Ponda Baba/Legends

"He doesn't like you."

- Dr. Evazan to Luke Skywalker

Ponda Baba was an Aqualish pirate and the partner of Doctor Evazan. He fulfilled the Aqualish stereotype of being an ill-tempered thug.

Biography


Ponda Baba became Evazan's partner after rescuing him from Jodo Kast on Corellia. For a time, he considered betraying Evazan and collecting the sizable bounty being offered. He decided against betraying the Doctor, and they began smuggling spice for Jabba Desilijic Tiure.

One fateful day on Tatooine, Luke Skywalker entered Chalmun's Cantina and sat down at the bar. Dr. Evazan informed Skywalker that his partner, Ponda Baba, did not like him. Shortly thereafter, weapons were drawn. The scuffle was ended when Obi-Wan Kenobi severed Baba's arm with his lightsaber.

Evazan tried to use his medical knowledge to replace Baba's arm, but the surgery was a failure, almost resulting in Baba's death. The two parted ways, with Baba swearing to impart vengeance on his former partner.



After a partial reconciliation, they reunited and set up a base in a castle on Ando. Evazan had created a mind-transferring machine, which Baba hoped would give him a new body. Evazan lured an Andoan senator to the castle, then trapped him in his machine. When Baba was in place, Evazan started the machine. Unfortunately for Baba, Evazan's machine worked in reverse. The senator's mind was transferred into Ponda Baba's body, and Ponda Baba's mind ceased to exist. In an act of revenge, the senator detonated a thermal detonator, killing him and destroying Baba's body. Dr. Evazan managed to escape the explosion.

Behind the scenes



 * Ponda Baba was played by Tommy Ilsley.
 * In a well-known blooper, Ponda Baba's arm has fin-like hands when still attached, but is furry and clawed in the close-up shots of the severed arm on the floor. This probably inspired the writers at West End Games to postulate finned and clawed subspecies of Aqualish in Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races.
 * Also, the severing of Ponda Baba's arm was the only lightsaber wound that did not cauterize on contact; a pool of blood can be seen on the ground.
 * Ponda Baba was known only by the name Walrus Man until 1989, when he was referred to by his proper name in Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope

Appearances

 * Smuggler's Blues
 * Rebel Dawn
 * Star Wars Empire: Darklighter
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (novel)
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Hammertong: The Tale of the "Tonnika Sisters"
 * Play It Again, Figrin D'an: The Tale of Muftak and Kabe
 * The Sand Tender: The Hammerhead's Tale
 * Doctor Death: The Tale of Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * The Revenge of Tag & Bink
 * The Return of Tag & Bink: Special Edition
 * The Secret Tales of Luke's Hand