With Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, a 42-year-old saga has come to an end. The reaction to the film has been mixed, but one thing’s for certain: everyone’s in love with Babu Frik.
Every since The Mandalorian dropped on Disney+, the internet has been fixated on one character: Baby Yoda, in all his insanely cute, meme-worthy glory.
But, like the tide turns, a new mini-sidekick from a galaxy far, far away has waltzed into our lives: Babu Frik.
For all intensive purposes, Baby Yoda is still a bit of an enigma. While everyone handily refers to him as an infant version of the Jedi Master, he’s not actually Yoda – he’s just the same species. Also, he’s not really a baby – ‘The Child’ is actually 50 years old.
Whereas Babu Frik is a much further clarified legend. Introduced to us in the film via Keri Russell’s new masked character, Zorii Bliss, Babu makes an instant, infectious impression.
As per the official Star Wars website, here’s the description of Babu Frik:
A tiny droidsmith working among the Spice Runners of Kijimi. The well-regarded Babu Frik can reprogram or modify virtually any droid, regardless of the security measures protecting its systems.
Fitted with a cracking pair of welder goggles, Babu is the hero we deserve: a boundlessly enthusiastic, scene-stealing, ‘hey hey’-ing mascot for hope in the Star Wars universe.
Another fun fact about Babu Frik: he’s voiced by none other than Shirley Henderson, who’s most famously known for her performance as Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movies.
As well as calling for spin-offs and merchandise, people have took to Twitter to debate who’s cuter: Babu or Baby Yoda.
One user wrote: ‘Yeah, Baby Yoda is cute but Babu Frik can get it.’ Another tweeted: ‘Baby Yoda was cute for a hot minute but i would roast and eat him to protect Babu Frik. What a fkin king.’
Others aren’t so sure. Baby Yoda has turned into a phenomenon in recent weeks, so it’s unsurprising there are some staunch supporters, with one writing: ‘Babu Frik in Rise of Skywalker is cute but it’s absurd to even compare its cuteness to Baby Yoda.’
One fan has tried to settle the argument with the ultimate answer: both are cute. They wrote: ‘People really trying to convince me that Babu Frik is cuter than Baby Yoda… THEY ARE BOTH SO CUTE!!!!!! I WANT BOTH!!!!!!!’
Porgs, we hardly knew you.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is in cinemas now.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.