Vizam

Vizam was a Kajain'sa'Nikto male who served the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. In 4 ABY, he was present for the capture of the Princess Leia Organa, a member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, after she attempted to free her comrade, the smuggler Han Solo, who had been frozen in carbonite for failing to pay Jabba credits he owed the Hutt. Vizam also witnessed another Rebel, the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, confront Jabba over his friends' captivity.

When the crime lord ordered that the group of rebel prisoners be fed to the sarlacc living in the Great Pit of Carkoon, Vizam was amongst those that traveled to the pit on the crime lord's sail barge Khetanna. Once at the pit, the rebels managed to free themselves, and during the ensuing fight, Vizam used a turret on the sail barge to fire on the skiffs carrying the prisoners. Amidst the chaos of the skirmish, Skywalker managed to board the sail barge and killed Vizam with his lightsaber.

Plot by a princess
Vizam was a male member of the Kajain'sa'Nikto species who served the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure during the Galactic Civil War between the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the Galactic Empire. In 4 ABY, Vizam viewed a musical performance in the throne room of Jabba's Palace on the planet Tatooine, which ended with the Twi'lek dancer Oola being dropped through a trapdoor into a pit containing Jabba's pet rancor Pateesa when she defied Jabba by refusing his advances. While Oola was in the pit, the Nikto was among the members of Jabba's court who rushed forward to witness her demise.

As the excitement over seeing the rancor in action subsided, Princess Leia Organa, disguised as a bounty hunter named Boushh, arrived in the throne room. The princess hoped to free the smuggler Han Solo, another rebel, who was being held captive by Jabba while frozen in a block of carbonite for not paying Jabba a sum of credits he owed the Hutt. Organa brought the Wookiee Chewbacca with her to the palace, pretending he was her prisoner, and claimed a bounty that Jabba had placed on the Wookiee.

Problems at the palace
Organa remained in the palace after Chewbacca was dragged away and attempted to free Solo later that night. However, Jabba had in fact seen through the disguise and remained in his throne room to catch the Princess. Vizam and many other members of Jabba's court remained with the Hutt and witnessed Organa free Solo from his carbonite prison.

The crime lord then revealed himself, and as Vizam watched, the smuggler and the Princess were captured. With Organa having failed, the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker made his way to Jabba's palace. Vizam was present in the courtroom when the Jedi arrived to ask Jabba to hand over his friends; however, the negotiations failed and the Jedi ended up fighting and killing Pateesa. Outraged, Jabba demanded that Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca be fed to the sarlacc that dwelt in the Great Pit of Carkoon.

Peril at the pit
To view the execution of his prisoners, Jabba traveled to the pit in his sail barge Khetanna, which Vizam also rode aboard as the aft lookout on the top deck. The prisoners were transported on a Bantha-II cargo skiff, and once above the pit, Skywalker's droid R2-D2 launched the Jedi's lightsaber to the prisoner, who used it to defeat the henchmen on the skiff with him. Vizam witnessed this and quickly mounted a laser cannon on the sail barge's railing.

The Nikto opened fire on the skiff, and knocked Lando Calrissian&mdash;an ally of Skywalker's who had been disguised as one of Jabba's men&mdash;and the skiff's Nikto helmsman Vedain overboard. Calrissian managed to grab a hold of the skiff and survive, but the helmsman tumbled into the maw of the sarlacc. Vizam then continued firing on the skiff and eventually caused the vehicle to drop on one side, before Skywalker managed to board the sail barge and slashed the Nikto with his lightsaber, killing the gunner.

Personality and traits
Vizam was an orange-skinned Kajain'sa'Nikto. When the slave girl Oola was being eaten by the rancor, the Nikto chose to move closer to the rancor's pit and watch while bobbing upn and down in excitement.

Equipment
Vizam used a laser cannon while on board Jabba's skiff. While on the sail barge he wore brown and gray headgear, white pants, wrist guards, and several layers of clothing which were navy, brown and yellow.

Behind the scenes
"I would say, 'If I give that guy a full costume, all you have to make are his hands and head."

- Nilo Rodis-Jamero describes the collaboration of the costume and monster teams which lead to the creation of the various Nikto skiff guards including Vizam

Vizam first appeared in the 1983 original trilogy Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. The character was created for the 1983 film through the combined efforts of Phil Tippett's creature design team and Nilo Rodis-Jamero's costume design team. During production of the film, Vizam was known as "Nikto #4" and dressed in a costume designed to be similar to some of the other skiff guards.

It consisted of a navy undergarment covered by a brown kimono and then a quilted yellow tabard, as well as white pants, gray vambraces and a soft hat made of brown and gray fabric. The costume's wrist guards were made of plastic and the cotton jersey which was used as the undergarment was dyed navy and smocked to give the clothing a loose bunched appearance on the arms.

The character was first named by Decipher, Inc.'s Star Wars Customizable Card Game in the 1998 Jabba's Palace Limited set, which is a part of the Star Wars Legends continuity and so not canon.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi