Bidlo Kwerve/Legends

Bidlo Kwerve was a Corellian pirate and smuggler who served Jabba Desilijic Tiure. A tall, grizzled man with scarred features and a mane of black hair, he was known for his greediness and hot temper, and was quick to respond to any perceived insults. Kwerve and a Twi'lek named Bib Fortuna competed to become Jabba's new majordomo after the Hutt deemed his previous retainer, Naroon Cuthus, too old and incapable of carrying out his duties. Kwerve and Fortuna hated each other with a passion and went to great lengths to prove themselves in Jabba's eyes, though Jabba considered each as incompetent as the other.

Kwerve disliked Jabba's top pilot, Han Solo, and the two often clashed, both in words and with blasters. Around 2 BBY, he considered leaving Jabba's employ because of the continual menial tasks that were being asked of him, and though Fortuna encouraged him to quit, he never did. Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, Kwerve discovered a crashed ship in the Tatooinian desert, with a live rancor inside it. Hoping to present the beast to Jabba for his birthday, he begrudgingly sought the aid of Fortuna to help him transport it to Jabba's Palace. Jabba was impressed with the initiative shown by his two top lieutenants and offered to make one of them his new majordomo; the other would be given the "greater honor," though Jabba did not specify what this was. Ever greedy, Kwerve accepted the "greater honor"&mdash;he became the rancor's first victim and was devoured in a pit below Jabba's court. The uncouth Corellian did get his revenge, posthumously, when Luke Skywalker used Kwerve's skull to kill the rancor in 4 ABY.

Jabba's lieutenant
"Oh, and as a bonus&hellip;I won't lecture you on hiring from the wrong end of the food chain."

- Han Solo speaking about Bidlo Kwerve, to Jabba Desilijic Tiure

Bidlo Kwerve, an uncouth Human male from Corellia, found himself in a life of crime, becoming a pirate and a smuggler. Known as something of a ruffian, and always quick to brandish his blaster, Kwerve had an unkempt mane of black hair, with a thin white stripe running from front to back, and a craggy, scarred face. At some point in his life, Kwerve began to work for Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure on the planet Tatooine, becoming one of his top lieutenants.

Kwerve sought to replace Naroon Cuthus, Jabba's aging and increasingly inept majordomo, but he had stiff competition in the form of Bib Fortuna, a Twi'lek slaver who had once held the prestigious position decades earlier, but had been demoted for some frivolous error. It amused Jabba to watch the two fight it out, and he constantly pitted them against each other, knowing that one would eventually triumph over the other and replace the bumbling Naroon Cuthus. The two hated each other to a fault, though Kwerve was almost universally disliked anyway. The Corellian pirate's duties varied considerably; he often acted as a bodyguard for Jabba, helped perform menial tasks such as stocking ships, administered Jabba's townhouse in Mos Eisley while the Hutt was elsewhere, and accepted incoming calls to Jabba's Palace and referred them to the Hutt. In the race to prove themselves in Jabba's eyes, Fortuna edged ahead; the Twi'lek had better administration and management skills, he fawned over Jabba more than his opponent, and he could speak and understand Huttese, unlike Kwerve.

Competition
Around 3 BBY, Jabba decided that Naroon Cuthus knew too much about his operations and had him killed; the rivalry between Kwerve and Fortuna heated up. In 2 BBY, Kwerve and Fortuna accompanied Jabba to Space Station Kwenn to meet with his top pilot, Han Solo, and collect a recently smuggled load of spice. Jabba and Solo had agreed to meet alone, but the Hutt decided to bring his two henchmen anyway; furious, Solo insulted them, and Kwerve had to be restrained by Jabba from attacking him. When Solo insulted him again, Kwerve pulled a blaster on him, though the pilot's hidden Wookiee companion, Chewbacca, destroyed the weapon with his bowcaster. Solo departed before things escalated, though Kwerve attempted to persuade his master to kill the Corellian pilot and his Wookiee first mate.

Jabba ordered his two lieutenants to stock his ship with the spice; furious at having to perform such menial duties, Kwerve began wondering how much more of Jabba's abuse he could take. He voiced his annoyance to Fortuna, but the Twi'lek merely encouraged him to leave. Later, en route to Jabba's residence on Tatooine, the Hutt remonstrated with his two lieutenants, berating them for not noticing Chewbacca before his appearance. Jabba dismissed the duo, telling them he would contemplate their punishment over dinner, and the two left to continue arguing. During Jabba's meal, however, they heard a disturbance and entered to find the Hutt struggling to capture a small Kowakian monkey-lizard. Jabba had found the creature in his food bowl, and Kwerve drew his blaster, hoping to kill it. Salacious B. Crumb, as the creature was called, covered Kwerve and Fortuna in Jabba's goo-like food before Kwerve could pull the trigger, rendering the blaster nonfunctional. Jabba was so amused by these events that he sent his two lieutenants away, ultimately hiring Crumb as a court jester.

Two years later, Kwerve was temporarily appointed as Jabba's majordomo. During this time, he again clashed with Han Solo, after the pilot had dropped a load of valuable spice during an Imperial search. Solo had contacted Jabba's Palace to reason with the Hutt, though Kwerve was first to answer the call; he eventually put Solo through to Jabba, after much gloating. After this, however, his temporary promotion was rescinded. A few days later, Kwerve was presented with an opportunity to edge ahead of Fortuna in the contest to become his master's new majordomo.

A group of Jawas informed Kwerve that a Bothan ship had crashed in the Tatooinian desert, containing a fearsome creature, and persuaded him to buy the wreckage from them. Intrigued, and hoping to curry favor with Jabba, Kwerve went out to investigate along with several of Jabba's Gamorrean guards, claiming he was going womp rat hunting. However, Bib Fortuna&mdash;always keeping tabs on his rival&mdash;was not far behind him. In the downed ship, Bidlo Kwerve found a hulking, meters-tall beast, which was only subdued when the Corellian pirate threw eight gas grenades at it. Fortuna arrived on the scene moments later, demanding to know what was going on. Both he and Kwerve knew they would not be able to bring the beast back to Jabba's Palace alone and decided that working together&mdash;something they had never done before&mdash;was the least dangerous option. The duo took the creature to the lower dungeons of the desert citadel, and Fortuna used his contacts to secure the services of Malakili, a beast-handler at Circus Horrificus.

Death and legacy
"Let's see&hellip;ahh. The skull of a previous dinner guest. This oughta do it."

- Luke Skywalker, moments before using Kwerve's skull to trigger the blast door that killed the rancor

During this time, Jabba was away on business purchasing a cantina in Mos Eisley; his birthday was in three days, and Fortuna and Malakili hoped to present the creature to him as a gift. Malakili, freshly arrived from Nar Shaddaa, identified the creature as a rancor, a non-sentient species native to Dathomir, though how the rancor ended up on Tatooine eluded him. Kwerve and Fortuna installed a trapdoor in front of Jabba's dais, so that the Hutt could pull a lever and those standing over the grating would fall into a special dungeon containing the rancor. Although Jabba's spies around the palace had informed him of the newly arrived rancor before his birthday, he was genuinely pleased to see the creature; Kwerve took this opportunity to claim most of the credit for the beast's capture, though Fortuna told Jabba of the administrative duties he had performed. Impressed at the initiative shown by the two beings, Jabba promised to make one of them his new majordomo, while the other would get a greater, unspecified role that would be remembered forever.

Fortuna, ever cagey, noted the sinister nature of Jabba's latter promise and voiced his contentedness at accepting the lesser honor of becoming the majordomo. Kwerve was satisfied and waited for his great honor; Jabba and Fortuna spoke in Huttese, and as Kwerve could not understand he began to panic. Eventually, Jabba revealed what the great honor would be: Kwerve would be the first victim of the rancor. The trap door opened and Bidlo Kwerve was devoured by the rancor. Ironically, he would get his revenge&mdash;albeit posthumously&mdash;on the rancor years later when Jedi Luke Skywalker used Kwerve's skull to trigger the closing mechanism of a blast door in the dungeon, killing the rancor.

Personality and traits
"Maybe one of your girlfriends wants to dance?''" "''That does it, Solo&mdash;!"

- Han Solo and Bidlo Kwerve on Space Station Kwenn

Bidlo Kwerve was considered a thug, and he had a brash, aggressive nature. Insults against him rarely went unpunished, and he had a cruel sense of humor; he taunted Han Solo after the pilot had dropped his cargo and earned Jabba's wrath. Kwerve was thought to be extremely lucky, a trait many believed was shared by most Corellians, and this was one of the reasons Bib Fortuna loathed him so. He rarely spoke; Malakili reckoned this was because he had a high, raspy, and whiny voice. Kwerve was thought to be very greedy, always looking out for himself; unlike Fortuna, he did not have the presence of mind to decline Jabba's offer of a "greater honor," instead claiming it for himself, ultimately to his own detriment. He was also an opportunist; when he heard about the downed ship in the desert, he traveled there personally to investigate, hoping to turn things to his advantage. His appearance reflected his uncouth nature, with wild, ragged black hair and a face pockmarked with numerous scars and sores, including one long scar from a blaster wound.

Behind the scenes
The character of Bidlo Kwerve first appeared in numerous West End Games sourcebooks, in biographies for Bib Fortuna, a minor character from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. He first appeared in Bill Slavicsek and Curtis Smith's Star Wars Sourcebook, but Galaxy Guide 5: Return of the Jedi, written by Michael Stern, expanded his backstory. Kevin J. Anderson used this roleplaying game information for part of his short story in Tales from Jabba's Palace, "A Boy and His Monster: The Rancor Keeper's Tale," in 1996, and in the same year, Kwerve was given his first visual appearance in Ryder Windham's This Crumb for Hire. Decipher's Star Wars Customizable Card Game retconned the skull used by Luke Skywalker to kill the rancor in Return of the Jedi as Kwerve's, tying in his death in Tales from Jabba's Palace. The character has since appeared briefly in A. C. Crispin's Rebel Dawn and the non-canon Star Wars Tales comic Best Birthday Ever, which tells the story of "A Boy and His Monster" in a more lighthearted way. In it, Kwerve lends his speeder to Bib Fortuna to collect the rancor from the Interstellar Parcel Service, but dies similarly to "A Boy and His Monster."

Appearances

 * This Crumb for Hire
 * Rebel Dawn
 * "A Boy and His Monster: The Rancor Keeper's Tale"
 * Scoundrels
 * Of the Day's Annoyances: Bib Fortuna's Tale
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi radio dramatization
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novelization
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novelization
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Non-canon appearances

 * Best Birthday Ever