One small Star Wars Outlaws moment gets autism representation right

While playing through the first few hours of Star Wars Outlaws, I found myself once again presented with an all-too-familiar trope. ND-5, the game’s primary droid crewmate to Kay Vess, appeared to be yet another autism-coded droid that is typically played for laughs or treated as “other” by the main cast.

He is introduced as a stoic and serious character who appears to have no sympathy for anything but his mission. Once he and Kay officially team up, he is given the role of the straight man. Kay will quip and make ironic or sarcastic comments that ND-5 responds to with sincerity. Whenever she asks a question, he delivers his honest answer without cushioning the blow if it would be insulting. In times when Kay wants to act based on emotion, he counters with cold logic. Generally speaking, these are all common traits those on the autism spectrum present.

Putting these characteristics on a droid or robotic character is a common trope in and out of Star Wars. For a viewer, it makes sense for a machine to defer to logic, not be very empathetic, and not pick up on the nuances of social interactions. It’s likely not done to intentionally target those on the spectrum, but I’ve always had to put up with it as a slightly insulting form of negative representation. However, one blink-and-you-miss-it line finally took advantage of using a robotic character to provide a rare example of positive representation — one that spoke to me, as someone with my own history of overcoming autism stigma.

I’m not broken

ND-5 meets up with Kay early on and is tasked with supporting her in building a team to pull off the game’s big heist. He doesn’t join her out in the world, but is Kay’s eyes and ears when she needs intel or advice. These initial hours with him did little to assuage my first impression that he wouldn’t be used for anything more than the foil to Kay’s comedic tone.

Not long into the adventure, Kay eventually reaches a planet in search of a droidsmith to recruit for the heist. As