Jabba Desilijic Tiure/Legends

Jabba Desilijic Tiure, or simply Jabba the Hutt, (596 BBY–4 ABY) was a Hutt crime lord, who ran a large criminal empire in the Outer Rim Territories from his palace on Tatooine. Outside the palace, the Hutt's will was enforced primarily by his chief accountant and right hand man, Mosep Binneed, who often went by the honorific pseudonym of "Jabba the Hut" or the nickname "Heater."

Biography
Born on Nal Hutta, Jabba was the child of Zorba. He took control of the Desilijic kajidic when he killed the former leader, Jiliac's offspring as the old Hutt was dying. The up-and-coming gangster established his criminal empire in the out-of-the-way Tatoo system on its lone desert world, Tatooine. There he built his palace around an old B'omarr temple, safely nestled in the planet's comforable obscurity.

Jabba started small, finding early work as a high-risk gun runner with his lifelong friend Ephant Mon. During Senator Palpatine's rise to supreme office, it appears that Jabba was one of several gangsters who made possible his a bid for power. Others seem to have included Sise Fromm, the then-kingpin of organized crime in the galaxy, and Prince Xizor, fledgling heir to the Black Sun criminal empire. Though neither Xizor nor Jabba were by an means young beings, (they had both lived several human lifetimes) both had just been handed the reigns of power established by their respective criminal familys. While Fromm played wargames according to the fashionable, superweapon and clone-army slinging philosphy of Palpatine's pet Governer, Wilhuff Tarkin, Xizor and Jabba sensed the winds of change and spent their resouces garnering favor with those who seemed to be shifting into power. Jabba even went so far as to launch his own campaign against the Jedi Order during the purge. In this way, Xizor and Jabba built powerful criminal empires paralell with and in symbiosis to Palpetine's New Order. In the wake of the Clone Wars, Circa 15 BBY, the galaxy's seats of power were still realigning. The Fromm family had begun to invest heavily in a covert project to build a powerful weapons satillite dubbed The Trigon 1. Using its orbial laser and an army of clones created though Imperial granted Spaarti cloning cylinders, Fromm was still making abitious power grabs in his home system of Annoo. However, when both the Trigon and his palace were destroyed and his plans foiled, Jabba made a political move that established him as the "The Number One Gangster In The Galaxy." The quick-witted Hutt struck while the iron was hot and placed a bounty on the heads of the entire Fromm organization, aiming to crush them while they were still reeling from their losses. Through a series of bad turns with the bounty hunter Boba Fett, the elderly Annoo-dat gangster was captured and executed along with his son and chief officer of security.

By the dawn of the Rebellion Era, Jabba had become the most powerful crime lord in the Outer Rim, perhaps even the galaxy, largely due to his near monopoly of glitterstim spice business. By this time, the Desilijic kajidic had become the largest and most powerful among all the Hutt dynasties, trumping even their sworn enemies, the Besadii Hutts, who Jabba used every opportunity to destroy the business of.

However, even in the hight of his glory, the crimelord constantly delt with many problems. Chronic illness Jabba caused him constant discomfort, and to loose his hair. Even his closest leiutenants had begun plotting his demise. The Hutt put his trust in no one other than Mosep and Ephant Mon, whom he made Chief of Security at his palace. It was at this time that the Hutt suffered a major financial loss when Han Solo, his best smuggler, dropped an entire cargo of valuable glitterstim while on a dangerous mission near Kessel. The smuggler was forced to dump the spice when he was boarded by an Imperial starship. Jabba demanded that Han pay him the value of the cargo. When the smuggler failed to reimburse his longtime employer, the Hutt put a bounty on Han's head. Greedo the Younger attempted to collect the bounty, but was killed by Solo.

Following the death of Greedo, Jabba confronted Han (possibly through Mosep according to some sources) in the Millennium Falcon's hangar bay, where he agreed to let Han go, in exchange for a premium of 15%, with a warning that if Han delayed payment again, he would have a price on his head so high that Han would not be able to go near a civilized star system. Though Mosep would pursue the aquisition of Han's debt personally at least two more times, he was ulitematly forced to place a bounty on Solo's head, which was eventually collected by Boba Fett, whom Mosep had hired personally.

After a failed attempt by Leia Organa and Chewbacca to rescue Han Solo, Luke Skywalker's attempt succeeded and left Jabba dead after being strangled by Leia.

The death of Jabba cancelled the debts of many individuals and as such, Luke was held with considerable favour for removing that dangerous complication in their lives. Unfortunately, Zorba placed a bounty on Leia, which the Desilijic kajidic later extended to Han, Chewie, and Luke. The bounty was not formally recinded until Leia's election as Chief of State, as the Hutts did not wish to further antagonize the New Republic.

Years after Jabba's death, many Hutts wished that he lived. If he had continued living, there would have been no Darksaber project. The disastrous deal that the Hutts made with the Yuuzhan Vong would probably never have happened.

Traits
Jabba was very cunning, a trait that led to him being considered to be unpleasant by many. He was also seen as somewhat lascivious since he tended to lust after the beautiful alien female slaves he kept in his palace.

Appearances

 * A.C. Crispin, The Paradise Snare
 * A.C. Crispin, The Hutt Gambit
 * A.C. Crispin, Rebel Dawn
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Skippy the Jedi Droid (an Infinities story)
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (Special Edition and later versions only)
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Tales from Jabba's Palace
 * ''Jabba the Hutt: The Art of the Deal

Behind the scenes
In the original theatrical release of A New Hope, the scene between Jabba and Han Solo was filmed using the actor Declan Mullholland playing a human character (though George Lucas says the intention was to make Jabba an alien of some sort.) This scene was deleted, though it appeared in adaptations such as Marvel Star Wars 2: Six Against the Galaxy, the novelization, and the radio drama (where Jabba was replaced by a character named "Heater".) The Marvel comic adaptation, and two later issues, presented Jabba as a Nimbanel, based on a background alien later identified as Jabba's accountant Mosep Binneed. It is speculated that these appearances were, in fact, Mosep using the alias "Jabba the Hut" (a spelling which is used in many Expanded Universe materials produced before 1983.)

Jabba the Hutt was portrayed in Return of the Jedi using puppetry. In the Special Edition version of A New Hope, Jabba was portrayed using computer-generated imagery (CGI). The Phantom Menace and the DVD release of A New Hope used an updated CGI model for Jabba which was closer to the puppet's appearance in Return of the Jedi.

The voice of Jabba in his film appearances was uncredited. Ed Asner voiced the role in the Return of the Jedi radio drama.