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This question covers the ownership of the droids in the "official" canon but I've never been entirely clear about their specific ownership in the other Star Wars properties out there.

Who owned the droids in the Legends continuity?

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  • @Thunderforge - Meh, enough time's passed. I'm just gonna go ahead and edit the title. – Valorum Jun 04 '16 at 22:12
  • @Valorum I've changed it to be Legends-only – Thunderforge Jun 04 '16 at 22:26
  • @Thunderforge - And I've reopened it. God-speed, little question, and may flights of angels sing thee to thy answer. – Valorum Jun 04 '16 at 22:31
  • They're still dupes. My original question also covers Legends. – Rogue Jedi Jun 04 '16 at 22:32
  • @RogueJedi - That's true, but neither of the answers do. Perhaps you might consider editing your question to focus on canon answers only, leaving this question to focus on the Legends continuity. You're under no obligation to do so, but there's no way I'm editing the Legends rubbish below into my beautiful answer. – Valorum Jun 04 '16 at 23:01
  • @Valorum, why is my answer rubbish? Aside from continuing to add citations, is there something I can do to make it not rubbish? – Thunderforge Jun 04 '16 at 23:20
  • @Thunderforge - Your answer is excellent. The Star Wars EU is rubbish. – Valorum Jun 04 '16 at 23:21
  • @Valorum What are you talking about? Your answer uses the official novelization, which is Legends. If anything, this question should be canon only. – Rogue Jedi Jun 04 '16 at 23:23
  • @RogueJedi - The novelisations are considered to be canon where they agree with the films. Since there's no disagreement, the status of their ownership is a matter of canon. Obviously Disney reserve the right to override the novels at a later date, but I'm at a loss why they'd do so. – Valorum Jun 04 '16 at 23:24
  • @Valorum If they're canon when they agree, and Legends when they don't, your answer would cover both canon and Legends, would it not? – Rogue Jedi Jun 04 '16 at 23:25
  • @RogueJedi - Erm, sorta. As the answer below shows, their ownership (in Legends) is violently contradictory with the accepted and approved non-Legends canon. – Valorum Jun 04 '16 at 23:27
  • @RogueJedi The novelizations are not exhaustive though. They have had lots of owners in Legends, which don't also exist in Disney canon. – Thunderforge Jun 04 '16 at 23:55
  • @Valorum Thanks for clarifying that the answer itself wasn't rubbish :-). While I think some of the Legends stuff is awesome (I really enjoy the Legacy comics, and have no problem with R2-D2 being owned by Luke's descendant), I agree that there's a lot of really wonky other stuff, mostly due to the Star Wars: Droids series, that I don't mind being made non-canon. Granted, they were made before any serious continuity efforts were attempted. – Thunderforge Jun 04 '16 at 23:59
  • @Thunderforge - Oh, it's all over the place quality-wise. Where I dip into the EU, I still tend to stick to the properties that relate closely to the canon universe; novelisations, comic novelisations, etc. – Valorum Jun 05 '16 at 00:01

1 Answers1

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The droid duo have had many, many owners over the years.

Before The Phantom Menace

C-3PO

  • 112 BBY: An unknown owner on the Cybot Galactica foundry world of Affa (C-3PO entry on the official Star Wars Databank)
  • Before 32 BBY: An unknown owner, tasking C-3PO as emissary of the Manakron system (C-3PO entry on the official Star Wars Databank)

Around the time of The Phantom Menace

R2-D2

  • 32 BBY: The Royal Engineers of Naboo, assigned aboard Queen Amidala's Royal Starship (The Phantom Menace)

C-3PO

  • Early 32 BBY: Anakin Skywalker, who rebuilt him from parts (The Phantom Menace)
  • Late 32 BBY: Shmi Skywalker, after Anakin left him with her (The Phantom Menace)

Around the time of Attack of the Clones

R2-D2

  • 25 BBY: Padmé Amidala, remaining in her service when she joined the Galactic Senate (Attack of the Clones)
  • 22 BBY: Anakin Skywalker, given as a wedding gift by Padmé (The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia)

C-3PO

  • 27 BBY: Clieg Lars, bought along with Shmi Skywalker (Revenge of the Sith novelization*)
  • 22 BBY: Anakin Skywalker, given as a gift by the Lars family after his mother's death (Attack of the Clones)
  • 22 BBY: Padmé Amidala, given as a wedding gift by Anakin (The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia)

Around the time of Revenge of the Sith

From here on out, the droids are always owned by the same person, unless otherwise stated.

  • 19 BBY: Bail Organa, inheriting the droids after Padmé dies and Anakin falls to the dark side (Revenge of the Sith novelization*)
  • 19 BBY: Captain Raymus Antilles, gifted from Bail Organa (Revenge of the Sith)

The Star Wars: Droids era

Between 19 BBY and 2 BBY, the droids had a lot of owners, mostly described in the Star Wars: Droids TV show and two comic book series. It was a pretty regular occurrence for them to change owners during this run.

Note that in Legends continuity, this is pretty much all S-Canon, meaning that it is a lower level of canon than the movies or other material post 1990 or so, and is often ignored in later works.

  • Lok Revenants, a band of pirates who captured the droids
  • Lott Kemp, a crystal merchant
  • Jost Ellon, an orphan
  • Ambassador Zell of Majoor, to act as companions for his son Llez
  • The Republic Diplomatic Corps, serving as couriers
  • Van P. Quist, owner of "The Droid Store" after they wandered in
  • (R2-D2 only) Kirk Windjammer, sailor (yup, on the water, not a starship) after purchasing him
  • (C-3PO only) Gavern Starlock baron and advisor of R-duba after purchasing him
  • Kirk Windjammer, taking the position of advisor from Starlock, and gaining C-3PO
  • Sindee, businesswoman, after the droids were left at her refueling station
  • Zevel Hortine, smuggler, after being gambled in a game of Liar's Cut
  • Thall Joben and Jord Dusat, speeder jockeys after finding the droids after they were jettisoned from Hortine's cargo hold (these guys actually had the droids for a pretty long time)
  • Yorpo Mog, bodyguard of Zellock, who bought him in a public auction
  • Jann Tosh, miner, who traded Mog for the droids almost immediately
    • During this time, they met the space pirate Kybo Ren. No relation to Kylo Ren.
  • A spaceport hotel on the planet Manda, after Tosh was accepted into the Imperial academy and he sold them to the hotel for use in manual labor
  • Mungo Baobab, heir to the Baobab Merchant Fleet, who purchased the droids from the hotel
  • Krellus Barzane, "renegade technolord", after jealous researchers who were part of the Baobab Merchant Fleet "accidentally" sold them
  • Jann Tosh, recovered from Barzane
  • Governor Wena Havid of the Kalarba system, ambassador who purchased the droids
  • Unidentified junk trader, who won them at an auction when Havid needed money
  • Nak Pitareeze and his family, Olag Greck, and Jace Forno
  • Zorneth, Ithorian botanist
  • Councelor Harthan, diplomat
  • Larka Nimondro, traveler
  • Other unspecified owners (C-3PO: Tales of the Golden Droid)

Almost all of these happened in one of the Droids series or another one-shot comic designed as a tie-in. Many of these owners are described on the Star Wars website at The Droids Re-Animated Part 1 and Part 2.

Before A New Hope

  • 2 BBY: Captain Raymus Antilles (Referenced in A New Hope)
  • Between 2 BBY and 0 BBY: The Star Tours interstellar travel agency (on loan from Antilles)

Yes, there is a Legends canon reason for why the droids are part of the Star Tours theme park ride in Walt Disney World.

A New Hope

  • 0 BBY: Jawas, found as salvage (A New Hope)
  • 0 BBY: Owen Lars, purchased from Jawas (A New Hope)
  • 0 BBY: Luke Skywalker, inherited from Owen (A New Hope)

Return of the Jedi

  • 4 ABY: Jabba the Hutt, gifted by Luke Skywalker (Return of the Jedi)
  • 4 ABY: Luke Skywalker, reclaimed after Jabba's death (Return of the Jedi)

After Return of the Jedi

Here the droids split up again, although they frequently reunite over the years.

C-3PO

  • 4 ABY: Leia Organa, given to Leia to help her in her diplomatic role in the New Republic. It remained with her family after she married Han Solo and helped raise their kids.

It's not clear what ultimately happened to C-3PO. There is an ambiguously canon Star Wars Tales comic called "Storyteller", set sometime between 45 ABY and 130 ABY, where he is found to be destroyed. He does not appear in any canon material set after 130 ABY.

R2-D2

  • Remained with Luke as he founded the Jedi Academy

During the Star Wars: Legacy comic series

R2-D2

  • Till 130 ABY: Various descendants of Luke Skywalker, culminating with Kol Skywalker
  • 130 ABY: The Yuuzhan Vong at the Ossus Academy, who used him to help restore Kol's legacy
  • Before 137 ABY: Jedi Master K'Kruhk, who recovered the droid
  • 137 ABY: Cade Skywalker, who kept him as part of his crew

I've done my best to note the sources for the major events, but if you're looking for more info, the Wookieepedia Legends pages for R2-D2 and C-3PO list these same events as well, and provides detailed information about the sources.

* The Revenge of the Sith novelization further describes the history of their ownership in the Prequel Trilogy. See this answer for more information.

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  • Although you've provided quite a comprehensive list, I note that it's lacking referencing. – Valorum Jun 04 '16 at 22:55
  • @Valorum Better? I've got everything cited except the Droids era, although I wonder if "one of those three series" is good enough since there were so many owners during that time. – Thunderforge Jun 04 '16 at 23:03
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    Much better. Yes. Citations and cleanliness are next to godliness. – Valorum Jun 04 '16 at 23:04
  • So Luke owns both droids all through the EU? – Stephen Collings Jun 04 '16 at 23:33
  • @StephenCollings As far as I know, yes, although I'm much less well versed in some of the later stuff. I was most familiar with the comic books, and had seen the Droids TV show a bit. – Thunderforge Jun 04 '16 at 23:52
  • @StephenCollings After reading up on Wookieepedia and remembering some novels I'd read, I realized that C-3PO went to Leia and R2-D2 stayed with Luke, and I think it stays that way for most of the post-ROTJ era. – Thunderforge Jun 05 '16 at 00:05
  • Would Owen have known the droids when his father Clieg owned them? – AncientSwordRage Jun 05 '16 at 00:10
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    @AncientSwordRage, well he's present in Attack of the Clones, so he definitely has seen them both. Would he believe that his father's junky droid was the same gold one he'd see later? Probably not, and he may not have remembered the designation or thought it was a coincidence when he heard it again in A New Hope. Also, I don't think he ever heard R2's name. – Thunderforge Jun 05 '16 at 00:14