Fun fact: Gonks are not allowed on rooftop buildings in cities because they would walk over edges.
this post was submitted on 23 May 2025
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So, in Star Wars, do robots have free will and consciousness or is it just an illusion?
Are droids slaves, or just tools?
As an aside, that's just the lowest of low effort costumes I've ever seen. It's almost literally a rectangular trash can, with "robot legs" made from metallic flexible ductwork you can buy at a hardware store. It would make for a bad home-made halloween costume, let alone a character in a Hollywood movie.
Robots are slaves. The original idea was to show the story from the point of view of the lowest class. He got the idea from Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress which is shown from the point of view of two slaves. A short stocky one and a taller slender one. And they are constantly bickering.
I watched The Hidden Fortress years ago, and the connection between C3PO and R2D2 with Tahei and Matashichi is obvious. But, they're not really slaves are they? The movie certainly doesn't make it seem like they're slaves, from what I remember. The Wikipedia plot summary says they're peasants who sell their homes and leave to enlist with the Yamana clan. A slave can't really sell their home and decide to take a new job. They may be of the lowest social class, but they weren't property.
As for the droids though, if they're slaves, has there ever been a hint that they wanted to change that status? In the dozens of movies, TV shows, books, comic books, etc. they seem content to be bought, sold and owned. Sure, R2D2 objects to being owned by Luke Skywalker in the first movie, but only because it interferes with his mission. He doesn't seem to object to the concept of ownership.
And, if they are slaves, there are certain droids who seem to have normal jobs and a lot of autonomy, like the IG-11 who is a member of the Bounty Hunter's Guild.
OTOH, we've also seen that slavery of humans is pretty common in the Star Wars universe. Maybe it's possible that some droids are slaves and others are free, just like humans?
What we really need is a Star Wars series with courtroom drama to explain some of this stuff. The Andor series has shown that people actually really like a series that gets into deep political intrigue, and isn't just stories of people's action figures fighting each-other. Maybe Law And Order: Coruscant would be a hit.
In the Solo movie Lando has a droid who wants to fight for droid liberation. But it's mostly played for laughs without any real consequences.
Ugh. That sucks. Just because it is a sign of cheap, paper-thin world building, which is typical of Star Wars.
I remember seeing that film open with Tahei and Matashichi arguing in a barren desert and thinking "ah, so this is where the inspiration for C3PO and R2D2 came from...".
As far as I recall, you only see the top part of it in one or two background scenes. So the legs aren't even necessary, they're just there to help the puppeteer of a background character stay in character.
It's just a portable generator. If someone told me I could have it move itself instead of me having to drag the shit around id definitely prefer it, especially on a desert/sand environment.
Powers out, Gonk
Camping, Gonk
Putting on a Concert, Gonk
Want to slay, Gonk
Will they have their own power supply for movement, or will they sip at the battery they’re carrying?
More like creating unintelligible alarms on your appliances so they just make noise at you without conveying any information unless you dedicate yourself to esoteric study of their language. Gonk droids are walking IV pump noises.
GONK
Critical error and about to explode? GONK. Just saying hello? GONK. In the real world we sometimes joke these appliances are just insecure and want attention sometimes but here it might be a real factor.
Look, if you have an aural processing issue I totally understand, but if you're just being racist against droids as some kind of hold-over from the clone wars, GTFO.
There's a massive difference between "GONK" and "GONK". They sound nothing alike.
Next you're going to tell me that ewoks could take on an imperial brigade...
GONK
As more of a follower of the superior "Star Shows", I gotta ask... is this actually real? It seems totally made up. I've seen all the movies, but I don't recall this thing. If it is, then that's awesome.
Yes. The GNK-series droids are the most famous among the power droids. Those are literally walking generators and power banks. There is a heavy version PLNK(plunk) series with four legs. Both of which have a flat top, so you can use it to put things on them.
They have been modified as weapons during some encounters. Where they would just walk straight ahead and explode when it collided with something.
There's also rumours of a "Cult of the Power Droids". Where a group of gonk robots would show up at night and ask for donations. And the best way to get rid of them, is to say "Gonk. Gonk. Gonk ko kyenga see", which is apparently so rude it can't legally be translated to basic(galactic basic standard, aka "english").
Goddamn I have no idea if you're making some kind of reference to cult of personality or if I'm just way out of my depth here.
I'm going back to the star trek instances now, where my life makes sense. Enjoy your walking batteries. Enjoy your walking batteries.
The Cult of the Power Droids was a religious sect solicited by rogue GNK power droids.
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Cult_of_the_Power_Droids
It's not full canon, only legends. It is from a reference book written by Ben Burtt in 2001. But the first half is written as an in-universe book, so I consider it partly canon. (For reference, he is one of greatest sound designers of all time. He made the lightsaber sounds, Darth Vader's breathing, etc. In addition he also worked on Indiana Jones, made the "voice" for E.T., WALL-E, R2-D2, etc. He's the guy who popularized the Wilhelm scream easter egg)
is this actually real?
I know folks have already answered, but I want to let you share my delight that The Gonk Droid even has a Lego Minifigure.
@KingJalopy @PugJesus it's very real and I'm fairly sure it has appeared the recent shows (in the background at least)
It also appears in a few games, I mostly remember it from the original (and better) Battlefront 2; this droids appeared in some maps and you could explode them for no reason
You could play as one in Lego Star Wars; the droid was painfully slow and could not jump (without cheats), but its 'attack' made the largest explosion in the game.
In Battlefront games (the originals) these refilled your ammo/grenades when you stood near them.
Well, that's just fantastic.
This was shown in the fucking Original trilogy mate
~~GROND~~
GONK
Hmm... does a Grond plus a Gonk make a Gronk?
Remember the IKEA Gönk?
spoiler
If you can put aside the presence of Justin Roiland, here's a relevant Joel Haver take:
Asking whether or not someone likes Gonk droids is a good vibe check, both for them and you.
The casing screams plastic.
Didn't they also bounce you around in ... Shadows of the Empire? Maybe Dark Forces II? It's been a while, but one of those seems right to me. Actually, maybe it was Jedi Academy ... No longer sure.
They also offered a pleasing sound effect, which isn't really practical in real life, but which I personally still enjoyed.
They ping ponged around in Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy, I remember there was a way to eviscerate folks on an early Movie Battles map using a Gonk and force lightning.
That reminds me of a costume ball at school.
There's no way an ambulatory batter is cheaper than one you lug around.
Depends on the opportunity cost. If you need to take time or effort away from your labor to lug a battery along, or your labor is so important or specialized that you would need an assistant just for lugging the battery, the ambulatory battery might be cheaper than trying to do it purely on manpower.
I also imagine they double as a converter. Different voltages, pulses, impedances etc
Plus they gonk.