Fern calls unclaimsies to lay claim to the Onyx Cinder.
Claimsies and unclaimsies constituted a policy of appropriation on the isolated planet of At Attin. By calling claimsies, one could lay claim to an entity and become its legitimate owner. By calling unclaimsies, in turn, one could reverse a previously laid claim, rendering it ineffective if the unclaimsies was called in the presence of the original claimer. The calling of unclaimsies made an entity ownerless until claimsies was called again.
In the New Republic Era, a conflict arose between the boys Wim and Neel and the girls Fern and KB concerning the ownership of the Onyx Cinder, an abandoned starship the younglings had found in the woods, before an unclaimsies established Fern as the rightful owner. Her ownership was later solidified when pirate droid SM-33 recognized her as the captain of the vessel. Following their accidental departure from their homeworld, the younglings had their ship intercepted by a pirate crew. With Captain Silvo laying claim to the Onyx Cinder, Fern called unclaimsies to regain her position, and according to SM-33, the unclaimsies was close enough to the Pirate's Code for him to recognize her as the rightful captain.
Characteristics[]
- "No calling un-claimsies without the claimer. Everyone on the whole planet knows that."
- ―Wim, specifying the unclaimsies procedure
Claimsies[2] and unclaimsies,[3] the latter alternatively spelled as un-claimsies,[4] were an appropriation procedure on the planet of At Attin,[2] an isolated Jewel of the Old Republic accommodating Old Republic credit mints.[5] Individuals who called claimsies were referred to as claimers. According to the youngling Wim, the original claimer's presence was requisite for unclaimsies to be effective, an opinion shared by the youngling Fern despite[2] her[6] previous violation of this rule. Following the unclaimsies procedure, the new claimer did not need to have called claimsies or unclaimsies by themselves and could instead join the procedure as a previously uninvolved third party. In addition, the claimer who had gained ownership was entitled to extend their ownership to other parties and to banish all individuals of a particular gender[2] or social group from the newly acquired property.[1]
The application of unclaimsies was controversial vis-à-vis the Pirate's Code. According to the pirate Captain Silvo, calling unclaimsies could not strip[1] him[5] of his ownership of the Onyx Cinder, which he had priorly laid claim to. That opinion of his, however, was not shared by the pirate droid SM-33, who instead acknowledged Fern as the new captain, recognizing her unclaimsies as close enough to the provisions of the Pirate's Code.[1]
History[]
Claimsies showdown in the woods[]
- "They called claimsies. It checks out."
"Neel!" - ―Neel and Wim about Fern and KB's claimsies
A claimsies controversy over the ship buried in the woods
Around 9 ABY,[7] the human youngling Wim from the planet At Attin found a starship buried in the woods.[2] A boy with huge imagination,[8] Wim believed[2] his[8] finding to be an abandoned Jedi temple. Together with[2] his best friend[9] Neel, he visited the finding spot to penetrate the inferior of the vessel, only to find that two human girls Fern and KB had already been waiting for them by the entry hatch. The girls insisted that the find was theirs, revealing that they wanted to strip it for parts. In response, Wim asserted that the find was his, noting that he had claimed it first. When Fern informed that she had called unclaimsies and claimed the ship for her and KB, Wim pointed out it was impossible to call unclaimsies except in the presence of the claimer, a fact he believed everyone on the whole planet would agree with. Acknowledging Wim's remark, Fern rushed to call unclaimsies again, non-verbally instructing KB to call claimsies immediately and outpace Wim as a result. Otherwise siding with Wim, Neel admitted the girls' claimsies had met the formal criteria. Now the owner of the ship, Fern originally "called no boys" before suggesting they could join them as their employees to uncover the hatch and open it, an offer Wim did not take kindly to at first. Nevertheless, as he spaded through soil, he revealed to Neel a new plan of his. Assuming that Fern's claimsies applied to the outside only, the human boy believed he would be entitled to call claimsies to the interior if he were to enter it first, just as Fern had promised him if he did the digging. Neel called the plan genius, and the boys continued to dig. The girls, in turn, watched the boys' toil from afar. Albeit not questioning Fern's claim to the find, KB noted that her friend did not need to be so mean, given Wim and Neel had indeed found the ship first.[2]
A spacebound misadventure[]
- "This is our ship 'cause we found it first!"
- ―Wim, insisting the ship belonged to the Skeleton Crew
The Skeleton Crew younglings joined forces with Jod Na Nawood.
Not long after boarding, the four younglings activated the ship and found themselves stranded in space following an accidental departure from their homeworld.[2] Unbeknownst to them, the ship was in fact the Onyx Cinder and had once belonged to the renowned pirate Tak Rennod.[10] The children—who came to be known as the Skeleton Crew[11]—reactivated Rennod's droid SM-33. Well-versed in the Pirate's Code, SM-33 swore its loyalty to Fern, recognizing her as its new captain when conned into believing she had killed the previous one.Misreading the children's request for help, SM-33 took the crew to the asteroid Borgo Prime, where the minors had a run-in with Brutus's pirates.[12] Finding themselves imprisoned, the young wanderers joined forces with a mutinied pirate Captain Silvo, who took an interest in the alleged home planet of his co-inmates.[5] Having succeeded in establishing the coordinates to At Attin, however, Silvo betrayed the Skeleton Crew. By challenging Fern under the Pirate's Code,[2] the man[13] became the new captain. Before SM-33 could arrest the children by his order, the Skeleton Crew ran away[10] and returned to the Onyx Cinder, determined to reach their homeworld regardless of Silvo's betrayal. Silvo, in turn, was apprehended by his former crew. Though sentenced to death,[14] the convict managed to outsmart the crew captain by shooting him dead, an act that helped him regain his crew's loyalty and established him as the captain of their pirate frigate.[1]
Claimsies versus the Pirate's Code[]
- "Actually, since you're currently captain of the frigate, this vessel remains unattested."
"Excuse me?"
"By the Pirate Code, a captain can lay claim to one vessel and only one." - ―SM-33 and Silvo, the former citing the Pirate's Code
Jod took control of the ship by force.
It was not long until Silvo and the Skeleton Crew crossed their ways again. With the Onyx Cinder pulled aboard his frigate over At Attin, Silvo had the younglings arrested. Believing the ship was rightfully theirs, the boy Wim launched a spontaneous attack on Silvo's crew members, with his minor companions following suit. As a scuffle broke out between the younglings and the pirates, Silvo calmed down his crew, commanding that the minors be taken hostage and chained up. When about to be walked out, Wim insisted that the ship was his and his friends', as they had found it first. Silvo shrugged off that opinion by simply noticing that it was now his, only to be corrected by SM-33. According the droid, the Pirate's Code stipulated that a captain could lay claim to only one vessel at the same time. Therefore, since Silvo commanded the pirate frigate, he could not simultaneously be in charge of the Onyx Cinder. Seeing an opportunity in this legal conflict, Wim attempted to call claimsies, a declaration he never finished after Silvo grasped him and covered his mouth, claiming the ship for himself instead. While originally accepting Silvo as the new captain, SM-33 became more hesitant when Fern stepped forth and,[1] exploiting a technicality in the pirates code,[15] called unclaimsies, claiming the ship for the kids only and ordering SM-33 to remove all the pirates. Confused about what was happening, Silvo noted that it did not work like that, only to be unexpectedly knocked unconscious by SM-33. Having processed the Pirate's Code procedures, the droid concurred with Silvo that it did not work so; however, claimsies was "close enough" to the Pirate's Code for it to accept it. Thereofre, it removed the pirates, as was asked of it. Unbeknownst to the children, Silvo had managed to get back aboard before takeoff. On their way to At Attin, the pirate destroyed SM-33 by cutting off its head. Unguarded by the droid, the Skeleton Crew was taken hostage from that moment onwards.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
- "For me it was all the claimsies stuff that I'm kind of most proud of. And it was in there for so long in just the pilot and then we found a way to pay it off and have 33 use it as, like, a Pirate Code input. I was, like, ah, hopefully people don't think this is dumb."
- ―Showrunner Christopher Ford on claimsies
Non-existed outside the Star Wars universe, claimsies and unclaimsies first appeared in[2] the pilot episode[16] of the Star Wars: Skeleton Crew live-action series, "This Could Be a Real Adventure,"[1] which aired on December 2, 2024.[17] As revealed by Christopher Ford on January 23, 2025, the procedure was originally invented for the pilot only and was only later decided to be a "Pirate Code" input. Ford also confessed that claimsies was his own idea and that it was the funny line that he was most proud of.[16]
Appearances[]
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew — "This Could Be a Real Adventure" (First appearance)- Star Wars: Skeleton Crew — "Zero Friends Again"
- Star Wars: Skeleton Crew — "We're Gonna Be In So Much Trouble"
Sources[]
- Skeleton Crew | Official Clip | Episode 7 Now Streaming on Disney+ on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)
- "Wim's World: Ravi Cabot-Conyers" — Star Wars Insider 232
- "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Companion" — Star Wars Insider 232 (Indirect mention only)
