Attichitcuk/Legends

Attichitcuk, also known as Itchy for short, was a Wookiee Chieftain and the father of Kallabow and the famous Rebel Alliance hero Chewbacca. In his prime, Attichitcuk played a leading role on his homeworld of Kashyyyk. It was he who represented his planet in the Galactic Republic negociations for colonization rights to the moon of Alaris Prime. With the help of both his son and the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, the chieftain drove out the Trade Federation forces that occupied Alaris Prime illegally.

Around 150 BBY, the retired Chieftain allowed his only son to leave the Kashyyyk system. More than a century later, with the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Wookiees were enslaved. Deemed too old to be useful, Attichitcuk was left behind on Kashyyyk. Living with his daughter-in-law Mallatobuck, the old Wookiee focused on raising his grandson Lumpawarrump.

At the time of the Galactic Civil War, Attichitcuk had become an elder statesman, retired to the family treehouse. However, his peaceful existence was stricken by misfortune two decades later, when his son Chewbacca died during the Yuuzhan Vong War, a pan-galactic conflict that was fought between 25 and 29 ABY.

Early life
Attichitcuk was a male Wookiee born on the planet Kashyyyk in the year 350 BBY. Tall and strong even by Wookiee standards, Attichitcuk's gray fur was capped by a pronounced snout, wide brow and large eyes. Along with his mate, Attichitcuk allowed their children to explore the differences that manifested in their youths. It was Attichitcuk that gave Chewbacca a wooden starship that inspired his son's wanderlust. In his youth, Attichitcuk was an exceptional warrior and hunter. As he aged, Attichitcuk became a community leader, advisor to the Wookiee councils and disparate Kashyyyk tribes.

Only armed with his Ryyk blade, Attichitcuk once killed a pack of twenty vicious katarns. As a modest warrior, he didn't make it known until young Chewbacca found a collection of katarn dew claws, strung on a length of sinew. As his son grew older, Attichitcuk settled down into a leadership role in the community, advising the councils and tribes. He had the role of a peacemaker and even-handed referee during inter-tribal conflicts.

When Chewbacca turned thirteen, Attichitcuk took him on his hrrtayyk ceremony, the Wookiee coming-of-age ritual. During his successful hrrtayyk, Attichitcuk's offspring built his first bowcaster and shot down his first katarn in the Well of the Dead, which filled his father with pride. Thirty-seven years later, Attichitcuk allowed his only son to leave their homeworld, as he had succombed to the wanderlust of Wookiee adolescence.

Rise of the Empire era
"An unexplored world is a hostile world. I must help the Wookiee leader Attichitcuk to learn the lay of the land."

- Qui-Gon Jinn

Still considered a leader amongst the Wookiees by the last decades of the Galactic Republic, Attichitcuk represented Kashyyyk in the Alaris Prime negotiations. In recognition of his negotiation efforts, Attichitcuk was chosen to lead the initial colonization efforts. Between 39 BBY and 32 BBY, Alaris Prime was settled by the Wookiees. While establishing a base of operations, Attichitcuk uncovered a hidden Trade Federation operation established in violation of the Republic's decision to grant colonization rights to the Wookiees. In a Trade Federation ambush, Attichitcuk was severely injured, but was rescued by his son. After a prolonged campaign, Attichitcuk, with the assistance of Chewbacca, his friend Shoran and Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn were able to remove the Trade Federation forces.

In 22 BBY, the galaxy-wide conflict known as the Clone Wars erupted. At first, the leaders of Kashyyyk chose to remain non-aligned, but the Wookiee planet was invaded by the Confederacy of Independent Systems in the closing stages of the struggle. In 19 BBY, the Republic tasked High Jedi General Yoda with defending Kashyyyk from the droid armies of the Confederacy. The old Attichitcuk joined in the defense of his homeworld. Too old to fight alongside the younger Wookiee warriors, the former chieftain served as a gunner aboard an Oevvaor jet catamaran during the Battle of Kashyyyk. Attichitcuk's role was to throw thermal detonators in hopes of melting sizeable holes in the enemy tank droids. The elderly chieftain's throw was precise, because he had practiced in virtual-reality games played on an addictive "mind evaporator" headset.

Galactic Civil War
"But these missions have kept Chewie away from Kashyyyk for long periods of time. You must know he'd like to stay home more with you and your mother."

- Attichitcuk to his grandson Lumpawarrump

The rise of the Galactic Empire saw Kashyyyk blockaded and the Wookiees enslaved. Like most of his fellow Wookiees, Attichitcuk was trapped on Kashyyyk, forced to watch his beloved forests burned and tortured by the cruel Imperial overseers. After Han Solo freed Chewbacca, Attichitcuk warmly welcomed the smuggler into his honor family. Solo took to calling Attichitcuk "Itchy", a name that the elder Wookiee proudly accepted. Ostensibly, Attichitcuk resumed his role as a leader after the liberation of Kashyyyk while he aided in the raising of the younglings of his family.

Some time after the destruction of the first Death Star, Attichitcuk and Malla organized a surprise birthday party for the bicentennial of Chewbacca, who had been away on a three-year mission with Han Solo. Attichitcuk decided to tell his grandson Lumpy the story of how Chewbacca and Solo teamed together and became heroes of the Rebel Alliance. Inspired by this tale of many adventures, Lumpy travels to the dangerous "Nother World"&mdash;the the lower levels of Kashyyyk&mdash;in order to search for wasaka berries, a type of food that his father loved. Back at the house, Malla and Attichitcuk became worried of Lumpy's absence, but the young Wookiee was finally rescued from the Nother World's swamp by his father. The birthday party was held with its dancing, games and fireworks, and Attichitcuk attended it. The old Wookiee was even offered a pink balloon during the feast.

Around 0.5 ABY, Attichitcuk came to the aid of his friend Leia Organa Solo and the exiled Jedi Echuu Shen-Jon in their efforts to retrieve the Vor'Na'Tu on Geddes during the Krantian Civil War. The timely arrival of Attichitcuk and his contingent of Wookiee warriors and war machines proved critical in the battle.

In 4 ABY, the ambitious Imperial officer Hindane Darcc proclaimed himself Moff of the Mytaranor sector, and took over Kashyyyk, which he intended to turn into his personal domain. The Wookie homeworld was being overrun, and its cities under heavy fire. The Wookiees were proud, but they knew they couldn't overcome this situation on their own, so Attichitcuk sent a call for help to his son. The grey-furred Wookiee hoped Chewbacca would convince the Rebel Alliance to send a strike force to fight off the Imperials, but to no avail. Solo and Chewbacca traveled alone to Kashyyyk, unsure of what they might find. In fact, the situation was even worse than they had imagined: the sel-appointed Imperial Moff had hired the Trandosshan Pekt to gather a shipment of Wookiee slaves for use in Kessel mines. Organizing the Wookiee resistance, Chewbacca and Solo were successful in retaking the city of Chenachochan. However, both Darcc and Pekt were able to escape in a Lambda-class shuttle full of Wookiee prisoners, and Attichitcuk was among them. The old chieftain was held captive by Pekt aboard the Avatar Orbital Platform to be skinned, but was eventually freed by Han Solo and Chewbacca.

New Republic era
"Death may have extinguished my son's defiant flame, but our debt to you continues until yours is extinguished."

- Attichitcuk to Han Solo

In 25 ABY, the Yuuzhan Vong&mdash;a race of warlike aliens&mdash;invaded the galaxy, and a major conflict ensued. During the initial stages of the war, Han Solo and Chewbacca were on Sernpidal when the Yuuzhan Vong used a creature known as a dovin basal to draw the moon Dobido into an impact trajectory with the planet. Chewbacca helped Solo evacuate thousands of Sernpidalians, but the Wookiee was lost when he couldn't board the Millennium Falcon on time. After the death of his son, Attichitcuk reluctantly accepted that Solo was not prepared to accept an extension of Chewbacca's life debt by Lumpawaroo and Lowbacca. The old chieftain eventually understood that the Human was still clinging to his memory of Chewbacca and needed time to mourn him properly.

Following Chewbacca’s heroic end, his droid friends C-3PO and R2-D2 were tasked with collecting memories of his life. A very moved Attichitcuk told the droids how his son once fought the albino Wookiee Tojjevvuk for the love of Malla. Aching with grief, the elderly chieftain confessed that burrying his own son was the most terrible ordeal of his life, even compared to slavery under the Galactic Empire.

Personality and traits
In his prime, Attichitcuk was a brown Wookiee with a squat face and a broad nose. He used to be tall like other members of his race, but he began shrinking over the years. When his son's relationship with Malla started, Attichitcuk was already stooped, but he still retained the color of his fur. While most Wookiees wouldn't wear anything outside of occasional armor, Attichitcuk was known to have worn a crimson waist wrap at the time. During the time of the Galactic Civil War, Attichitcuk appeared as a large, white-haired and quite short Wookiee, measuring only 1.7 meters.

In his old age, Attichitcuk still displayed crafting talents, and he would make wooden small-scale replicas of starfighters for the benift of his grandson. He used to put heart in this activity, and he disliked to be interrupted when carving wooden models, even by Lumpawarrump. Despite their great complicity, Attichitcuk wouldn't spoil his grandson, neither would he go against the authority of Mallatobuck.

The old Wookiee was also attracted to Human-looking females, as examplified by his excitement when seeing Mermeia's image in Saun Dann's mind evaporator.

Creation
"The introduction of Chewbacca's family was one of the first expansions of the Star Wars universe."

- Star Wars Insider 106 takes a retrospective look at The Star Wars Holiday Special

The grey-furred Attichitcuk first appeared in 1978 as one of the main characters of The Star Wars Holiday Special, a television variety show that was spun off of Star Wars, Lucas's film of the previous year. However, there are traces of a proto-Attichitcuk as far back as the May 1973 rough draft of Star Wars, in the form of Chewbacca's father "Auzituck". This early incarnation appeared in scene 135, which was set in the "Wookee camp" on Yavin—Yavin being an early version of "Kazyyyk", which would ultimately evolve in spelling into "Kashyyyk". The script says: "Chewbacca enters the largest of the lodges. He is greeted by his father, AUZITUCK, Chief of the KAAPAUKU tribe; an old and feeble Wookee dressed in royal skins and headdress."

Portrayal
In The Star Wars Holiday Special, Attichirtcuk was portrayed by actor Paul Gale. Although the original Chewbacca costume was created by makeup supervisor Stuart Freeborn, Attichitcuk's hairy bodysuit was made by makeup artists Stan Winston and Thomas R. Burman. Burman and his brother Ellis provided Winston with a a large amount of "Wookiee fur" mined from dozens of human-hair wigs, while Chewie's suit was made out of knitted mohair (made from goat and rabbit hair) and yak hair.

At some point after the airing of the Holiday Special, the American toy company Kenner envisioned an action figure line of Chewbacca's family. Prototypes were constructed of Chewbacca, Mallatobuck, Attichitcuk, and Lumpy, but the idea was ultimately dropped. The Attichitcuk prototype was in fact a modified Chewbacca figure with the bandolier strap removed and gray paint sprayed around the head and beard.

Sound clips of Itchy's growls from The Star Wars Holiday Special were used for a few of Tarfful's growls in Revenge of the Sith. Specifically, they were used during Yoda's "goodbye" scene to Chewbacca and Tarfful.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns
 * The Hutt Gambit
 * Death Troopers
 * Rebel Dawn
 * The Star Wars Holiday Special
 * The Wookiee Storybook
 * Star Wars 91: Wookiee World
 * Star Wars 104: Nagais and Dolls
 * Tyrant's Test
 * Star Wars: Chewbacca 1
 * Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
 * The Unifying Force
 * Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
 * The Unifying Force