BD-1 was a BD unit droid that accompanied Jedi Master Eno Cordova during the last years of the Galactic Republic. Following Order 66 and the rise of the Galactic Empire, the droid befriended Cal Kestis, a former Padawan who endeavored to rebuild the fallen Jedi Order.
The BD unit designated BD-1 was an exploration droid. Prior to the end of the Galactic Republic's reign, the programmed droid accompanied Jedi Master Eno Cordova on the Jedi's journey to explore the history of the Zeffo. Cordova later realized that they were in danger, and programmed BD-1's memory to be blocked, only revealed by someone the droid trusted.
BD-1 then remained on Bogano in the vicinity of the Zeffo Vault until 14 BBY, when the Padawan Cal Kestis, a survivor of Order 66, arrived on the planet at the behest of Cere Junda in order to find a holocron key to rebuilding the Jedi Order. Kestis quickly gained the support of BD-1, and they entered the vault. Along the way, the droid's scomp link was broken by the local wildlife. Unable to unlock the deepest reaches, Kestis took the droid back to his starship and crew, the Stinger Mantis.
They then traveled to other worlds on their quest to uncover the secrets of the Vault and that of the Zeffo. BD-1 scanned other Zeffo artifacts, showing recordings of Cordova to Kestis. When they were confronted on Zeffo by the Second Sister, BD-1 activated a force field between the combatants, saving Kestis' life. During their journey, Kestis upgraded BD-1 with several different gadgets to assist them, and also repaired the scomp link.
During their exploration of Zeffo, Kestis was stunned by a Haxion Brood droid bounty hunter, and both he and BD-1 were imprisoned on Ordo Eris. Kestis broke them both out, and they were rescued by the Mantis.
BD-1 showing a hologram of Cordova.
Following a Force vision on Dathomir that left the Jedi's lightsaber damaged, they traveled to Ilum for a new kyber crystal. After battling Imperial forces guarding the cave, Kestis finally acquired a new crystal, only for it to break in his hands. The Padawan almost gave in to despair, but with BD-1's support, rallied and completed his new lightsaber. BD-1 was then able to unlock his memory, showing the recording of Cordova.
Kestis then returned to Bogano and gathered the holocron, but it was stolen by the Second Sister, and the Mantis crew followed her to the Fortress Inquisitorius. BD-1 traveled underwater with Kestis to the fortress. They recovered the holocron, but were confronted by Darth Vader. The droid charged the Sith Lord and delivered a shock, but Vader shrugged it off. They only escaped by breaking the tunnel and escaping in the onrush of water. Once back aboard their ship, Kestis decided to destroy the holocron to prevent the Galactic Empire from finding the young Force-sensitives, and then asked the crew of their next destination.
BD-1 continued to accompany Kestis on his adventures. On Coruscant, Kestis was on a mission to retrieve military intel from Daho Sejan yacht, and BD-1 assisted in hijacking the yacht and freeing Kestis from his stuncuffs. BD-1 then accompanied Kestis to Koboh, where the droid accidentally discovered the Chamber of Duality, kicking off Kestis' quest to reach Tanalorr. On Koboh, BD-1 acquired the ability to fire Koboh matter as well as . Kestis eventually traveled to The Archive on Jedha, where BD-1 was reunited with Cordova. However, Bode Akuna later betrayed Cordova, killing him with a blaster. Enraged, BD-1 rushed towards Akuna, but Kestis grabbed the droid, and narrowly avoided an explosion which would have likely destroyed BD-1. After Kestis' mission for Tanalorr was complete, BD-1 continued to accompany Kestis.
BD-1 was equipped with many helpful tools.
As a BD unit, BD-1 was bipedal, and had white plating with black sensors. Designed to assist with exploration in remote and dangerous locations, BD-1 was enthusiastic about research and data collection, but often disregarded self-preservation.
BD-1 was equipped with various tools, including a healing stim dispenser, a thruster for hovering but not flying, a spotlight, a holoprojector, and a scomp link. During his travels with Cal Kestis, BD-1 was upgraded with a transformer to control Imperial machines, two processing devices to hack probe droids and KX-series security droids, and a motor to carry Kestis up zip-lines. BD-1 later gained the ability to fire Koboh matter and electro darts on Koboh.
Concept art of BD-1
BD-1 is a droid character created for the game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, developed by Respawn Entertainment. He was designed by Jordan Lamarre-Wan, modeled and textured by Tim Wallace, animated by Laure Retif and rigged by Jesus Baeza under the supervision of Chris Sutton and Bruce Ferriz. Respawn's FX Lead Jason Burton created the digital effects for BD-1's LED display. Adnan Chatriwala was the narrative designer who defined BD-1's functionality and personality in the game.
His voice was created by sound designer Ben Burtt. Respawn and Lucasfilm's design process for BD-1 took over two years, during which inspiration for the droid included Charles Schulz's characters Snoopy and Woodstock, as well as the dog of Aaron Contreras, Narrative Lead in the design team for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
RE-1 was a droid released for the Star Wars Legends video game Star Wars: The Old Republic: Onslaught in celebration of the release of the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The droid's design was based in BD's concept art. An additional droid based on BD-1, the JR-4 Recon Droid, was released for the game in 2023 to celebrate the release of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
BD-1 shares traits with BT-7274, the deuteragonist of Titanfall 2, another title developed by Respawn Entertainment. Both are the mechanical companions of player characters, Cal Kestis for Jedi: Fallen Order, and Jack Cooper in Titanfall 2. Their similar name schemes, BD and BT, are short for both "Buddy Droid" and "Buddy Titan" respectively.
BD-1 was initially thought to be a booster repair droid that, thanks to his various thrusters, could boost the player to provide extended jumps. Continuing with the development of the game, his functions were changed to scanning, creating a database and healing the player.
In the early designs for Cal Kestis, he wore a backpack which was meant to be a retrofitted carrier and charging base for BD-1.
The 2022 LEGO Star Wars set "75335 BD-1" stated that BD-1's manufacturer was Behold-Urwar Droid Concepts and that he had a height of 0.43 meters.
- LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "LEGO Star Wars - 25 Years"