Jabba Desilijic Tiure/Legends

"If I told you half the things I've heard about this Jabba the Hutt, you'd probably short-circuit."

- C-3PO

Jabba Desilijic Tiure, better known as Jabba the Hutt, was an infamous Hutt crime lord who ran a large criminal empire in the Outer Rim Territories from his desert palace on Tatooine.

A gangster in the making


"Tell that slimy piece of worm-ridden filth that he'll get no such pleasure from us!"

- Han Solo

Born on Nal Hutta, Jabba was the child of Zorba. He took formal control of the Desilijic kajidic around 2 BBY when he killed the offspring of the former leader, Jiliac, as the old Hutt was dying following a grueling fight to the death with Durga the Hutt.

At the young age of 80, the up-and-coming gangster established his criminal empire in the out-of-the-way Tatoo system on its lone desert world, Tatooine. There, in 516 BBY, he moved operations into an old B'omarr Monastery and safely nestled himself in the planet's comfortable obscurity.

Rise of the Empire
"I see only a festering, mountainous pustule which fancies himself to be a high lord of merchants and criminals."

- Ki-Adi Mundi



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, Jabba was one of several gangsters who made his bid for power. His competitors 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 any means young, both had just been handed the reigns of power established by their respective criminal families. While Fromm played war games, Xizor and Jabba sensed the winds of change and spent their resources garnering favor with those who seemed to be shifting into power.

Interfering with Jedi business
"I have no wish to offend the Jedi. This would benefit no one"

- Jabba, deceiving Ki-Adi-Mundi.



A Jedi master by the name of Ki-Adi-Mundi, was an established guardian of Cerea and its pacifistic way of life. He foiled an ill-fated plan to smuggle goods into the planet, where he encountered Ephant Mon and Jabba. The Hutt also had Mundi's daughter and a friend of hers hostage, as his personal slaves. It wasn't until a fatal lightning storm, that Mundi had a chance to free his daughter and friend from the Hutt's slimy digits.

Mundi later returned to Tatooine to seek safe passage across the desert dunes. Jabba thought he recognized him, and lied to him about being an honorable being. He sent Mundi out on a skiff with a couple of his guards to "keep him safe from harm". Bib Fortuna, the Hutt's majordomo, noted that they sent the Jedi towards a sandstorm. Early on the ride, Mundi realized this, to which Jabba sarcastically said:


 * A pity I wasn't warned sooner. I hope nothing tragic happens during that storm. It would be hard to find a body under all those sand drifts.

Fortuna and the Hutt laughed as the skiff rode further towards the sandstorm ahead.

Jabba later went so far as to launch his own campaign against the Jedi Order during the purge.

A rivalry cut short
"I look forward to hearing of Gardulla's death."

- Jabba

Jabba had a fierce rivalry with Gardulla the Hutt.Before the Boonta Eve Classic, Jabba and Gardulla met. Jabba was surprised Gardulla made a full model of the race course. She also had a machine that would tell her and Jabba the winner. To Jabba's surprise, it said the winner would be Gasgano. Jabba's droid, R5-X2, showed Sebulba would come in first, Gasgano would come in second, and Mawhonic will be third. It also favored Gardulla's former slave, Anakin Skywalker. Jabba had Gardulla as his guest as he hosted the race, and when Skywalker came in first, it turned out Jabba outsmarted Gardulla and won the bet.

During the battle in the Jundland Wastes, Gardulla conceived a plot to assemble all her criminal underlings to launch an assault on the Tusken Raiders, dispatching the notorious bounty hunter Aurra Sing to destroy their Jedi leader, Sharad Hett. Contemporaneously, Jabba had the idea of sending out his thugs to raid the savaged Tusken camps, inciting the Sand People to launch their own raids. Jabba then planned to profit by the selling of Dreddon's overpriced surplus weapons to defensive civilians. Gardulla's plot, however, failed, forcing her to retreat to her palace in Mos Espa. This would be one of the Hutts' last confrontations with Gardulla.

When that rivalry got out of hand, Jabba hired Jango Fett&mdash;who had won an audience with the Hutt for bringing in Longo Two-Guns&mdash;to finish her off once-and-for-all. Jabba led Fett to Gardulla, and was quite pleased to hear that Gardulla was eaten by her pet Krayt dragon... though he was surprised that Fett never came to receive his bounty for Gardulla's death. He discovered the answer soon enough, for he later found out that Fett was killed on Geonosis. Later, Jabba would do business with Fett's notorious offspring.

Intrigue among the Hutts
"Han, Han my boy&hellip;"

- Jabba

Soon, the talents of a young, roguish smuggler named Han Solo caught the attention of Jabba and his great-uncle, Jiliac. Impressed with "their kind of scum", the pair hired Han to smuggle spice throughout the Galaxy, profiting from the distribution of the illegal drug. Han quickly proved his mettle, given tougher and more exciting assignments such as the infamous Kessel Run.

Initially unbeknownst to Han, Jiliac and Jabba were preparing to make their bid for supremacy among the Hutt kajidics by targeting the Besadii clan's spice refining operation on Ylesia. Han's proximity to the Desilijic clan led him to narrowly escape a brutal pirate attack, the blame of which was this laid upon the Besadiis. Aruk the Hutt, clan leader of Besadii, and his offspring, Durga, were outraged at the ensuing claims. A Council was convened on Nal Hutta to discuss the recent events, and the resulting verdict found the Besadii clan innocent of all transgressions. It was at this time when Jabba and Jiliac decided Aruk needed to die.

After Aruk was poisoned at Jiliac's behest, he and Jabba charged Han with visiting Coruscant: because of his familiarity with Imperial military procedure, Solo seemed the perfect candidate to bribe the Moff of Hutt Space, Sarn Shild. Han returned with success, and the Hutts prospered from the lack of Imperial entanglements.

It wasn't long before Aruk's son, Durga, suspected Jiliac's involvement in his father's demise and challenged Jiliac's right to rule under Old Law. Durga slew Jiliac, and&mdash;where most beings would have felt grief or anger&mdash; Jabba only saw an opportunity to advance. By killing Jiliac's helpless orphaned youngling, Jabba successfully established himself as the leader of the Desilijic kajidic.

Underworld overlord
"Jabba, you are a wonderful Human being."

- Han Solo

By the dawn of the Rebellion, Jabba had become the most powerful crime lord in the Outer Rim, perhaps even the galaxy, largely due to his near monopoly of the 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, whose business Jabba used every opportunity to attempt to destroy.



Even at the height of his reign, the crime lord dealt with recurring issues. Chronic illness caused him constant discomfort. Even his closest lieutenants had begun plotting his demise. The Hutt put his trust in no one other than his Nimbanese accountant Mosep Binneed 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, when he was boarded by a party from an Imperial. Jabba demanded that Han pay him the value of the cargo. When the smuggler failed to reimburse his long-time 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 in the Millennium Falcon's hangar bay, where he agreed to let Han go in exchange for a premium of 15 percent, 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 Binneed would pursue the acquisition of Han's debt personally at least two more times, he was ultimately forced to place a bounty on Solo which was eventually collected by Boba Fett (whom Binneed had personally hired).

After the Battle of Yavin, it was speculated that Jabba was the underworld kingpin who supplied the Imperial Dark Trooper project and provided the Empire with smuggling ships. His thugs hunted Kyle Katarn since General Rom Mohc put a bounty on his head. Katarn, however, managed to complete his mission on Nar Shaddaa by vanquishing all the thugs that hunted him, but Jabba's ship captured the Moldy Crow as they left the moon. Katarn and Jan Ors were imprisoned in the Star Jewel and fed to kell dragons, but Katarn was able to escape Jabba's clutches. However, this setback was not a major concern for the crime overlord.

Dealing with scum
"I can see that you're eager to get down to business, and so am I."

- Gaar Suppoon

Around one year after the Battle of Yavin, Jabba took his yacht Star Jewel and set off for the headquarters of Gaar Suppoon, an old acquaintance. Jabba informed Gaar that there was a bomb in his palace, but when the Galactic Empire sent Kosh Kurp to investigate, no bomb was discovered. After a heated dealing, with Jabba out-witting Gaar on every trade, Gaar tried to kill the Hutt.

Jabba responded by letting loose a fatally poisonous Tromonid on Gaar, which bit him almost immediately. Threatening to blow everyone up with a bomb he possessed, Jabba persuaded Gaar to give him everything they traded for an antidote to the fatal bite. When Gaar was reminded about the bomb, he played along and asked Jabba to detonate it.

Things took a turn for the wose when Jabba called Gaar by his real name, Sono Bomoor. Kurp recognized the name as that of the man who had killed his family, taking a shot. The blaster bolt ricocheted, exploding Gaar's head. Kurp realized he was the actual "bomb", and had played right into Jabba's plan.

While leaving the planet, Scuppa, the captain of Jabba's ship, spotted a Nuffin freighter; they thought it might have a wealth of riches for the taking. Jabba, Bib Fortuna, and two Weequays boarded the ship, leaving a Gamorrean guard behind to guard the ship. When the group entered the vessel, they were taken captive by the vile Princess Nampi.

Nampi put the guards and Bib into the larder, while Jabba and Scuppa went head-to-head with her. Jabba was eventually sent to the larder as well, refusing to give up the riches in the ship. Scuppa, being an opportunist, realized that he was now in charge of Jabba's finances and agreed to marry Nampi to preserve his life&mdash;foolishly, he didn't realize that Nampi's species ate the male on the wedding night. In horror, Scuppa became off Nampi's appetizer. When Jabba was called into her chambers to be the main course, he quickly comprehended what had happened, and used the situation to his advantage.

Long beforehand, Jabba had installed remote in Scuppa's skull that released Xenoboric acid should his captain ever betray him. Now in control, he offered Nampi a chance to give over her riches, lest he detonate the remote. With little regret, he pushed it, and in a matter of seconds, Nampi exploded. The guards and Bib were soon unlocked, looting Nampi's hold. Humorously, Jabba suggested that his Twi'lek majordomo "wear his boots" into the exploded viscera.

Jabba planned to then sell Nampi's ship to Cabroll Nuum. When faced with what to do with the deceased Princess's guards, Bib at first suggested selling them to Nuum as slaves; Jabba had a more sadistic idea, sending them into the vacuum of space to "see'em pop". When Jabba met up with Nuum, the meeting between the two crime lords started friendly. Things turned sour, however, over an argument with Nuum about the offer of Jabba murdering Vu Chusker, Nuum's rival. Nuum sent Jabba to a spare room, where his son, Rusk, soon contracted Jabba to kill his father instead. Jabba proudly obliged.

With Nuum suffocated in his sleep, Jabba enlisted Rusk as a dealer and partner. Rusk objected, sending Jabba to the deep holds. While in the prison, Jabba met another member of the family, Norba, who wanted Rusk dead. Like father like son, Jabba did so, crushing Rusk in his office with his own two hands. Norba then proceeded to send the Hutt to the deep hold.

When Norba came to visit the Hutt, Jabba laughed when she said she wanted Vu Chusker dead. Telling her to listen up, he leaned towards the bars of the cell. When she leaned in to listen, he pulled her into his mouth with his tongue and swallowed her whole. He then grabbed the keys and escaped. During his escape, Jabba ran into&mdash;of all beings&mdash;Vu Chusker. Without warning, he crushed Chusker into the ground and hovered away to his ship on his repulsor sled, stating he should have just killed Chusker in the first place.

When he returned to his palace, his devious assistant Bib Fortuna recruited six of Jabba's more dissatisfied minions (including Nivek) to kill Jabba's guards and make them tell all of their secrets for him. Unfortunately, shortly after they started putting the plan into action, guards Gru'um and Miramba unleashed a pack of freckers, spoiling the plan. Bib and the would-be assassins managed to kill all the freckers, earning thanks from the Hutt to Bib for remaining a loyal hero. Fortuna couldn't bring himself to kill Jabba following this&mdash;after all, Nivek and the other co-conspirators died in the struggle with the freckers, taking Bib's failed plan with them to the grave.

Black Sun
"Oh, You'll find working for Jabba the Hutt REAL interesting!"

- Big Gizz



When Jabba started his campaign against the Jedi Order during the purge, Jabba and Xizor built powerful criminal empires parallel with and in symbiosis to Palpatine's New Order. In the wake of the Clone Wars, c. 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 satellite dubbed The Trigon 1. Using its orbital laser and an army of clones created through Imperial granted Spaarti cloning cylinders, Fromm was still making ambitious 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.



After the Battle of Hoth, Darth Vader sent an agent named Jix to spy on Jabba, to keep an eye out for Luke Skywalker, and make sure nothing happened to him. While on Tatooine, he ran into Big Gizz and his swoop gang. They brought him before Jabba, since he was "looking for a job." When Jabba received word that Skywalker was more valuable to him dead, Jix was confused. He thought Vader wanted him alive, so with that in mind, when the gang ambushed Skywalker, Jix stopped Gizz from fatally shooting Skywalker by knocking him out with a rock. Skywalker took out the rest of the gang, while Spiker, another swooper, rode off with Jix. Jabba was furious and curious about the situation. He thought that was a great amount of luck for one man. He then explained that a change of plans has happened: Lord Vader wanted Skywalker dead (unknown to the Hutt that it was really Xizor who was attacking Skywalker). He had his suspicions about Jix, knowing the other bikers were too stupid to betray him. In the meantime, Boba Fett was trying to get Solo to him. When one of Jabba's aides found Jix messing with the security codes for a transmission, Jix killed him and took the key to the security code and transmitted to Vader. Right before Fett arrived, Jabba wondered why one of his aides was murdered. Right after he accused Jix, Fett arrived. He offered five thousand credits to anybody who could bring him Solo (so that he would not have to pay Fett the outrageous price). Fett did manage to get through and collect the bounty that Jabba was hesitant to pay.

The bargain
"We bring a message for your master, Jabba the Hutt.... and a gift. Gift? What gift?"

- C-3PO

The delivery of Solo to Jabba's Palace greatly pleased the Hutt, but the Rebel Alliance tried their best to get Han back. First, Luke Skywalker sent his two droids R2-D2 and C-3PO there with a message. The droids encountered a Gamorrean guard, named Ortugg, which Artoo banged into. After a discussion of who will deliver the message to Jabba, Bib walked them to the court. Jabba was amused by the new guests and allowed them to give the gift they needed to give. The message from Luke stated that he was offering a gift to Jabba, C3-PO and R2-D2, and would bargain on Solo's life. Jabba, after the message ended, stated there is not going to be a bargain, he likes Solo the way he is, his most precious decoration. C3-PO was wondering what came over Master Luke, because Luke failed to tell them any of this.

Beauty and the beast
"I know that laugh."

- Han Solo



After hearing the Max Rebo Band and seeing a Twi'lek dancer named Oola getting chomped down by Jabba's rancor when she refused to embrace the disgusting crime lord again, Princess Leia, disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh, brought along Chewbacca as her "prisoner." She wanted 50,000 credits for the Wookiee, when Jabba made an established 25,000. With frustration, Jabba knocked down Threepio. When Jabba asked why he must pay 50,000, she revealed she was holding a thermal detonator. He thought of this hunter as his kind of scum, and welcomed him to his court with an offer. Threepio told the "bounty hunter", Jabba will pay 35,000 and suggested he take it. The hunter took it and Chewbacca was incarcerated in the dungeons by Jabba's Gamorrean guards, while Leia remained in the palace. Later that night, Leia thawed Han Solo out of the block of carbonite he was in, but she and Han were caught by Jabba, Han noted he was sidetracked, but Jabba said it was too late. Han was put in the same cell as Chewbacca. Leia was confronted by Jabba, who made her his new slave girl. Leia was likewise defiled by the lecherous Jabba. At last Luke Skywalker arrived at the palace of the Hutt. He demanded the return of Solo and the Wookiee and noted that Jabba may be destroyed if he doesn't comply. Jabba did not agree, so Luke took a gun from a neighboring guard, as Jubnuk, another Gamorrean, came after him. Jabba dropped Luke down a trap door along with Jubnuk. Luke and the unlucky guard fell into the lair of Jabba's rancor. The rancor came after Jubnuk, and chewed him up with huge gulps, then swallowed the helpless boar. Jabba laughed at the guard's demise in amusement. Then the monster came after Luke, but Luke ran between the beast's legs to the other side of the monster's lair and killed the ferocious beast by destroying a panel that dropped a gate. The sharp points at the bottom of the door pierced the beast's neck and killed it. The rancor's caretaker, Malakili, was struck by depression when the beast died. Jabba was furious.

An empire's end
"Jabba, this is your last chance. Free us or die."

- Luke Skywalker



An enraged Jabba, translated through Threepio, stated that Solo and Chewbacca, along with Luke Skywalker, to be led to the Pit of Carkoon to be fed to the fearsome sarlacc. Jabba and his entourage went aboard Khetanna, his private sail barge, and the prisoners were carried on a smaller skiff. Just before Luke was to be thrown to the sarlacc, R2-D2, who was working on the sail barge at that time, launched Luke's lightsaber from a hidden compartment in his dome. Luke immediately launched an attack against the skiff guards, and a state of panic broke out onboard Khetanna. Amid the chaos, Leia shorted the lighting system, distracting Jabba. Taking advantage of her opportunity, Leia wrapped her slave chain under Jabba's fleshy chin, and began strangling the Hutt. Jabba tried to fight the feisty princess off, but to no avail. Unable to save himself, and with his minions too preoccupied to help, Jabba Desilijic Tiure breathed his last breath. Shortly afterward, Leia destroyed Khetanna with a blast from its deck-mounted laser cannon. The fireball engulfed the entire barge, and presumably incinerated Jabba's body.

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

Many years after Jabba's death, many Hutts wished that he still lived, for if he had, the Hutts theorized that they would have avoided the Darksaber project and their disastrous deal with the Yuuzhan Vong.

Posthumous legacy: the tape
Gorga the Hutt, Jabba's nephew, went to Jabba's palace seeking a part in his uncle's will. Gorga was given a small statue of a Hutt&mdash;a statue that held the key to Jabba's prized treasure trove. Gorga also desired the funeral urns of Jabba, but he had some competition: Spiker (who apparently survived his encounter with Solo and Fett) and Big Gizz (who survived his encounter with Jix and Skywalker). Upon learning of their boss's death, the happily reunited duo sought out his legendary treasures.

When the two discovered the vaults, however, they activated a security system that nearly killed them. It was a recording made by Jabba, who knew that Gizz was still alive and had predicted that he would try to steal his riches. In its self-destruction, the booby trapped tape almost killed the bikers. Later, to Gorga's horror, Gizz and Spiker dropped Jabba's urns on Gorga and his henchmen. The urns, of course, were destroyed in the process.

Diet
"Get me something to eat."

- Jabba

Jabba ate almost anything he pleased. He had his own cook, Porcellus, who made the Hutt his goulash desires. Gorks and Klatooine paddy frogs were some of his favorites that he'd keep in his feeding bowl, under his Hookah pipe. Amazingly, he was also capable of eating other beings (such as Humans, Humanoids, and Bith, to name a few), but only during emergencies. His last known meal was a paddy frog he took from his feeding bowl, right before a mysterious bounty hunter came in with a Wookiee. He also had drinks that were served to him on his sail barge.

Slaves
"You'll soon begin to appreciate me."

- Jabba the Hutt



Jabba had numerous slaves at all different points of his carrier, including Twi'leks, Humans, Rodians, and other unlucky female creatures that blessed his eyes. It's likely that most, if not all, of his slaves were horribly killed or eaten in order to please the Hutt. His most famous slaves were the dancer, Oola, Princess Leia Organa, and Diva Shaliqua.

Another slave once in his grasp was the daughter of Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, along with her close friend. They were held hostage by the Hutt until they managed to escape.

Behind the scenes
"Bo Shuda"

- Jabba's famous catchphrase





The original Jabba wasn't a Hutt creature at all, but based on a background character in the Cantina. This version appeared in the Marvel brand comics in the late 70’s. He was known as Jabba the "Hut".

In ROTJ, Jabba has three fingers on his blubbery sockets, while in TPM and ANH, he has 4.

Jabba the Hutt looks suspiciously close to Arabic jabhat al ħūţ = "the forehead of the fish", which is a suitable name for the star β Piscis Australis when considered in terms of the old pictorial constellations. In polish language, "zaba" (pronounced "jabba") means "frog".

In the classic Star Wars spoof Spaceballs, Jabba (and Pizza Hut) are spoofed in the form of "Pizza the Hutt" who appears very briefly at the beginning of the movie and is mentioned toward the end as having ate himself to death.

A newer Star Wars spoof, Thumb Wars, introduced Gabba the Butt. He was a giant foot with a face that was in the spoof.

Jabba's film appearances are often accompanied by Jabba's Theme.

A New Hope


During the shooting of A New Hope, George Lucas filmed a scene in which Jabba confronted Han Solo in Docking Bay 94 following the death of Greedo. The scene was filmed using the actor Declan Mulholland playing a stocky human in a shaggy coat. Mulholland was intended to be only a temporary stand-in that would be replaced by a stop-motion creature in post-production, but this process was unsuccessful due to the limitations in visual effects at the time. The scene was left on the cutting room floor for the 1977 theatrical release of the film.

Despite being deleted from the film, the scene appeared in three early Expanded Universe adaptations: Marvel Star Wars 2: Six Against the Galaxy, the film novelization, and the radio drama. These three sources were produced using the original film script, which used the spelling "Jabba the Hut," and went to press prior to the decision to cut the scene. The radio drama replaced Jabba with a character named "Heater" and the comic adaptation presented Jabba as a species later identified as the Nimbanel. Jabba's appearance as a Nimbanel inspired the identification of the Nimbanese species as servants of the Hutts, and retconned a Nimbanel seen in the Mos Eisley Cantina scene into Mosep Binneed, Jabba's accountant.



For the Special Edition release of A New Hope, Lucas challenged his special effects team to resurrect the deleted scene with a CGI Jabba. The original scene had been staged for two ordinary-sized humanoid characters, and Harrison Ford had walked around the other actor without allowance for the bulk and large tail that the later version of Jabba would have. Lucas and his effects team dealt with this by manipulating the image so that Solo appears to walk over Jabba's tail and Jabba yelps in pained surprise. Further, Jabba was made significantly leaner than the version shown in Return of the Jedi. In addition, as Solo walks towards his ship, he utters that Jabba is a "wonderful human being." Lucas considered attempting to replace the line, but the cost of bringing in Ford for ADR work prompted him to leave it in. Fans read the line as typical Solo wit, since Jabba is neither wonderful nor a human being.

Further improvements in CGI techniques led to yet another version of the scene for the 2004 re-release, improving Jabba's appearance.

In "Sleight of Hand: The Tale of Mara Jade", a story included in the anthology Tales From Jabba's Palace, an unnamed employee of Jabba described as a "fat, scar-headed man" appears. He tells Mara Jade that Jabba used to send him to meet with people outside the palace in his stead, and that some people used to think he was Jabba. His physical description agrees with either the cut scene from A New Hope or the narration in the novel. Declan Mulholland also inspired the appearance of Opun Mcgrrrr, a character in the short story "Spare Parts," though that character was an enemy of Jabba's.

Return of the Jedi




For his appearance in Return of the Jedi, Jabba was realized using advanced puppetry. Based on the creature design of Phil Tippett, the animatronic puppet was designed by Stuart Freeborn and sculpted by John Coppinger, who also helped build the puppet alongside Bob Bromley, Mike Osborn, Bob Keen, Richard Padbury, Jez Harris, and David Barclay.

When the cameras were rolling, Jabba required four operators. Barclay controlled his right arm, jaw and voice (which was later replaced by Larry Ward's dubbing), Toby Philpott controlled his left arm, head movements and tongue, Mike Edmonds controlled his tail and Coppinger remotely controlled his eyes. With three operators inside the puppet, filming was a difficult, warm and arduous process. Ed Asner voiced the role in the Return of the Jedi radio drama.

The Phantom Menace
Jabba made a minor appearance in The Phantom Menace using a better CGI model than the one seen in the A New Hope Special Edition. In the film's credits, Jabba the Hutt is credited as playing "himself". That was his last film appearance.

[[Media:jabba.ogg|Hear Jabba Desilijic Tiure]]

The Empire Strikes Back
Han Solo, C-3PO, R2-D2 and Chewbacca arrived at Tatooine ready to give their credits to Jabba. They were ambushed by Gand guards and brought before the Hutt. Jabba refused to accept Solo's money and ordered his execution.



Solo and Chewbacca were pitted against nexu beasts, but managed to escape with the help of Artoo. Their escape also unleashed the nexu, which wreaked havoc in the throne room. After the chaos was over, the wounded Jabba stated that rancor monsters were more controllable and ordered that his men find one. At that point, Darth Vader arrived and demanded to see Jabba's captives. The Hutt was forced to admit they had escaped. Vader took C-3PO with him as he left, causing Jabba to have another expense to add to his growing list.



Return of the Jedi
Leia Organa, disguised as Boushh, infiltrated the palace with Chewbacca as her captive. However, when Jabba became angry at Leia's demands, he lashed out at his translator droid, C-3PO, resulting in the droid losing his head. Jabba ordered Boushh to be killed. During the resulting scuffle, Leia's thermal detonator was activated, causing those assembled in the throne room to flee in panic. Jabba was unable to move himself under his own bulk, and with his aide having deserted him, Jabba and C-3PO were caught in the explosion that destroyed his palace.