Kam Nale

Kam Nale, also known under the alias "Elan Mak", was a male Fluggrian professional Podracer pilot who flew an outdated Kurtob KRT 410-C around 32 BBY, during the final decades of the Galactic Republic. The son of the crime lord Borzu Nale, Kam received his inheritance early when Borzu was murdered by the Glymphid hitman Aldar Beedo. Kam Nale sought to avenge his father and vowed to track down Beedo, following him to the Outer Rim world of Tatooine, where Nale discovered that Beedo had entered into the upcoming Boonta Eve Classic Podrace as a contestant. Nale began to use the pseudonym "Elan Mak" in order to join the race without raising suspicions, all the while hoping to be able to kill Beedo by shooting him during the race. Nale's craft was too slow to catch up to the Glymphid, but managed to finish in fifth. Realizing that he enjoyed the sport, Nale continued his career with it.

Nale, now officially known as "Elan Mak" in the Podracing circuits, furthered his racing career by adopting a more aggressive track personality, and eventually gained fame on the Dug Derby racecourse on Malastare, achieving the status of crowd favorite. Victories did not cloud his overall mission, however, as he continued to chase Aldar Beedo from race to race. "Elan Mak" at some point regained control of his father's criminal empire, but continued to Podrace, yet now rather than pursuing Aldar Beedo himself, Nale used his new-found criminal funds to hire numerous mercenaries to track Beedo down and bring him to justice. Around 22 BBY, Beedo was captured by one of the mercenaries and was brought back to Kam Nale's headquarters, where the Glymphid was to face judgement. Right around the same time, "Mak" was publicly exposed from his cover, and was revealed to be the crime lord Kam Nale to the public. Beedo's capture and Nale's exposed identity were just two of several scandals that put the future of Podracing into question.

Early career
"Yahoo! Ha ha haa!"

- "Elan Mak" upon crashing during a Podrace

A male Fluggrian from the watery Expansion Region planet Ploo IV, Kam Nale was the one thing that Glymphid assassin Aldar Beedo did not consider when he accepted the job of eliminating Kam's father, Borzu Nale. Borzu was a successful Fluggrian crime lord who posed as a threat to the smuggling operations of Orin Nyell. Nyell hired Beedo to assassinate Borzu so that Nyell could continue his operation&mdash;selling Ploo IV water to the Outer Rim planet Sernpidal at inflated prices&mdash;unhindered. Kam was devastated by his father's death and at great expense he searched for the assassin's name. Upon finding it to be the Podracer pilot Aldar Beedo, Nale swore to annihilate the Glymphid as an act of vengeance. Nale managed to track Beedo to the Outer Rim world of Tatooine, where he learned that Aldar Beedo had entered into the upcoming Boonta Eve Classic Podrace as a contestant. Nale soon formulated a plan to enter the race himself and destroy Beedo and his Podracer. Using whatever truguts he could find, Nale purchased an old Kurtob KRT 410-C. Despite an attractive streamlined design, the Kurtob was well outdated by the time of the Boonta race of 32 BBY. As such it suffered from poor acceleration and a poor top speed, though it retained a powerful boost component. A good Podracer soon became the least of his concerns, however, when he learned of a pursuing rookie bounty hunter named Rango Tel.

In an attempt to avoid the bounty hunter, Nale began to go undercover with numerous aliases and false names. Tel had also been hired by Orin Nyell, who had since become wary of Kam Nale's existence, believing that the Fluggrian would go to reclaim his father's empire. At the time, Nale actually had no desire to claim his inheritance, something that Tel even managed to learn. On the eve of the Boonta race, while many of the Podracer pilots who would be competing attended a concert for the glimmik singer and Podracer contestant Boles Roor, Nale created a recording detailing his plan for Aldar Beedo in case of his demise during the Boonta. On the same night, Beedo was just as busy. Attending the concert, he was approached by the Devlikk pilot Wan Sandage. Sandage managed to have heard of Beedo's job regarding Borzu Nale, and decided to hire the Glymphid to eliminate the Dug pilot Sebulba, a notorious cheater, during the Boonta. The next morning, the racers began to assemble, and Kam Nale had since switched to his chosen alias of "Elan Mak", which was nothing more than his name spelled backwards, in order to avoid the suspicions of Aldar Beedo. Before Nale could make it to the arena, Tel cornered Nale in an alleyway, with Tel believing he would be the faster draw and that his armor would be sufficient to stave off any attack the Fluggrian could present. Instead, Nale shot Tel with a heavy blaster pistol that easily punctured the rookie's flimsy armor, killing the bounty hunter.

"Elan Mak"
Kam Nale, now officially known as "Elan Mak" on the track, started the Boonta from the inside fourth row on the starting grid, placed next to the Phuii pilot Mars Guo and behind the Veknoid Teemto Pagalies. Meanwhile, Aldar Beedo began in the front row on the outside. As the race started off, "Elan Mak" roared off with all of the other racers except for two&mdash;the young Human boy Anakin Skywalker and the timid Toong Ben Quadinaros, both whom had stalled on the starting grid. While Skywalker was eventually able to join the other racers, Quadinaros remained on the grid. "Mak" was off to a good start, right up in front with the leaders holding second position for the first chunk of lap one, ahead of Beedo. He wasn't too distant from Sebulba when the Dug smashed Mawhonic's Podracer into a cliff side.

"Mak" eventually backed off and remained near the middle of the pack. Aldar Beedo managed to stay ahead, aiming his own racer for Sebulba. Beedo's employer, Sandage, however, crashed into a sandcrawler during lap three. Far ahead, Sebulba became entangled with Skywalker's Podracer, and upon pulling away he crashed into the desert, paving the path to victory for Skywalker. "Mak", armed with his blaster pistol, attempted to fire on Beedo's racer, but his aim was obstructed by Ebe Endocott. Aldar Beedo placed third, while "Mak" ended up in fifth place, ahead of the last place Boles Roor. However, realizing that he had enjoyed the race, and that he had managed to finish ahead of other more seasoned pilots, "Mak" elected to look further into Podracing, while his races doubled as a front for his mission to eliminate Beedo. In addition, he decided to reinvent himself as a hardcore Podracer pilot.

"Elan Mak" continued to race from that point on, achieving fame on Malastare when he became the most popular pilot for the Dug Derby racecourse and became the favored racer for a Malastare drag course. "Elan Mak" later competed in Malastare's Phoebos Memorial Run, the fifth race of the Vinta Harvest Classic, where "Mak" found himself pitted against Aldar Beedo once again. Beedo and Wan Sandage were also both still working together to eliminate Sebulba. Again armed with his blaster pistol on the track, "Mak" positioned himself above Beedo during the final stretch of the race, but wasn't able to get a shot off as Sebulba managed to distract the pilot By't Distombe into flying over a geyser which caught Distombe's cockpit. Many of the racers were forced to break off to avoid the resulting explosion. Aldar Beedo was unable to take down Sebulba once again, and "Mak" was unable to down Beedo. Sebulba won the race, followed closely by Sandage with "Mak" and Beedo in tow. All four racers qualified for the final race of the Classic, which ran through the same course. "Mak" was unable to down Beedo again, though Beedo was able to fire at least one shot at Sebulba, though he missed. When Wan Sandage eventually succumbed to old age by 29 BBY, Beedo decided to switch allegiances and join with his former target, Sebulba.

Crime lord
"You escaped me on Tatooine, assassin! But I have you now! The time for vengeance has come, Aldar Beedo!"

- "Elan Mak" as he prepares to shoot Aldar Beedo

Later during 26 BBY, "Mak" was still after Aldar Beedo, and the two eventually ended up on Euceron to participate in the Galactic Games. Sebulba was also present, but was allowing his son, Hekula, to race instead. The Boonta winner Anakin Skywalker, now a Jedi in training, also participated in the race on behalf of the Aleena brothers Deland and Doby Tyerell, son of the deceased Boonta contestant Ratts Tyerell. The Boonta's runner up, Gasgano, also competed. During the first lap, "Mak" caught up to Beedo and proceeded to cut the Glymphid off and down after narrowly avoiding the wreckage of Ody Mandrell, who had crashed while attempting a tight turn. The cutoff obliterated Beedo's Podracer, while taking the Fluggrian's down at the same time. Immediately after the crash, both pilots, having survived the wreck, climbed from the debris and dashed off of the track to avoid being crushed by the other racers. Both pilots immediately set upon blaming each other on whose fault it was that the wreck had happened. "Mak" however did not apprehend or kill Beedo, and Skywalker went on to achieve a second victory.

Having failed to avenge his father after being in such close proximity to his killer, "Elan Mak" was beginning to realize that he may never catch up and do away with his quarry, while at the same time retaining a worry that he would be approached by other bounty hunters like Rango Tel. "Elan Mak" restored his former name of Kam Nale in order to retake his father's criminal empire, and using his new-found family funds, he began to hire numerous bounty hunters and mercenaries to track the elusive Glymphid down. Around 24 BBY, Aldar Beedo was still very much active on and off the course, still working as Sebulba's on-track bodyguard. Kam Nale also continued to race, however, under the guise of "Elan Mak" around 22 BBY. He participated in races taking place on Tatooine, Felucia, and Coruscant, among other worlds. Aldar Beedo continued with his racing career up until sometime around 22 BBY, when one of Nale's mercenaries finally caught up to Beedo, targeting him on Baroonda. It was during the Fire Mountain Rally race that the mercenary shot Beedo's craft down mid-race and arrested the Glymphid. Beedo was then brought before Nale to pay for his crime from so many years before. However, Nale was still racing under the name of "Elan Mak", and around the time of Beedo's capture, Nale's false identity was exposed. Both the exposure and Aldar Beedo's arrest were documented in the HoloNet News, while the seedy nature of both incidents put the future of Podracing under careful scrutiny.

Personality and traits
Kam Nale entered into a state of vengeance filled fury upon hearing of his father's death, and set to work in looking for his killer. Upon discovering that it was Aldar Beedo, a known Podracer, Nale decided to risk his life by entering the Boonta Eve Classic and race in it in order to bring Beedo down. On Malastare, he even risked fines and a race suspension by using an illegal weapon during a race to bring Beedo down. Nale, however, knew when he would be unable to complete a task himself, and eventually opted to hire other mercenaries to bring Beedo down for him. After his skirmish with Rango Tel, Nale became slightly paranoid, and despite initially wanting nothing to do with his father's illegality, he nonetheless took his father's place as the next Fluggrian crime lord in order to deal with future encounters. While racing as "Elan Mak", he had the tendency to make fun of other racer's pods, generally remarking on cheap looking parts.

A Fluggrian, Kam possessed three digit hands hands that ended in sharp, purple hued claws. The bottoms of his forearms were lined with natural spikes. Nale had a green exterior with a more white colored stomach area, and he had yellow eyes along with several purple marks that stretched across his face, giving him a somewhat unique appearance, along with pink, puffy lips. Fluggrians were generally short, and Nale only stood at 1.02 meters tall. The knobby protuberances on his forehead acted as sensory inputs.

Skills and abilities
"Elan Mak. Just who is this mysterious podracer? He's sure impressed us with his qualifying laps, whoever he is."

- Fode Annodue

Kam Nale had never piloted in a Podrace before his first Boonta race, and as such was pleasantly surprised that he was able to finish the race, especially with such an outdated Podracer. Nale's piloting only continued to evolve, and Nale eventually became a popular pilot on Malastare. A more aggressive track personality was also notable of his career as he adopted the image of a hardcore racer. Kam Nale was also a decent shot, being able to outdraw and out-shoot rookie bounty hunter Rango Tel. Despite that, he was unable to shoot down Aldar Beedo's Podracer during either the Boonta Eve Classic or the Vinta Harvest Classic. Nale eventually resorted to hiring others to take Aldar Beedo down for him.

Nale was also trilingual, able to speak Huttese, Galactic Basic Standard, and another dialect.

Equipment
Kam Nale wore a light brown vest when racing, as well as a headset with a comlink. Nale also owned a silver blaster pistol that he used against Rango Tel and against Aldar Beedo during the Boonta Eve Classic, and later again on Malastare.

Behind the scenes
"And there was Elan Mak, not a really super bright guy, he's kinda like a few fries short of a Happy Meal. But maybe he was a, you know, a mechanical genius who was really good at working on his pod."

- Paul Griffin, Animation Supervisor for The Phantom Menace

Kam Nale/"Elan Mak" first appeared in the 1999 novel Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace written by Terry Brooks, based on the screenplay for George Lucas's film of the same name. Despite having a detailed maquette built and detailed concept art created by the film's art department, Nale, appearing during the Podracing sequences, was realized in the film only as a low-res computer generated model that was used for distance shots of his Podracer. Kam Nale was afforded a far more detailed close-up however for a deleted scene on the film's DVD release, realized as a fully computer-generated character.

Kam Nale overall had a more substantial appearance in the 1999 Nintendo 64 video game Star Wars: Episode I Racer, where Nale, as "Elan Mak", acted as one of the available playable characters at the start of the game. A Kurtob engine with the same markings as Nale's podracer appeared in Watto's garage in the 2002 video game Star Wars: Racer Revenge, although Nale himself does not appear. He was voiced by Tom Kane for his video game appearance. Nale also appeared in Kinect Star Wars, a video game released in 2012 for the Xbox 360. Nale appeared with the name "Elan Mak" in the game's Podracing feature, where he was competitor the player could race against. Players could also choose his vehicle to race in.

Parts of Nale's backstory, including the fact that "Elan Mak" was only an alias, were revealed in the Episode 1 Racer Nintendo Power companion guide, Star Wars: Episode I Racer: Official Nintendo Player's Guide. He later appeared in several other Expanded Universe stories. The conflict between Nale and Aldar Beedo was also looked into with the 2000 web-comic Podracing Tales. Nale's and Beedo's conflict did not receive closure, however, until the 2013 Star Wars Blog article titled The Not-So Magnificent Seven, a blog article that detailed the lives of several untalented bounty hunters. Both Nale and Beedo were referenced under Rango Tel's entry in the blog.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Anakin's Speedway
 * Podracing Tales
 * Star Wars Episode I Journal: Anakin Skywalker
 * Star Wars Episode I: I Am a Pilot
 * ''Star Wars Racer Arcade
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (novel)
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars: Episode I Racer
 * Star Wars: Republic 14: Emissaries to Malastare, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Republic 15: Emissaries to Malastare, Part 3
 * Star Wars: Republic 16: Emissaries to Malastare, Part 4
 * Jedi Quest: The Dangerous Games
 * ''Kinect Star Wars