Lobot

Lobot was a Human male who served as the aide to Baron Administrator Lando Calrissian on Cloud City over the planet Bespin. As the city's computer-liason officer, he wore a device wrapped around the back of his skull that enabled him to communicate with the city's central network.

During the Galactic Empire's takeover of Cloud City, Lando ordered Lobot to gather their security forces to outflank the stormtroopers. Although they successfully helped evacuate the city by rounding up the stormtroopers, the city soon fell to the Empire and Lobot was captured.

Behind the scenes
"If you've got a part where you're walking around with lights flashing on your head, you can't really fail, can you?"

- John Hollis

Lobot's only appearance in the Star Wars movies is in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, where he is portrayed by John Hollis.

A character serving as Lando Calrissian's assistant was present in most of the original screenplays of The Empire Strikes Back, and many production paintings depicted this character as a tall, regal dark-skinned woman. One of the later drafts of the script established this character as a cyborg, and it was then that actor John Hollis was selected for the role by the filmmakers. Hollis was originally only hired for a week's worth of work, but because of the film's extended shooting schedule, he remained on the Bespin set at Elstree Studios for ten weeks.

Throughout most of the film's production, Lobot was only referred to as "Lando's aide" and is referred to as such in the credits. He was to have a great deal of dialogue, mostly with Calrissian. However, the filmmakers decided that the character had been lobotomized as a result of the installation of his cybernetic implant, causing him to become a mute. This decision reportedly did not concern Hollis. As a reference to this change, the character was named "Lobot," a corruption of the word "lobotomy." The cybernetic implant prop Hollis wore on his head was completely battery-powered and was connected to a spring clip that was fit around the actor's head. However, the prop was quite heavy and uncomfortable for Hollis to wear.

A scene cut from The Empire Strikes Back depicted a critically injured Lobot being carried away by several men wearing white masks. This was meant to serve as Lobot's death scene, but it was ultimately removed by the filmmakers because there was a possibility that the character would appear in the following film, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Lobot mouths a soundless reply to Lando before taking captured Stormtroopers to the security tower. The French dub (from the 2004 European release) adds an audible answer.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back