# Would you say that STAR WARS droids are persons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-star-wars-droids-are-persons/628641 "2012-07-18T17:40:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-star-wars-droids-are-persons/628641/61 "2012-07-20T01:08:02Z")
With Numenorean blades. ---
**Author:** ![Arabella\_Flynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Arabella\_Flynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arabella_Flynn)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-star-wars-droids-are-persons/628641/62 "2012-07-20T03:11:38Z")
I’m inclined to say that some minority of droids are ‘people’ in the sense of being intelligent and having personalities of their own. Probably a lot more of them are at the level of pets, where they have a personality and the ability to be distressed/content, but are not sophisticated enough to grasp, say, the enormity of carrying the plans for the Death Star to Obi-Wan Kenobi. IIRC, the specific named droids in the EU canon are treated as if they’re people. Ish. Their owners are quite attached to them and adamantly refuse to subject them to the normal memory wipes. There are a few R2 and R4 navigational units referred to by name, other than the original Artoo, and other protocol droids as well. They develop various eccentricities over time. Some of the R-series owners, like Luke and Corran Horn, apparently learn whatever language the beeps-and-whistles bit represents, and understand their own oddball droids better than they do others. Beyond this, droids do seem to have a ‘mind’ of some kind, which can be influenced by the Force. You could argue that it’s a manifestation of some sort of electromagnetic Force talent, but how is that different from biological brains? I’m pretty sure I remember Luke also being able to locate things like power conduits the same way he locates life signs, but that may be a quirk of his – the books make mention occasionally of some people having non-standard idiosyncratic Force powers that develop during Jedi training. (He is also not put out by having a mechanical hand. He doesn’t particularly like recalling how he got it, but _having_ it doesn’t seem to bug him at all.) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-star-wars-droids-are-persons/628641/63 "2012-07-20T04:07:49Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > It’s disturbing to think it, but as far as I can tell, they are trading in a slave race, and the revolution is coming. IIRC, attempts at “the revolution” already happened more than once and were suppressed, which is part of why they routinely wipe the memories of droids. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-star-wars-droids-are-persons/628641/64 "2012-07-20T04:27:55Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > jayjay (ubergeek) and grude (ultrageek) need to fight it out. > > IN THE THUNDERDOME! > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > With Numenorean blades. I bid 50 quatloos on the newcomer. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-star-wars-droids-are-persons/628641/65 "2012-07-21T22:05:06Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > > [@TBG](#): > > > > You can’t put people back together when they get blasted to bits in the back rooms of Cloud City, so I’m going to go with close, but no cigar. > > The Skywalker family would disagree with you on that point. Try again when a Skywalker recovers from having his head separated from his torso like 3PO did. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-star-wars-droids-are-persons/628641/66 "2012-07-21T22:34:55Z")
The Battle Droids were built by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. Not sentient, just badly designed to seem to be. > [@jayjay](#): > > \Wrong franchise!\ Oh, sorry. I take the Star Trek point of view. Remember how every robot on TNG that was designed for labour saving turned out to be sentient? How is that supposed to function as a work force? There are meat bag slaves in the Star Wars universe, but not everywhere and Droids can’t very well be forming unions and uprisings and the like. Yes, yes, there was an uprising of Droids [in the Expanded Universe](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Droid_Revolution) that happened when nobody was watching and ended while again, nobody was watching. But while canon, the Expanded Universe is kind of lame, and so I discount it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-star-wars-droids-are-persons/628641/67 "2012-07-22T14:55:42Z")
Since George Lucas isn’t sentient, nothing he creates can be sentient. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-star-wars-droids-are-persons/628641/68 "2012-07-22T14:59:56Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Since George Lucas isn’t sentient, nothing he creates can be sentient. Is that an argument for or against creationism in the Star Wars universe? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-say-that-star-wars-droids-are-persons/628641.md?page=3)