Dinko (creature)

"Dinko? What for? A Dinko? Revolting, ugh!"

- Sabodor

A dinko was a small reptilian scavenger that was extremely vicious and tenacious. It was also notorious for emitting an unbearable stench, and for a mildly toxic bite which could paralyze a Human-sized creature with nausea.

Dinkos were native to the planet Proxima Dibal I. They had thin bodies about ten centimeters long, with powerful rear legs, two front legs with a single claw, and a pair of smaller single-clawed grasping extremities on their chests. Their scent was not used for defense, but to establish mating dominance. Dinko vision worked by sensing movement&mdash;accordingly, they would attack anything that moved.

Darth Sidious included dinkos in a particularly traumatizing training session with Darth Maul in which Maul was immersed in a cell full of the clawing, biting creatures. Han Solo once bought a dinko, which he used to distract Ploovo Two-For-One on Etti IV. Han Solo told of this event in a personal log entry,

"Ploovo, that scum, deserved everything he got for betraying us to the Espos. It was a stretch of luck to even find a dinko. Most pet shops don't carry them, because they're just too vicious. I knew no one would really want a dinko as a pet, but some people have been known to breed them for fighting. That's where I found out about dinkos in the first place. I won a couple of credits on a scrappy little creature called Fang. Of course, the animals they use in dinko fighting are descented. No one would want to be near one otherwise. The dinko I found hadn't been descented. That made the deal all the more rewarding. Ploovo, of course, thought the box I bought him was his payment. Oh, I paid him him what he wanted all right, then gave him a little extra. When Ploovo reached into the box, the little guy, bless its smelly little heart, latched on to Ploovo's thumb and squirted its scent all over his nice new suit. It was great and it was just the distraction Chewie and I needed to escape from the Espos. Too bad I couldn't keep the creature. It was quite a useful little runt."[3]

Guri, the second-in-command of Black Sun, once used a dinko to distract the bounty hunter Boushh, enabling her to kill him and take his prisoner. Dinkos were not recommended for use as pets, though some exotic pet stores sold them anyway. Dinkos were also pitted against each other in the sport of Dinko fighting. Nuri the Clawdite first morphed into an Arrak snake, and then a dinko to stun Boba with its noxious spray. Nuri also briefly attacked Boba with the dinko's claws, before scuttling away as a Fefze beetle.

Appearances

 * Jedi Apprentice: The Day of Reckoning
 * Restraint
 * Star Wars Episode I Journal: Darth Maul
 * Jedi Quest: The Dangerous Games
 * Star Wars: The Wrath of Darth Maul
 * Boba Fett: A New Threat
 * The Last of the Jedi: A Tangled Web
 * The Last of the Jedi: Secret Weapon
 * Han Solo at Stars' End
 * Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire
 * Galaxy of Fear: City of the Dead
 * Star Wars Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine
 * X-wing: Wraith Squadron
 * Deader than a Triton Moon
 * Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
 * Deader than a Triton Moon
 * Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial