D-O is one of the stranger little droids in The Rise of Skywalker.
When Rey, Finn, and Poe find him on Ochi’s ship, he does not sound like R2-D2 or BB-8. He does not rely only on beeps, chirps, or full droid binary. Instead, he answers with tiny broken phrases, like “No thank you,” almost like he was built with a voice system that was never meant to do much more than that.
So why does D-O talk that way?
D-O Was Cobbled Together From Spare Parts
The data file on him lists his manufacturer as unknown, but also marks him as a custom droid. His type is not a standard astromech model either. It is listed as a unique custom build.
That already explains a lot about why he sounds different. D-O was not made from the same kind of system as the other small droids we usually see in Star Wars. His head includes a custom cognitive unit, a transmitter array, and an acoustic signaler that sends out a simplified form of binary droidspeak.
So when D-O speaks, he is not using the same kind of complex droid language fans hear from R2-D2 or BB-8. His own design is more limited and more unusual.
Even his body looks like something built from whatever parts were available. He has a single wheel, a long antenna, a small cone-shaped head, and a basic neck joint instead of the more advanced body shape of a normal astromech.
D-O Still Spoke Binary, But Only in a Simpler Form
D-O was not silent in Binary. His data file says his acoustic signaler transmitted a simplistic form of binary “droidspeak,” so he did have a version of the normal droid language.
The difference is that his Binary was not as complex as the kind used by droids like R2-D2 or BB-8. Reference material describes it as a less complex form of Binary that was easier for non-droids to understand.
That explains why D-O sounds so different in The Rise of Skywalker. He does not communicate mostly through long strings of beeps and chirps. He gives tiny Basic responses, like “No thank you,” “Hello,” and “Very kind.”
But even that Basic is limited. D-O does not talk like a protocol droid or hold full conversations. His voice comes out simple, awkward, and broken, almost like his speech system can only handle a few short phrases.
There is also a real-world reason for that voice. J.J. Abrams originally performed D-O’s voice as a temporary track, but Chris Terrio thought the nervous little delivery fit the droid, so they kept it in the movie.