BB-8 is one of the most important and entirely new characters introduced in the Star Wars sequel trilogy by Disney. It was clear he was meant to be the new R2-D2, and he was definitely one of the few things the sequels got more right than wrong.

Much like how R2-D2 found Luke Skywalker, BB-8 eventually ended up in the care of the new hero, Rey.

He’s smaller, sleeker, and has that cool ball-rolling feature—but surprisingly, he was also remarkably funny for a droid that can’t actually speak.

He provided a lot of support to Poe Dameron, essentially serving as his droid during space missions, much like R2-D2 did for Luke Skywalker. And while BB-8 doesn’t play a major role in combat, he remained an integral part of the Resistance throughout.

I wouldn’t say he was better than R2-D2, but he was definitely one of the most lovable characters created specifically for the sequel trilogy.