Weazel

Weazel was a human male thief turned freedom fighter who lived in the last days of the Galactic Republic and during the reign of the Galactic Empire. As a thief, he worked for the Hutt Clan out of Mos Espa on Tatooine, where he was present for the Boonta Eve Classic podrace in 32 BBY that was won by Anakin Skywalker. During the age of the Empire, Weazel worked with Enfys Nest and her Cloud-Riders, who sought to fight back against the crime lords who had wronged them as well as the Empire. He was Nest's best lieutenant and most vigilant spy.

Life as a thief
Weazel lived on the Outer Rim world of Tatooine in 32 BBY, where he worked as a thief for the ruling Hutt Clan in the spaceport settlement of Mos Espa. During the time of the Trade Federation Invasion of Naboo, Weazel attended the Boonta Eve Classic podrace in Mos Espa where he sat with Watto, a Toydarian junk dealer who placed a large sum of money on the reigning champion Sebulba to win. Weazel cheered Sebulba on throughout the race, but the Dug racer was ultimately beaten by the young Anakin Skywalker &mdash;the boy who would grow up to become Darth Vader, the enforcer of the Galactic Empire that Weazel came to fight against during the Imperial Era.

Fighting with the Cloud-Riders
"We're not marauders. We're allies. And the war has just begun."

- Enfys Nest

By the time the Empire was in power, Weazel had left behind his life as a thief and joined the Cloud-Riders, a group of vigilante marauders led by Enfys Nest. While rivals such as Tobias Beckett believed them to be pirate thieves, they were actually aspiring rebels who wanted to fight for and bring justice to those who had been victimized by the Empire and the criminal syndicates that ran rampant in the galaxy, such as Crimson Dawn. Weazel became Nest’s most trusted lieutenant vigilant spy, and together they and the Cloud-Riders had numerous run-ins with Beckett and his crew, who often worked for Crimson Dawn.

One such run-in was in 10 BBY, when the Cloud-Riders caught wind of a heist Beckett and his team were pulling on Vandor for Crimson Dawn. While Beckett, his partner Val, pilot Rio Durant, and newcomers Han Solo and Chewbacca attempted to steal the hyperfuel known as coaxium from an Imperial conveyex train, the Cloud-Riders attacked on swoop bikes and attempted to steal the loot for themselves. The resulting encounter led to some Cloud-Rider casualties as well as the deaths of Val and Durant. Neither team was able to steal the loot; as each attempted to take the train car carrying the coaxium for themselves, the pilot Solo detached the car from the AT-hauler he was flying and it crashed into a mountain. Weazer and the others survived the resulting massive explosion of hyperfuel, and each went their separate ways.

Beckett arranged a new operation with Crimson Dawn to steal coaxium from the spice mines of Kessel, an operation the Cloud-Riders also caught wind of. Weazel followed Beckett’s team as they met with Lando Calrissian and arranged for him and his ship, the Millennium Falcon, to help them make the Kessel Run in enough time to bring the stolen unrefined coaxium to Savareen for refinement. Having learned that Calrissian was part of the operation, Weazel placed a tracking device on the Millennium Falcon so the Cloud-Riders could keep tabs on where Beckett and his team were ultimately headed.

The Cloud-Riders confronted Beckett's gang once they arrived on Savareen, and they engaged in a brief standoff. Nest ultimately explained the true motives of the Cloud-Riders, presenting Beckett's team with a choice about whether to hand the coaxium over to Crimson Dawn or allow the Cloud-Riders to take it and use the millions of credits to attain their goals. As such, Solo and Qi'ra ended up killing Crimson Dawn capo Dryden Vos and a traiterous Beckett in the result. Due to the actions and help of Han Solo, the Cloud-Riders were able to acquire the coaxium. Weazel secured it their transports as Nest told Solo what they wanted it for: to fuel a rebellion.

Personality and traits
Weazel was a human male with brown hair, blue eyes, and light skin. Weazel, who stood shorter than most humans, was once a common criminal for one of the five major crime syndicates but ultimately turned against them and believed in bringing justice to those hurt by the syndicates and the Empire. As part of his operations, he carried a K21c portable ordnance launcher from Merr-Sonn Munitions and wore a Kalevalan tracker helmet equipped with a rangefinder.

Behind the scenes
Weazel was played by Star Wars veteran Warwick Davis in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, who also played Wald, an street trader at Mos Espa and Yoda in several of his walking scenes in the same film. Davis had previously played Wicket W. Warrick in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, the conclusion of the original trilogy. Davis later reprised the role of Weazel for the 2018 Star Wars Anthology Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Davis was initially hired to only play the masked character of Wald in The Phantom Menace, but director George Lucas decided during filming that he wanted Davis to appear onscreen unmasked. He accordingly placed Davis inside Watto's viewing box during the Podrace scene, and after hair extensions were glued onto Davis's head, Weazel's character was born. The scene was filmed over one day at Leavesden Studios in England, where, in Davis' own words, he was "basically sitting in bleachers and moving my head left to right".

Weazel's costume in Solo was inspired by the signature Hungarian Hussars' cavalry jacket worn by the English singer and musician Adam Ant in the early 1980s. Additionally, Davis revealed on his Twitter account that Weazel's custom included a piece of Ewok fur on his left shoulder, jokingly adding that the fur wasn't from Wickett W. Warrick, his character from Episode VI.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
 * Solo: A Star Wars Story
 * Solo: A Star Wars Story: Tales from Vandor