Jabba's rancor

"Oh no! The rancor!"

- C-3PO

Jabba's rancor was a rancor Jabba Desilijic Tiure kept beneath a trapdoor in his chamber. He was fond of dropping people into the rancor's pit and watching them be eaten. It was cared for by Malakili.

Biography
The rancor was being transported from the Tarsunt system by Grizzid for a Bothan merchant named Grendu, when it broke out, killing Grizzid and his crew, and causing the ship to crash on Tatooine. A Jawa Sandcrawler captain named Tteel Kkak discovered the wreckage and informed Jabba's servants Bib Fortuna and Bidlo Kwerve. They presented it to Jabba as a birthday present. Fortuna was rewarded by being made Jabba's Majordomo, while Kwerve was fed to the rancor.

Malakili was bought from the Circus Horrificus in order to care for the rancor. He became very emotionally attached to it. While he took the rancor for a walk in the desert, it saved him from a small gang of Sandpeople. Jabba enjoyed pitting the rancor against other exotic monsters for his amusement. It always won, but was seriously wounded by three Caridan combat arachnids. When Malakili discovered that Jabba planned to pit the rancor against a krayt dragon, which would surely kill it, he made plans to betray Jabba to Lady Valarian and escape Tatooine with the rancor.

Jabba frequently used his rancor as an amusing form of execution. Oola the Twi'lek dancing girl was dropped in for resisting Jabba. Later, Jabba used it against Luke Skywalker, accidentally dropping a Gamorrean guard named Jubnuk in as well. The rancor ate Jubnuk, but Skywalker tricked it and crushed it under a heavy portcullis, killing it.

Jubnuk was later cut out of the rancor's stomach, still alive due to the lucky talisman he found inside the stomach.

Later, Luke stated that he had another reason for killing it, other then defending himself. The Rancor was so abused and mistreated that rehabilitation for it would have been impossible, and would be best to put the poor creature out of it's misery.

Behind the scenes
An image often mistaken to be the rancor battling a krayt dragon is, in reality, a joke from the crew of ILM. They placed a model of one of the dragons from the film Dragonslayer in the arms of the model of the rancor and took a picture. The picture was included in the book Star Wars: Chronicles. A creature based on the appearance of this dragon appears in one of Jabba's monster pens in Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy.

The rancor was originally supposed to be a man in a suit, but the suit proved too difficult, so it was filmed in the form of a puppet.

During its fight with Luke Skywalker in Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi, the rancor appeared to have an earring in its right ear.

Appearances



 * Star Wars: Battlefront
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars Galaxies
 * Star Wars: Demolition
 * Shadows of the Empire comic
 * The One That Got Away
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: Return of the Jedi 2: The Emperor Commands
 * A Boy and His Monster: The Rancor Keeper's Tale
 * And the Band Played On: The Band's Tale
 * Jabba's Palace Pop-up Book
 * Heir to the Empire
 * Dark Force Rising
 * Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga