Wampa/Legends


 * "Hey, steady girl. What's the matter, you smell something?"
 * &mdash;Luke Skywalker

The wampa was a horned, clawed, white-furred, carnivorous reptomammal native to the frozen world of Hoth. They were a semi-sentient race of predators standing over two meters in height, subsisting in the cold climate by hunting tauntauns. They could walk on two legs or four. Although both wampas and their common prey, tauntauns, had curved horns, the two species were not related.

Social characteristics
It is believed that wampas were usually solitary creatures, but were known to occasionally hunt in packs. However, the attack on Luke Skywalker was carried out by a male wampa and Skywalker regained consciousness in the cave of a female. This suggests that there was some sort of pair bonding between male and female wampas and their lives may not be as solitary as once thought. It is not clear if male wampas were monogamous or if they traveled about hunting and bringing food to their various mates. After mating, female wampas would birth to up to three cubs per litter.

A wampa's abode
Wampas typically lived in ice caves created by carving down into the ice and snow and hollowing out an area below the surface. The purpose of the cave was undoubtedly to shield these large predators from the bitter cold nights or raging storms that swept across the glaciers. The interior of the cave was typically littered with the bones of previous meals, usually tauntauns. The cave also served to store food for future meals. Hung from the icicle-laden ceiling, the food was kept out of the way so it would not be lost in any snow that might find its way into the cave.

Wampa caves were surprisingly spacious when compared to the manufactured dens of other large predators, most likely to further remove the wampa from the harsh environment waiting just outside the cave entrance. In addition, the caves were well lit because of the reflective properties of the snow and ice which helped direct the sunlight of the Hoth system down into the wampa cave.

Survival
A wampa's white fur allowed it to blend in nicely with Hoth's blinding blizzards, enabling it to attack their prey completely unaware. Once it made its kill, the wampa would drag the carcasses back to its icy lair. There it would either impale the carcass on large icicles or adhered the carcass to the cave ceiling with anesthetic saliva until it was ready to eat.

An eyewitness account
Soon after the Rebels arrived on Hoth, they began enduring constant wampa attacks. The resourceful droid R2-D2 hit on a solution: a sonic lure to confuse and capture many of the creatures.

Luke Skywalker encountered a wampa while doing a routine survey of the area surrounding Echo Base. A male wampa attacked Skywalker, knocking him unconscious, as well as killing his tauntaun. Another wampa, a female, attacked Luke when he attempted to escape from her ice cave which resulted in the wampa losing her entire right arm by Skywalker's lightsaber. On a subsequent journey to Hoth, nine years later, Luke was attacked by the same female wampa, who not only survived, but recognized the Jedi Master.

Other species
A species similar to the wampa was believed to inhabit the planet Gall, in the Outer Rim. There was also a Swamp wampa on Dromund Kaas, which may have descended from individuals of the Hoth species who had been genetically altered by Sith.

On Coruscant, wampas were exported to the Northern part of the planet.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Republic 42: Rite of Passage, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Clone Wars
 * Chapter 6
 * Battlefront II
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Shadows of the Empire (game)
 * Darksaber
 * The Wildlife of Star Wars: A Field Guide
 * Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy