Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Ranking The New Characters Worst To Best

4. BB-8

Much has been said about the practical effects work that helped bring BB-8 to life, and that alone is undoubtedly worth lauding, as the character looks great on screen, with much of the additional digital effects work on the droid never causing the line between what's real and what's not to be distracting. BB-8 is, in some ways, a merchandising dream; one that's already proven to be a huge success for Disney. However, never once does BB-8 feel like it's pandering to the lowest common denominator (like Jar-Jar) or as if its design and personality have been shaped to appeal to children (like the Ewoks). Like R2-D2 and C-3PO, BB-8 feels at home in this world from the get-go, with a droid design we haven't seen in the films before and a personality all his own shining brightly through it, endearingly childlike without being cloyingly childish. Despite not being able to understand a thing he says, it's hard not to see why Poe appears to consider him to be an actual friend instead of just an object or why Rey was willing to help keep him safe time and again. Considering how much of the plot hindered around him and the secret he held, it would've been a nightmare had he turned out to be nothing more than overdone comic relief, but fortunately, the character delivered, with his genuine, earned relationships with the others around him effortlessly cementing his place in the franchise.