Attark/Legends

Attark was a male Hoover who lived during the Galactic Civil War. By 4 ABY, he was the pet of the crime lord Jabba the Hutt in the latter's palace on the planet Tatooine. Attark worked as a technician, and his small size allowed him to easily manipulate electronic equipment and crawl inside machinery to repair it from within. Despite his harmless appearance, at nighttime Attark would creep up on sleeping victims to suck their blood. In 4 ABY, Attark was present in Jabba's palace when several allies of Jabba's prisoner Han Solo arrived to bargain for Solo's freedom. Those events led to the collapse of Jabba's criminal empire and the death of the Hutt himself, and it was unknown if Attark survived.

Biography
The male Hoover Attark lived during the time of the Galactic Civil War between the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the Galactic Empire. By the year 4 ABY, Attark joined the crime lord Jabba the Hutt's criminal empire on the planet Tatooine, staying in the crime lord's palace as a pet of the Hutt. Attark worked as a technician, and his small size allowed him to easily manipulate detailed electronic equipment, as well as crawl inside machinery and repair it from within. Despite looking harmless, Attark would creep up on sleeping victims to suck their blood at night, using his nose trunk to slither through clothing or around blankets.

In 4 ABY, Attark was present in the Hutt's palace when several Alliance to Restore the Republic operatives arrived to bargain for the freedom of their ally, Han Solo, who was held prisoner in the palace's dungeons. Those events ultimately led to the death of Jabba and the dissolution of his criminal empire. It was unknown if Attark survived those events.

Personality and traits
Attark possessed tremendous technical abilities, and his small size also aided his work as a technician. Attark would also suck the blood of sleeping victims, while using his nose to slither around protective layers. Attark possessed brown skin and black eyes.

Behind the scenes
Attark's origins come from a maquette created for the 1983 film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi; however, the creature is not visible in the film nor can its presence be recalled by several of the puppeteers from the set. The character was given the moniker "Hoover" by the creature shop of Industrial Light & Magic, from as early as 1981. The nickname was perhaps acknowledging his resemblance to the Hoover vacuum cleaner. A second nickname found in Attark's original design sketches was "Dogephant." The puppet was to be operated by a puppeteer's arm through the floor. A dummy maquette shows that propmakers considered painting him a light purple with red spots on his back, before later being colored brown. The maquette ended up in the Lucasfilm Archives sporting a blonde wig.

Early reference works, such as 1994's A Guide to the Star Wars Universe and 1997's Star Wars: Chronicles, treated Hoover as the character's name, leaving his species unidentified. In 1998, the character was first identified as Attark, of the Hoover species, for a card in the "Jabba's Palace Limited" expansion set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. In 2008, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia gave entries for both Attark and Hoover; however, it treated Hoover as a member of the Hoover species, and a separate character from Attark. This article assumes the Hoover entry is in error, given all other sources suggesting only one individual of the species was in Jabba's Palace.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi