In Defense of Chopper's Murderous Behavior (And War Crimes) 

Chopper might be a psychopath, but he is our psychopath.

Hera: "The Empire has been defeated and the galaxy is at peace." War Crimes Chopper: "I don't want peace! I want problems! Always!"

Chopper has been my favorite droid since Day 1. I love how he's R2 unhinged by morals.

As a Canadian, can confirm. This is what happens when you don't accept a Canadian's apology.

Chopper became a war criminal so the others didn't have to, what a Chad droid.

Chopper is the darker part of us all, and that's why we love him so much. We can live vicariously through him. Also, the part about people with major traumas in their lives having a REALLY dark sense of humour is spot on. I'm 56 years old, and my live has been one trauma after another. My sense of humour is so dark that US police would shoot it on sight, if they could see it.

Bro Chopper has the "Geneva Convention? More like Geneva Suggestion!" vibe. 😂

Again, I'll say what I said last time. This is part of Chopper's charm. I love that little murder droid!

What's interesting is that all the Specters were traumatized in one way or another and each one had their own way of dealing with their traumas.

Chopper's motto-"It's never a war crime the first time"

I think when a lot of us call, Chopper a "murdering war criminal" or a "Menace to Society that needs to be stopped" we do so in a loving undertone because largely we're thinking of him the same way his rebel squadies do.

I believe chopper had a close friendship with those clones that died in that Y-wing.Losing friends and having a near death experience must have been terrible for him. Also chopper has proven he can be both heroic and chaotic.

Chopper as a war veteran with ptsd........ damn that adds to the character

One of choppers funniest memes is a picture of him standing with his arms akimbo and the text read...... War crimes??? I thought it was a checklist........

As a Canadian, we get pretty excitable during wartime. The fact that we are seen as kind and welcoming as we are means that our long-standing PR scheme has been working. Make no mistake, we really are as kind as we seem to be. But we're not to be trifled with. We definitely coined the find out part of fucking around.

I was reaaly surprised that people were surprised about chopper calling Hera mum. I thought everyone could hear what chopper was saying.

0:26 As a Canadian, I support this message.

In that last video about Chopper, I was gonna recount R2-D2’s kill count when he rescued C-3PO. It might not have been as large as Chopper’s, but R2 racked up a decent kill count himself, according to The Lore Master.

Hearing Chopper is a Canadian (first spot on) reminded me of first contact in "The Deathworlders", ET creatures called Hunters attack a hockey game in Vancouver. It didn't go well for the Hunters.

Chopper truly is one of the largest unhealthcare providers in the Star Wars universe. Remember, it’s never a war crime the first time!

Chopper’s my favourite character in Rebels, seeing him in Asoka is a joy. Without him the rebels would’ve failed their first mission and every mission they ever had. Besides what’s a few thousand dead when you’re at war 😅

Chopper: I don’t take hostages, I take lives.

Glad you brought up that he's not so different to the rest of the crew, because people always seem to mention chopper's kill count while completely ignoring the rest of the crew. I'm fairly certain that Sabine has the highest kill count. She's constantly blowing up things and people with no more remorse than chopper has. Specifically, one of the final moments in the whole show is Sabine blowing up the imperial dome containing the entirety of Lothal's imperial forces, who were all fake-ordered to return there for evacuation of the planet. It's also worth noting that after Kanan dies, Sabine initially sets out with the explicit intention of murdering people as revenge, doubles down on that even after figuring out why Kanan sacrificed himself, and then remarks "hm, that was fast" and "I can do better than that" after successfully blowing up 2 people. Not saying she didn't have a reason, but yeah, not exactly the jedi philosophy in that moment to say the least.

In short, chopper is a deep, well written character.

Chopper and R2 are the reason why the Empire required fresh memory wipes. Less about info, and more about oreventing self thought or sentience.

I finished watching rebels for the first time recently and honestly my intial reaction was, what war crimes?? Am I just a sociopath? Cause I’m ride or die with Chop’s methods

I have served in combat as a security contractor and I have also been in a very bad Jeep rollover accident where we rolled six times and even 25 years later I still get anxiety driving on the Interstate. I have more PTSD driving than I do about combat.

Chopper is a war king, not a criminal. Sometimes, you have to show your fist to maintain power.

I like how in the episode where chopper get taken over by a imperial hacker, he starts acting like how a Droid is "supposed to act". He starts acting nice and every is basically "what's wrong with chopper"

Well, the little droid is a veteran from 2 wars and counting. The psychopath really doesn't know what to do but cause problems with Jacen.

I am re-watching Star Wars Rebels as I wanted to watch Chopper more closely. I agree with you that Chopper has been used and abused. When he wanted a new leg to replace his bad one the team disregarded his needs (episode 19). In fact, in one scene Ahsoka said that Chopper only thinks of himself, as she was flying off and leaving him on an enemy location. Even Ezra said that the had to go back for him. I am getting more and more anxious as I watch these episodes because now I REALLY feel sorry for the little guy. True, he does do some nasty things but it is often in response to something that was done to him first. I never realized how badly he had been treated until you brought it to our attention.

Like your analysis of Chopper's character. He is a complex character with shades of good and bad even though he communicates through grunts and beeps.

It also speaks to choppers confidence in his friends abilities to put them into mortal danger assuming they will be able to survive

All the parts you mentioned where he saved his friends were good, but you did miss out the most touching ones. Like when he stayed in the walker to try and get information to rescue Kanan. Or when he went with Ezra to Tatooine. Or when he comforted Hera after Kanan was killed. And when he stole the Imperial transport ship with the protocol, droid, convincing him that his friends were good to droids and respect them.

Chopper is the best Ghost crew member. He's an absolute dick to everyone but nobody else is allowed to be a dick to his organics. He loves them. Especially Hera. I still get emotional when AP-5 asks Chopper who would ever save a droid and Chopper shows him a holo of Hera. I can just see little Hera pulling a half broken Chopper outta the rubble and promising him she's gonna fix him up before he shuts down. I also see Chopper having a close bond with his clone pilot (the clone was named Chopper). And the little droid kept asking Hera what happened to his pilot Chopper. Hera, mistook that for the droid's name.

"...I give advice to people in elevators, because they can't get away from me." 😆

So it's not just Chopper who's a psycho, it's all his Rebel friends too. Figures.

I am starting to think Alan is in witness protection right now but can't help share his thoughts on this expansive universe that has impacted us all. The constantly shifting background of recent videos seems to be the result of his handlers realizing Alan has given away his location yet again. I miss the little pixelated Gogurt warming himself by the fire but it is nice to see Alan finding new locations to give us a deep dive into the fictional world we all share and adore.

I lost it, Could not keep a straight face when you called Anakin a "Youngling population control expert"

"what you call war criminals we call war heros" -some guy who lives in the star wars universe

Cmon, we all know it wasn’t really the Rebel alliance that defeated the Empire. It was my boy Chopper. Chopper probably had every killstreak reward ready to deploy.

"Moonshine based cooler full of Jungle Juice" wins phrase of the day.

Wow thank you Alan for your very in-depth analysis of Star wars I can't wait to have another in-depth analysis from you very soon

It never passed though my mind that the ghost crew mistreated him at some points and that he is just giving it back lmfao. Oh my poor baby droid, I love him very very much!!! Thank you for talking in his defense haha

8:24 hearing chopper saying WTF is the funniest line in all of star wars.

Rebels is fr so underrated by the star wars community. Some of the best characters introduced in the Disney era and some of the deepest exploration of the mysteries of the force outside of legends

True, most of the war crimes listed in the Geneva Convention are basically just a list of things the Canadians committed in WW1. Though Chop will always be playing catch-up, the two Death Stars Artoo helped to blow up netted him a kill count of over two million. The difference with Chopper is that he considers the killing a perk of the job, not a necessary evil.

Awesome video. Chopper is a "criminally" underrated and misunderstood war hero. Being a war hero or criminal depends on which side of the war you are, of course, lol

Did you go through my stuff? No, I did not go through your stuff. Yes you did. Did you look under the backup battery? What? Oh! Found it!

That Canadian "sorry" 😆

Canadians during WW1 were effectively, just wanted the war to be over with, due to the fact that they were supposed to be on the front lines during the entire war. They used all the tactics they did, simply because they wanted the war to end as quickly and as soon as possible. On another note, Chopper being Canadian is absolutely perfect, and only further cements my opinion of him being my favourite droid. Excellent video.

R2 D2: your insane chopper Chopper: go back to you wife R2 D2: Leave 3p0 outta this!

I personally like Chopper. Too much character. He may be a psychopath but he's an endearing psychopath.

Loved this video! Thanks so much for sharing your perspective!

"He's just a tiny astromech in a big big universe trying to make it is all, he can do no bad!"😂

Chopper may be a war criminal, but at least he isn't one of those f**king dolphins.

Keeping a psychotic droid at her side makes Hera more like the Imperials she fights than she would like to believe.

You didn’t cite the biggest reason why Chopper should be appreciated more: after Kanan dies, Chopper saw Hera, realized what happened, immediately rolled up to her and held her hand. He did what most humans don’t understand they should do when a friend is grieving. Because of that one moment, Chopper can do no wrong for me.

Chopper knows the answer to the equation. Peace = explosions - enemy forces.

Chopper has the personality of a house cat.

Chopper has some serious Clone Wars flashbacks.

Copper looks like he was built with parts from Radio Shack. (Yes, I'm that old)

Bro that "Unliscenced therapist" joke lol

well, when chopper catches Ezra, he's very fast to say it was an accident

Not to mention that Geneva is a few Galaxies away. probably only reachable by a wormhole near Brodo Asogi to a point between the Alpha Proxima Trinary and Sol Systems.

honestly i love how one of the clips u chose was chopper ejecting storm trooper into space. i,m sure the fallowing will happen now. disny"replys with "they had built in air systems in there suits they surived" " the rest of us "riggggght. provided a shuttle got there in time to pick them up. there dead. because thats how space works. sorry"

"I'll bet my droid." Chopper: "What the fuck?"

"Only the losers get convicted of war crimes" - Chopper.

I'm Canadian, and I cook for a living. But that's not the ONLY reason why I keep my knives sharp 😂

Crazy battlefield! Our heroes need someone to save them! Chopper: "I'm bringing the ruckus!" Peace time. A pleasant day for our heroes to train and relax. Chopper: "I'm bringing the ruckus!"

I can't be the only one who hears Chop say "wtf?!" when Zeb bets him.

Chopper doesn't need a defence, he's Chopper.

I like how everybody misses the steak at 6:34

Well, when you think about it, R2 has been through much more than Chopper. R2 is older, he watched his brothers die one by one in Phantom Menace. He's almost died way more times than Chop (fans who's seen the movies, CW series, or any extended material know what I'm talking about). He's fought two gundarks at the same time. And R2's been in & seen way more death/conflict more than Chopper ever has etc. All this and R2 STILL managed to keep his moral high ground (mostly). So, I don't think you can make much of a defense for Chopper's psychotic behavior. R2 is the GOAT droid!

Jedi were already ok betting the lives to people on pod racing so betting a self aware robot in a poker game seems par for the course.

I think Chopper was a CIS spy. Does no one think it’s a bit coincidental that the bomber he served on just happen to crash into Cham Syndulla’s home?

I would like to point out that when Chopper "caught" Ezra during the episode where Ezra and Sabine were running from the Mandalorian Protectors, Chopper even said it was accidental. Regardless, Chopper is the droid version of a freaking Sith Lord. I believe his current kill count is over 50k. Hell, in the scene from Ashoka, he asks WHY its bad to drop a ship on all the people below. For a character with supposed empathy, he's more like a sociopath who only cares for people he knows and likes personally. Everyone else is just a number.

Chopper makes Saw Gerrera look like Mon Mothma

As someone with a master’s degree in social work, I must say this video is a perfect example of person-in-environment perspective.

I think the Ghost Crew is literally a space remake of a story of a bunch of Canadians kids and their dog in a camper van fighting Germans in WW2.

It's not a war crime if there are no witnesses left alive... Also: Thanks for putting my comment up from the other Chopper video!

Chopper does make sure to tell Ezra it was an accident that he caught him

Choppers the hero we all need

Having a Normal Conversation with Allen: " Take Dolphins For Example"

You forgot to mention that Canada holds 2 or 3 of the top longest distance confirmed sniper kills.

No war crimes if there are no laws of war

8:25 love how chopper's going "what the f***k?"

Really leaning into the fact that there is no Geneva Convention in Star Wars when there is no Geneva to begin with

Those Y-Wings were my favorite ships ever, so glad they’ve lasted so long…Almost as long as Artoo and Chop!

Is it a murder attempt though, knowing full well there is a Jedi who can catch him next to you? Chopper knew what Kanan was capable of probably more than just about anyone. He knew Ezra was safe....

That dolphin shit caught me off gaurd ☠️

“Moonshine based cooler full of jungle juice.” 😂 😂 😂

😂 when zeb says he’ll bet chopper, he clearly scream WTF!? 😂😂😂

When he pushed that other droid out the cargo hold.... I legit fell in love with him right then and there!!!😂

Its Star Wars, Everyone's a war criminal.

Something im curious about is why the y wing that hera saved chopper from is the rebel y wing design. I.e. no armor covering the thrusters instead of the armored republic kind. Since it was shot down in the clone wars it would be the republic variant.

To be fair to when Zeb bet Chop, him and Kanan thought that Zeb wouldn't lose so they thought it was a safe bet

The one liners in this video had me in bits

Maybe Mace imprented his crazy Mofo antics in this droids memory, which is why he ain't the phone we be looking for.😮

I would like to imagine chopper is like 3 feet behind him pointing his shocker-thing at his back