80-M
80-M, also known as Eightyem, was a protocol droid functioning as the interpreter for Jabba Desilijic Tiure. This Hutt crime lord was the head of his own criminal empire, until 80-M's demise after angering his master, resulting in his disintegration. In 4 ABY, not long before the Rescue of Han Solo, EV-9D9, who was the supervisor of the droid pool at Jabba's Palace's, oversaw the torture inflicted upon the aged droid. This occurred when R2-D2 and C-3PO, Jabba's newly acquired interpreter, reported to her. EV-9D9 informed C-3PO about what happened to his predecessor, while pointing towards the droid. C-3PO was filled with horror as he saw the droid strapped to a vertical torture device, its manacled limbs stretched beyond their normal capacity, causing the droid to shriek in agony as its arms and legs were gradually torn off.
Behind the scenes
80-M's initial appearance, though without formal identification, was in the 1983 motion picture Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. This film served as the concluding chapter of the Star Wars original trilogy. The character's identity was later revealed in an article previewing the comic Return of the Jedi – Jabba's Palace 1 on StarWars.com, which was released on March 22, 2023. The droid's designation was subsequently provided in the 2024 reference work Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy.
The young-adult novelization Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side! by Tom Angleberger, released in 2015, originally distinguished the droid as a separate entity from the droid depicted in the film and stated that its remains were discarded by the entrance to a furnace inside her torture room. A CZ-series droid is seen discarded near the doorway during the events of Return of the Jedi. The short story "The Key to Remembering," penned by Olivia Chadha and featured in the 2023 anthology From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi, suggests that Jabba's former interpreter was dissolved in a pool of acid and independently identifies the droid on the torture rack as a courier droid.