Ponda Baba/Legends

"Negola dewaghi wool dugger?" "He doesn't like you."

- Ponda Baba and Dr. Evazan, to Luke Skywalker

Ponda Baba, also known by the alias "Sawkee" was an Aqualish pirate and the partner of Doctor Cornelius Evazan. He fulfilled the Aqualish stereotype of being an ill-tempered thug.

Biography


Ponda Baba became Evazan's partner after rescuing him from Jodo Kast on Corellia. For a time, he considered betraying Evazan and collecting the sizable bounty being offered. He decided against betraying the Doctor, and they began smuggling spice for Jabba Desilijic Tiure.

One fateful day on Tatooine, Luke Skywalker entered Chalmun's Cantina and sat down at the bar. After Baba growled a few words at Luke, Dr. Evazan informed Skywalker that his partner, Ponda Baba, did not like him. Despite Luke's efforts to avoid a confrontation, Ponda attacked him. The scuffle was ended when Obi-Wan Kenobi severed Baba's arm with his lightsaber.

Evazan tried to use his medical knowledge to replace Baba's arm, but the surgery was a failure, almost resulting in Baba's death. The two parted ways, with Baba swearing to impart vengeance on his former partner.



After a partial reconciliation, they reunited and set up a base in a castle on Ando. Evazan had created a mind-transferring machine, which Baba hoped would give him a new body. Evazan lured an Andoan senator to the castle, then trapped him in his machine. When Baba was in place, Evazan started the machine. The senator's and Baba's mind were transferred into each other's body. In an act of revenge, the senator detonated a thermal detonator, killing himself, but Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba managed to escape the explosion.

Behind the scenes


Ponda Baba was played by Tommy Ilsley.

In a well-known blooper, Ponda Baba's arm has fin-like hands when still attached, but is furry and clawed in the close-up shots of the severed arm on the floor. This probably inspired the writers at West End Games to postulate finned and clawed subspecies of Aqualish in Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races. Also, the severing of Ponda Baba's arm was the only lightsaber wound that did not cauterize on contact; a pool of blood can be seen on the ground.

Baba was first known to fans as simply "Walrus Man", the name of his original Kenner action figure. Ponda Baba was known only by this designation until 1989, when he was referred to by his proper name in Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope

An alternate version of Ponda Baba's confrontation in Chalmun's Cantina is shown in Robot Chicken: Star Wars. In this appearance, Baba is not a hardened criminal, but a harmless architectural draftsman visiting the bar with his wild friend Evazan. As he sits by Luke Skywalker, the scene plays out just as it does in the movie, only Ponda is complimenting Luke on his hair even though it looks like he is pushing on him. Evazan takes advantage of Luke's inability to understand Baba, and makes Luke think they are dangerous, as per the original movie. As Baba tries to explain the misunderstanding to Luke, Obi-Wan Kenobi cuts his arm off. In the end, his Gran employer fires him as he lost his arm and can't draw out designs.

In Family Guy's special episode Family Guy: Blue Harvest, the bar scene with Ponda and Evazan plays out as it does in the movie, until the part where Evazan says "I don't like you either." Luke replies, "You don't even know me!" Evazan decides that this is fair and introduces himself as "Pig-Nose," and Ponda as his brother-in-law Scott, who is visiting from Hoth. We learn that Scott is a stand up comedian as well. "I don't know why they call it Hoth. I mean, why not just call it 'Coldth.'"  Pig-nose tells him to settle down, and Scott explains that he's up after the Cantina Band.

In LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, Ponda Baba gets both arms cut off, where in the movie he only gets part of one cut off. Also, he dies in the video game, where as in the expanded universe he lives on until later.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Rebel Dawn
 * Star Wars Empire: Darklighter
 * Star Wars Journal: The Fight for Justice
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novel
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope junior novel
 * Star Wars 2: Six Against the Galaxy
 * One Last Night in the Mos Eisley Cantina: The Tale of the Wolfman and the Lamproid
 * Hammertong: The Tale of the "Tonnika Sisters"
 * Play It Again, Figrin D'an: The Tale of Muftak and Kabe
 * The Sand Tender: The Hammerhead's Tale
 * Doctor Death: The Tale of Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick
 * Smuggler's Blues
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * The Revenge of Tag & Bink
 * The Return of Tag & Bink: Special Edition
 * The Secret Tales of Luke's Hand
 * Robot Chicken: Star Wars