Great Pit of Carkoon/Legends

"You will, therefore, be taken to the Dune Sea and cast into the Pit of Carkoon, the nesting place of the all powerful Sarlacc."

- C-3PO's translation of Jabba the Hutt's words to Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Chewbacca

The Great Pit of Carkoon was located within the Dune Sea on the planet Tatooine. The large depression in the sand was the home of the rapacious, if slow-eating, sarlacc of Tatooine.

Its proximity to Jabba's Palace, paired with the torturous death provided by the sarlacc, made it an ideal spot for executions to be carried out for Jabba the Hutt's pleasure.

It would be the place of the Skirmish at Carkoon, and the subsequent death of Jabba.

History
Jabba took his rebel  prisoners to the pit, to be digested over years by the sarlacc. The prisoners, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian, along with Han Solo, who the rebels were attempting to  rescue, managed to overcome their guards, with the help of R2-D2. Whilst Luke, Han, Lando and Chewbacca fought on their Skiff and managed to knock Boba Fett into the pit, Leia used the chains she was bound in to strangle Jabba. Luke subsequently destroyed Jabba's skiff and escaped with the rebels and the two droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.

Behind the scenes


The sarlacc went through a series of changes when George Lucas re-released the original trilogy as the special edition on VHS in 1997. Several additional tentacles and an extension with a beak-like tongue were added.

Note that while the original Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi showed Boba Fett falling in the pit and then lost from view, leaving some freedom to Expanded Universe authors to retcon his escape, the Special Edition CGI beak-maw actually is shown to swallow Fett. However, this makes little difference, as the beak-tongue's insides are the same as those of the pit in general.

Filming the Great Pit for Return of the Jedi took place in the Yuma Desert in Arizona in April 1982.

The Pit was set to be located in a Rakatan temple on Tatooine, and guarding the Tatooine Star Map in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. However, the Sarlacc was replaced by a Krayt dragon, and the Rakatan Temple by the Krayt dragon's cave full of ancient Rakatan artifacts.

The Great Pit of Carkoon was originally supposed to be called the "Sloth Pit," but this was later changed prior to the release of the script.

Appearances

 * The Clone Wars: Decide Your Destiny: Crisis on Coruscant
 * Star Wars: The New Droid Army
 * We Don't Do Weddings: The Band's Tale
 * Swap Meet: The Jawa's Tale
 * A Boy and His Monster: The Rancor Keeper's Tale
 * Galaxy of Fear: The Brain Spiders
 * Fortune, Fate, and the Natural History of the Sarlacc
 * Star Wars: Demolition
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Taster's Choice: The Tale of Jabba's Chef
 * Star Wars: Return of the Jedi 2: The Emperor Commands
 * The Mandalorian Armor
 * Hard Merchandise
 * The Truce at Bakura
 * The Ordeal of Boba Fett
 * Star Wars: Battlefront
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron (DS version only)
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: The Rebel Opposition
 * Zorba the Hutt's Revenge
 * Mission from Mount Yoda
 * Queen of the Empire
 * Prophets of the Dark Side
 * Tatooine Ghost
 * Heir to the Empire
 * The Unifying Force
 * Heir to the Empire
 * The Unifying Force

Non-canon appearances

 * Star Wars: Anakin's Speedway
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * The Revenge of Tag & Bink
 * The Return of Tag & Bink: Special Edition
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed game
 * The Lost Lightsaber

Notes and references
Grube von Carkoon Pozo de Carkoon Pit of Carkoon