Womp rat/Legends

"Just like shootin' womp rats, eh kid?"

- Unknown Rebel soldier

The womp rat was a large, omnivorous rodent native to Tatooine. It was widely considered to be a pest. They were slightly larger than two meters in size. There were two races of womp rats: ones that lived in Beggar's Canyon and ones that lived in the Jundland Wastes. While they were opportunists and were fond of carrion and refuse, they were also predators. Their normal prey included small animals, such as profoggs.



Womp rats traveled in packs to overwhelm their prey. These packs consisted of up to 20 individuals. When they bit, the teeth of womp rats set in and the animals would not release, even if they were killed; Owen Lars had seen a bantha with a dessicated womp rat skull still biting down on it.

The Beggar's Canyon womp rat reproduce at an alarming rate. Once it reproduced to such a point that the population could not be kept in check, and womp rats were hunting Jawas and raiding storehouses. The Imperial prefect of Tatooine then allowed people to hunt them at ten credits per rat. Luke Skywalker and his friend Biggs Darklighter got enough womp rats to upgrade their T-16 Skyhoppers and to have enough money for the Academy.

The Jundland Waste womp rat appeared shortly after Imperials arrived on Tatooine, and some have speculated it was a mutated form of the Beggar's Canyon womp rat, affected by chemicals from Imperial waste dumps. They were lesser in number and did not reproduce as quickly as the Beggar's Canyon womp rat.

It was not unheard of for people to have domesticated womp rats as pets.

Luke Skywalker and his friends, including Biggs Darklighter, used to "bullseye" womp rats while flying T-16 Skyhoppers with stun blasts for fun and for target practice.

Behind the scenes

 * In LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy the player can find hidden turrets and shoot womp rats for coins.

Notes and references
Womp-Ratten