Ephant Mon/Legends

"We are the slaves, to our own laziness, to our own comforts. We are nothing more than parasites, feeding on the lives of our fellows. This must stop."

- From Ephant Mon's memoirs

Ephant Mon was a Chevin male from the planet Vinsoth. Despite his awkward appearance, Mon was a skilled and powerful combatant, and during his youth, he was considered handsome by Chevin standards. He started off as a mercenary in his youth before becoming a gunrunner, supplying arms to all sorts of military factions, from planetary militia groups to the more organized Rebel Alliance. His goods were usually stolen Imperial weapons which, though outdated, were still serviceable. Mon also worked as a slaver at some point in his lengthy life.

An old acquaintance of Jabba Desilijic Tiure, Mon served as the Hutt's liaison and took care of his estate while Jabba was away on business. The Hutt's trust in Mon was founded in their life-long friendship, which saw the two friends pursue many collective paths, both having once worked together as high-risk gunrunners. After Jabba saved his life on Glakka, Ephant became the Hutt's head of security, rooting out several conspiracies and assassination plots. Although he repaid his debt in abundance, Mon's loyalty to Jabba was unswerving, and he kept his position for several decades, until Jabba's death in 4 ABY. Mon was extremely loyal to the Hutt, for Jabba had once saved his life&mdash;Mon regularly turned down extravagant offers from Jabba's rival, Lady Valarian, who wanted to see the old Chevin leave Jabba's employ and join her criminal enterprise.

Ephant Mon was friendly with many of the regulars in Jabba's Palace, such as the Klatooinian Barada; however, he particularly despised Ree-Yees and Salacious Crumb. Ephant, who was slightly Force-sensitive, did not perish in the Skirmish at Carkoon, instead preferring to stay at Jabba's Palace after he sensed the Force in Luke Skywalker.

Early life
"Maybe for you it was nothing. For me it was different. It was something all right. I had something. Simple maybe, but clean, open, and honest."

- Ephant Mon, remembering his time on Vinsoth

Coming from humble origins on Vinsoth, Mon was unhappy with the simple life and wanted to leave his homeworld and see the greater galaxy. He was picked up by mercenaries as an adolescent, and after a stint as a mercenary of considerable repute, Mon instead decided to turn to weapons-running. This choice was due to the conclusion that the selling of weapons was safer and made him more revenue than using them. He sold to everyone, including an assortment of pirates, outlaws, and even the Alliance; no one was quite sure where he got his weapons, though they were always of Imperial manufacture, and a few years out of date. He also worked as a slaver at one point. Sometime prior to 32 BBY, Ephant Mon met Jabba the Hutt. Their many smuggling exploits together helped Jabba's crime empire grow; Mon was the expert at acquiring certain commodities, and Jabba had the necessary distribution network to sell them.

Exploits on Cerea
"I will sell anything to anyone at anytime&mdash;if there's a profit in it."

- Ephant Mon

One year before the Battle of Naboo in 32 BBY, Mon was involved in a gunrunning scheme with the Trade Federation and a local firebrand named Bron on the planet Cerea. He was there to collect Malium, which was used for feeding the Tecave plant, the source of the euphoria-inducing substance known as Guilea. Malium was unique to Cerea, and it was illegal to export it, though the money it would make Mon meant that he did not care. He also smuggled contraband swoops and technology to Bron, and arranged transport offworld for Maj-Odo-Nomor, a young Cerean who was on the run after killing an innocent bystander with a lightsaber. Mon, Maj and the Band of Techrats, along with Sylvn, the daughter of famed Cerean Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi, had boarded Mon's ship, but they then found themselves trapped in an escape pod; the main hold of the ship was full of deadly divviks.

Sylvn was locked outside the pod, while Mon and the Techrats were safely secured inside. However, the pod could not be launched from the inside; only the manual release lever would send it out to space. Mon let Sylvn enter the pod, hoping that her father would come to the rescue, and as expected, Mundi arrived on the ship, eventually fighting his way through the divviks to the escape pod. Mon then demanded that the Cerean Jedi hit the manual release lever, thus ensuring the Chevin's escape, or he would ignite the pod's engines, killing all the passengers inside, including himself and Sylvn. He gave Mundi ten seconds to decide, though after several seconds Maj lunged at Mon, furious with him for putting their lives at danger. However, as the young Cerean launched at Ephant, the smuggler shot him in the chest with a blaster pistol, killing him instantly. As Ephant Mon counted down to one, Ki pulled the manual release lever, and Mon, along with a horrified Sylvn and her friend Twin, launched into Cerean space.

Mon then took Sylvn and Twin to Jabba's Palace on Tatooine, with Ki-Adi-Mundi following them. Jabba was furious with Ephant for returning without any Malium, and with a Jedi trailing him. The Hutt gangster was also worried that Mundi might intercept some ships belonging to Jabba's associates, which were full of illegal goods. Ephant decided to stage a distraction for the Jedi Knight, chaining Sylvn and Twin to the roof of Jabba's Citadel in the middle of a great storm. With the Jedi preoccupied fighting Weequay and Gamorrean thugs, Jabba sent the shuttles into space. Mon seemed to have escaped Mundi's wrath, as the Cerean and his daughter had gone after Jabba's shuttle.

Jabba's head of security
"Jabba Will not be pleased!"

- Ephant Mon

Decades after coming into conflict with Ki-Adi-Mundi, Ephant Mon and Jabba the Hutt planned to raid an Imperial weapons cache on the icy moon of Glakka. However, Jabba soon realized that they had been double-crossed by one of their own, and soon Imperial snowtroopers appeared. Stuck on an icy planet without transport or shelter, Jabba prevented Ephant from freezing by sheltering him within his layers of fat, an act of kindness unusual for any Hutt.

They barely survived the ordeal, and Ephant always felt he owed Jabba for saving his life. He remained in Jabba's inner circle for many years, acting as a secret head of security because of their friendship and Mon's loyalty to Jabba. As Jabba's head of security, his duty was to root out conspiracies and assassination plots. In a den as murderous as Jabba's Palace, the Chevin had his massive hands full keeping tabs on potential assassins. Ephant often got information from the B'omarr Monks, the ancient religious order that built Jabba's desert palace, and he always kept hidden bodyguards near to him. Due to their friendship and Jabba's trust in Mon, Jabba kept a bare minimum of tabs on the old Chevin, instead letting him conduct his business in whatever way he wished. The Hutt also let Mon run his business when he was visiting home, and although Jabba knew Mon would do a fine job, he always hated leaving Tatooine. The Hutt knew of Mon's loyalty, and may have exploited it. Mon was also one of few regulars in Jabba's Palace to have his own quarters.

Sometime after being appointed Jabba's head of security, Mon met with a historian&mdash;most likely Voren Na'al. Mon told the historian of what happened when Jabba's Gamorrean guards came to the Hutt's palace looking for work, explaining sardonically how they agreed to work for Jabba, but only if he could defeat them in a fight. Jabba wanted to employ the guards, who would be too stupid to try and betray him, so he accepted their proposal, on the condition that they must fight blindfolded, claiming that it was Hutt tradition to do so. With the dim-witted Gamorreans blindfolded, Jabba had his Nikto and Weequay henchmen mercilessly attack the Gamorreans. The Gamorreans were defeated, and they agreed to work for the Huttese crime lord, who they assumed had been single-handedly responsible.

During the Galactic Civil War, a spacer came to Ephant Mon looking for work, having already performed tasks for Ree-Yees and Reelo Baruk. After he completed their tasks, Mon gave him several jobs, the first of which was to kill some of Lady Valarian's men, who had been threatening to hurt some of Jabba's customers; Mon intended to show the planet that people who paid for Jabba's protection got protected. The spacer did his duty, and when he returned, Mon was impressed, paying him four hundred credits. Ephant then gave him another job, this time to take out one of Valarian's couriers, who was carrying some of her financial documents. Ephant was desperate to get the documents so he could finally ruin Valarian. The spacer killed the courier and brought the ledger back, and was paid five hundred credits by Mon. The ledger was written in Old Drall, and no one in Jabba's court could read it, so Mon had the spacer bring the ledger to a slicer indebted to Jabba named Sirad Far, who managed to decode it. The spacer returned it to Mon, who could now understand it.

Finally, Mon had the spacer get rid of some Sennex pirates. The pirates had been trading in slaves, and Jabba did not want competition. The spacer was ordered to go to the Sennex compound, kill the pirates, take their key-cards, and break into their database. The spacer returned, and Mon sent him to see Jabba's cook, Porcellus. When a Rebel operative posing as a smuggler from Glakka infiltrated Jabba's Palace looking for information about a missing ryll shipment, Mon immediately became cautious about the newcomer and began questioning him about him background. When a Rebel mistakenly admitted to know about Jeffren Brek's death on Glakka, Mon realized he was dealing with a liar, since Brek was never there, nor was he dead. He ordered the guards to grab the intruder, but Rebel's combat skills allowed him to escape the Palace.

Shortly after Princess Leia Organa, disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh, arrived in Jabba's palace, Ephant traveled to Mos Eisley to meet with Lady Valarian in her casino, the Lucky Despot. When Mon arrived, he ordered a drink from the Bith bartender, with a number of nearby patrons harassing the Mon and mocking his unorthodox face. At first, Ephant ignored them, but after one pulled a knife, Mon attacked them; he slammed his inhumanly hard head down on one of the men and stabbed the other with a vibroblade. Seeing the commotion, Imperial Prefect Eugene Talmont thanked Mon for ridding Mos Eisley of some more scum, before again departing. Mon then made his way to Valarian's personal chamber, where she offered him a fortune to leave Jabba and join her. However, for reasons unknown to her, he turned her down, preferring to stay in Jabba's employ.

Skirmish at Carkoon
"Goodbye, old friend."

- Ephant Mon to Jabba the Hutt

In 4 ABY, when Luke Skywalker came to "negotiate" with Jabba, Tessek approached Ephant Mon. The Quarren had used his contacts to check the Imperial wanted lists, and had discovered all of their prisoners were on it, including the droids C-3PO and R2-D2. The nervous Quarren had heard about the group's exploits, including their destruction of the Death Star. Tessek also believed that Skywalker was a Jedi Knight as he claimed, and that they were all in great danger. The accountant begged Mon to persuade Jabba to let Skywalker go free, as Ephant was the only one Jabba would listen to. Mon, despite his dislike for the Quarren accountant, agreed to speak with Jabba, though he visited the young Jedi first.

On his way, Ephant Mon found a drunken Ree-Yees, and uncovered a plot on Jabba's life, orchestrated by Tessek and the Corellian bounty hunter Dengar. Mon continued on to Skywalker's cell, where Skywalker sensed Ephant's friendship with Jabba. Luke asked him, as Tessek had done, to try and persuade the Hutt to release his prisoners, but the old Chevin replied that Jabba would not change his mind easily. Luke then grabbed Mon's shoulder, and the Chevin was treated to vivid visions of his time on Vinsoth. Ephant Mon sensed the Force in Skywalker, and felt that Jabba should not defy him.

Mon, unsure of what to do, went to his friend Barada for advice. He then told Barada something he had never told anyone before: that Jabba had once saved his life, and that was why Ephant was so loyal to him. Barada, surprised at hearing that Jabba was capable of such an act, told Mon to do what he had to do, that Mon had repaid his debt to Jabba. Mon then attempted to convince Jabba to agree to Luke's demands, but the Hutt refused. Ephant Mon also told Jabba of Tessek and Ree-Yees' plot to place a bomb aboard Jabba's sail barge, and tried to warn Jabba, but Jabba would not listen, feeling that his old friend was overestimating Skywalker. Thus, Ephant declared his debt to Jabba repaid and refused to accompany him to the Great Pit of Carkoon. Jabba, outraged at this apparent betrayal, stated that Ephant should be killed for this. However, due to their friendship, Jabba allowed Ephant to live, though he told Mon that he never wanted to see him again.

A new life
"You're not evil. Not like Jabba. I feel the good in you. You've just come so far from it, and you've lost your way back. Find it now. Help us. Save Jabba."

- Luke Skywalker

Shortly after Jabba's death, Ephant returned to his home planet, Vinsoth, and founded a religion based on worshiping the Force, even building a Force-cult Temple. However, he was not above occasionally using his old methods to get the funding his sect (and their expensive new temple) required. He also spoke out against the enslavement of the Chev people who shared Vinsoth with the Chevin.

Personality and traits
"No one tells me when to go or when to come. Including Jabba! I'm a free agent."

- Ephant Mon to Prefect Eugene Talmont

Ephant Mon was highly intelligent and slightly Force-sensitive, and although most found Mon repulsive, he was in fact a decent specimen among his people. He was liked by many of his peers, such as Barada and Tessek, and even some of his enemies, like Valarian. Even Luke Skywalker seemed to have some respect for the former mercenary, though many of Jabba's men hated Mon, especially the Gran spy Ree-Yees, who Mon fought with on several occasions. He was very good at his job, uncovering threats on his master's life that were very common among his den of drunks, gamblers, con men, and murderers. Mon did not want to live a life of crime, but once indebted to Jabba, he was forced to continue his criminal ways. Calm in the face of adversity, he never lost his cool, and although Mon was generally peaceful, he was not afraid of using his considerable strength when necessary. Until late in his life, he was like many Chevin&mdash;his only real care was for money, and he did not care what he did or who he hurt, as long as he ended up with a profit.

Powers and abilities
"You Bantha fodder looking for trouble?"

- Ephant Mon in the Lucky Despot

Ephant Mon had a varying range of talents and abilities and was fluent in Huttese, Basic, and Chevin. His skills in combat were impressive considering his bulky appearance, and he wielded both short-range and long-range weapons with skill. Mon was extremely good at his job; he had rooted out more than one attempt on Jabba's life in his long tenure as the Hutt's head of security. He lived a very long life for a criminal, though this was mainly due to him managing to betray his business associates before they betrayed him. As such, his loyalty to Jabba was unusual.

Equipment
Mon used an ancient bone as a walking stick, which had the Desilijic Clan emblem carved into the handle. He also carried a vibroblade, which was usually kept hidden under his tattered cloak. During his raid on Cerea, Mon had a ship, which he used to transport his illicit goods to and from Jabba's Palace on Tatooine. It was unknown what happened to the ship after Mon escaped from it with Sylvn in 33 BBY. Mon also used an XP-38A skiff to travel to Mos Eisley on business.

Behind the scenes
The name Ephant Mon is likely a pun on the real-life Elephant Man. Indeed, Ephant Mon was referred to as Elephant Man during pre-production of Return of the Jedi.

In the Return of the Jedi novel, Mon was aboard Jabba's sail barge and was involved in a confrontation with Ree-Yees. A similar scene was filmed for the movie (albeit with Saelt-Marae instead of Ephant Mon), but was scrapped during production. However, the novel's version is not considered to be canonical, as Mon was not on the Khetanna during the Skirmish at Carkoon in the short story Old Friends: Ephant Mon's Tale.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Republic: Prelude to Rebellion
 * Rebel Dawn
 * A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale webstrip
 * The Emperor's Court
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novel
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Old Friends: Ephant Mon's Tale
 * Goatgrass: The Tale of Ree-Yees
 * Taster's Choice: The Tale of Jabba's Chef
 * And Then There Were Some: The Gamorrean Guard's Tale
 * Epilogue: Whatever Became Of...?
 * Goatgrass: The Tale of Ree-Yees
 * Taster's Choice: The Tale of Jabba's Chef
 * And Then There Were Some: The Gamorrean Guard's Tale
 * Epilogue: Whatever Became Of...?