-1 aided in hijacking it and freeing Kestis from his stuncuffs. BD-1 then accompanied Kestis to Koboh, where it accidentally discovered the Chamber of Duality, starting Kestis' quest to reach Tanalorr. On Koboh, BD-1 gained the ability to fire Koboh matter and Electro darts. Kestis eventually traveled to The Archive on Jedha, where BD-1 reunited with Cordova. However, Bode Akuna later betrayed Cordova, killing him with a blaster. Enraged, BD-1 rushed towards Akuna, but Kestis grabbed the droid, narrowly avoiding an explosion that would have likely destroyed BD-1. After Kestis' mission for Tanalorr was complete, BD-1 continued to accompany Kestis.
BD-1 possessed various tools, such as a healing stim dispenser, a thruster for hovering (but not flying), a spotlight, a holoprojector, and a scomp link. During his travels with Cal Kestis, BD-1 received upgrades, including a transformer for controlling Imperial machines, dual processing devices for hacking probe droids and KX-series security droids, and a motor to carry Kestis up zip-lines. BD-1 later acquired the ability to fire Koboh matter and electro darts on Koboh.
BD-1 was created for the 2019 video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which was developed by Respawn Entertainment. The droid's initial reveal occurred at the Fallen Order panel during Celebration Chicago on April 13, 2019, and was subsequently featured in an article on StarWars.com. The "BD" in the droid's designation originated from "Buddy Droid," Respawn's internal name for the character. Sound designer Ben Burtt created the audio for BD-1's vocalizations.
On November 12, 2019, Star Wars: The Old Republic, the Star Wars Legends massively multiplayer online role-playing game, announced RE-1, a droid mini-pet inspired by BD-1 and the upcoming Fallen Order. RE-1 was derived from a piece of Lamarre-Wan's early concept art for BD-1 to ensure its design was influenced by Fallen Order's character while also fitting within the Old Republic era. An additional droid based on BD-1, the JR-4 Recon Droid, was released for the game in 2023 to celebrate the release of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
The design of BD-1 took more than two years, with Respawn collaborating closely with Lucasfilm to define his appearance, personality, and functionality. Initially, they were set on giving Kestis a droid companion but hadn't decided on the character's specifics. They considered giving BD-1 actual dialogue, but the final design used beeps to convey emotions. The development team researched other iconic droids from the Star Wars universe, including BB-8 and R2-D2. Early designs drew inspiration from everyday objects, like appliances. Narrative lead Aaron Contreras modeled BD-1 after his dog, while other inspirations included Charles Schulz's characters Snoopy and Woodstock.
Initially, BD-1 was conceived as a kitbashed booster repair droid with large thrusters and welding arms, capable of boosting the player's jumps. His design was later refined around his essential functions and role in the game: scanning and creating a database, resulting in his large lens eye and holoprojector. Early designs for Cal Kestis featured a backpack meant to serve as a retrofitted carrier and charging station for BD-1. Jordan Lamarre-Wan created concept art for numerous designs. Some early concepts had features reminiscent of R2-D2, with a large central eye, while others appeared more menacing. BD-1's final design blended a bird's bipedal stance and head-to-body proportions with a dog's loyalty and friendliness. His vacuum-formed shapes were inspired by electrobinoculars, his legs resembled those of an R2 unit, and his default color pattern and heat sink were similar to a snowspeeder.
BD-1 also needed to be small enough to avoid obstructing combat and exploration. To facilitate dialogue and interaction, the developers designed the droid to emote with his head and antennae. The idea of BD-1 climbing onto the player's back came from Luke Skywalker carrying Yoda during his training in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. During motion capture for Cal Kestis, Cameron Monaghan sometimes used a physical BD-1 prop to track the droid's movements on his back.
BD-1 shares characteristics with BT-7274, the deuteragonist of Titanfall 2, another game by Respawn Entertainment. Both serve as mechanical companions to player characters—Cal Kestis in Jedi: Fallen Order and Jack Cooper in Titanfall 2. Their similar name schemes, BD and BT, are short for "Buddy Droid" and "Buddy Titan," respectively.
In Fallen Order, BD-1 handles various gameplay functions: healing the player, manipulating doors and technology, acting as a flashlight in dark areas, and scanning objects or environments to add entries to the in-game databank. Players can unlock and upgrade BD-1's abilities throughout the game.
The 2022 LEGO Star Wars set "75335 BD-1" identified Behold-Urwar Droid Concepts as BD-1's manufacturer and stated his height as 0.43 meters.