SM-33

SM-33, nicknamed "Thirty-Three," was a droid pirate who served as First Mate of the starship Onyx Cinder. At some point the Onyx Cinder became buried in a forest on At Attin and by the early New Republic Era. In 9 ABY, a youngling named Wim discovered the Onyx Cinder and, together with three other children named Neel, Fern, and KB, investigated the ship but they accidentally activated it and flew to another planet. The group of kids then forged an alliance with SM-33 and a force-sensitive man called Jod Na Nawood to find back home and avoid a band of pirates.
==Biography==
===Adventure at At Achrann===
Sometime before 9 ABY, SM-33, along with Captain Tak Rennod of the Onyx Cinder, visited the planet At Achrann, one of the nine Jewels of the Old Republic. On the planet, they sneaked past warriors similar to those of the Hattan and eventually arrived at a tower, the Fallen Sanctum. Within the tower were Galactic coordinates for all nine Jewels of the Old Republic. The captain murdered everyone in his crew who saw the coordinates for the planet At Attin, another Jewel, and ordered SM-33 to destroy the coordinates and forget everything about the planet. He also instructed the droid to kill anyone looking for the mythical treasure of At Attin, specifying to "pull them apart."
===Stranded at At Attin===
SM-33 and his captain headed to the coordinates specified in the star chart of the Fallen Sanctum, arriving to the famed At Attin. However, the Onyx Cinder crashed upside down, and the captain disappeared. After the crash, SM-33 became deactivated and was eventually overgrown with roots. His empty right-eye socket also became home to a bilge rat, Snowball, who damaged SM-33's memory circuits.
In 9 ABY, four children—Fern, KB, Neel, and Wim—discovered and entered the Onyx Cinder, believing it to be an ancient Jedi temple. While exploring the starship, Neel mistook the shut-off droid for a skeleton. As the other children investigated, they determined him to be a deactivated droid who seemingly died trying to pull a lever. As Fern and Wim bickered, Neel investigated SM-33's empty socket, believing there to be something inside. As Snowball emerged, a panicked Neel accidentally jostled SM-33's hand, which pulled the lever and closed the ship's hatch. After investigating the ship further, the children restored power to the Onyx Cinder and accidentally triggered the autopilot. As the children fled to the now unlocked hatch, they passed by SM-33, who, unbeknownst to them, reactivated. Failing to exit the ship before it left At Attin, the children returned to the cockpit and discussed their situation.
The children's conversation was interrupted by SM-33 clanking around the hull and letting out an echoing snarl as he made his way to the cockpit. He scared the children as he emerged from behind a mist veil. Believing them to be intruders, SM-33 confronted them and dragged Wim away, only to be stopped by Fern who claimed that she killed the captain and assume command of the ship herself. Recognizing her as the rightful new owner of the Cinder, SM-33 swore allegiance to her.
===Serving a new captain===
As Wim questioned her authority, the droid suggested they duel to the death, which put an end to the fighting. He then gave the kids a tour of the ship, and recognizing the need for immediate repairs due to the years of accumulated damage, he suggested they jump to the shadowport Borgo Prime. However, the kids asked to be taken back to At Attin instead, activating SM-33's order from his original captain which prevented him from revealing his memories of the planet. Without options, Fern reluctantly agreed to head to Port Borgo.
Upon arriving at Borgo, the kids got separated and Wim accidentally revealed his Old Republic credits to a bartender, prompting the pirates to attack them to steal the rest. SM-33 came to their rescue, defending them against the pirates and incapacitating several of them before being shot in the head by Brutus. The kids were then taken to the brig, while SM-33 was moved to the droid bay.
While in the brig, the kids met Jod Na Nawood, a Force-sensitive individual who helped them escape in exchange for passage off-world. The kids demanded he rescue SM-33 as well before returning to their ship, and Nawood complied, using his connections with the droidmaster Benjar Pranic to liberate SM-33. Despite being pursued by pirates, the crew reached the ship and escaped Borgo before reactivating SM-33. The droid again attempted to defend the ship against the perceived intruder, but the kids assured him Nawood was a friend. The crew then took the Onyx Cinder to the Observatory Moon where they hoped Nawood's astronomer contact Kh'ymm would be able to direct them to At Attin.
==Characteristics==
SM-33 had a cranky demeanor. He was extremely loyal to Tak Rennod, the former captain of the Onyx Cinder. He made it a point to follow pirate lore. SM-33 was skilled with direct hand-to-hand combat. SM-33 was missing his left photoreceptor, as well as his left foot. The droid had a grilled vocabulator and a rubberized accordion neck. 
==Behind the scenes==
SM-33 first appeared simultaneously in "This Could Be a Real Adventure" and "Way, Way Out Past the Barrier" the first and second episodes, respectively, of the first season of the Disney+ live-action series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. The episodes premiered on December 2, 2024. SM-33 was first previewed in a teaser trailer that was exclusively shown at the Lucasfilm's Studio Showcase during Celebration Europe on April 7, 2023. Jon Watts—creator of Skeleton Crew—introduced SM-33 and revealed Nick Frost voiced the droid on July 31, 2024. He shared details on SM-33's role in the story and described Frost's performance as "fun" and "absolutely perfect." From August 9 to August 11, during Disney's 2024 D23 event, a model of SM-33 was included for a photo opportunity at the Disney+ Pavilion. A model of SM-33 was also showcased during the Creatures & Droids with Legacy Effects panel while Alan Scott discussed details of SM-33's personality and provided insight on the droid's puppetry. Scott revealed there was a secret name for him and that Legacy Effects built three versions of the droid, with one being a partial suit, another being a full animatronic puppet, and a digital model for the fighting sequences.
Without Frost on set, someone puppeteered SM-33 while another triggered his dialogue, which was recorded as much as possible by Frost beforehand. When new lines were needed, the series's directors took turns doing SM-33 impressions. Frost came in to record the new lines about every six months, over a two to three year period. The actor occasionally pitched line changes for SM-33, which the writers were receptive to, which Frost found to be a nice, collaborative process. Watts said the recordings were helpful for the actors to understand the tone and vibe of SM-33. He further remarked that SM-33 injected humor and levity into the perilous adventure. Rob Ramsdell was SM-33's performance artist and Zach Andrews his stunt double.
According to director David Lowery, SM-33 is a reference to Smee from Peter Pan. Lowery previously directed the 2023 Disney film Peter Pan & Wendy, which also featured Jude Law as Captain Hook. Watts described SM-33 as the worst babysitter. Ryan Kiera Armstrong, who portrayed Fern, loved interacting with the SM-33 puppet on set.
Frost originally turned down a role in Star Wars because he did not want to see his face, but he felt that SM-33 was a good compromise as he would only have to look at the droid.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars: Hunters 
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==Sources==
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==External links==
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Category:Droids with he/him pronouns
Category:Droids with it/its pronouns
Category:Droids with unspecified gender programming
Category:Members of Silvo's pirates
Category:Members of Skeleton Crew