Gardulla Besadii the Elder/Legends

"The great army of Gardulla is on the way!"

- A Rodian aide

Gardulla Besadii the Elder, better known as Gardulla the Hutt, was one of many powerful and greedy Hutt crimelords who controlled Tatooine. At one point, the feminine-natured Hutt owned Anakin Skywalker and Shmi Skywalker. However, she would eventually lose them to the Toydarian junk dealer Watto in a podracing bet. Excessive gambling would continually mar her long life with failure and defeat. Gardulla the Elder was the mother of Gardulla Besadii the Younger and Decca.

Consequences of gambling and crime
Gardulla's criminal activities flourished during the golden age of her rule, in which her use of slavery would seem to have granted her great fortune, although it caused numerous conflicts between her and the more powerful Jabba Desilijic Tiure. At one point, she resorted to a limited partnership with Jabba, who would become her greatest rival, after she lost her entire fortune on gambling. Gardulla, however, would still maintain power over her slave trade franchise.

The Republic soon outlawed slavery in the Outer Rim Territories, as soon as the two Hutts' agreement was reached; Gardulla was to be sentenced to life in prison. Eventually, though, she escaped and returned to Tatooine, where she would control her failing criminal empire.

Rumors of a romance between Gardulla and Jabba erupted, with her presence at his Tatooine townhome only fueling the speculation. Her true motivations however, remained her own.

The Boonta Eve Classic
Gardulla had been a supporter of the Dug podracer, Sebulba. However, briefly before the spectacular Boonta Eve Classic in which Sebulba was to participate, Gardulla tried to trick Jabba into thinking a less likely racer, the Xexto, Gasgano, would win. She predictably failed in her cunning and felt she was tricked herself in that Jabba's astromech droid determined Anakin Skywalker might succeed. She had wagered that he'd lose, so, to be completely sure, Gardulla employed the use of her dancer and majordomo, Diva Funquita, to find someone in Mos Espa to sabotage the boy's podracer.

Funquita would then hire the Nuknog racer, Ark "Bumpy" Roose, to carry out the job. However, Roose would incidentally sabotage the podracer of Ben Quadinaros. The effect of this was apparent when the race began and Skywalker busted through to a top place after a small slow start and Quadrinaros' racer awaited its eventual explosive doom at the starting point, barely moving less than over the start line for the first lap. Gardulla had to, of course, have been humbled as well as infuriated.

However, after the race, Gardulla opted to try to persuade Watto to sell Anakin back to her. Unfortunately, Watto was never able to retrieve the boy from Qui-Gon Jinn, who took him away to Coruscant to become a Jedi.

Shmi Skywalker, on the other hand, remained in Watto's retinue until, years later, he sold her to moisture farmer Cliegg Lars, who promptly freed and married her.

Battle in the Jundland Wastes
The attack on the Tusken Raiders of Tatooine's Jundland Wastes would end up being the ultimate triumph and failure of Gardulla the Hutt. It traced its origins years back to when the Hutts were stuck with a junk surplus of weapons in the possession of Dreddon the Hutt. Jabba conceived the idea of sending thugs to raid Tusken camps, in turn causing the Sand People to raid nearby settlements, which gave the civilians a need for weaponry. Jabba then continually sold portions of Dreddon's surplus at inflated prices, increasing the profit of the Hutts. He remained the hero.

However, Gardulla decided to assemble all her criminal forces to launch an assault on the Tusken Raiders, dispatching the bounty hunter Aurra Sing to personally assassinate the unbeknownst Jedi leader, Sharad Hett. Her plan was to puncture the Tusken Raider defenses and slay all in the army's path, thus ending the "Tusken threat" and stopping Jabba's weapon franchise. She hoped that Nal Hutta would then see to it that she managed Tatooine.

But Gardulla's plot for consumption of power failed and Gardulla was forced to retreat to her palace in Mos Espa, but not without the mortifying and degrading assistance of her rival, Jabba, who was tipped off by Sing, who was apparently a double agent.

At some point, Gardulla presumably established Gardulla Oola hotel in Mos Eisley.

Jango Fett
"There's one more thing, Gardulla: Jabba sends his regards."

- Jango Fett

At some point Gardulla became associated with Komari Vosa, leader of the deadly Bando Gora cult. Gardulla used her resources to transport tainted deathsticks for the Bando Gora; these deathsticks would turn users into mindless slaves, whom Gardulla would then dispatch to Vosa. Separatist leader Darth Tyranus dispatched bounty hunters Jango Fett and Montross to track down and destroy the cult; Fett and his partner Zam Wesell followed leads across the galaxy until it led to Gardulla. While changing into a "disguise", the shapeshifting Clawdite Wesell was captured and imprisoned in Gardulla's dungeons, waiting to be fed to her pet canyon krayt dragon.

However, Gardulla did not know that Zam was working with Jango Fett. On a tip from Jabba Desilijic Tiure, Jango infiltrated Gardulla's palace soon afterward. When he refused to release Wesell from her cell, she called for the guards and Jango was captured. Brought before Gardulla, she ordered Jango to be fed to her krayt dragon and have Wesell sold. Jango managed to escape the krayt dragon, and after defeating legions of armed guards, he burst into her throne room. Jango interrogated the Hutt about Komari Vosa, but she refused to tell him anything, saying he didn't know what he was up against. Jango then walked behind her, and pushed her off her throne into the beast arena. Gardulla was swallowed by the dragon in a matter of seconds. However, she survived this encounter, the krayt dragon finding her to be indigestible.

Working for Jabba
"No one can outsmart a Hutt! And no one can digest a Hutt, either!"

- Zorba Desilijic Tiure

During the Clone Wars, circumstances found her working for Jabba, serving as his representative on Nal Hutta. She, along with the other head of five Hutt families, listened to Ziro the Hutt's testimony regarding a holo-diary listing the crimes of the Hutt Council. When Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Quinlan Vos arrived on Nal Hutta to report that Ziro had escaped with the help of Cad Bane. Gardulla told Kenobi that she and the rest of the council knew of this already. When Vos stated that he thought that they were behind Ziro's escape, Gardulla threatened Vos, saying that if he were alone, he would not be allowed to leave alive. After Ziro escaped, she and the Hutt Council hired Cad Bane to track down the diary and Ziro, who had just escaped with the help of Sy Snootles. Unknown to Gardulla, Sy was also hired by Jabba to kill Ziro once the diary was in her possession. She killed Ziro and delivered the diary to Jabba before Bane could arrive.

Slavery on Tatooine
"Jabba's a little more clever than most people realize, which is one of the reasons he's stayed in business for so long."

- Ephant Mon

At the time of the Galactic Civil War, Jabba ran the slave trade on Tatooine. When he learned in advance that the Empire was planning to outlaw all other slavery but their own, he cut a deal with Gardulla: Gardulla got all the slave trading while Jabba got all other illegal activities on the desert world. Shortly after the Empire instituted the ban on slavery, Gardulla was arrested and disappeared.

Behind the scenes
Gardulla's voice in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter was provided by Susan Boyd.

Appearances

 * Darth Plagueis
 * Episode I Adventures 5: The Ghostling Children
 * Episode I Adventures 6: The Hunt for Anakin Skywalker
 * Episode I Adventures 7: Capture Arawynne
 * Episode I Adventures 8: Trouble on Tatooine
 * Podracing Tales
 * Catch That Pit Droid!
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace novel
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace comic
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace junior novel
 * Episode I: Qui-Gon Jinn
 * Star Wars: Republic 11: Outlander, Part 5
 * Star Wars: Republic 12: Outlander, Part 6
 * Star Wars: Bounty Hunter
 * Jedi Quest: The Shadow Trap
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars novel
 * The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
 * Tatooine Ghost
 * Star Wars Legacy 37: Tatooine, Part 1
 * Tatooine Ghost
 * Star Wars Legacy 37: Tatooine, Part 1