Max (bunny)

"He's a bunny, I'm a dog. We're dangerous, but we work cheap."

- Unidentified sentient dog

Max was a demented, diminutive, and destructive member of the bunny species. Over the course of his career, he worked with several different beings, such as an unidentified sentient dog and New Republic agent Kyle Katarn. His visage could be found in various locations across the galaxy, notably in Fuel City, on the world of Sulon. On that same planet, Max would stay at the House of Max, in the capital city of Barons Hed. Later, he teamed up with Katarn to hunt down Derrida, a spy who had taken refuge at the Kwenn Space Station. The pair were able to apprehend the Ketton agent, but nearly destroyed the station while doing so.

Biography
Max, a bunny, was a homicidal and demented being, said to be the size of a pint. He worked frequently with an unidentified sentient member of the dog species and was considerably dangerous in his work, though he asked for only a small fee. Max's visage could be found in at least two locations. A representation of his head could be found within a Buick spacecraft and on fueling pipes in Fuel City, Sulon. In 5 ABY, Max was staying at the House of Max in the city of Barons Hed, the capital of Sulon. He was sharing a room with a female Human, and had armed himself with a modified Bryar pistol that could fire repeating blasts.

One day, when the female Human decided to go to a nearby market, a man by the name of Kyle Katarn barged in. Katarn, a New Republic agent, was pursuing a personal vendetta against the Dark Jedi Jerec, and sought to reach the city's Government House. There, the droid 8t88 was deciphering a map to the Valley of the Jedi, a location Katarn's late father had sworn to protect. Katarn had taken it upon himself to pursue the matter; however, Gran thugs and Grave Tusken mercenaries prowled the streets of Baron's Hed, making Katarn's trip potentially hazardous. Max decided to accompany Katarn on his journey, and took his heavily modified pistol to the numerous thugs in a haphazard and frantic manner. Once the New Republic agent had reached the Government House, the pair parted ways.

Katarn and Max would later team up to apprehend the Ketton spy Derrida. They caught up with him on Kwenn Space Station, located in the outer reaches of the Mid Rim. They were able to successfully capture Derrida, but in the process they nearly destroyed the space station.

Personality and traits
A highly destructive being, Max suffered from deteriorated cognitive functions. His sentient dog partner considered him to be highly dangerous, and when Max was pursuing Derrida on Kwenn Space Station, his actions, combined with those of ally Katarn, nearly razed the installation.

Behind the scenes
Max is one half of the crime-fighting duo "Sam & Max," originally created by Dave Purcell, and later refined by Dave's brother, Steve Purcell. The characters made their first published appearance in the California College of the Arts weekly newspaper, although seven years later, in 1987, they would star in the full-length comic Sam & Max: Freelance Police, which was written, penciled, and inked by Steve Purcell. The comic continued a successful run for several years, and Purcell eventually started working at LucasArts as an animator. The company soon began publishing a quarterly magazine, called The Adventurer. Purcell was approached to write Sam & Max comics for the magazine, and he agreed. During his run, he wrote several Sam & Max comics that parodied Star Wars.

The character of Max (sometimes accompanied with Sam) made Easter egg cameos in other LucasArts games, such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Secret of Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle and others.

Eventually, in 1993, LucasArts approached Purcell once more, this time to create a game based on Sam & Max. He agreed, and helped design the game, which was dubbed Sam & Max Hit the Road.

In the game, Max was voiced by Nick Jameson, who frequently voiced characters in Star Wars games, notably Emperor Palpatine. He also voiced Kyle Katarn for 1995's Star Wars: Dark Forces. In 1995's Dark Forces, the outline of Max's head can be seen in the map of Ice Station Beta. A year later, in 1996's Shadows of the Empire, Max's head is used as an icon for a "Challenge Point," found in the game's Mos Eisley level.

In 1997, however, Max would receive his most substantial cameo, in the game Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. The character actually has two cameos within the game, the more minor one being in "Level 9: Fuel Station Launch." At the end of the level, the player can see three images of Max's face on a part of Fuel City's docking array. A far more substantial cameo appeared earlier in the game, at "Level 5: Baron's Hed - The Fallen City." If the player moves across the lowest step of a staircase in the early stages of the level, a woman in a nearby building will open a door and leave. If the player moves quickly enough, they can sneak in through the opened door. If they are too slow, they can wait for the woman to return and open the door once more. Within the building, standing on a large chair, is Max himself, armed with a Bryar pistol. If the character interacts with Max, the bunny will actually help the player throughout the rest of the level. Should the player choose to fire on Max, however, the bunny will start shooting them. Players could also interact with Max once more to activate the "MaxCam," which would show the level from Max's perspective. The game's strategy guide would later identify Max by name, and provided tips to help players find the "Easter egg." Max's physical appearance in the game hews closely to the original drawings by Purcell, and his zealous wielding of a proportionally oversized gun is culled directly from the Sam & Max mythos. Following Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, Max made only one more cameo in a LucasArts game: 2003's Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike. Within the game the player has the opportunity to use cheat codes, with which they may unlock the Buick, which is used as a spacecraft. Within the "cockpit" of the Buick is an image of Max's head.

Canonicity
Two years later, in 2005, The Dark Forces Saga, a series of game scenarios written by Jason Fry and Abel G. Peña was released. In it, the phrase "demented, pint-sized lagomorph" was used to identify one of Kyle Katarn's comrades. The description had been used to describe Max within Sam & Max Hit the Road, and Peña later confirmed that the lagomorph in question was indeed Max. Peña purposely referenced Max in connection to Derrida as an homage to the real world philosopher Jacques Derrida, a Deconstructionist. Peña felt that the message of Deconstructionism was appropriate when referencing a "quasi-canonical Easter egg" like Max because Star Wars continuity, like actual reality, is uncertain and will "always be undermined."

When asked about the canon status of Simon the Killer Ewok from the video game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, Leland Chee compared him to Max.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Dark Forces
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * Shadows of the Empire video game
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II