Why Does The Mandalorian Hate Droids? Din Djarin’s History With Droids Explained

Din Djarin, the titular character of Disney+’s TV show The Mandalorian, rarely displays emotions. He’s trained to be a warrior/ bounty hunter who can separate emotions from work. However, one thing that he can’t hide throughout the series is his hatred towards droids. He refuses any association, let alone help from droids. So, why does the Mandalorian hate droids?

While Din Djarin never explicitly states it, his hatred towards droids stems from his early childhood, where big Separatist Battle Droids slaughtered his village, including his parents, and almost Din himself. He was then taken in by the Mandalorians and lived by their decree.

There’s always this level of general mistrust and galaxy-wide dislike of droids, especially after they have been used in the Clone Wars. However, Mando takes it to a whole new level. Here’s everything you need to know about Din Djarin’s history with droids and how it came to that level of mistrust.

Why Does Mandalorian Say “No Droids”?

Already in Season 1, Chapter 1, we see Din Djarin show the first signs of hatred and mistrust towards droids. At first, he refuses to ride in a vehicle that’s piloted by a droid. In the next moment, his interest matches the interest of an IG-11 droid, so they team up for a minute – only to have Mando blast the poor droid in the head moments after.

He kills droids whenever he has the chance to do so and even refuses to let any droids repair his ship/racing pod Razer Crest when he stops on Tatooine while on his mission. Kuiil had one IG-11 droid reprogrammed from being a hunter droid to being a nursing droid, but Mando still refused to let the droid take care of the Child, aka Grogu.

There were many more instances where Djarin displayed profound hatred towards the non-organic, artificial beings, although it mellowed down a bit towards the end of the first season, but we’ll get to that later. The question is, what made the Mandalorian hate droids so much? There are two main reasons for Din’s hatred.

Firstly, there’s an overall dislike of droids in the Star Wars universe, partially because they can be corrupted so easily and partially for their role in almost every major war or battle. Sure, they can be useful, but droids are usually used for malevolent stuff instead of the beneficial side of such technology. It sounds a bit like advanced technology in our world, too, right?

To add to that general dislike, the Clone Wars started with Jango Fett’s genetic code being embedded into the clones. Jango was a Mandalorian bounty hunter, so it’s clear why some of them resented droids after the wars. However, Mando had a much deeper, more personal reason to hate droids.

The second and biggest reason why Din Djarin hates droids lies in his childhood trauma. You see, Din is an orphan who didn’t live under Mandalorian culture at first. Djarin lived with his parents in a quiet village until he was somewhere between seven and ten years old.

Suddenly, a huge army of Separatist Battle Droids (specifically, B2 Super Battle Droids) attacked and started slaughtering innocent people. I remind you, the B2 Super Battle Droids are almost two meters tall with thick armor ad dual heavy blasters on both arms, including two rocket launchers.

One of the explosions killed Din Djarin’s parents and almost killed him, too. If a Mandalorian warrior hadn’t found him and to him to get raised as a Mandalorian, Din would die right there with his parents.

That childhood trauma never ended for Mando, which is why he developed such hatred and mistrust towards droids – not just battle droids, but all of them. You can’t trust a living being, but you can trust a droid even less. Nota that Din Djarin never stated explicitly that this was the reason for his hate, but it’s hard not to see it considering his backstory.

Still, the season finale let us see a softer side of Mando that kind of let his strict “no droids” policy loose a bit, but I’ll get to that a bit later.

Do Mandalorians Use Droids?

Some fans automatically assumed that Din Djarin hates droids because Mandalorians generally never use droids. However, that’s not entirely true. You see, Mandalorians tend to avoid using droids if possible, preferring to do their work themselves, but they are no strangers to droids, especially using them in combat.

The Basilisk war droids have a high place in Mandalorian culture, as the Mandalorian Crusaders who used the Basilisk war droids are highly respected throughout generations. These droids were huge, fearsome, armored, four-legged droids that they used to conquer planets during their famous crusades.

Later, in more recent times, Spar and the Mandalorians used BL-series Battle Legionnaire droids, as well as NR-1100 slicer droids. These droids were used as a heavy-artillery front line unit that would charge ahead, while the Mandalorian warriors jetpacked behind them and kept their distance in battle.

Therefore, the Mandalorians aren’t quite fond of using droids but don’t avoid it completely like Din Djarin. His attitude and stance towards them are unique and solely based on his personal experience.

Has Mando Ever Used Droids?

Despite his strong attitude towards droids, Mando had one droid grow on him during Season 1 – particularly, the IG-11 droid that was reprogrammed to be a nursing droid.

At first, Mando mistrusted the droid, refusing to leave the Child in its care. However, IG-11 later saved the Child’s life while sacrificing its own, making Mando see that droids can change and be good.

Before IG-11 died, Mando did something unfathomable – he removed his helmet in front of the droid. Mandalorian warriors never remove their helmets in the presence of others. If that wasn’t enough, Din let IG-11 heal his head wound, saving his life in the process. So, not only did he acknowledge the droid – Djarin actually used its help.

Now, we don’t quite know if Mando now broke free of his trauma and negativity towards all droids or if IG-11 was the exception. However, the fact remains that Mando felt sad when IG-11 perished, so who knows? Maybe Din grew a bit more fond of droids in general after all.