Greedo

Greedo was a male Rodian bounty hunter who grew up on Tatooine alongside the young Anakin Skywalker and W. Wald in Mos Espa. During the Clone Wars, he was hired by the Trade Federation to kidnap Chi Eekway and Che Amanwe Papanoida, the daughters of Chairman Papanoida, but was forced by the chairman to lead him and his son Ion to them. He was occasionally hired by crimelord Jabba the Hutt for various mercenary jobs, including the capture of Han Solo, who killed the luckless Rodian.

Behind the scenes
Paul Blake played Greedo in the shots that feature both Greedo and Han Solo in the same frame. For Greedo's close-ups, a new articulated head was built for pickups at the end of the shoot, and Maria De Aragon was enlisted to play the Rodian. Greedo's language was actually Quechua, a native language of South America. During pickups, Greedo's costume vest changes significantly, as do his hands. In the original shoot, Greedo has long, suction-cup tipped fingers, and in pickups, he has swollen knuckles and shorter fingers. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series he was voiced by Tom Kenny. The Greedo mask and tunic are currently on display as part of the "Out of this World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television" in the Science Fiction Museum & Hall of Fame in Seattle, WA.

Greedo's manner of death has been subject to a number of retcons over the years. The most famous involves the question of who shot first, for in the original 1977 release of the film, as well as the script, Greedo did not shoot at Han at all. In the 1997 re-release of the film, Greedo gets a badly-aimed shot at Solo before Solo kills him. George Lucas has said that this change is to enhance Solo's overall heroism. This was a controversial decision and in the 2004 version the two shots are almost simultaneous, with Greedo shooting first.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace junior novel
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novel
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope junior novel
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope junior novel