Rugor Nass/Legends

Rugor Nass, also known as Boss Nass, was an Ankura Gungan. As he was the Boss of all the Otolla Gungans, he was also the Boss of Otoh Gunga and the Gungan High Council at the time of the Invasion of Naboo. He was a descendant of Gallo.

Nass was a proud ruler, and generally accepted as the foremost Gungan of his time. He was respected by his peers, and was well known for his stubbornness. He held a bitter prejudice against Humans, a prejudice that could have led to his downfall if not for the intervention of Queen Padmé Amidala.

Early life
Born on Naboo in the Gungan city of Otoh Gunga, Rugor Nass quickly cut a figure above his contemporaries with his warrior's spirit and unwavering determination. A popular fable concerns his inborn leadership abilities even as early as a tadpole. He was the first to sprout legs in his collective pool, and also seemed to organize the other tadpoles and aided them in their development. While in school, he ventured out into the unknown depths and encountered a sando aqua monster, though he somehow survived.

Early career


Nass took upon many varied careers &mdash; from army sergeant, to engineer, to energy miner, and eventually, the head of several small businesses. He became famous among his people by winning the Big Nasty Free-For-All, a grueling physical challenge in the annual Gungan Festival of Warriors, an unprecedented three years in a row. By the time the elections for Top Boss came around, he had gained popularity with a supermajority of the population, and won the election in a landslide.

Rather more conservative than the other Otollo leaders, Nass developed a reputation for stern, no-nonsense, yet fair and just leadership. Exceedingly proud of his city, Nass made unprecedented steps towards civic improvement, the most notable being the construction of the public concourse he dubbed City Bigspace. Nass even showed remarkable patience with the ever-bungling Jar Jar Binks, letting the hapless Gungan off with minor punishments for his misdeeds where most Bosses would have demanded Binks' head on a pike. However, Nass did vehemently draw the line at Binks romancing his niece Fassa, revoking a life debt she had sworn to Jar Jar on a technicality. It was only after Jar Jar crashed Nass' personal heyblibber while trying to save it from a gas explosion (which Binks had also caused earlier that day), that Nass reached the end of his patience. The punishment chosen was banishment under threat of death if violated, rather than instant death, and for a while, Binks was gone and Boss Nass ruled Otoh Gunga in relative peace.

Invasion of Naboo


"Yousa cannot bees here. This army of macaneeks up there is new weesong."

- Rugor Nass

In 32 BBY, Trade Federation forces headed by OOM-9 invaded Naboo. Prior to their occupation of Theed, they landed in the swamp areas, much to the horror of many Gungans. Through his leadership, Nass was able to keep the community together through the crisis. Nass was furious when the outcast Binks not only returned, but brought with him two outlanders: the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Nass blamed the Jedi for bringing the "mecha-neeks" (his term for the Trade Federation's battle droids). The Jedi argued that the Trade Federation's attack on the Naboo would adversely affect the Gungans as well, but Nass stubbornly refused to involve himself in the problems of the "superior" Naboo. Under the influence of Jinn, he then offered the Jedi a bongo submarine for their passage to Theed, not realizing that the Jedi had used the Force to sway his mind in the decision. He also reluctantly waived Jar Jar's death sentence to allow him to fulfill his life debt to Qui-Gon by being their navigator through the treacherous core of Naboo. Since even the most experienced of navigators had fallen prey to the perils of the core, Boss Nass felt secure in the knowledge that he would never see Binks or the Jedi again.

Alliance with the Naboo
"Yousa no thinken yousa greater than the Gungans? (chuckles) Mesa lika this. Maybe wesa being friends."

- Rugor Nass

A few days later, the Trade Federation droids discovered Otoh Gunga, and Nass quickly evacuated the Gungans to their hidden Sacred Place deep in the swamps. He was able to keep the Gungan people organized in their evacuation, and saved countless lives due to his skills. Much to his chagrin, Binks and the Jedi showed up again, this time with the Queen of Naboo and her royal guard. The Queen, Padmé Amidala, humbled herself before Nass and pleaded for his help in fighting off the Trade Federation. Realizing that the Naboo were not as unreasonable and elitist as he had been led to believe, Nass heartily pledged his allegiance to them, combining their forces against a common threat.

Nass proceeded to personally command the Gungan army which liberated Spinnaker and Harte Secur. They assaulted Camp 6 and freed the captured fambaas in order to use later in the upcoming battle. He then made preparations with General Tobler Ceel for the Battle of Grassy Plains.



During the Battle of Grassy Plains, the Gungan Grand Army bravely held off the bulk of the Trade Federation's droid contingent long enough for the Naboo to ambush Viceroy Nute Gunray in his palace and destroy the Droid Control Ship, rendering the droid army immobile and helpless. In the aftermath of the battle, Nass solemnly attended the funeral of Qui-Gon Jinn, and then jubilantly participated in the grand parade in which Queen Amidala presented Nass with the Globe of Peace to show the newfound peace between the Naboo and the Gungans after their centuries of rivalry.

Ohma-D'un
After the battle, Boss Nass took his plans for the betterment of the Gungans even further. Deciding that Otoh Gunga was too small to house the Gungan population, Nass emigrated some of his people to the Naboo moon Ohma-D'un. Moving Gungans out from the seas of Naboo and onto a planetoid of their own greatly improved Gungan relations with the rest of the galactic community. During the Clone Wars, the bounty hunter Durge, under orders of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, poisoned Ohma-D'un, nearly wiping out the Gungan population. Fortunately, Nass and Obi-Wan Kenobi were able to find a cure, and the Gungans were saved.

Clone Wars


Nass continued to rule the Gungans throughout the Clone Wars. On the eve of Palpatine's rise to absolute power and the creation of the Galactic Empire, he attended the funeral of Padmé Amidala with a heavy heart. Along with Binks, Queen Apailana, and the other Naboo and Gungans, he bid his final respects to the woman who had helped unite the Gungans and the Naboo, bringing peace and co-operation to the planet.

Imperial occupation


In 18 BBY, Nass agreed to aid Ferus Olin by lending Gungan aid to Naboo troops who attacked and destroyed the Imperial headquarters on Naboo, along with an illegal Imperial stockpile of explosives. Nass continued to fight against the Imperial occupation throughout the Emperor's reign.

In addition to the Imperial threat, Nass himself had additional problems with the many criminal organizations infesting Naboo during Galactic Civil War who were stealing artifacts and the like from the Gungan tribes. Nass had lost five ancient artifacts four of which had been stolen by such as the Darkwalkers, the Skaak Tippers, the Maulers, and the rogue Muskeg Gungans. The last artifact had been shattered, and one of its pieces had ended up in the possession of the Mummers, while some of its other pieces were in the possession of a Darkwalker group and a Skaak Tipper group. In the Sacred Place, Nass met up with agents of the Royal Naboo Security Forces who were looking for a stochastic decision chip which was located inside a B2 super battle droid which had somehow ended up in the possession of the fanatic militant Gungan group called the Ultragungans. Nass saw this as a chance to recover the artifacts and agreed to help the RSF agents if they would help him recover those that remained. The agents agreed and eventually all of the artifacts were recovered. Nass kept his word and provided them with the location of the super battle droid.

Personality and traits


Rugor Nass was somewhat of a bully &mdash; a particularly loud and bombastic Gungan. He would often make ticking noises when he was displeased with something, and would make other peculiar noises from time to time. He would often yell at those who opposed him, as a method of intimidation. Nevertheless, he had the Gungan people's best interests at heart, and always did his duty. He was rarely diplomatic, but he was always honest.

Nass was also extremely ambitious, and wanted to leave behind a legacy that would rival that of his ancestor, Gallo. With the colonization of Ohma-D'un, Nass effectively debunked any criticism directed towards him, knowing that the Naboo would always look up in the sky and see a Gungan moon. This was also designed to compensate and be a tribute to the Gungans who fell at Grassy Plains.

Behind the scenes

 * The Gungan boss was first named "Governor Nass," in the first rough version of The Phantom Menace and he spoke in normal English as the distinctive Gungan-Basic dialect had yet to be conceived.
 * The original model of Boss Nass originated from the elementary figure of Jar Jar Binks. In the initial drawings of the Gungan boss the similarity was clear cut, but the figure changed conspicuously as time went on, and his build increased. The finalized character was a hefty, thickset and striking being with an evident variation in origin from other Gungans.
 * Boss Nass was voiced by Brian Blessed in The Phantom Menace and by Kevin Michael Richardson in the game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. He has also been voiced by Greg Burson in several other games.
 * The character of Nass bears a close similarity to one of Brian Blessed's most popular characters, King Richard IV of England from the British sitcom, The Black Adder. Both are extremely loud and bombastic rulers who often enjoy shouting at their inferiors.
 * The term "nass" was first coined by DC Comics' sci-fi "Legion of Super-Heroes" in the mid-70s as a swear word roughly synonymous with either "hell" or "crap". Whether Lucas was aware of this when naming the character is unknown. It is also an adjective meaning "wet" in German&mdash;quite appropriate for an aquatic creature. Also befitting his character, and role as a ruler, "nass" means "people" in Arabic.

Appearances

 * Episode I Adventures 9: Rescue in the Core
 * Episode I Adventures 10: Festival of Warriors
 * Episode I Adventures 11: Pirates from Beyond the Sea
 * Episode I Adventures 12: The Bongo Rally
 * The Death of Captain Tarpals
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Episode I: Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Gungan Frontier
 * Deep Spoilers
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * Star Wars Republic: The New Face of War
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Tag & Bink: Revenge of the Clone Menace
 * The Last of the Jedi: Death on Naboo
 * Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided