Anon-humanoid robotfrom theStar Warsfranchise. A spherical astromech droid that first appeared in theStar Wars: The Force Awakens. BB-8's design is based in an early original concept byRalph McQuarriefor the design ofR2-D2during the production ofStar Wars: A New Hope. Since that design's effects were too complex to create at the time, another more simple was used instead.