This is the new droid you’re looking for. KP-1 — an astromech consisting of three distinct, modular sections that form a cone shape — made his debut in Obi-Wan Kenobi Part V. Only he wasn’t created by the Lucasfilm Art Department. He doesn’t come from the comics or another form of media. And he’s not an unused build from a past Star Wars production. No, KP-1 comes to the galaxy far, far away thanks to another source: Star Wars fan Camille Manet.
Camille Manet
The 25-year-old, hailing from Paris, France, entered and won the Build My Droid contest from Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Force For Change initiative and FIRST, whose goal is to inspire the next generation of heroes and innovators in science, technology, engineering, math (STEM), and creative arts.
Her entry was KP-1: a droid that looked very Star Wars but new at the same time, and was filled with features and personality.
Build My Droid offered contestants the chance to see their droid brought to life in a future Star Wars project; little did Camille know at the time that that would be Obi-Wan Kenobi, now streaming on Disney+. “Obi-Wan was my favorite character as a kid and still is,” she tells StarWars.com. “I was actually really moved to learn that it would be in Obi-Wan Kenobi precisely because of that.”
Camille grew up with “the OGs,” as she calls them. She loved watching the original trilogy on home video, and has memories of seeing the prequels in the theater as a child. “We all used to play Star Wars on the playground,” she says. “We all had parts and mimicked the sounds!” The sequel trilogy awakened her fandom in recent years, leading into her eagerness to enter the Build My Droid contest.
Read more HERE.