Bossk/Legends

"You can't pay enough for a bounty hunter of my expertise."

- Bossk

Bossk (meaning "Devours His Prey" in Dosh) was a Trandoshan bounty hunter and the pilot of the Hound's Tooth. He also held the title of Monarch of the Qotile system. He was particularly unfond of Chewbacca and his Human partner Han Solo. He would face them several times, and would be one of the six bounty hunters Darth Vader hired to track down and capture the Millennium Falcon. Despite the fact that Bossk loved to hunt and skin Wookiees, he would unknowingly aid in the freeing of hundreds of Wookiee slaves on the island world of Lomabu III. He was also a frequent partner and foe of both Boba Fett and Zuckuss, both fellow bounty hunters. After being repeatedly beaten by Boba Fett, he would eventually boost his reputation as a bounty hunter by defeating Fett on Tatooine.

The Beginning
Cruelty and often-uncalculating rages defined the bounty-hunting career of Bossk, born the son of Cradossk, leader of the Bounty Hunters Guild, on Trandosha. His very first act was to eat his unhatched siblings, something that made his father beam with pride. Being a Trandoshan, Bossk began his career by Wookiee hunting, typically considered suicidal if attempted by any other species. During this time, Bossk made a name for himself and began accepting bounties on non-Wookiees as well, becoming one of the galaxy's most feared bounty hunters.

Before being allowed to join the Bounty Hunters Guild, Bossk prowled the Kashyyyk system in a Sabaoth starfighter during the Clone Wars.With it he engaged in a dogfight with Jedi Master Bant Eerin and her apprentice during the Republic's hunt for the Confederate scientist Bitt Panith, but was defeated. At some point during the Clone Wars Bossk was a wanted individual, and a thirty-five thousand credit bounty was placed on his head for "crimes against the Republic."

Bossk once teamed up with Skorr in a hunt for an agent known as Kestrel. They caught up with her on Ord Mantell, but failed to capture their prey. Though he is a guild member, he did not enjoy teams, such as with the short, waddling Zuckuss.

Early in his career, Bossk had a run-in with Chewbacca and Han Solo that left him vengeful and angrier than even most other Trandoshans. The hunter and his partners had uncovered a Wookiee safe planet and caught the Wookiees, led by Chewbacca, just as they were settling in. Just before Bossk could capture the entire group, a bounteous gift for the scorekeeper indeed, Han Solo returned and destroyed Bossk's ship by landing the Millennium Falcon on it. The Trandoshan hunter was stranded and left to his own helpless rage. It is rumored that none of his partners survived his anger. After his first ship was destroyed, Bossk purchased the Hound's Tooth and continued his hunting but always kept a special place in his cold heart for his grudge against Chewbacca and Solo.

Under the Cartel and Consortium
Bossk then accepted a job by the Hutt Cartel to eliminate Tyber Zann after he deactivated the droideka Mark IIs on Hypori, but Zann later hired him away from the Cartel with promises of triple Jabba's pay. He then assisted Tyber defending himself from the Hutt Cartel's landing forces. Bossk later assisted the Zann Consortium in several missions around the galaxy, up until Tyber came to Carida to meet Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn. Bossk then stole a Sith artifact from the Consortium and sold it to the Galactic Empire&mdash;although this was apparently all part of a plan concocted by Zann. Afterwards, Bossk presumably left the Consortium's service.

Emperor's Most Wanted
"'I'll share nothing with lackeys like you."

- Bossk

Following the battle of Talus, Bossk became involved in capturing Emperor's Most Wanted, individuals from a list of high-paid bounties on critical Rebel Alliance leaders. Bossk delivered his captive to Tatooine and escorted him to an Imperial prison facility near Dee'ja Peak on Naboo. He later escorted the captives being held there to an Imperial prison facility near Bestine on Tatooine. Back at Bestine spaceport, Bossk was loading a repulsorlift stacked with cargo onto the Hound's Tooth, when he was approached by a Rebel agent pretending to be working for Borvo the Hutt. The agent tried to learn the location of the facility where Rebel prisoners were held, but Bossk was unwilling to share such information with whom he assumed to be Hutt's lackeys and, summoning some of the thugs who worked for him, tried to teach the "messenger a lesson". However, the Rebel did not come unprepared and, with a help of his backup, was able to defeat the thugs and subdue Bossk. The Trandoshan was asked about the location of the facility again, he taunted the Rebels back but, since was already paid, was losing nothing when he described the location. He was certain that the Rebel could not even get close to facility, but to prevent him from alerting the Imperials of the upcoming raid, he was temporarily held in Mos Eisley for a few hours of questioning.

Taking Control of the Guild
As the direct heir of the Bounty Hunters Guild, Bossk had been plotting his father's demise for some time. The Guild was everything to the brutal hunter, and he refused to watch his father's senile claws destroy what was rightfully his. After enacting a brutally efficient plot to overthrow Cradossk and set himself up as leader, Bossk went on a bounty with Boba Fett, IG-88B, Zuckuss, and D'harhan where he narrowly avoided an assassination attempt by Zuckuss (who was working with Cradossk) by bribing the other hunter to his side. Bossk returned, to the surprise of his father, and violently slaughtered him, using his fathers own weapon, an ornamental dagger, and devoured him as the Guild complex erupted into a massive firefight. After this, however, the Guild had been split in half. Bossk was the leader of the Guild Reform Committee, which consisted mostly of younger hunters, and was fixed on destroying the True Guild, which he saw as old, lazy hunters.

Requirement with Fett
Against his better judgment, Bossk again worked with Boba Fett to track down the rogue stormtrooper Trhin Voss'on't. After nearly dying, Bossk managed to help Fett capture the defect Imperial only to double-cross the other hunter. Bossk reasoned that Voss'on't's bounty could help give the Committee the upper hand in the Bounty Hunter Wars, and would do it much better if he collected all of it. After disabling Slave I internal defense systems, Bossk captured Fett on his own ship. Luckily for him, Fett had foreseen this complication and had already hired Zuckuss to back him up after gaining the bounty. Bossk was subdued, and then Zuckuss was also double-crossed. Boba Fett in the only escape pod blasted the two hunters out of Slave I. Angrily, Bossk threw a miniature thermal detonator into Fett's ship just before he was launched, which gave the pod enough time to escape.

A chance meeting
In 1 ABY, Bossk was doing some work for Jabba the Hutt. While taking a small break in the Mos Eisley cantina, he met a nameless spacer, and thought this person could help him with some of his work for Jabba. Bossk's first task for the spacer was to find out which smuggler in Jabba's employ tipped Lady Valarian off on a spice shipment he was running. Bossk instructed the spacer to kill nearby Valarian supporters until they found the information they needed. The spacer eventually discovered the identity of Jabba's traitor and executed him. The spacer returned to Bossk for a 10,000 credits reward.

Bossk ran into the spacer several days later in the Mos Eisley cantina and offered him another assignment. Jabba and the mayor of Mos Eisley had a disagreement, and Jabba wanted revenge. He planned to trick the Tusken Raiders into attacking Mos Eisley, but one of them had learned of this plan, and was on his way to his people to warn them of the trickery. Bossk instructed the spacer to go speak to one of his contacts in Mos Espa, a Jawa, to learn where the Tusken was. The Jawa gave the spacer the Tusken's last known location. The spacer traveled out to the sand wastes, found the Tusken, and killed him. Bossk rewarded the spacer for a job well done with 20,000 credits.

Bossk met the spacer a third time, and gave them yet another task to complete. This time, Jabba had made a bet with a fellow Hutt. The bet was who could acquire the greatest trophy in the least amount of time. Jabba could think of only one thing to come out on top - the shroud of a Nightsister. The spacer traveled to Dathomir, and after much searching, and an arduous battle with one of the Force-sensitive witches, was able to secure a shroud for Jabba. The spacer returned it to Bossk, but Jabba declared it not good enough, that he need the shroud of a Nightsister elder. The spacer returned to Dathomir and somehow retrieved the elder shroud and gave it to one of Jabba's agents in Wayfar, who rewarded the spacer with 50,000 credits and a specially modified carbine rifle.

Bossk met with the spacer a fourth and final time in the Mos Eisley cantina. Jabba had become worried about the activities of the Black Sun criminal syndicate, and paid an informant to spy on them. Sadly, the informant was discovered. Jabba now needed someone to test the Black Sun's strength. The spacer infiltrated the Death Watch Bunker on Endor and battled many of the Black Sun agents inside, gathering information along the way. Satisfied that they had tested the strength of the Black Sun's, the spacer returned to Jabba's agent in the Wayfar cantina and was reward with 100,000 credits and a special pair of gloves which improved the user's accuracy.

The Hunt for the Millennium Falcon
Even though Han Solo and Chewbacca again slipped through his claws due to help from Luke Skywalker, Bossk was one of 6 hunters hired by Lord Vader to hunt down and capture Solo. The Trandoshan hunter took it as a point of honor and revenge to capture his wretched Wookiee enemy and his weak Human counterpart. He grudgingly teamed up with the amateur bounty hunter Tinian I'att and Chenlambec, believing they had inside information about Solo's whereabouts. They also offered information on a Wookiee intelligence network that, if hacked, could give information to Bossk that would allow him to track down and kill thousands of Wookiees. They travelled to Lomabu III in the Aida system. They were able to hack into the Hound's computer, trap Bossk in a meat locker, and take over the ship. Using the Nastah Pup they attacked an Imperial Wookiee prison, allowing countless Wookiees to rebel against their captors. They then used the Hound to transport the hundreds of Wookiee slaves and delivered them to the Rebellion. They then delivered Bossk to the Empire, who paid a bounty on him, for illegal Wookiee pelting, which was really a lie used by the pair of false bounty hunters to receive extra credits and get Bossk off of their hands. When given over, an Imperial planned to have Bossk skinned and made into a dress for his wife. Bossk somehow escaped from his prison and retrieved his ship, which Chenlambec the Wookiee had taken.

Murder of Hal Horn
In 3 ABY, Bossk somehow ran afoul of the Corellian Security Forces. The bounty hunter killed Hal Horn and the two men he was meeting, and was apprehended by Corran Horn shortly after. However, he was released from custody by CorSec's Imperial Liaison Officer, Kirtan Loor in exchange for taking a job for the Empire.

The final encounter with Fett
Quite some time later, after Boba Fett's "death", Bossk had another run-in with the hated hunter. He was forced to abandon the Hound's Tooth in a panic as a bomb calmly counted down the seconds remaining to detonation. Again, Bossk found himself in an escape pod because of Boba Fett and seethed silently to himself. Suddenly, a countdown began echoing in the escape pod. In a frenzy, Bossk tried to find the bomb, managing to discover just as the countdown reached zero... and nothing happened. It was then that the hunter realized that he had been scared off of his own ship, and he now knew that Fett hadn't in fact been killed by the sarlacc and was now using the Hound's Tooth as his own ship. Bossk landed on the surface of Tatooine, where he was stranded without any source of credits. Luckily for him, he had managed to steal an important piece of evidence from Slave I that led to another show down with Fett in the Mos Eisley Cantina. Bossk held his ground against the fearsome hunter, refusing to give the location of the evidence without money, even with Fett's blaster trained on his forehead. Boba Fett uttered the unthinkable words "You win" and transferred a large amount of credits into Bossk's account in exchange for the evidence. It is believed that Bossk used this money (not to mention the new respect he earned for defeating Boba Fett) to get back on his feet in the bounty-hunting world.

Retirement
Years after the Battle of Endor, Bossk retired from professional hunting. He later ran into Han Solo on a space station orbiting Ord Mantell during the Yuuzhan Vong War. When he heard of Chewbacca's death, Bossk rubbed it in Solo's face... and received a broken snout in return. The encounter elevated into a fight, and both Bossk and Solo were put into arrest cells. Solo was allowed to leave shortly before the invasion of the space station, but Bossk had to stay. It is said that an escape pod was shot out of the space station right before the destruction.

Behind the scenes
Actor Alan Harris portrayed the role of Bossk in The Empire Strikes Back.

The costume is an unaltered 'High-Altitude Windak Pressure Suit' developed in 1962 by Baxter, Woodhouse and Taylor Ltd. to fulfil R.A.F. (British Royal Air Force) requirements. It is also the same suit used by BoShek and an another unnamed extra in the Mos Eisely cantina. The white flack vest is part of the suit, so it is likely that those worn by X-wing pilots were based on these. The leg bands strapped around each of Bossk's legs are flare pistol cartridges similar to those worn by the German Air Force during WWII. These flares were also worn by Rebel pilots.

In the video game Star Wars Galaxies, you can sometimes find Bossk inside Tatooine cantinas, where you are able to do quests on his behalf in order to gain rare items.

In the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 version of the video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed "Bossk" is an achievement for killing 200 Wookiees in the game's prologue level, set on Kashyyyk.

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * Tall Tales
 * The Lost Lightsaber