User:DjMack/Ziro

"Oh Ziro the Hutt, Master of the Hutt Clan on Seven Systems, I am sorry, your Highness."

- KRONOS-327 addresses Ziro by his formal title

Ziro Desilijic Tiure, also know as simply Ziro the Hutt, was a Hutt crime lord, Black Sun Vigo, and one of Jabba the Hutt's uncles. He was the brother of Jiliac Desilijic Tiron, Pazda and Zorba Desilijic Tiure. He is one of the only Hutts that have been heard to fluently speak Basic as opposed to Huttese.

During the Clone Wars, Ziro was arrested by the Galactic Republic and taken to the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center due to his involvement in separatist ordeals, including a conspiracy to kidnap his own nephew Rotta. Following intense debate among the Hutt Council, the renowned bounty hunter Cad Bane was hired to return him to the Council's custody, freeing him from Republic captivity.

After concluding Ziro was too dangerous to the Council's operation to be left alive, Jabba the Hutt hired Sy Snootles, a singer and former lover of Ziro, to kill Ziro and secure a datapad containing sensitive information regarding the Council. After being manipulated by Snootles into handing her the datapad, the singer killed Ziro with two blaster shots to the chest.

Biography
"Oh, you can't imagine the unspeakable things I've suffered. The horror! I doubt I'll ever really recover."

- Ziro, after his rescue from prison



Early criminal life
Starting out as a loan shark on Sleheyron, Ziro moved to Coruscant to pursue a bigger career. He did, however, adopt the tattoos, headdress and jewels of wealthy Sleheyroni Hutts. He eventually became a vigo of the criminal organization Black Sun, and had a tattoo of its symbol. He used a rundown tower that used to belong to the Lantillian Spacers' Brotherhood as his personal base. The tower was transformed into a gaudy-looking pleasure palace.

When the Jedi Council was seeking information on the Nightsisters after the attack on the Sedawan, Ziro was held captive in his own palace by Asajj Ventress. He was rescued by two Jedi, but was also confronted by Ros Lai at the same time, whom Ziro owed a debt. The Jedi agreed to cover Ziro's debt and give Ros Lai transport off Coruscant in exchange for a data chip containing intercepted Nightsister transmissions.

Plot against Jabba
During the Clone Wars, Ziro ordered the murder of fellow Black Sun vigos, though his IG-86 assassin droid, KRONOS-327, failed in this task. Shortly after KRONOS-327 reported his failure, Ziro was approached by Senator Padmé Amidala at his palace on Coruscant, when she tried to reopen communications with the Hutts, as they believed that the Jedi had abducted Jabba's son, Rotta.

In reality, Ziro had struck a deal with Count Dooku to kidnap the child as part of a plot against his nephew. When the Jedi sent to retrieve Rotta died, the Order would have no choice but to bring Jabba to justice and Ziro would gain control of the Hutt Clan. He attempted to dispose of Amidala, but was ultimately apprehended by the Coruscant Guard led by C-3PO and Commander Fox and put into custody. Via holocomm, he was forced to confess to his nephew of his part in his grandnephew's kidnapping. Furious at his uncle's treachery, Jabba vowed to have him punished severely.

Assassination attempts on Senator Amidala
While in a Republic prison on Coruscant, Ziro hired bounty hunter Aurra Sing to eliminate Senator Padme Amidala for revenge. After Sing was captured, Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano and Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker visited Ziro in his cell. He admitted to the assassination attempt, which earned him an extra long sentence in the facility.

Freedom
Sometime later, Jabba and the Hutt Grand Council became concerned about an unknown secret Ziro knows about. Therefore, they hired bounty hunter Cad Bane to stage a raid on the Galactic Senate and force Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to release Ziro, who was being held in the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center, so that he could be delivered into their custody. The Hutt was released via Palpatine's orders to save several the Senators' lives, whom Bane and his team had captured as ransom for Ziro's escape. After Ziro was picked up by 3D, Bane demanded payment, claiming he "didn't work for free," much to Ziro's displeasure.



Ziro's assassination
Once freed from the Senate, he was sent to Nal Hutta in a prison for keeping the secret that the Hutt Council didn't know about. He was freed by the singer Sy Snootles, his girlfriend who distracted some Gamorrean warriors in order to free Ziro. Being chased by both Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Quinlan Vos, and the bounty hunter Cad Bane, he fled to his mother who made an exchange of Ziro's speeder and his mother's starfighter. He fled to Teth and went to his father's grave which also held the records of the criminal acts of the Hutts, the secret that Ziro was keeping. Ziro was betrayed by Snootles, who was hired by Jabba in order to retrieve what Ziro had kept secret, and killed Ziro by shooting him twice.

Personality and traits
Ziro was a flamboyant Hutt who spoke Basic with a high-pitched voice and slight lisp. He was greedy and was determined to gain control of the Hutt criminal empire by any means, even if it meant blackmailing his relatives. He was also quite fashion-conscious for a Hutt, adorning himself with tattoos and showy hats. At some point, Ziro had cosmetic surgery to give his face a more symmetrical appearance.

Behind the scenes
Ziro the Hutt was voiced by Corey Burton in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film and television series.

Ziro was originally going to speak Huttese into a microphone which would translate his speech into English, but this idea was dropped because the producers felt that younger audiences wouldn't be able to understand what the translator was. Later, George Lucas stepped in and specifically asked for Ziro to sound like Truman Capote. The character was a favorite of the production team, and they planned to have him return in the TV series.

Dave Filoni says the topic of Ziro's sexuality is ambiguous, as Hutts are hermaphrodites.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars novel
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars junior novelization
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars film
 * The Clone Wars: Decide Your Destiny: The Way of the Jedi
 * The Clone Wars: Decide Your Destiny: Crisis on Coruscant
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance
 * The Clone Wars: Hunting the Hunters (Part I)
 * The Clone Wars: Hunting the Hunters (Part I)
 * The Clone Wars: Hunting the Hunters (Part I)
 * The Clone Wars: Hunting the Hunters (Part I)

Notes and references
Ziro Desilijic Tiure Ziro Desilijic Tiure Ziro Desilijic Tiure Ziro Desilijic Tiure Ziro Desilijic Tiure Ziro Desilijic Tiure