Boga/Legends

"Good girl, Boga."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

Boga was a female varactyl native to Utapau. Like all members of her species, she was a large reptilian quadruped with a beaked mouth and feathers splaying from her scaled skin. Boga was one of the fastest varactyl to be tamed by the Utai beast tamers. She was four meters tall at her shoulder, fifteen meters long and possesed a magnificent crest of blue, purple and green feathers.

During his search for General Grievous on Utapau, Obi-Wan Kenobi chose Boga as his mount, based on her proud and loyal spirit as he saw through the Force. Astride Boga, Obi-Wan reached the tenth level of Tion Medon's Pau City in record time. Boga proved a worthy match for General Grievous in his wheel bike, chasing the cyborg general through the city, using her clawed feet to climb the sinkhole walls in pursuit. Along the way, she proved invaluable to Obi-Wan, disabling Grievous's shuttle and picking off several droids. With Boga's help, Obi-Wan confronted and destroyed the General.

Unfortunately for Boga, the clone troopers turned against her Jedi rider on the orders of Palpatine. Boga and Obi-Wan were caught in an explosion caused by an AT-TE, sending both plummeting into the water at the bottom of the sinkhole. Boga succumbed to her wounds, having attempted to shield Obi-Wan from the blast above. Upon regaining consciousness, Obi-Wan allowed himself a moment to reflect upon that touching and unexpected sacrifice before attempting to escape the planet.

Behind the scenes

 * Some fans believe that the reason Obi-Wan's yell to ward off the Sand People in A New Hope was changed in the DVD version was to make it seem that Obi-Wan was copying Boga's yelp.
 * "Boga" was the name of a soft drink found in Tunisia that the crew became familiar with during the filming of A New Hope, and it was after this that the varactyl Boga, as well as the beverage Boga noga, was named (see also Tunisia for other Tunisian-inspired names).
 * It is shown in the novelization that Boga took the brunt of the clone trooper's blast, protecting Kenobi, but in the comic it is the opposite, showing Kenobi blocking laser fire, attempting to protect Boga.
 * "Boga" also means "Bull" in Turkish, "it rows" in Spanish and also "gourd or pumpkin" in some African languages.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (novel) by Matthew Stover
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Grievous: Getaway
 * Obi-Wan's Foe a Random House "Jedi Reader" by Jane Mason and Sarah Stephens; illustrated by Tommy Lee Edwards