Hutt Clan

"There are many things the Hutts influence and possess that would be useful to us."

- Darth Maul to the Grand Hutt Council

The Hutt Clan, also known as the Hutt Cartel and sometimes simply as the Hutts, was one of the most powerful crime families in the galaxy around the time of the Clone Wars. It was governed by the Grand Hutt Council, whose members were the heads of the five Hutt families. During the Clone Wars, the clan allied itself with the Galactic Republic and briefly with Darth Maul's criminal alliance, Shadow Collective. During the Galactic Civil War, they clashed on multiple occasions with a group of mercenaries operating on the planet Tatooine and established an alliance with the Galactic Empire.

Before the Clone Wars
During the final days of the Republic, Jabba Desilijic Tiure and fellow Hutts were known to preside over Tatooine's podraces. Notably during the Invasion of Naboo, he was present when a slave Anakin Skywalker won the Boonta Eve race in what was a momentous event.

Entering the Conflict
During the Clone Wars, the Hutts' influence and power over the Outer Rim, specifically its hyperlanes, was sought by both the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Rotta, Jabba's son, was secretly kidnapped by the seperatists which was orchestrated by the Sith Lord Count Dooku with help from Ziro. The plot was meant to discredit the Jedi Order and scuttle negotiations between the Republic and the Hutts, but the Jedi were able to rescue him. The crime lord had promised his support to whomever returned his son. When the Separatists were revealed to have orchestrated Rotta's kidnapping, Jabba pledged his support to the Republic.

Senate Hostage Crisis
Another point during the war, there was a hostage crisis that took place at the Senate Office Building on Coruscant, in which Bounty hunters led by Cad Bane held the Supreme Chancellor Shev Palpatine of the Galactic Republic and other senators hostage in order to free Ziro the Hutt from the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center, who had escaped from the custody of both the Galactic Republic and the Grand Hutt Council, but found him dead on Teth after he was killed by Sy Snootles at the behest of Jabba.

Nal Hutta Incident
"There are many things the Hutts influence and possess that would prove useful to us."

- Darth Maul appeals to the Hutt Grand Council

The Shadow Collective, an organization lead by Darth Maul, landed at the Hutt Palace on Nal Hutta to gain the backing of the Grand Hutt Council for their coup on Mandalore. In the council chamber, Darth Maul, Savage Opress, and Pri Vizsla asked for the Hutts to join them by promising to spare their lives in exchange for the Hutt territories. The Council just laughed at them. They did not respond kindly to Maul's threats and Jabba called for his bounty hunters. Sugi hurled a knife at Maul but it was stopped by Opress, who hurled it back and the bounty hunters opened fire. Maul and Opress cut through several guards while Vizsla set fire to the council table with his flamethrower so that they could have a head start. The bounty hunters chased after them and a firefight began. The guards and bounty hunters retreated back inside. This time, Maul and his followers chased them back in.

As more guards came to defend the palace, Shadow forces quickly cut though them. Sugi dropped down from above and knocked Vizsla over before getting into a fight with Maul. Maul knocked her to the floor and began swiping at her with his lightsaber, but she rolled out of the way of each strike. The bounty hunter Embo got into a fight with Savage while Marrok attacked Maul, knocking the lightsaber from his hands and saving Sugi. Savage continuously punched at Embo, who used his hat to block the punches but was knocked to the ground nevertheless. Vizsla drew his darksaber and cut down several guards. Maul managed to throw Marrok off when several smoke grenades were thrown. Latts Razzi and Dengar were at the end of the hall and yelled for their companions to get out. Embo, Sugi, and Marrok followed them and Maul let them go. Maul decided to go to Tatooine.

Attack on Jabba's Palace
"Give up, Jabba, you're the only ones left!" "Submit or suffer."

- Pre Viszla and Darth Maul to Jabba the Hutt in his inner sanctum

The Shadow Collective attacked the perimeter of Jabba's Palace, paving the path for Darth Maul, Savage Opress, and Pre Vizsla into Jabba's inner sanctum. After a very brief and violent struggle proving the Collective to be the more formidable, Jabba agreed to surrender his criminal empire and began channeling his resources to the organization's cause for an imminent takeover of the Mandalorian capital city, Sundari. The Hutts then gave them a couple of enforcers made up of red-skinned Niktos which would later prove useful in the takeover of Mandalore and subsequent battle of Sundari only to withdraw due to infighting within the Collective.

After the Clone Wars
The Hutts continued to operate in the Outer Rim after the end of the Clone Wars and the rise of the Galactic Empire, preserving their power base including on the desert world of Tatooine, which was enduring an intense drought which become known as the Great Drought that was the worst in then-recent memory. This left moisture farmers with little water to harvest, worsening conditions on the poor, backwater world. In the midst of the drought, henchmen for the crime lord Jabba the Hutt collected a water tax on their master's behalf.

An eight year old boy, Luke Skywalker had gone to take the water back from Jabba's men and give it back to the farmers. Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had been watching over him, went to their encounter, but blew their vehicle's lights with the Force to hide his identity and proceeded to disable all of Jabba's henchmen with the Force. On hearing about this Jabba was furious and tried to find the man who had defied him. On being unsuccessful he hired the bounty hunter, Black Krrsantan, to find Kenobi, and offered to pay him extra for bringing him alive.

Deal with the Empire
"...you must finish your dealings with the Hutt. If he cannot bring an agent to the Core, we must go to the Outer Rim. We have no time to open conversations with the Crymorah or any of the other crime lords. He will expect you in two days' time. Make the deal."

- Darth Sidious, to Darth Vader

After the destruction of the Death Star by the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War. The Emperor sent Darth Vader to negotiate a deal with Jabba to secure raw materials for production and resources to fuel its military operations. This followed the destruction of the Death Star during the Battle of Yavin and the loss of Weapons Factory Alpha during a Rebel assault on Cymoon 1. The negotiations which was a continuation of what was meant to take place on Cymoon 1.

However Vader arrived on Tatooine earlier than scheduled to hire two bounty hunters for assignments that the Dark Lord of the Sith kept secret from the Emperor. Jabba provided him with Boba Fett, who Vader tasked with finding the Rebel pilot who destroyed the Death Star and Black Krrsantan, who Vader tasked with capture Cylo-IV, an agent of the Emperor.

After attending to his personal mission, Vader returned to Jabba's palace the next day and negotiated on the Emperor's behalf. Jabba agreed to provide the Empire with whatever resources it needed to fuel its operations. This alliance with the Empire allowed him and the Hutts to survive the Imperial crackdown against criminal elements in the Outer Rim, as well as rid the Hutts of their competitors.

Dispute on Tatooine
"Those men worked for my master, the mighty Jabba the Hutt. He is most displeased with your hostility."

- Bib Fortuna contacts the mercenaries following the battle

Sometime before the Battle of Hoth, Jabba's majordomo Bib Fortuna contacted the mercenaries via hologram after an attack on their Homestead and informed them that they had angered his master. The Alliance also contacted the mercenaries and asked for their aid in recovering medical supplies from a Hutt Cartel den on the planet Dandoran, also earning them an offer of allegiance from the Rebels. While the mercenaries were off-world aiding the them, Jabba's men destroyed their homestead in vengeance for the outlaws deaths. The mercenary gang would at some point later work with Jabba in order to obtain intel on the faction they opposed in the civil war but would however eventually break down and conflict between Saponza's men and the Hutt's erupted once more.

Death of Jabba
Jabba had placed a bounty on the famous smuggler Han Solo as he had failed to pay him back. The Sith Lord Darth Vader had captured Solo in Cloud City and had frozen him in carbonite. He then turned him over to Boba Fett, who brought Solo to Jabba's Palace on Tatooine. However, this capture brought him to the attention of Leia Organa, who succeeded in unfreezing Solo before her discovery, resulting in her strategic position as Jabba's new "slave girl" which gave her both proximity to Jabba and a weapon to use against him (the chain that bound her to him). Following her capture and Solo's release from the carbonite, Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, arrived on the scene, seeking to rescue his friends from Jabba's imprisonment. Jabba refused to agree to Skywalker's bargain and instead tried to execute him via a rancor. Skywalker's defeated the rancor which lead Jabba to attempt a mass execution of Skywalker, Chewbacca, and Solo at the Great Pit of Carkoon, instead Organa strangled Jabba to death using her own chain.

Government
"Well, well. If it isn't the heads of the five Hutt families."

- Cad Bane, sitting in on a meeting

The Hutts and their criminal enterprise were ruled by the Grand Hutt Council that was located on the Hutt world of Nal Hutta and included a number of high profile and influential Hutt leaders of each family such as Jabba who led the council and the clan. The Ruling Council handled the day-to-day affairs of the Hutt species, and its leader later spoke on behalf of all Hutts in treaties and dealings with the Galactic Empire.