'The Last Jedi' Revealed the Dark Side of BB-8

The clever and adorable repair droid BB-8 is a popular face of the new Star Wars film trilogy by Disney. Credit: Disney Robots can provide comic relief and cuteness overload for longtime fans of the Star Wars films that take place in a galaxy far, far away. The latest example in Disney's Star Wars films is the adorable BB-8 droid that has a dome head riding atop a spherical body and mostly communicates through beeps and electronic warbles. But something dark and ominous may be lurking beneath the bubbly droid's exterior. Turn back now to avoid spoilers on "The Last Jedi" or any of the Star Wars films. The small droid BB-8 shares many charming and heroic qualities with R2-D2, another popular Star Wars robot from the original film trilogy and a predecessor of sorts to BB-8. Both droids have generally proven themselves to be brave and loyal companions to their human counterparts, capable of expressing a wide range of emotions such as joy and sorrow. They have also saved the main Star Wars heroes and heroines more than once through their skills in repairing starships or hacking electronic systems. Both BB-8 and R2-D2 have even occasionally used their electric zapper tools such as nonlethal weapons against humans and other sentient organic beings. In the film "The Last Jedi," BB-8 appears to continue that tradition of nonlethal combat while assisting his friends in tough situations. The droid uses mechanical constraints and even turns casino coins into improvised projectiles while disabling a number of security guards on Canto Bight, a location unofficially referred to as the casino planet. But toward the end of "The Last Jedi," BB-8 appears to break with his own programming and the nonlethal tradition by using deadly force against some First Order stormtroopers. When his friends are in danger, BB-8 somehow finds his way into the cockpit of an AT-ST walker vehicle and proceeds to use the military vehicle's blaster cannons to blow away a number of stormtroopers.