Frog-dog/Legends

"You loathsome two-eyed toad!"

- Ree-Yees to Bubo

Frog-dogs were a species of sentient reptiles with both dog-like frog-like features. Each member of the species had a large cranium that sported two large, protruding eyes and long, pointed teeth that stuck out from the mouth. Two squat limbs with five-fingered hands supported the body, although a frog-dog at rest kept his or her large, bulbous mid-section on the ground as well. The body tapered to a long, thin tail. Frog-dogs caught insects and other prey with a long, sticky tongue that darted from the mouth and retrieved the desired meal. The creatures hopped and waddled from place to place. Frog-dog vocalizations sounded like throaty barks and croaks.

Although they were both sentient and highly intelligent, frog-dogs were often mistaken for simple animals. They did nothing to change this misconception and sometimes even used to their advantage. A frog-dog might deign to live as the pet of another sentient being, or example, trading a life of denigration for a guaranteed source of food. Others worked as assassins and spies, using their unassuming appearance to get into position to complete a particular mission. The frog-dog Buboicullaar operated in this manner as a "pet" of both a tribe of Jawas on the planet Tatooine and of Jabba Desilijic Tiure in the crime lord's palace. While a member of Jabba's court, Buboicullaar plotted to kill his Hutt master. Meanwhile, he foiled a similar assassination scheme by the Gran Ree-Yees. Upon Jabba's death at the Great Pit of Carkoon, Buboicullaar joined the B'omarr Order.

Biology and appearance
"Stupid two-eyed maggot fish! It's a good thing I don't need you anymore!"

- Ree-Yees to Bubo as the Gran's assassination plot against Jabba the Hutt progresses

Frog-dogs were sentient reptiles with features of both frogs and dogs. They had two limbs that featured five-fingered hands with craggy gray nails. However, the shortness and splayed arrangement of these appendages kept the frog-dog body low to the ground, making each member of the species rest on his or her protuberant belly when at rest. In this position, most frog-dogs stood a mere 0.5 meters tall&mdash; although at least one specimen on Tatooine grew to at least four times that size. The body tapered to a long, thin tail towards the species' dorsal regions. Rows of bony lumps ran along the back and down the length of the tail. Frog-dogs were covered in warty hides whose pigmentation varied from individual to individual: possible colorations included brown, green, orange-red, purple, and yellowish dun, although boils, warts, and mottling of another color could appear as well. Frog-dog skin hung loosely on the frame; coupled with their large warts, this created folds so deep that small objects could be hidden inside the flaps.

A huge cranium dominated the forequarters of a frog-dog's body. Two bulbous, heavy-lidded, froglike eyes protruded from the top of the visage, their coloration varying from one frog-dog to the next. Possible hues included purple, red, and yellow. Frog-dogs had excellent vision, and they could focus their eyes independently. A wide maw full of row upon row of yellowed, needle-sharp teeth constituted the species' only other major facial feature. The lower jaw jutted out so as to allow these teeth to protrude even when the mouth was shut.

The teeth betrayed the frog-dogs' carnivorous diet. Members of the species ate animals of many kinds, although insects formed the main part of their nutrition. A frog-dog fed him- or herself by flicking out the long, prehensile tongue at a target. A sticky fluid allowed the tongue's bulbous tip to adhere to what it touched, so with a quick retraction, a frog-dog's surprised prey could find itself snapped up and in the frog-dog's mouth instantaneously. Frog-dogs in captivity ate nearly anything, including moldy bantha fat, gelatinous chuff, and pieces of Viridian termite jaws.

Overall, the frog-dogs' appearance made members of other sentient species regard them as simple-minded beasts at best, horrifying monsters at worst. Frog-dogs had two sexes, male and female. At least one member of the species carried smaller frog-dogs in the mouth, belching them out when threatened. Members of the species could live up to 100 standard years.

Society and culture
"I seek to learn. Unlike most of my brethren, I do not seek such abstract concepts as 'truth' and 'enlightenment.' I am looking to amass as much information as I can; something I would be unable to do in my body, for it would die after less than a century. This way, I can remain alive for millennia, learning and growing mentally, and then be returned to a corporeal existence whenever I choose."

- Buboicullaar on his decision to join the B'omarr monks

In the view of most other sentient species in the galaxy, frog-dogs seemed like non-sentient animals. The squat creatures had no native technology or language, and they seemed content to devote most of their time to eating and slobbering on themselves. Some sentient beings even took frog-dogs as pets, feeding them scraps when they begged with plaintive croaking, and keeping them harnessed and leashed with devices that fit around the frog-dog's neck and forelimbs.

In reality, this was just a front. Frog-dogs were highly intelligent beings, prone to contemplating difficult philosophical concepts, such as truth and enlightenment. Frog-dogs found it in their best interest to hide their intelligence from others. This afforded them access to food&mdash;scraps and crumbs if not more appealing fare, like Jawas &mdash;and it enhanced their usefulness as spies and assassins, thus providing them with employment.

Despite their lack of language, frog-dogs communicated their emotions via hisses, whines, croaks of laughter, and a that sounded like a cross between a bark and a croak. Their vocalizations could be both loud and throaty. Some members of the species had both a common name, known to outsiders, and a formal name, revealed only to close confidants. Frog-dogs relied heavily on their tongues to interact with the world around them; they tasted people to get a feel for them, as they could tell a great deal about a person by the way he or she tasted. The tongue also expressed emotion: curling in disgust, or tickling the roof of the mouth with joy.

Frog-dogs at rest often lay with the belly on the ground and the legs splayed, but some also stood upright with the tail held outstretched. They moved by shuffling on their two legs or by hopping. Despite this form of locomotion, frog-dogs could move with great stealth. If threatened, frog-dogs could fight by biting with the sharp teeth.

History
"What's so funny, little one?" "I ate the detonation link, my teacher. The crucial part in Ree-Yees's plan."

- B'omarr monk Nailati and Buboicullaar

Frog-dogs at large in the galaxy often found employ as assassins and spies, occupations in which they took advantage of the fact that other sentients often took them for non-sentient beasts. Other members of the species worked as watchbeasts, keeping guard for intruders on their employers' property.

Frog-dogs were present in the Mos Eisley spaceport on the planet Tatooine by 32 BBY. Years later, a frog-dog had joined the court of Jabba the Hutt in his palace on the desert world.

Buboicullaar, known to the members of Jabba's court as Bubo, lived in the Hutt's palace in 4 ABY. He was considered to be the pet of a tribe of Jawas and given the official role of Jabba's personal watchbeast, tasked with alerting the court to anyone entering the throne room. When the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 arrived in the palace in 4 ABY, for example, Bubo dutifully announced their presence with his throaty croak. The Gran Ree-Yees was placed in charge of the frog-dog's feeding and care, which prompted him to use Bubo in an attempt to kill Jabba. The Gran hid a demolitions transmitter among Bubo's flaps of skin. Nevertheless, Bubo hated his keeper, and he ate the device, foiling Ree-Yees's plan.

Bubo played up the misconception that he was non-sentient because, in reality, he was a spy and assassin who had been contracted to kill the Hutt; playing dumb allowed him unfettered access to the palace and proximity to his target. During his stay, Bubo befriended the B'omarr monks who roamed the palace halls in brain walkers. In fact, the monks were the only inhabitants of the palace to whom Bubo revealed his sentience. After Jabba was killed by a slave named Leia Organa Solo during the skirmish at Carkoon, Bubo gave up his life as an assassin and voluntarily let the B'omarr monks remove his brain from his cranium and place it in a brain walker. In this form, he spent his time pondering philosophy and the universe.

Behind the scenes
Industrial Light & Magic created the frog-dog Bubo as one of the background aliens for Jabba's palace in the film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, which was first released in 1983. The prototype maquette for the creature had a more upright stance than the final creation, standing on his two legs and not dragging the ground. The final character was a suit worn on the upper half of an actor's body; the performer's legs were hidden in a false floor. In the decades since the film's release, Bubo has often been confused with another creature seen in the film, the worrt. The two are members of different species.

Author Daryl F. Mallett expanded on Bubo's backstory in his 1996 short story "Tongue-tied: Bubo's Tale," providing his full name&mdash;Buboicullaar&mdash;and revealing him to be a frog-dog. Mallett was also the first author to establish the species' sentience. Nevertheless, the Jabba's Palace Limited expansion of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game treats Bubo as a non-sentient creature rather than an intelligent character. Other sources have followed Mallett's designation. The story "Goatgrass: The Tale of Ree-Yees" calls the character "a bubo" at one point, although it is unknown if this is a mistake or if "bubo" is a general term for all frog-dogs.

Bubo has since appeared in various adaptations of Return of the Jedi, including the Marvel comics version and the manga adaptation. Similarly, frog-dogs have become fixtures of Jabba's court in stories such as Jabba the Hutt: Betrayal, Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition, wherein they appear but play no major role.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Republic: Outlander
 * Jabba the Hutt: Betrayal
 * Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: Return of the Jedi 1: In the Hands of Jabba the Hutt
 * Classic Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars Manga: Return of the Jedi 1
 * Goatgrass: The Tale of Ree-Yees
 * Tongue-tied: Bubo's Tale
 * Skin Deep: The Fat Dancer's Tale
 * Epilogue: Whatever Became Of...?
 * Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

Notes and references
Krötenhund Frog-Dog