Unkar Plutt

"I'm a junk dealer! I own junk! Not riches!"

- Unkar Plutt

Unkar Plutt, a member of the male Crolute species, resided on the remote, lawless world of Jakku approximately 30 years after the Battle of Endor. The Crolute was a junkboss who bought weapons, gears and scraps of Rebel and Imperial ships which had crashed during the Battle of Jakku. The ruthless Unkar used hired thugs to enforce his stranglehold on barter, sending them to punish any scavenger who dared dabble in unauthorized trades or negotiated too aggressively. The Blobfish&mdash;as scavengers called him behind his broad back&mdash;had collected all manner of weapons, gears, and ships over the years, including a battered Corellian freighter he kept under a tarp on the outskirts of Niima Outpost. From his Concession Stand at Niima Outpost, he ruled over the lives of the scavengers, buying and selling scrap and doling out survival rations.

Early dealings
Unkar Plutt established himself on Jakku sometime after the Battle of Jakku, making a living trading salvage for food rations to local scavengers and reselling the parts to spacers that wanted to buy parts off-the-books. Roughly sixteen years after the Battle of Endor, a youngling who called herself Rey was left with him on Jakku. Rey worked for Unkar directly until she began coordinating with other scavengers. The young teen eventually struck out on her own, becoming one of the best scavengers on Jakku. Because of that, Unkar's thugs had orders to make sure she was left alone.

At some point in his career, Unkar stole a YT-1300 light freighter from the Irving Boys, which turned out to be the Millennium Falcon. Over Rey's objections, Unkar installed a compressor and primer in the ship's systems. The ship would sit in Unkar's yard for years under a tarp. Plutt also organized a failed mission to collect valuables from Carbon Ridge, rumored to house a hidden Imperial base. Stung by the failure, Plutt never talked about it again.

About 30 years after the Battle of Endor, Unkar had bought out or driven out his competition in Niima Outpost, creating a monopoly for his business. Even the Constabulary answered to him. Unkar had total control over Niima Outpost.

Junkboss of Jakku
"The Blobfish sits behind his barred window all day, examining junk, muttering to himself, and yelling at his goons as if he's afraid that we scavengers would tear him apart if he if he set one blobby foot outside."

- Rey about Unkar Plutt

As Niima Outpost's only junkboss, Unkar spent most of his time doling ration packs to scavengers from his stall in the Concession Stand in exchange for their salvage.

One day, Rey came to sell salvage accompanied by a droid, one that Unkar recognized as being one wanted by the First Order. He offered to buy the droid for 60 portions, but Rey refused. Refusing to take "No" for an answer, Unkar dispatched two of his thugs to steal the droid. Rey easily subdued them.

Unkar didn't have a chance to form another plan to steal Rey's droid, since almost immediately after Rey defeated his thugs, the First Order began an attack on Niima Outpost. In the commotion of the stormtroopers and TIE fighers, Unkar watched as Rey, the droid, and a defecting stormtrooper named Finn hijacked the Millennium Falcon from his yard. His screams that the ship was his were ignored.

Confrontation on Takodana
"I'm gonna make you and that worrisome droid pay for what you've done."

- Unkar Plutt to Rey

Unwilling to lose the Millennium Falcon, Unkar and his thugs trailed the ship to Maz Kanata's castle. There, he assaulted Rey physically, wanting the ship back and revenge on his former scavenger and the droid for the misery they caused him. The commotion caught the attention of the Wookiee Chewbacca, one of Rey's new friends. When Chewbacca indicated that he would fight him if he did not release Rey, Plutt laughed it off, wondering what a lone Wookiee could do against him and his thugs. Chewbacca demonstrated succinctly why it wasn't wise to upset a Wookiee by ripping off one of Plutt's arms.

Later, when experiencing her Force vision, Rey saw her childhood self being left in Unkar's charge for the first time.

Behind the scenes
Unkar Plutt was portrayed by Simon Pegg in Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. Pegg is a frequent collaborator with director J.J. Abrams and his production company, Bad Robot Productions, having also appeared in the films Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Star Trek Into Darkness, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, and Star Trek Beyond. Plutt is Pegg's second Star Wars role; he had previously provided the voice of Dengar in two episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

In the film's novelization, Rey refuses Plutt's offer to purchase BB-8, instead bargaining upward before finally accepting a much higher offer. She then, however, changes her mind. When Plutt gets upset, she puts him in his place, earning the respect of many other individuals at the Niima Outpost, but likely burning her bridges with him for good. This likely plays a large part in the confrontation with him at Maz Kanata's castle that later occurs in the novelization. The novelization also describes in detail Rey's general disgust with Plutt and his operation. In the junior novelization, Rey bargains up to 100 portions, which is quickly accepted. However, when Plutt tells her "That's my girl," she changes her mind and tells him that "conditions have changed," feeling that turnabout is fair play, given the number of times he's changed deals on her. He tells her that she's nothing, but she ignores him and walks away, earning glances of respect from many of the others in Niima Outpost.

Appearances

 * "True Love"
 * Before the Awakening
 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens novel
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens: A Junior Novel
 * Rey Meets BB-8

Non-canon appearances

 * Disney Infinity 3.0
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens