Ponda Baba/Legends

"Negola dewaghi wool dugger?" "He doesn't like you."

- Ponda Baba and Dr. Evazan to Luke Skywalker

Ponda Baba was an Aqualish pirate and the partner of Doctor Cornelius 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. Despite Luke's efforts to avoid a confrontation, Ponda attacked him. 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. The senator's and Baba's mind were transferred into each other's body. In an act of revenge, the senator detonated a thermal detonator, killing himself. But Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba 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

An alternate version of Ponda Baba's confrontation in the Mos Eisley Cantina is shown in Robot Chicken: Star Wars. In this appearance, Baba is not a hardened criminal, but a harmless architectural draftsman visiting the bar with his friend Evazan. Evazan takes advantage of Luke's inability to understand Baba, and makes Luke think they are dangerous, as per the original movie. As Baba tries to explain the misunderstanding to Luke, Obi-Wan Kenobi cuts his arm off. In the end, his employer fires him as he lost his arm and can't draw out designs.

In LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy Ponda Baba gets both arms cut off, where in the movie he only gets one cut off. Also, he dies in the video game whereas in the expanded universe he lives on until later.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Empire: Darklighter
 * Smuggler's Blues
 * Rebel Dawn
 * Star Wars Journal: The Fight for Justice
 * 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
 * Robot Chicken: Star Wars

Notes and references
Ponda Baba