Bossk

"Well, I'm just guessing, sir. But I couldn't help noticing that your ship is equipped with missile launchers as well as quad cannons, and that the Imperials seem very interested in your arrival. And given the size of your mortar gun, and the way you don't mince words, it's my impression that you're a professional bounty hunter."

- Ezra Bridger's description of Bossk

Bossk was a male Trandoshan bounty hunter and the son of Cradossk who was known for hunting Wookiees. During the Clone Wars, Bossk worked alongside fellow hunters Aurra Sing and Castas to mentor the orphaned Boba Fett. Their scheme to kill Fett's hated enemy Mace Windu resulted in Fett and Bossk's arrest. After a stint in prison, Bossk worked in Fett's syndicate of bounty hunters, taking jobs for clients including Otua Blank and Asajj Ventress.

After the rise of the Empire, Bossk traveled to the Outer Rim planet of Lothal to collect a bounty on the Dug criminal Gronson Takkaro, who had jumped bail in the Ahakista system. During his Lothal trip, Bossk also joined forces with the Force-sensitive street urchin Ezra Bridger to stop the corrupt Imperial Security Bureau Lieutenant Jenkes. Following the Battle of Hoth, Bossk would be called upon by Darth Vader to find and capture the Millennium Falcon.

Background
"I've never seen anyone boost a landspeeder so fast. How'd you learn?" "My father taught me."

- Ezra and Bossk discussing the latter's childhood

Bossk was the son of Cradossk, a Trandoshan bounty hunter. From his father, Bossk learned how to boost a landspeeder. When Bossk reached maturity, he followed his father's foot steps and became a bounty hunter. Looking back on his childhood, Bossk regarded fathers as overrated and was uncomfortable with people asking questions about his father. At some point during his career as a bounty hunter, Bossk obtained a modified YV-666 light freighter that was named the Hound's Tooth. This became his main transport for plying his trade as a bounty hunter.

Aiding a vendetta
"You got a problem with Boba, you got a problem with me."

- Bossk

A fierce and skilled bounty hunter, Bossk was renowned and feared for his effectiveness at killing Wookiees. During the Clone Wars, Bossk teamed up with fellow bounty hunters Aurra Sing and the Klatooinian Castas to mentor the young Boba Fett and assist him with his vendetta against the renowned Jedi Master Mace Windu. After Fett destroyed the engines of the Republic attack cruiser Endurance, making it crash on Vanqor, the bounty hunters went inside and took three hostages: Admiral Kilian, Commander Ponds and a clone officer. Bossk remained by their ship to watch over the hostages. However, the trio retreated after watching Windu's fighter escape them by making the jump to hyperspace.

As the bounty hunters stopped on Florrum to request services of space pirate Hondo Ohnaka, Bossk was left in charge of the ship, the Slave I, holding their two Republic hostages which survived the trip. As he was about to kill the hostages, the Padawan Ahsoka Tano swooped in on a speeder bike, subdued Bossk and freed the hostages. Bossk was then held at gunpoint by Kilian, with the Trandoshan's own weapon. Aurra Sing then arrived in on a speeder bike, and during the brief battle that followed, Aurra tried to escape with Slave I, but crashed after Ahsoka cut off one of the wings. Later, both Bossk and Boba Fett were taken as Republic prisoners to the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center on Coruscant.

Incarcerated
While in prison Bossk decided to act as a bodyguard to Boba. When he saw a fight take place in the cafeteria between Obi-Wan Kenobi disguised as Rako Hardeen he cheered his young charge on. As the guards came over to intervene he knocked them out and threw Hardeen across a dining table creating a distraction for the prisoners to escape. Bossk and Fett fled the room in the chaos.

A job under Fett
After escaping prison, Boba formed his own syndicate of bounty hunters, which Bossk joined. On Tatooine Bossk, along with fellow bounty hunters Dengar, C-21 Highsinger, Oked and Latts Razzi went to the Mos Eisley Cantina. After seeing Oked killed, Bossk and Latts invited his killer, Asajj Ventress, for a drink and blackmailed her into taking Oked's place on their team for a job. After Ventress agreed, Bossk and Latts took her to meet Fett and the other team members. Fett's team had been hired by the Belugan Major Rigosso to protect a large chest while it was delivered via subtram to his Lord. While on the job, the tram was attacked by Kage Warriors. After several minutes of fighting, Bossk was sent to help Ventress defend the rear. On the way, however, a Kage Warrior blew blinding dust into his face. Unable to see, Bossk was kicked off the tram. He hit the ground hard, bellowing his fury. Later, he and the rest of the team collected their share of the payment from Ventress, though not before Bossk inquired about Boba's whereabouts.

Mission to Serenno
Later in the war, Bossk and Fett's syndicate of hunters stopped at a bar at Level 1313 on Coruscant. Bossk was sitting the bar drinking when the Jedi Quinlan Vos entered, posing as a bounty hunter. Vos, who was seeking a lead on the location of Bossk's former teammate Asajj Ventress, tried to get attention by loudly asking if anyone had any job leads, which Bossk coldly rebuked. When Vos casually referenced Ventress, however, Bossk's attention was piqued and he laughed before buying Vos a drink. Bossk inquired if she had stolen a job from Vos, and he instead asked if he knew where she was, to which Bossk answered he had no idea, but after further prodding from Vos, took him to a back alcove where Boba and the other hunters under his employ were seated. Bossk told his boss that Vos was looking for "No Name," and Boba eventually gave the undercover Jedi the information heed needed to locate and confront Ventress. Before Vos departed, Bossk remarked that he hoped Vos was "man enough" for the task.

Not long after Boba and his syndicate were sought out by their old associate Asajj Ventress, who needed help rescuing Vos from Count Dooku's castle on Serenno. While initially spurning the offer due to Ventress's betrayal of Fett, the hunters, in particular Bossk and Latts Razzi, were won over when offered two-hundred thousand credits. Bossk and the rest of the hunters provided a distraction while Ventress entered the castle to retrieve Vos and were able to trap Dooku underneath some netting; however, the appearance of the dark side–wielding Vos forced the hunters to flee.

Age of the Empire
By the Age of the Empire, Bossk was a member of the Bounty Hunters' Guild. The Guild had developed a working partnership with the Galactic Empire and pursued acquisitions who were targeted by a government bounty. As a licensed bounty hunter, Bossk was also issued with an Imperial Peace-Keeping Certificate.

Working with Ezra
"Avoid the use of firepower. We'll see about that"

- Bossk, prior to landing on Lothal

Five years before the Battle of Yavin, Bossk visited the Outer Rim planet of Lothal to collect a bounty on the Dug criminal Gronson "Shifty" Takkaro, who had jumped bail in the Ahakista system. While the local security Imperial Security Bureau Lieutenant Herdringer was reluctant to allow the Trandoshan bounty hunter to enter his jurisdiction, he reluctantly acquiesced on the condition that Bossk avoided the use of firepower. Unknown to Bossk, the ISB official he was talking to was actually an impostor, the corrupt ISB Lieutenant Jenkes, who had murdered the real Herdringer and stolen his identity. Jenkes was also in cahoots with "Shifty" Takkaro and informed the Dug fugitive. He also sent Squad Five, a squad of stormtroopers, to kill Bossk.

After landing in Lothal Capital City's spaceport, Bossk encountered a young Force-sensitive Human street urchin named Ezra Bridger. Having been orphaned at the age of seven following the death of his parents, Ezra made his living on the streets of Capital City as a con artist. Posing as an official guide to Lothal, Ezra agreed to lead Bossk to a joint called Ake's Tavern, where "Shifty" Takkaro was reported to be hiding. In return, Bossk promised to pay Ezra a thousand credits and paid the youth an upfront installment of five hundred credits. While traveling on a speeder bus to Ake's Tavern, Bossk paid Ezra the remaining half of his fee.

Upon arriving at Ake's Tavern, Ezra entered the building disguised as a ticket-seller for the Arena Day tournament, which fell on the following day. However, "Shifty" Takkaro had already been warned and Bossk and Ezra soon found themselves under attack from three of Jenkes' associates, the Duros assassin Angrigo and the two Niktos known as the Kratchell twins. These assassins had been sent to protect Takkaro and to kill Bossk and his local guide. During the ensuing shootout, Bossk killed Angrigo and the Kratchells and captured Takkaro. Bossk attempted to interrogate Takkaro but before he could extract any answers, a squad of stormtroopers arrived at Ake's Tavern.

Bossk identified himself as a licensed bounty hunter whose hunt for the bail jumper Takkaro had been sanctioned by Imperial Herdringer of the ISB. When the stormtroopers ignored Bossk, he used a concussion grenade to distract the Imperials before fleeing the tavern with Ezra. Following a skirmish with several stormtroopers and scout troopers, Bossk and Ezra managed to escape on a stolen speeder bike. At Ezra's urging, Bossk reluctantly left his unconscious quarry Takkaro behind; Takkaro was subsequently apprehended by the local Imperial authorities. During their escape from the tavern, Ezra managed to confuse the Imperials by using a stolen stormtrooper helmet to issue false orders. Fleeing into a tunnel, Bossk and Ezra were pursued by a pair of scout troopers on speeder bikes but managed to lose their pursuers by entering the left-fork which led them to the outskirts of the city.

Imperial Entanglements
"Maybe you're not as dumb as you look. I need to meet a guy at a joint called Ake's Taven. Unfortunately, the Imperials weren't very interested in giving me directions."

- Bossk hiring Ezra's services as a guide

Bossk survived the fight and escape from Ake's Tavern but has sustained a laser bolt shot through his upper shoulder. Following their escape, Ezra demanded a pay hike from Bossk as compensation for being used as a "decoy". The Trandoshan reluctantly agreed to pay Ezra all the money in his ship's strongbox if the youth took him somewhere safe to recuperate from his injury. Bossk was unable to return to his ship Hound's Tooth because the Imperial authorities were after him. Keeping his side of the bargain, Ezra took Bossk to his home: an abandoned communications tower on the outskirts of Capital City. Ezra tended to the wounded Trandoshan and applied a thick bandage around his wounded shoulder. Reflecting on his previous encounter during the day, Bossk realized that he had been set up by Lieutenant Herdringer, who had arranged for the "incident" at Ake's Tavern.

In order to ascertain how the assassins he had encountered earlier had surfaced on Lothal, Bossk decided to visit the local posting agency at Capital City's spaceport to access the Imperial Enforcement DataCore. Borrowing Ezra's jump bike, the two of them traveled to Capital City's spaceport. To avoid detection, Bossk pretended to be a blind invalid with Ezra pretending to serve as his guide. After Ezra used his conman skills to get them pass a squad of stormtroopers, the two partners entered the posting agency. While viewing the Imperial records, Bossk and Ezra discovered that Lieutenant Herdringer had died three months ago during a traffic accident and that his colleague Lieutenant Jenkes had stolen his identity. They also learned that Jenkes in the past had managed an illegal gladiator arena on Nyriaan and that Gronson Takkaro had worked as his bookmaster.

Unknown to Bossk and Ezra, Lieutenant Jenkes was monitoring the Imperial Enforcement DataCore. The corrupt ISB agent dispatched a squad of stormtroopers to kill Bossk and placed a bounty on the Trandoshan. After escaping a second attack by stormtroopers, Bossk and Ezra decided to flee to Monad Outpost, where Jenkes was organizing an illegal gladitorial event called Gladiator Night the following night. Bossk intended to confront Jenkes there and expose his corruption. During their escape from the spaceport, Bossk destroyed an Imperial surveillance remote and knocked out a Ranat bounty hunter and Nimbanel companion, who had wanted to collected the Imperial bounty on Bossk.

After Bossk deduced that Lieutenant Jenkes was the mysterious "Commissioner" who ran the illegal Gladiator Night, Ezra realized that Jenkes would want to kill anyone who knew about his operation including his Xexto mentor Ferpil Wallaway, who had hired Ezra to sell the tickets for the Gladiator Night event. In an attempt to save Wallaway's life, Bossk and Ezra traveled to Wallaway's pawnshop, which lay nine kilometres away from Capital City's spaceport. However, Jenkes had already arrived at Wallaway's pawnshop and killed him with a blaster pistol. Bossk and Ezra arrived just in time to see Jenkes leaving the pawn shop with a large luggage case. Despite failing to save Wallaway's life, Bossk managed to plant a magnetic tracer beacon on Jenkes' speeder. Wallaway's death convinced Ezra to join forces with Bossk to stop Jenkes' plan to steal as much money as he could from the Gladiator Night event at Monad Outpost.

Final Showdown at Monad Outpost
"Hold on. I am Bossk from Trandosha. I did not come to Monad Ouptost to die in this arena. But if I am to die tonight, I wish to die as a warrior. I challenge the gladiators to bare-handed combat!"

- Bossk

Bossk and Ezra arrived at Monad Outpost, an abandoned mining settlement which lay on the outskirts of Lothal's Capital City; the arena was located underneath the settlement. Lieutenant Jenkes had already arrived and killed the Ishi Tib manning the box office. Before he and his two stormtrooper escorts could leave with the stolen credit chips, Bossk and Ezra intercepted them. After incapacitating his stormtrooper companions, Bossk confronted Jenkes but the the lieutenant fled into the arena. Bossk and Ezra gave chase but Jenkes shot the Trandoshan bounty hunter through his right thigh. In an attempt to slow down Bossk, Jenkes seized a comlink from the arena's Pa'lowick master of ceremony and claimed that Bossk was a dangerous fugitive who was wanted by the Empire.

Bossk foiled Jenkes' attempt to frame him by using Ezra's stolen comlink to issue a challenge to the arena's competitors: the Houk Borbig Drob and the Feeorin Warjak. After soundly defeating the two competitors in bare-handed combat, Bossk revealed that Lieutenant Jenkes was actually the shady criminal known as the "Commissioner" and that he had been planning to steal the spectators' credit chips. In addition, Bossk revealed Jenkes' involvement in the murders of Lieutenant Herdringer, the pawnbroker Wallaway, and the Ishi Tib manning the box office. Lieutenant Jenkes then attempted to escape the arena but was thwarted by Ezra who fired a slingshot at him. Shortly later, Jenkes was arrested by the local Imperial authorities.

Following the Gladiator Night showdown, Bossk was exonerated by the Imperial authorities on Lothal who awarded him an undisclosed amount of credits via transfer register. In addition, Bossk was allowed by Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko to take back the corpse of Lieutenant Jenkes as a trophy, who had been executed for his numerous crimes. An official HoloNet News report credited the Trandoshan with saving the lives of numerous civilians and exposing a crime syndicate's operation to defraud gamblers. This brief report omitted any mention of Jenkes, whose actions were deemed an embarrassment for the Empire. Prior to departing Lothal, Bossk paid Ezra everything in his strongbox, which amounted to little more than a paltry sum of ninety credits.

The hunt for the Millennium Falcon
"Res luk ra'auf."

- Bossk utters an unmistakable warning to Captain Firmus Piett

Bossk was one of six hunters hired by Darth Vader to hunt down and capture Han Solo. However, he failed to collect on this bounty, with his old partner Boba Fett beating him to the target. Bossk later met up with Boba at Jabba's Palace, and subsequently accompanied Jabba's retinue aboard the Khetanna.

Personality and traits
"Mr Bossk, it's my understanding that you're a professional businessman. I expect you to honor that deal." "All right, shorty. You got me. All the money in the strongbox is yours."

- Ezra Bridger negotiating a pay hike with Bossk

Bossk was a ruthless and efficient bounty hunter who upheld the Bounty Hunter Code. He did not like other bounty hunters or governments interfering with any of his bounties. While Bossk tended to work alone, he was also capable of working with other individuals, including Boba Fett, Aurra Sing, and Ezra Bridger. As a businessman, Bossk was also known to keep his promises to the letter of the law. He was also known as a fair and honest combatant.

Skills and abilities
"Now that guy really knows how to put on a show."

- the Pa'lowick arena manager's impression of Bossk

As a bounty hunter, Bossk was physically fit and a skilled fighter. He developed a fearsome reputation as an effective hunter of Wookiees, a species that shared the Kashyyyk system. While Bossk often wielded a mortar gun, he was also skilled in unarmed combat. On one occasion, he took on two gladiatorial fighters and bested them in a fight.

Equipment
Bossk's primary weapon was a Relby-v10 mortar gun. He also utilized a YV-series light freighter named the Hound's Tooth.

Behind the scenes
Bossk first appeared as a minor antagonist in The Empire Strikes Back. Prior to the 1980 release of the movie, he appeared in a mail-in flyer that revealed his role in that movie. In the Empire Strikes Back, Bossk was played by the actor Alan Harris, who reprised his role in the Return of the Jedi. Bossk's backstory was later expanded in several Star Wars Legends short stories, novels, and comics. Bossk also appeared in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series where he was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.

Bossk later appeared as a major character in Ryder Windham's 2014 young-adult novel Ezra's Gamble, which introduced several Legends plot elements including the Bounty Hunters' Guild and the Bounty Hunter Code. While older Legends literature tended to portray Bossk as a clear-cut villain who had an antagonistic relationship with Han Solo and Chewbacca, Windham's novella depicted him as a reluctant anti-hero who developed an uneasy partnership with Ezra Bridger, a major protagonist in the Star Wars Rebels animated television series.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Defense
 * Dark Disciple
 * Ezra's Gamble
 * Star Wars: Darth Vader 7: Shadows and Secrets, Part I
 * Star Wars: Darth Vader 8: Shadows and Secrets, Part II
 * Star Wars: Darth Vader 9: Shadows and Secrets, Part III
 * Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
 * Ezra's Gamble
 * Star Wars: Darth Vader 7: Shadows and Secrets, Part I
 * Star Wars: Darth Vader 8: Shadows and Secrets, Part II
 * Star Wars: Darth Vader 9: Shadows and Secrets, Part III
 * Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi