Tantor

"Don't let his slowness of brain or brawn fool you &mdash; if Tantor gets his hands/hooves on you, it's over."

- General Airen Cracken

Tantor was an Esoomian pirate brawler who stopped several mutiny attempts. As his captain refused to raise Tantor's salary, the Esoomian attacked and killed him. The other pirates cuffed Tantor for their own safety, but Tantor eventually released himself, killed several other pirates and left.

Through the following years, Tantor became a professional enforcer, bounty hunter]], bodyguard, thug and killer for hire. Conscious of his limitations in brain, he restricted his activities to easy jobs. During the first years of the New Republic, he operated in Mos Eisley, confronting agents of the New Republic &mdash;leading to the New Republic offering a bounty for his head&mdash; and Gamorreans. When his employer, the Enu crime lord Corf Sarb, refused to pay Tantor's medical bills as promised, Tantor turned against Sarb.

Biography
An Esoomian male born on the planet Esooma in 32 BBY, Tantor left his homeworld when hired for the crew of a pirate starship. Tantor's tasks included intimidating victims of the ships they boarded, and also subjugating the pirate crew in several attempted mutinies, all to the benefit of the pirate captain. After a long time without a pay rise, Tantor asked the captain for one. This led to a discussion, ending when Tantor eventually put the captain in a escape pod and jettisoned him to the space. The captain was succeeded by his first officer, who mistrusted Tantor after this event. As such, the first officer decide to shackle the Esoomian for the crew's safety. Tantor released himself at the following stopover, killed a number of pirates and escaped the ship.

Somehow getting an Imperial Peace Keeping Certificate, Tantor became a legitimate bounty hunter, albeit an aimless one. Realizing that his mind was not as keen as some of his colleagues', Tantor mostly worked for other individuals, sometimes accepting illegal jobs in exchange for money or favors. He nonetheless avoided the highest bounties, as they meant a harder job, and the Esoomian contented himself with a modest success. However, he was familiar with the reputation of Jabba the Hutt, a crime lord operating in Tatooine, and Tantor hoped to join Jabba's organization one day. To do so, he intended to reach Tatooine somehow.

However, by the time Tantor reached Tatooine, Jabba had already died, and Tantor was no longer an authorized bounty hunter. He looked for alternative employers, including the Enu smuggler and crime lord Corf Sarb, and began working for him. Sarb was known to hire the best available thugs, and to check the loyalty of any new employee by asking him or her to kill an enemy of Sarb's or to commit a crime. While working for Sarb and for other crime bosses, Tantor earned himself a reputation in Mos Eisley as an "antennae-breaker." At some point before 7 ABY, Sarf promised to pay for Tantor's medical expenses should Tantor fight against a clan of Gamorreans. However, once the skirmish was over, Sarf broke his oath. Tantor's partnership with Sarf went sour and the Esoomian demolished Sarf's headquarters while the Enu was inside. Tantor also had brushes, including several forms of assault, with agents of the New Republic. Due to this, New Republic Intelligence offered a bounty of 30,000 credits for Tantor's head &mdash; which was more than was offered for Sarf's.

Personality and traits
A professional enforcer who collected debts for anyone paying him, Tantor also worked as a bodyguard and an assassin for money. He commonly resorted to physical violence in a very straightforward style that was quite effective in the back alleys he frequented. However, and although he was not particularly intelligent, he had a certain guile and ambushed prey from dark alleys. He was surprisingly loyal for a common thug, but he did not like his boss cheating him.

A huge and very strong person, Tantor knew how to use his natural heftiness to his advantage, both in personal combat and as a tool to intimidate. He was very persuasive and had a penchant for gambling. He commonly carried a vibro-ax, although not always the same one; however, he could also use his naked, hooved fists to kill a person with violence. Like many Esoomians, he had trouble speaking Galactic Basic Standard, but he understood it well enough to follow orders.

Behind the scenes
Tantor first appeared in Wanted by Cracken (1993), a sourcebook for West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. He was identified as an "Esoomian", a sentient species that had not appeared previously in the canon. The book included an image of Tantor, credited to "LFL" (Lucasfilm Ltd.). That image was a cropped, re-inked conceptual design for the Rancor, drawn by Joe Johnston, that had been drawn for the movie Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi but went unused. The same year, Fnnbu, another alien of similar appearance, was seen in Tales of the Jedi 5: The Saga of Nomi Sunrider, Part 3. Although Fnnbu was based in the same concept art, he was identified as a member of a different species, the Zexx.

Tantor later appeared in a different role-playing game supplement, Galaxy Guide 10: Bounty Hunters (1994). This book included new, original art on Tantor, drawn by Mike Vilardi.