Lin - D Lin - D was a masculine - programmed entertainment droid designed to tell jokes and make wisecracks . With a humanoid design , and gray , silver , and orange plating , Lin - D ' s facial features sported a perpetual grin and a pair of adjustable , white photoreceptors — both qualities that underscored his flippant attitude and penchant for making light of any situation . Indeed , Lin - D ' s loquaciousness proved unbearable to some ; the protocol droid C - 3PO found him to be quite annoying . Lin - D met C - 3PO and his companions , the Humans Mungo Baobab and Auren Yomm , in 15 BBY after being forced to join a team of enslaved rowers on the large galley " Roon Clipper " , which was operated by agents of Governor Koong of Tawntoom Province on the planet Roon . When the astromech droid R2 - D2 infiltrated the galley while out on the Roon Sea , Lin - D was freed with the others and fled on a lifeboat . He was incapacitated in the ensuing skirmish with Koong ' s drone s , but R2 - D2 restored him to full working order . Biography . Lin - D was an entertainment droid manufactured before the end of 15 BBY and programmed to spread amusement and good cheer . By the conclusion of that year , Lin - D fell into the hands of Koong , the Governor of the Tawntoom Province of the planet Roon . Koong forced the droid to join a crew of organic and mechanical slaves on an ocean - going galley called the " Roon Clipper " , where they were forced to serve as rowers . One day , Lin - D found himself chained to a galley bench and tasked with rowing the craft across the Roon Sea to Koong Island with a cargo of valuable gem s known as Roonstone s in the hold . The entertainment droid ' s seatmate — to whom he was shackled at the ankle during the voyage — was another mechanical , a protocol droid named C - 3PO who had recently joined the slave workforce after being captured along with his master , Mungo Baobab , and a friend , Auren Yomm . Lin - D attempted to lighten the mood by joking about the situation , but C - 3PO found him annoying . With a crack of the slavedriver ' s electro - whip , Lin - D joined the other captives in their hours - long journey . Part of the way through the voyage , Lin - D and the other prisoners were freed from their shackles by the astromech droid R2 - D2 , a colleague of C - 3PO ' s who had sneaked aboard the " Clipper " . When the freed captives stole lifeboat s held on the vessel , Lin - D joined C - 3PO , R2 - D2 , Baobab , and Yomm in a craft as they made their escape . The escapees faced a savage storm and whirlpool , and an attack by drone s that resulted in the loss of the lifeboat ' s motor and sail . During the latter debacle , the sail landed on Lin - D , incapacitating him . After C - 3PO and the others escaped their perils in the boat , they checked on the prone entertainment droid . They feared Lin - D irreparable and consoled R2 - D2 , who had taken a liking to the comic mechanical . Nevertheless , over the remainder of the trip to Umboo Province , R2 - D2 restored Lin - D back to full working order . The resuscitated droid expressed his thanks and suggested that he , R2 - D2 , and C - 3PO form a touring act , " Lin - D and His Cosmic Cutups . " Characteristics . As a third - degree droid , Lin - D was designed to interact with organic beings directly . He was an entertainment droid , programmed to spread humor and mirth . As such , he told jokes constantly , even in the most dire of circumstances . Indeed , he claimed that dangerous circumstances were the most opportune times to tell jokes since it was during such crises that levity was most needed to lighten the mood . The droid tended to laugh at his own gags ; his laugh was a high - pitched , staccato sound that terminated in a snort . Although some members of Lin - D ' s audience found his constant quipping annoying , the droid had little sympathy for them ; for instance , when C - 3PO expressed irritation at the entertainment droid ' s shenanigans , Lin - D said he thought the protocol droid needed to lighten up . Lin - D was fluent in Basic and was programmed with a masculine personality . Lin - D had a humanoid body structure , with two arms , two legs , a torso , and a head . Although his neck and limbs were long and thin , standing him a bit taller than 1 . 7 meters , he had a pot belly . Lin - D ' s face was elongated , with a large nose and a long jaw centered between wide cheeks . The droid had a large , ever - grinning mouth that could open and close . Lin - D ' s neck , hands , nose , and brow were gray in color , and his fingers , mouth , jowls , forehead , and upper arms were silver . In contrast , his forearms , elbows , torso , and legs were rich orange with light - orange piping . He sported two orange circles where a Human ' s ears would be , and he had white photoreceptors with small black pupils in their centers . Lin - D could move the pupils in different directions either in tandem or separately , an effect he exploited to enhance the zaniness of his comic performances . Behind the scenes . Lin - D appears in " Across the Roon Sea , " an episode of the " " animated cartoon that was written by Sharman DiVono based on a story by Ben Burtt and directed by Ken Stephenson . The episode originally aired on November 23 , 1985 . An animation error has Lin - D appear in some scenes with five fingers per hand but only four fingers in others .