Gantu

"Gantu would steal supplies of honey...and when that was gone his appetite would turn to the taste of Ewok people!"

- Logray Gantu was an Ogre who lived on the planet of Endor in the Rebellion era. He was known to the Ewoks and Zandor Rockers as a threat, as he was known to raid Bright Tree Village and steal the Ewoks' honey. He also raided the Zandor Rocker's village of all their nectar.

His only defeat came at the hands of Wicket W. Warrick and his friend Teebo when they stole his nectar to save a friend, Princess Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka from an illness. Though Gantu attempted to stop the two Ewoks, they were able to defeat him by capitalizing on his greed for the rainbow crystal.

Residence
"Long ago we were plagued by the evil Ogre, Gantu, who lived in the barren land of Zandor."

- Logray

Sometime before or during the Rebellion era, Gantu discovered a cave in the land of Zandor and resided in it for the rest of his life. Also around this time, he came into possession of a special Rainbow crystal.

The crystal, if held to the star Ibleam, the Endor sun, would create a bridge that was made of rainbows. This proved useful to Gantu when he attempted to cross the Gorge of Fire, a barrier that isolated Zandor from the rest of Endor.

After coming into possession of the crystal, he was able to raid the villages of the Zandor Rockers. The Zandor Rockers were a species of sentient rocks that lived on Endor. Gantu was able to steal sunnydew flowers, which gave him sunnydew nectar, valued for its healing powers. However, Gantu used the nectar for a different purpose&mdash;to use its glowing abilities for seeing at night, as Gantu was afraid of the darkness associated with night.

Raiding Bright Tree Village
"One day, a young Chief Chirpa followed the Ogre back to his cave!"

- Logray

Gantu, using the bridge to cross the Gorge of Fire, found his way to another section of Endor called Happy Grove. It was here he discovered Bright Tree Village, which was the home of the native Ewoks.

Gantu, for unknown reasons, hated Ewoks and raided the village any chance he would get. Stealing honey and other supplies of the Ewoks, he earned the hatred of the village. Later, he even began to consume the Ewoks themselves. A young Chief Chirpa followed the Ogre back to his cave, following the rainbow bridge, and learned the Ogre's secrets. As the ogre slept, Chirpa stole the crystal and some of the nectar, though Chirpa was unaware of what the nectar did.

The following day, Gantu awoke, realizing these possessions were gone. He was unable to cross the Gorge of Fire, as Chirpa had the crystal that allowed him to cross it. Chirpa returned to the Ewok village and gave them the crystal, which was placed in the Council Hut, guarded by the Ewok Ebab. After a few years, Gantu had become nothing more than a legend to the Ewoks.

Wicket and Teebo's escape
"Teebo, we're trapped!"

- Wicket

After Princess Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka, Ewok daughter of Chirpa, was poisoned by a deadly Nightshade thorn, Wicket and Teebo set out to find sunnydew nectar. After walking across Zandor, they encountered the Zandor Rockers, who brought them to Gantu's cave. Gantu was not in the cave, so Wicket ran over to steal the nectar and save Kneesaa. However, Gantu returned from his trip with a club in his hand, ready to kill the Ewoks.



Gantu protected the nectar, which he referred to as "light water", so that the Ewoks could not steal it. However, when Wicket distracted the Ogre by showing him the rainbow crystal, Gantu dropped the nectar and ran to reclaim the crystal. Wicket threw the crystal to Teebo, who caught it.

However, Gantu was determined not to lose the crystal again, and grabbed Teebo. Teebo dropped the crystal, breaking it. After this, Gantu prepared to eat the two young Ewoks. As Wicket and Teebo ran, a Zandor Rocker injured Gantu on the foot. Gantu accidentally spilled the sunnydew nectar on himself, making Gantu glow.

The spilled nectar began to create new sunnydews. However, sunnydew flowers did not bloom for a long time, and the two Ewoks did not have the time to save Kneesaa. The Zandor Rockers created a tunnel to transport the Ewoks under the Gorge, and small enough for Gantu not to fit in it. The Ewoks thanked the Zandor Rockers and left. Later, a plant that Wicket picked up was found to be a sunnydew, which saved Kneesaa. Gantu never crossed the Gorge again, eliminating the fear of the giant ogre from the Ewoks.

Legacy
"We can't stand him!"

- A Zandor Rocker

During his first raid on Bright Tree Village, he was feared by all Ewoks. Gantu even ate many Ewoks, striking much fear in them. He was remembered as a giant monster to all the residents of Bright Tree Village. He also stole the Ewoks' supplies of honey, putting many Ewoks in hunger.



To the Zandor Rockers, he was also a monster, but for a different reason. Gantu raided their villages of all their sunnydew flowers and nectar. Gantu used this nectar to light his cave during night.

Personality and traits
"Me keep! Me afraid of dark!"

- Gantu

Gantu was considered "evil" to the residents of Bright Tree Village and the Zandor Rockers. He constantly raided their villages, stealing the precious honey of the Ewoks and the sunnydew nectar of the Zandor Rockers. He was hated by both civilizations. Gantu was also known to have nyctophobia, a fear of the dark. Instead of using the nectar's healing powers to clean his wounds and cure himself of illnesses, he used its glowing powers to light up his cave. Gantu spoke saying "me" instead of "I", an example of the Ogre's ineptitude with pronouns.

Another characteristic of Gantu is that he was short-tempered and had a large appetite, though he refused to do any work in procuring his own food. Instead of acquiring his own sustenance or asking the Ewoks for honey he raided their village to plunder their honey. Also, instead of asking the Zandor Rockers for their sunnydew flowers, he stole all of them.

Behind the scenes
Gantu was created by Marvel Ewoks 1 writer Dave Manak. He is the antagonist, or villain, of the story. Marvel Ewoks 1 is the only Star Wars publication Gantu appears in. It is possible that Gantu's species is related to the Coruscani ogres, or he is a member of a variant of the species. However, this is just speculation.

Appearances

 * Marvel Ewoks 1: The Rainbow Bridge