As part of the campaign for The Rise of Skywalker, and in collaboration with eight partner brands, Star Wars has released a still of a brand new character: Babu Frik, an Anzellan droidsmith that looks like a pug had a baby with a monkey.
In the image, revealed on StarWars.com, Babu Frik is wearing a welder's helmet and hard at work, with his hands tangled in multicolored cables. The Anzellan is described as able to hack and reprogram any droid, regardless of its security measures, and is based on the frosty planet of Kijimi, where he works and lives among its spice runners (aka smugglers).
Babu Frik was first glimpsed in the previews of Triple Force Friday, as part of the upcoming The Rise of Skywalker toyline. Although his race seems to have been made up for the film, the fact that he's a talented droidsmith in a movie that contains a red-eyed C-3PO (or Sithreepio, as cheekier fans are calling his demonic version) could signal his role in The Rise of Skywalker has something to do with the typically polite protocol droid's new look.
Another clue about the tiny alien's allegiance is in his location; the other notorious resident of Kijimi is none other than Zorii Bliss, an old acquaintance of Poe Dameron that dwells in Kijimi's Thieves Quarter.
Directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Keri Russell, Matt Smith, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher, with Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant. The film arrives on Dec. 20.