Dengar/Legends

"I must say, he looks like a thoroughly nasty fellow."

- C-3PO

Dengar (also known as "Payback") was a Corellian mercenary active during the Galactic Civil War. The acerbic bounty hunter, assassin and pilot of the Punishing One was among an elite group of hunters hired by the Empire to hunt down Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon shortly after the Battle of Hoth. At this time, he was a middle-aged man of heavy build, wearing battered dark brown stormtrooper armor with a dingy cloth wrapped around his head.

Biography
In addition to the Imperial bounty, Dengar was especially eager to find the Falcon because of a personal grudge he held against Han Solo. Years before, Dengar had injured himself badly in a swoop race with Solo - Solo had burnt Dengar's face badly and caused him to crash headfirst into crystalline plants. His old gang, who had watched his back when he was a popular swoop racer, had left him for dead.



He was forced to become part cyborg through Imperial experimentation. The parts of his brain controlling his senses of compassion, mercy and pity were removed, leaving him an emotionless killer. He was only left with rage, hope and accidentally loneliness. He was also fitted with a number of cybernetic implants, such as new eyes. He also had his hypothalamus gland cut out and replaced with a central computer module to control his new systems.

His gang had scattered after his accident and eventually joined up with another swoop gang on Tatooine. Dengar wanted his revenge, but he was still property of the Empire and couldn't do the job himself. So in 1 ABY he hired a tough and well armed individual to take out his old crew.

The Empire had wanted to use him as an assassin and for a time he was, but after he was ordered to kill the Holy Children of Asrat, he left Imperial service and became a bounty hunter.

During the Galactic Civil War, he encountered Solo a number of times. Once, just before the Battle of Yavin, while searching for the Yavin Vassilika, and then twice in the year before the Battle of Hoth: once on Tatooine, when Solo attempted to reunite Jabba the Hutt with his nephew Grubba, and then again while teamed up with Skorr in a near-capture that brought him to Ord Mantell.

He even started targeting Imperials, including a COMPNOR general, Sinick Kritkeen. During this mission, he saved an Aruzan woman named Manaroo, who would soon become an integral part of his life. The Empire put out a bounty on him for his desertion, and he was captured on Hoth by Imperial troops. Darth Vader gave him the chance of freedom, if he captured Solo and the Millennium Falcon. Disgusted with the fleet's inability to capture a single smuggler vessel, Vader turned to the shadows of the Empire, the galaxy's fringe. He hired six elite bounty hunters, offering a substantial reward for the capture of the Falcon.

As usual, Dengar was one step behind Boba Fett. While searching for Solo in an asteroid field, Dengar's ship was crippled by a bomb placed by Boba Fett. He managed to repair his craft, and arrived on Cloud City just in time to see Fett leave with Solo. The trip wasn't a complete waste, however: Dengar once more met with Manaroo, and saved her from a stormtrooper squad. The woman soon became a permanent part of his life.

When Manaroo shared herself with him via her Attanni, Dengar suddenly got an insight on what it was like to be Human again, even helping her rescue her kidnapped parents along with 100,000 others. Soon afterwards, Dengar and Manaroo landed in Mos Eisley where Manaroo was captured by Jabba the Hutt's henchmen.

In a bid to rescue her, Dengar inserted himself into Jabba's palace, outwardly helping to protect Jabba from Alliance reprisal at the capture of Solo. Boba Fett approached him to celebrate Han's capture and imminent death at the Pit of Carkoon. Dengar agreed to Fett's proposal and they shared a bottle of Twi'leki liquor. Dengar passed out due to a drug Fett had applied to the rim of his glass. He missed the trip to the Sarlacc pit but found himself tied to the desert floor near the Teeth of Tatooine by Jabba. He was driven by his dread that Manaroo was dead and freed himself. She later found him in the desert, using a speeder she has stolen and nursed him back to health.



Following the death of Jabba the Hutt at the Pit of Carkoon, Dengar found and rescued Boba Fett after he was "eaten" by the Sarlacc. Dengar nursed Fett back to health, the infamous Fett even serving as Dengar's best man during his wedding to Manaroo, and accompanied him on a mission to kidnap the head of Kuat Drive Yards.

Dengar renounced his occupation as a bounty hunter, and after a brief spell as partner with Fett, he retired to a new life with his love.

During much of his career he was considered more ruthless than Boba Fett himself, and usually performed assassinations rather than live captures. Nevertheless, traces of self-recrimination plagued his thoughts, resulting in deep self-loathing and despair.

In 9 ABY, Mara Jade was taken prisoner for a short time by a bounty hunter. She later escaped from him and found an ID card that read "Dengar Roth." However, the card was forged and carried by a man named Gunner Groth, who used the phony ID to better scare his targets and negotiate higher bounties with the Galactic Empire.

In 11 ABY he briefly came out of retirement to work for Grappa the Hutt, who was paying large sums for bounty hunters. After Grappa's organization began to unravel, Dengar fled, but was picked up by Black Sun, which Grappa had offended. However, after revealing all he knew of Grappa's organization, Black Sun let Dengar go unharmed, and he swore never again to work for a Hutt.

Personality and traits
Dengar was a person without emotions, due to his horrible accident and because of the cyborg parts in his brain. He had a serious demeanor and would only kill a person professionally, not for amusement. Right before any assassination he would attempt to visualize his target as Han Solo, his need for revenge enhancing his desire to kill.

After he had met Manaroo, his emotions were restored thanks to the Aruzan device called an Attanni and Manaroo's will to change him.

Weaponry
Dengar's carried a Valken-38 blaster rifle. The hook that held the bipod in the folded position was left in place and can be seen as a small protrusion.

He also possesses one blaster pistol, either identical one of his rival Han Solo, or an L-23. He has concussion grenades and a vibroblade.

Armor
Dengar's body armor is a conglomeration of various Imperial armor. The chest plate is from a Snowtrooper, while the shoulder bells, forearms, midsection, codpiece, and thighs are standard Stormtrooper armor. The two shin armor pieces are slightly modified versions of the left leg Stormtrooper armor.

The undersuit appears to be the same as the Snowtroopers.

Behind the scenes

 * Dengar was played by British actor Morris Bush.
 * Dengar's armor consists of bits of sandtrooper, stormtrooper and snowtrooper armor, that were repainted from their original white. This was to point to his Imperial past.
 * In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Dengar can be seen 3 times: First when Bib Fortuna escorts Luke Skywalker to meet with Jabba, second when Luke falls in the rancor's pit, and in Jabba's court when Luke, Han and Chewie are brought before Jabba, after Luke kills the rancor.
 * He was slated to appear in Jodo Kast and Dengar: Preying for Time, but the comic was canceled.
 * In many pre-production still photos Dengar is pictured holding a BlasTech DLT-19 (a modified MG 34). This was not the gun he had in the film, but it was used by 4-LOM.

Appearances



 * A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale
 * Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika
 * Star Wars Missions 5: The Hunt for Han Solo
 * Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (novel)
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88
 * Payback: The Tale of Dengar
 * Of Possible Futures: The Tale of Zuckuss and 4-LOM
 * Marvel Star Wars 42: The Empire Strikes Back: To Be a Jedi
 * Marvel Star Wars 50: The Crimson Forever
 * Marvel Star Wars 68: The Search Begins
 * Marvel Star Wars 69: Death in the City of Bone
 * Hunting the Hunters
 * The Bounty Hunters: Scoundrel's Wages
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * The Mandalorian Armor
 * Slave Ship
 * Hard Merchandise
 * Boba Fett: Twin Engines of Destruction
 * Tall Tales
 * Dark Empire
 * Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood
 * Young Jedi Knights: Delusions of Grandeur
 * Jodo Kast and Dengar: Preying for Time
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy