Star Wars is home to many iconic pairs, such as Han Solo and Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, and most recently, the Mandalorian and Grogu. But of all the duos in the franchise, none can hold a glowrod to mechanical pals R2-D2 and C-3PO. One is a feisty, knee-high astromech droid who can only communicate through beeps and whistles. The other is a prissy, golden translator fluent in over 6,000,000 forms of communication. Together, they’re the premier comedy team in the Star Wars galaxy.
Whether they’re at each other’s throats or giving each other the rare compliment, Artoo and Threepio are the very definition of a couple’s goals. While there are countless examples of the two droids’ shenanigans throughout the nine-film Skywalker Saga, we picked out the 10 scenes that prove without a shadow of a doubt that R2-D2 and C-3PO are the best duo in Star Wars.
1) R2-D2 Saves C-3PO From Salacious Crumb (Return of the Jedi)
We don’t know about you, but having our eyes eaten by a Kowakian monkey-lizard ranks pretty high on our list of things we never want to experience. So we can only assume that when C-3PO was having his photoreceptors pecked out by Salacious B. Crumb aboard Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge, he was in whatever the droid version of hell is.
Thankfully, R2-D2 was there to send 20,000 volts up Crumb’s backside, causing him to leap into the raftors and leave the poor protocol droid alone. They may not always get along, but when the chips are down, Artoo and Threepio always have each other’s backs.
2) Artoo Calls Out His Friend For Being A Nudist (The Phantom Menace)
When George Lucas announced that he was working on a series of prequels set before his original Star Wars trilogy, fans knew they would finally get a chance to see the first meeting between C-3PO and R2-D2. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace included just such a scene in which the still-in-progress Threepio is introduced to a less-than-impressed R2-D2. While Threepio gives his new friend the usual, “C-3PO, Human, Cyborg relations,” spiel, Artoo takes the opportunity to point out the fact that the other droid had no outer coverings.
The result is a hilarious exchange in which an embarrassed C-3PO asks Artoo what he means by “naked,” before exclaiming, “My parts are showing? Oh, my goodness, oh!”
3) The Droids Bicker Over Flooding Princess Leia’s Room (The Empire Strikes Back)
One of the only downsides to having a great couple like R2-D2 and C-3PO as background characters is that some of their best exchanges get lost in the background. Take the exchange between Artoo and Threepio where the taller droid admonishes his cylindrical cohort over turning up the heat in Princess Leia’s private quarters.
An exasperated C-3PO complains to R2-D2 that he has no idea how the two droids are going to “dry out” all of the Princess’s clothes in what is easily one of the funniest exchanges in the original trilogy. Sadly, most fans don’t remember the short bit of back and forth due to all the other excitement going on in the first act of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
4) R2-D2 Wakes Up After a 30-Year Nap (The Force Awakens)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens begins with R2-D2 in a self-induced coma. As a Lonely C-3PO explains to new droid BB-8, Artoo went into “low power mode” following the disappearance of Luke Skywalker and hasn’t moved or said anything in years. When Artoo turns himself back on Threepio is overjoyed to speak to his friend for the first time in decades…for about three seconds.
In true R2-D2 fashion, that’s all it takes for the newly awakened droid to insult C-3PO and reclaim his spot at the top of the golden droid’s sh*tlist. We don’t speak droid, so we have no idea what Artoo called his long-suffering pal, but it was bad enough that Threepio hauled off and smacked him upside the dome over it. Aren’t reunions grand?
5) Threepio Offers Up The Droid Equivalent of a Kidney Transplant (A New Hope)
C-3PO often talks as if he absolutely despises R2-D2, but in times of crisis, his true feelings always come out. Case in point, Artoo’s return following the destruction of the first Death Star. Having taken a direct hit during the assault, Artoo returns to the Rebels’ base on Yavin IV, blackened and smoking.
Threepio responds by giving his master a direct order, “Sir, you must repair him,” followed by offering to donate any of his “circuits or gears” if necessary.
6) Doctor Artoo Performs Battlefield Surgery on C-3PO (Attack of the Clones)
R2-D2 has a particular way of expressing his affection towards C-3PO. Rather than tell him outright how he feels, Artoo lets his actions do the talking. Nowhere do those actions speak louder than during the Battle of Geonosis. Artoo bravely ignores the firefight going on around him while he diligently reattaches Threepio’s head to his body. The courageous droid could have run and saved himself, but instead risked his life to save his best friend like a true hero.
7) Lover’s Spat on Tattooine (A New Hope)
Many fans have speculated over the years just how close R2-D2 and C-3PO really are. Whether you come down on the side of them simply being the best of friends or something slightly more intimate, no one can argue that when the pair bicker, it sounds like the galaxy’s oldest married couple. As soon as the two droids land on Tatooine in Star Wars: A New Hope, they begin arguing over which way to go and calling each other names like “near-sighted scrap pile.”
The two end the fight as many couples do, going off in two different directions, each convinced that they’re right and the other is wrong.
8) R2-D2 Restores C-3PO’s Memory (The Rise of Skywalker)
One of the plot points of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was C-3PO getting hacked so that he could translate ancient Sith. An unfortunate side-effect of the reprogramming is the loss of his memory. For a sizable chunk of the movie, viewers are led to believe that the droid has lost all of his experiences and memories — including those involving R2-D2 — for good.
Thankfully, loyal ride-or-die R2-D2 carries a backup of his neurotic friend’s hard drive for just such an occasion, leaving viewers to wonder, just how often does C-3PO get his memory completely wiped?
9) C-3PO Makes a Sale (A New Hope)
As we mentioned earlier, Threepio says some pretty rotten things to his diminutive companion during their first few minutes on Tatooine. The talkative droid makes up for this, however, when he convinces Luke Skywalker to purchase R2-D2 from a group of Jawas.
Luke and his Uncle Owen initially pick C-3PO and a different astromech droid named R5-D4 to be their new farmhands, but when R5 blows a gasket, Threepio seizes the chance to sell them on his blue and white companion.
10) Threepio Lectures Artoo About the Dangers of Tobacco Use (Anti-Smoking PSA)
Alerting kids to the dangers of smoking was such a big thing in the ’80s that even Star Wars got in on the act. In 1980 C-3PO and R2-D2 starred in a public service announcement meant to tell kids how bad cigarettes are for their health. In the commercial which ran during all of the popular children’s shows of the time, Threepio catches Artoo holding a lit cigarette and immediately begins lecturing him on the evils of smoking.
Since droids don’t have hearts or lungs, Threepio describes how cigarettes affect humans to convince Artoo to quit his nasty habit. Sometimes being a best friend means tough love, something R2-D2 and C-3PO know all too well.
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