Chirpa/Legends

Chief Chirpa was the head of his Ewok tribe's Council of Elders in the Bright Tree Village on the forest moon of Endor. The gray-furred Chirpa carried a reptilian staff denoting his rank which carried the teeth and horns of animals he had hunted. He and his wife Ra-Lee had two daughters: Asha and Kneesaa. Chirpa was also the brother of Bozzie and the uncle of Paploo.

Biography
When his daughter Kneesaa was very still very young, Ra-Lee was killed by a hanadak in the forest. It was believed that Asha was killed as well until they discovered several years later that she had been raised in the woods by a family of korrinas. Chirpa was later tearfully reunited with his lost daughter.

Years later, the Imperials started arriving on Endor's moon. Chirpa led a group of warriors to investigate the strange creatures (Imperial shuttles) which Chirpa said "smelled like fire, only worse." The Elders debated over what to do about the invaders. Chirpa reminded them about the invaders' power and decided that the Ewoks would not fight them. But when Wicket Warrick saw an AT-ST stumble on some rocks and crash in the woods, he told Chirpa and convinced him that the Imperials could be defeated if the Ewoks built traps for them.

By that time, Chirpa had been chief of the village for forty-two seasons. When the Rebels arrived on Endor, he went along with Logray's idea to offer the newcomers as a sacrifice to the "golden god." But when he saw the powerful magic they were capable of, he realized that he had erred. He decided that the Ewoks should listen to newcomers' story. After hearing C-3PO tell their tale, Chirpa convinced the village elders to make them honorary members of the tribe. Because the Empire's construction on the moon had disrupted the hunting cycle and had killed many trees, Chirpa decided that the Ewoks would join with their new tribe members and fight the Empire. When the time came, his warriors were courageous and skillful in the face of a superior enemy and managed to defeat them.



After the battle, Chirpa convinced Princess Leia to lead a ceremony to promote Wicket to "lead warrior." Later on, following Chirpa's death, his daughter, Princess Kneesaa, became the new chief of Bright Tree Village in a ceremony that doubled as her wedding to Wicket Warrick.

Behind the scenes

 * In Return of the Jedi, Chief Chirpa was played by Jane Busby. In the animated television series Star Wars: Ewoks, he was voiced by George Buza in the first season and Rick Cimino in the second.
 * An action figure of Chief Chirpa was made in 2006 as part of Hasbro's Saga Collection in the Battle of Endor wave and included a knife, sheath, staff, and hood.

Appearances

 * Marvel Ewoks 1: The Rainbow Bridge
 * Marvel Ewoks 2: Rites of Power
 * Marvel Ewoks 3: Flight to Danger
 * Marvel Ewoks 4: Valley of Evil
 * The Adventures of Teebo: A Tale of Magic and Suspense
 * Star Wars: Ewoks
 * "The Haunted Village"
 * "The Three Lessons"
 * "Asha"
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * The Truce at Bakura