Cornelius Evazan

"He doesn't like you.''" "I'm sorry." "''I don't like you, either."

- Cornelius Evazan and Luke Skywalker

Dr. Cornelius Evazan was a male human from the planet Alsakan who was a promising cosmetic surgeon until he became gripped by madness and began practicing "creative surgery" on his patients, leaving his victims horrifically disfigured. After information concerning his cruel medical experiments came to light, his face was hideously scarred in an encounter with a bounty hunter. The Aqualish thug Ponda Baba rescued Evazan from the hunter, following which the two formed an uneasy partnership and began smuggling spice for the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure. Wanted men, Evazan assumed the alias of "Roofoo" and Baba became known as "Sawkee." While in the Holy City on Jedha, the fugitive surgeon used his ghastly medical techniques to produce an order of servants known as the Decraniated. Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, Evazan and Baba were patrons in Chalmun's Cantina on Tatooine. When a drunk Baba decided to pick a fight with a local farmboy named Luke Skywalker, Evazan quickly escalated the conflict, causing Skywalker's guardian, a hermit named Obi-Wan Kenobi, to intervene. The pirates drew their blaster pistols on the wizened old man&mdash;in secret one of the few remaining Jedi Masters&mdash;but Kenobi used his lightsaber to slash Evazan across his chest and sever Baba's right arm before they could fire. Evazan tried to use his medical training to reattach Baba's arm but failed, nearly killing the Aqualish in the process.

Fugitive surgeon
"DR. EVAZAN''" "COSMETIC SURGERY" "OUT OF BUSINESS" "''FOR LEASE"

- Signs decorating the outside of Dr. Evazan Cosmetic Surgery following its closure

Hailing from Alsakan, a planet located in the galaxy's Core Worlds, Dr. Cornelius Evazan was a promising surgeon who operated a cosmetic surgery clinic in Pons Ora, a small settlement located on the remote desert world of Abafar. However, he was corrupted by madness during his training and began practicing "creative surgery" on his patients without the assistance of droids, rearranging the limbs of hundreds of victims and leaving them horrifically scarred. After becoming notorious for his cruel medical experiments, Evazan's own face was hideously disfigured in a bounty hunter's attempt to destroy him, though he was saved by Ponda Baba, an Aqualish thug. The two partnered together and became pirates, beginning to smuggle spice for the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure. Successful at their trade, they became wanted men, and Evazan was sentenced to death in twelve star systems. However, there was no love lost in their relationship, and Baba even contemplated turning in Evazan to collect the bounty on the doctor's head before realizing that their ongoing partnership would be more profitable. Still, the two considered each other friends despite their differences.

Producing the Decraniated
"Hey, you just watch yourself.''" "''We don't want any trouble. Sorry."

- Cornelius Evazan and Cassian Andor

Adopting the aliases of "Roofoo" and "Sawkee" respectively, Evazan and Baba committed a rash of crimes while visiting Milvayne. Tam Posla, an interstellar lawman representing the Milvayne Authority, began investigating the matter when similar reports of kidnapping, forced servitude, and the surgical alteration of victims came from Jedha. The pair had taken up residence in the desert moon's Holy City, where the fugitive surgeon used his ghastly medical techniques to produce an order of servants known as the Decraniated, transforming wounded or incapacitated victims of the ongoing insurgency with cybernetic technology to make them as subservient as droids, using the procedure to strip them of their identities before selling them into unwilling servitude. Though taken off the case by his superior officer, Posla voyaged well beyond his jurisdiction and, determined to bring the heinous criminals to justice, became a bounty hunter. The doctor also pieced together Caysin Bog, a high-gravity humanoid blown apart in an insurgency strike, with surgical work matching that which he performed upon the Decraniated. While on their way off-world, the spacers bumped into Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor whilst walking through a busy street, after which Evazan warned them to watch themselves with Baba by his side.

Cantina encounters
"You just watch yourself. We're wanted men. I have the death sentence on twelve systems."

- Cornelius Evazan, to Luke Skywalker

Dr. Evazan and Baba departed the city prior to its destruction by the Death Star and traveled to the planet Tatooine, where they were patrons at a cantina in Mos Eisley spaceport shortly before the Battle of Yavin. While there, a Trandoshan bounty hunter known Bossk entered the establishment to question its bartender, Wuher, about the location of the rogue Imperial astromech droid 261. Baba approached him from behind with his blaster drawn, but Evazan held him back, allowing Bossk to depart without incident. Later, the doctor was talking to Kabe, a female Chadra-Fan who frequented the cantina, when a drunk Baba, bored and looking for excitement, decided to pick a fight with Luke Skywalker, a young farmboy who had taken a seat to the right of them at the counter. Assuming Skywalker would be an easy target, Evazan quickly escalated the argument. This caught the attention of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Skywalker's guardian, who offered to buy the pair drinks to ease tensions. Paying little heed to the old man, Evazan hurled the young farmboy into a nearby table, and ignoring the protest of the cantina's bartender, Wuher, the pirates drew their blaster pistols. Given no other choice, the elderly Kenobi&mdash;in secret one of the few remaining Jedi Masters&mdash;ignited his lightsaber, leaving a deep slash in Evazan's chest, causing him to fall back against the bar screaming in pain, and severing Baba's right arm before the pair could fire their weapons.

Following the attack, those present in the cantina briefly turned to see what had transpired before returning to their business, though a departing patron, Garouf Lafoe, informed a squad of Mos Eisley's Imperial sandtroopers of the violence in the cantina. After the troopers entered the establishment and reached the counter, Wuher indicated to them where Kenobi and Skywalker had taken a seat, though the pair found another exit before they could be apprehended. Evazan tried to reattach Baba's arm using his medical training, but ended up nearly killing the Aqualish in the process when the procedure failed. Skywalker later recalled his encounter with the pair while training with his own lightsaber in the Temple of Eedit on Devaron.

Personality and traits
"I'll be careful.''" "You'll be dead!" "''This little one's not worth the effort. Come, let me get you something."

- Luke Skywalker, Cornelius Evazan, and Obi-Wan Kenobi

Prior to being gripped by madness, Dr. Cornelius Evazan was considered to be a promising surgeon, though he later gained notoriety for the cruelty he inflicted upon his patients, while his reputation as a smuggler and murderer also made him many enemies across the galaxy. He and Baba enjoyed brawling and gunning down defenseless beings and Evazan was boastful of his infamy, openly informing Luke Skywalker that he had the death sentence on twelve systems. After Baba began to bully Skywalker, Evazan was quick to escalate the argument, even going so far as to threaten Skywalker before Obi-Wan Kenobi, his guardian, interceded. Paying little heed to the old man's attempt to smooth over tensions, the doctor resorted to violence, shoving the farmboy aside and drawing his blaster pistol.

A male human, Evazan had fair skin and stood at a height of 1.77 meters. His eyes were colored hazel, though his right eye was blind and the flesh around it was severely scarred, while his nose looked as if it had barely survived an unfortunate encounter with a meat shredder. His hair was colored dark brown with patches of gray, though he showed signs of balding, and stubble covered the lower half of his face. Evazan had foul-smelling breath.

Equipment
"No blasters! No blasters!"

- Wuher, as Cornelius Evazan draws his blaster pistol

Evazan wore a long-sleeved khaki shirt underneath a brown vest, a black belt with a golden buckle, which had a holster for his SE-14C blaster pistol on its left and a pouch on its right, a pair of dark brown pants, and a pair of black boots. When operating, he wore scrubs and used a variety of medical instruments.

Behind the scenes
"A short, grubby-looking human also approached and put a companionable arm around the shuffling mass."

- Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker description of Cornelius Evazan

Conception and portrayal
Although created for the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, in which, according to production notes and John Mollo, the costume designer for A New Hope, he was portrayed by Alfie Curtis, Cornelius Evazan first appeared in Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, a 1976 Star Wars Legends novelization of A New Hope ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster but credited to George Lucas. In the adaptation, Evazan wasn't named and was described as a "short, grubby-looking human" with a surprisingly deep voice. In his scene, he was accompanied by a many-eyed and a rodent-like alien&mdash;early incarnations of Ponda Baba and Kabe respectively&mdash;and when they picked a fight with Luke Skywalker, Baba tossed Skywalker aside, and Obi-Wan Kenobi sliced off Evazan's arm and cut Kabe and Baba in half, with Evazan retreating into the crowd without a word following the fight, nearly identical to how the event played out in several revised fourth drafts of A New Hope. In the final version of the film, however, Kabe didn't partake in the altercation, Baba only lost his arm, and it was instead Evazan who flung aside Skywalker and got slashed across the chest by Kenobi. Upon closer examination of the sequence, however, Evazan can be seen talking to Kabe before the scuffle, indicating that the idea of them being allies may have lasted up to shooting. The character was portrayed by Michael Smiley in the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a direct prequel to the events of A New Hope, where he was credited as playing "Dr. Evazan."

Identification
In a revised fourth draft script of A New Hope, Evazan went unnamed and was simply described as a "short, grubby Human," though Star Wars: Card Trader, an app released on iOS and Android platforms by The Topps Company, Inc. in 2015, later identified him as a doctor named Cornelius Evazan. This confirmed him to be the owner of the Dr. Evazan Cosmetic Surgery, a clinic that first appeared in "Missing in Action," the twelfth episode of the canon animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars' fifth season, which originally aired on January 5, 2013. The character's name was derived from multiple publications in the Legends continuity.

In Legends, Evazan was originally identified as "Roofoo" in the 1981 Star Wars radio drama. The surname Evazan didn't appear until Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope, a 1989 supplement written by Michael Stern and Grant S. Boucher for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. The character was first identified by his full name, Cornelius Evazan, in The Official Star Wars Fact File 51, which, released in 2002, combined his previously revealed surname with "Cornelius," an alias he used in "Doctor Death: The Tale of Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba," a 1995 short story written by Kenneth C. Flint and featured in the anthology Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina. Evazan's original Databank entry later established Roofoo as another one of his aliases, which became canon in Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, a reference book written Pablo Hidalgo and released on December 16, 2016 to coincide with the release of Rogue One.

Inconsistencies
Although Ponda Baba's entry in the Databank claims that Evazan's wounds were fatal, the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded, an updated edition of the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia written by Pablo Hidalgo and released on April 5, 2016, stated that Evazan survived the encounter. The book also said that he was 1.77 meters tall, while his Databank entry gives him a height of 1.7 meters. This article assumes the information from Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded to be correct.

Several sources have mistakenly identified Evazan as being an alien.

Appearances

 * Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
 * Rogue One: A Star Wars Story novelization
 * Star Wars: Rogue One: A Junior Novel
 * Bounty Hunt
 * Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
 * Star Wars: A New Hope
 * Star Wars: Heroes Path
 * A New Hope
 * The Original Trilogy Stories
 * Star Wars: The Original Trilogy – A Graphic Novel
 * The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure
 * The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure