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[[File:Ponda gets a new arm.JPG|thumb|left|260px|Evazan installs Baba's new cybernetic arm]] |
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As Evazan and Baba continued watching, Nokk arrived, impaled Posla and confronted Aphra and Triple-Zero, with Winloss at his side. However, the hunters were distracted by BT-1, who attacked them, letting the latter pair escape. With the commotion temporarily over, Evazan installed Baba's new cybernetic arm, equipped with its own mini-flamer. Fearing Triple-Zero may survive to hunt him down, he then strengthened the broadcast signal from the droid's eyes to present his entertainment back to the residents of Milvayne. With the populous now watching the live feed, Evazan announced Aphra and Triple-Zero as fugitive on the run, prompting any willing individuals to help the Milvayne Authority catch them. As money-craving callers made false claims about the pair in the hopes of winning the prize, Posla, revived again by the hookspores from his impalement, re-affiliated himself with the Milvayne Authority and led them to the fugitives as they traveled on a [[bloatbarge]].<ref name="Aphra 28">''[[Doctor Aphra 28: Worst Among Equals, Part III]]''</ref> |
As Evazan and Baba continued watching, Nokk arrived, impaled Posla and confronted Aphra and Triple-Zero, with Winloss at his side. However, the hunters were distracted by BT-1, who attacked them, letting the latter pair escape. With the commotion temporarily over, Evazan installed Baba's new cybernetic arm, equipped with its own mini-flamer. Fearing Triple-Zero may survive to hunt him down, he then strengthened the broadcast signal from the droid's eyes to present his entertainment back to the residents of Milvayne. With the populous now watching the live feed, Evazan announced Aphra and Triple-Zero as fugitive on the run, prompting any willing individuals to help the Milvayne Authority catch them. As money-craving callers made false claims about the pair in the hopes of winning the prize, Posla, revived again by the hookspores from his impalement, re-affiliated himself with the Milvayne Authority and led them to the fugitives as they traveled on a [[bloatbarge]].<ref name="Aphra 28">''[[Doctor Aphra 28: Worst Among Equals, Part III]]''</ref> |
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| + | Eventually, Evazan and Baba were tracked down by Winloss and Nokk, who had sought help from Professor Prexo to locate the fugitives.<ref name="Aphra 31">''[[Doctor Aphra 31: Worst Among Equals, Part VI]]''</ref> |
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==Personality and traits== |
==Personality and traits== |
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Revision as of 01:47, 4 August 2019
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Warning: This infobox is missing the following parameters: parents, pronouns, children, siblings, partners, families, feathers
- "Call it research. Call it madness. Call it art—it's all the same to me: I must know more."
- ―Cornelius Evazan
Doctor Cornelius Evazan was a human male from the planet Alsakan who was a promising cosmetic surgeon until he became gripped by madness and began practicing "creative surgery" on his patients, leaving his victims horrifically disfigured. During an encounter with a bounty hunter, which left his face hideously scarred, the Aqualish thug Ponda Baba rescued Evazan, following which the two formed an uneasy partnership. While working as the personal doctor of Dryden Vos, Evazan created an order of servants known as the Decraniated. Wanted men, he assumed the alias of "Roofoo," while Baba became known as "Sawkee," and after committing a rash of crimes on Milvayne, Evazan was nicknamed the Mutilator of Milvayne.
In the Holy City on Jedha, the fugitive cyborgist used his ghastly medical techniques to produce more of the Decraniated from insurgent victims. Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, Evazan and Baba were patrons in the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine. When a drunk Baba decided to pick a fight with a local farmboy named Luke Skywalker, Evazan quickly escalated the conflict, causing Skywalker's guardian, a hermit named Obi-Wan Kenobi—in secret one of the few remaining Jedi Masters—to slash Evazan across the chest and sever Baba's right arm with his lightsaber. Evazan tried to use his medical training to reattach Baba's arm but failed, nearly killing the Aqualish in the process.
Hiding from the death sentences he had received, Evazan infiltrated a biofarm on Thannt and stole a pluripleq, a shape-shifting creature, and used it to disguise his face, taking the name "Lopset Yas". "Yas" was soon imprisoned by the Galactic Empire in Accresker Jail, becoming a member of their expendable fighting force in a squad with Chelli Aphra, who nicknamed him "Flopso".
After Accresker Jail was decommissioned and fired on a collision course with Tiferep Major, Evazan followed Aphra, still in disguise. "Lopset" pretended to shape-shift into Evazan to trick the vigilante Tam Posla, whom sought his arrest, into agreeing to rescue them. Aphra and Posla agreed to trade Evazan, both of them unaware of his true identity. Thinking he had been tricked, Posla returned to the prison with "Yas" to arrest Aphra. While there, Evazan managed to incapacitate both Aphra and the assassin droid 0-0-0, taking them aboard Posla's ship. Revealing who he truly was, Evazan removed his proximity bomb and placed it in Triple-Zero, leaving the two stranded together for his own entertainment.
Evazan and Baba watched from afar as Aphra and Triple-Zero traveled to Milvayne to have their proximity bombs removed. Evazan decided to hire the monster hunters Winloss and Nokk to hunt the pair, as well as broadcasting the live feed from Triple-Zero's eyes to the citizens of Milvayne, prompting any money craving individuals to help the Milvayne Authority capture them.
Biography
Fugitive surgeon
- "I met him once, at a banquet. Though he surely does not remember. He was different, then. Less…mad. Not yet disfigured. But still, a killer."
- ―Jerriko, on Dr. Cornelius Evazan
Doctor Evazan prepares to operate.
Hailing from Alsakan,[1] a world located in the galaxy's Core Worlds,[8] Doctor Cornelius Evazan was a promising surgeon[1] who operated a cosmetic surgery clinic in Pons Ora, a small settlement located on the remote desert world of Abafar.[2] However, he became corrupted by madness during his training and began practicing "creative surgery" on his patients without the assistance of droids, rearranging the limbs of hundreds of victims[3] and leaving them horrifically scarred.[9]
After becoming notorious for his cruel medical experiments, Evazan's own face was hideously disfigured[10] in a bounty hunter's attempt to destroy him, though he was saved by Ponda Baba, an Aqualish thug. The two partnered together[3] and became pirates, beginning to smuggle[10] spice for the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure.[3] Successful at their trade,[11] they became wanted men.[4] However, there was no love lost in their relationship, and Baba even contemplated turning in Evazan to collect the bounty on the doctor's head before realizing that their ongoing partnership would be more profitable.[11] Still, the two considered each other friends[1][12] despite their differences.[11]
Creating the Decraniated
- "Evazan built a host of mutilated cyberslaves. The first of the decraniated."
- ―Tam Posla
Evazan and Baba working on one of the decraniated
By the year 10 BBY,[13] Evazan was working as the personal doctor of Dryden Vos,[14] the public face of the Crimson Dawn syndicate.[13] His job was to monitor Vos' volatile physiology, a result of the man's mixed heritage and past injuries, having Baba as his assistant. While in this employment, he satisfied his morbid curiosity with surgical experimentation, offering to modify underworld clients to disguise their identities or enhance their physical abilities. As he delved further into these ghastly modifications, Evazan began creating a breed of subservient, semi-organic cyberslaves known as the Decraniated.[14]
Evazan also worked at the Crimson Dawn ore hub on Athus Klee, cybernetically altering the workers in a gene-mod chop shop housed on site in a cluster of hexagonal silos. The Besalisk Dexter Jettster heard rumors of these illegal cyborg modifications and bodies grown to fit buyer specifications and traveled to Athus Klee to investigate. He found the ore hub and sneaked around the processing plant, taking a scans of the workers with his macrobinoculars. After rescuing a Rodian worker from the ore hub, Jettster returned to the spaceport where he arrived and contacted a politician to inform them of the place. He wrote about his experiences after in a book called the Smuggler's Guide. The book later fell into the hands of Evazan, who annotated the pages concerning himself.[15]
Following the untimely death of Vos, Evazan disappeared from the Crimson Dawn, supposedly scared away by the changes in leadership. Though his work continued with a rash of mutilations in a dozen star systems,[14] which earned him a death sentence in each of them.[4] Adopting the respective aliases of "Roofoo" and "Sawkee", Evazan and Baba committed a rash of crimes while visiting[16] the planet[17] Milvayne,[16] with Evazan earning the nickname "the Mutilator of Milvayne".[18] Tam Posla, an interstellar lawman representing the Milvayne Authority, began investigating the matter when similar reports of kidnapping, forced servitude, and the surgical alteration of victims came from the desert moon of Jedha. Indeed, the pair had taken up residence in Jedha's Holy City, where he pieced together Caysin Bog, a high-gravity humanoid blown apart in an insurgency strike,[16] as a prototype of the Decraniated.[19] Evazan transformed other wounded or incapacitated victims of the local insurgency with cybernetic technology to make them as subservient as droids, using the procedure to strip them of their identities before selling them into unwilling servitude.[16]
Cornelius Evazan and Ponda Baba on Jedha
Though taken off the case by his superior officer, Posla voyaged well beyond his jurisdiction and, determined to bring the heinous criminals to justice, became a bounty hunter.[16] On Jedha, he met Bog, and the two fell in love and decided to bring Evazan to justice together.[19] While on their way off-world,[20] the spacers[16] bumped into Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor while walking through a busy street, after which Evazan warned them to watch themselves with Baba by his side.[21] Posla and Bog were forced to evacuate when the Galactic Empire destroyed the city using the Death Star battle station, missing the doctor by seconds.[19]
Cantina encounters
- "One moment. You're not giving him narcotics now, are you? Today?"
"«No. Because Solo dropped cargo. I have nothing to give. Why?»"
"Greedo the Rodian is making a play for Solo. Ponda Baba and Evazan are backing it. I thought, for a moment, of an Evazan blitzed to the gills, who would make a violent situation only more violent, and was relieved he shall be without. Though saying it out loud, I'm not so certain. Which Evazan is better? Medicated, or not?" - ―Lirin Car'n and Muftak
Evazan and Baba departed the city[20] prior to its destruction by the Death Star[21] and traveled to the planet Tatooine, where they resumed their illegal medical experiments.[22] Due to his dumb and dangerous behavior, no one wanted to sell Evazan anodyne chemical compounds to help him cope with his injuries. As a result, he made a semi-regular arrangement with Muftak; the doctor would give him a thousand credits to pay the smuggler Han Solo for his drugs, minus not-inconsiderable shipping and handling charges. Upon delivery of the illicit substance, Evazan would then pay the Talz a completion bonus and hazard stipend. While the arrangment was meant to be discrete, everyone knew about it. Despite this, Baba and Evazan agreed to back the Rodia bounty hunter Greedo's play against Solo.[23] Baba and Evazan were patrons at a cantina in Mos Eisley spaceport shortly before the Battle of Yavin. While there, a Trandoshan bounty hunter known as Bossk entered the establishment to question its bartender, Wuher, about the location of the rogue Imperial astromech droid 261. Baba approached him from behind with his blaster drawn, but Evazan held him back, allowing Bossk to depart without incident.[24]
Obi-Wan Kenobi confronts Evazan and Baba in the Mos Eisley Cantina.
Later, the doctor was talking[4] to Kabe,[25] a Chadra-Fan female who frequented the cantina,[26] when a drunk Baba,[10] bored and looking for excitement,[12] decided to pick a fight with Luke Skywalker, a young farmboy who had taken a seat to the right of them at the bar.[4] Assuming Skywalker would be an easy target,[1] Evazan quickly escalated the argument[12] despite the boy's youthful apprehension. This caught the attention of nearby Obi-Wan Kenobi, Skywalker's guardian, who offered to buy the pair drinks[4] to ease tensions.[27]
However, paying little heed to the old man,[1] Evazan angrily hurled the young farmboy into a nearby table, and, ignoring Wuher's protest,[4] the pirates drew their blaster pistols. Given no other choice, the elderly Kenobi—in secret one of the few remaining Jedi Masters—ignited his lightsaber[4] and cut a deep slash in Evazan's chest, causing the doctor to fall back against the bar[28] screaming in pain.[4] Kenobi then used his lightsaber to sever Baba's right arm, effectively disarming the pair before they could fire their weapons,[4] Evazan supporting the injured Aqualish on the cantina floor.[29]
Following the attack, those present in the cantina briefly turned to see what had transpired before returning to their business,[4] while a squad of Mos Eisley's Imperial sandtroopers momentarily investigated the violence.[27] The pair lurched outside of the establishment, Baba's severed arm held in Evazan's hands.[30] He later tried to reattach Baba's arm using his medical training but ended up nearly killing his Aqualish partner in the process when the procedure failed.[3] Skywalker later recalled his encounter with the pair while training with his own lightsaber in the Temple of Eedit on Devaron.[31]
Galactic Civil War
- "I know he escaped Jedha. I know he was in a scuffle on Tatooine. I know he infiltrated a biofarm on Thannt."
- ―Tam Posla
Changing identity
- "See, I had a death sentence—several, actually—so! I became someone else. A tragedy, to hide a face as lovely as mine."
- ―Cornelius Evazan
Some time after the encounter, Evazan infiltrated a biofarm on Thannt. There, he stole a shape-shifting creature called a pluripleq. Wishing to evade the many death sentences he had earned, Evazan used the pluripleq to disguise himself, taking up a new identity and using the name "Lopset Yas".[32] Around the same time, Bog and Posla continued their hunt for Evazan, by which point the doctor had earned the death sentence on thirteen systems.[19] Following Bog's untimely death, Posla learned of Evazan's scuffle on Tatooine, and obtained Baba's severed arm. He eventually discovered the doctor had infiltrated the biofarm on Thannt but Evazan's trail had run cold for a month[18] thanks to his identity change.[32]
Imprisoned
- "Wh-where are we going? What's the plan here?"
"Dek-Nil, meet Flopso. Flopso, meet Dek-Nil."
"It's, uh. It's Lopset Yas. S-so—you know this droid?" - ―Cornelius Evazan, as Lopset Yas, and Chelli Aphra
Eventually, "Lopset Yas" was taken by the Empire and imprisoned in the wreckage-prison known as Accresker Jail, assigned into a squad led by a hubdroid.[7] During his time in the prison, he saw several things that led him to believe it was haunted, such as power couplings frying people to death despite having no power, and boarding-spikes cutting another prisoner in half.[33]
Evazan and the rest of his squad were deployed into an attack on an EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate as part of the Accresker Penal Legion. During the battle, Chelli Aphra, a member of the squad, sabotaged their hubdroid by feeding it false information. "Yas" asked what was wrong with the droid, but Aphra just greeted him, calling him by his pet name, Flopso. As Evazan corrected her on his fake name, the hubdroid exploded, killing all the other members of the squad. "Yas" began to panic as their proximity bombs started beeping, about to detonate. However, another hubdroid, Dek-Nil, arrived, and "Yas" begged him to let him and Aphra into his squad, which had been lost in a series of improbable accidents. Before their implants could explode, Dek-Nil transferred them into his squad, despite detecting three lifeforms instead of two[7] due to Evazan's pluripleq.[32]
Aphra and "Yas" notice the Force spirit
After informing "Yas" that Dek-Nil was her droid, Aphra led them around a corner, where an escape pod was stuck on the edge of the prison's airdome. As Aphra was about to discuss helping "Yas" escape Accresker Jail, the restraining bolt on Dek-Nil mysteriously moved, taking control of him and leading him to destroy the escape pod due to the Imperial programming. Evazan and Aphra then noticed a Force spirit, but were were ordered back to their sector before they could investigate. Returning to the prison, "Yas" showed Aphra a transmitter he had discovered and repaired, telling her that he knew she had connections to someone who could help them escape. He gave her the transmitter, asking her who she would call.[7]
Aphra took the transmitter and contacted Magna Tolvan, telling her secrets that forced Tolvan to help her escape to protect both of them. As she did so, Evazan was almost crushed by some wreckage which had fallen down on its own. Aphra saved him, and "Yas" told her of the experiences he has had in the prison, claiming that he believed the jail was haunted. Aphra disregarded the idea, but confronted "Yas" about being a shape-shifter, as she saw him partly change as she was trying to save him from the wreckage. Evazan pretended to shape-shifted into the forms of several individuals, including himself, claiming they had used him for his powers in the past. Aphra quoted her mother, telling him that evil was a measure of how much people's choices took away the choices of others.[33]
Escape attempt
- "L-look—we just picked a fight with a-a-a haunted mushroom! Why aren't we running?"
- ―"Lopset Yas", to Chelli Aphra
"Lopset" looks back as Aphra follows the Force spirit
Squad Dek-Nil was later assigned to fight in an attack on a pirate station. During the engagement, Aphra used an Imperial code to override Dek-Nil's restraining bolt. Aphra led Dek-Nil and "Yas" over to where Tolvan was waiting for them in a TIE fighter. But before they could escape, the Force spirit they had seen earlier appeared and destroyed the sensor disruptors keeping Tolvan's TIE fighter from being detected. Aphra became distracted by it, and as she was led away by the spirit, Evazan followed her, encountering the wreckage of a Penumbra-1 shattersprite.[33]
As they investigated the ship, Tolvan was attacked by Sana Starros, a Rebel Alliance operative, who flew in on her ship, the Volt Cobra. As it tore her TIE fighter apart, Tolvan jumped out with a rocket launcher on her shoulder and fired at the Cobra, shredding through its port side. Witnessing this, Yas asked Aphra what she thought was happening, but she was distracted by the spirit, who disassembled Dek-Nil with the Force. Aphra shot the spirit, and it disappeared, revealing an infestation of gundravian hookspores, which Evazan recognized as the most infectious saprophyte in existence. They rapidly fired at the hookspores, which retreated into the ship, revealing the corpse of a long-dead Jedi. Before Aphra could retrieve the Jedi's lightsaber, the battle concluded, and the airdome began to retreat. As they ran away, Evazan retrieved Dek-Nil's central processor, preventing their implanted proximity bombs from detonating.[18]
Evazan and Aphra ran into Tolvan and Starros, but were encountered by a hubdroid and told to return to the prison. The hubdroid took Aphra away for interrogation, leaving "Yas", Tolvan and Starros to return on their own. As they arrived, "Yas" told them that he was thankful that their situation couldn't get any worse, but he was proven wrong when the presence of the hookspores was discovered by the command of Accresker Jail, who announced that the jail was decommissioned and would be propelled onto a collision course with[18] Tiferep Major, a Rebel-affiliated planet.[34]
Trapped in Accresker
- "Th-the ghost. It's on a rampage."
"How many times, Lopset? Don't call it that. It's a sentient telekinetic fungus. "Ghost" just sounds silly." - ―"Lopset Yas" and Chelli Aphra
In an attempt to find a way off the prison, Aphra made use of Lopset's "shape-shifting" powers to trick Tam Posla into rescuing them. Evazan pretended to shape-shift into his true form as Aphra contacted Posla. Upon seeing Evazan, Posla agreed to take his ship to Accresker Jail. Evazan changed back into his disguised appearance as Starros and Tolvan discovered that the staff off Accresker were abandoning the Arquitens-class command cruiser that pulled the prison. "Yas" asked if they should run, which Aphra agreed with.[18]
Lopset watches the Force spirit kill several prisoners
As the cruiser crashed into the body of the wreckage-prison, Evazan watched as the convicts began to riot and fight each other. The convicts recognized Aphra as the one that had been interrogated, and she and "Yas" once again agreed to run. They turned around to see a prisoner aiming a large gun at them, but the prisoner was killed by the Force spirit, who then killed several others. Evazan noticed that the spirit disappeared if it strayed too far from its ship, and Aphra connected it to the dead Jedi they had discovered earlier. Tolvan suggested breaking into the Arquitens-class cruiser, but "Yas" asked whether they should wait for Posla to rescue them. Aphra disregarded the possibility of Posla coming to Accresker, so Starros decided to use the large weapon they had been threatened with earlier to break through the wall of the cruiser. Evazan helped hold the gun, and then entered the cruiser behind Starros, Tolvan and Aphra.[34]
Inside the cruiser, Evazan discovered the interrogation bor, which had not been properly refrozen. Aphra discovered that an escape pod still remained in the cruiser, but they had no way of getting to it. Yas suggested the large gun, but the weapon was too heavy to move. Aphra took Dek-Nil's head from Yas so that she could slice into the generator that controlled the prison's gravity. Aphra did so, setting the gravity to half of what it had been while also bringing the wreckage of the hookspore-infected ship towards them. Yas took the piece of Dek-Nil back as they made their way through the prison, arriving at the Penumbra-1. The hookspores briefly possessed all four of them, but was unable to sense anything from Yas, rejecting him as a potential host. Starros realized that Aphra had purposely brought the Jedi's ship towards them so she could retrieve the lightsaber, telling her that the hookspores would not move until they had a heroic host to possess.[34]
Revealing the truth
- "Irony is, if Posla didn't get so angry at being lied to, he might've realized! He had his man after all."
- ―Cornelius Evazan, revealing his identity
Aphra led Starros, Tolvan and "Yas" to the single remaining escape pod in the wreckage of the cruiser. While Starros and Tolvan climbed into the escape pod, Evazan remained outside with Aphra, who launched the escape pod. Tolvan, who had not realized that Aphra was intending to stay behind, leapt out of the pod at the last second, leaving Starros alone in the launched pod. Aphra was irritated with Tolvan, telling her that she had only planned to escape alone. "Yas" questioned this, and Aphra quickly corrected herself, ensuring him that her plan would still work with the three of them.[35]
Tam Posla inspects the frozen Evazan
Evazan followed Aphra and Tolvan to the main launch hangar, and Aphra told him to remain standing on a grille in the floor. Before "Lopset" could ask Aphra why he needed to stand there, Tam Posla arrived in his ship. Aphra began speaking to Evazan, who realized she wanted him to "shape-shift" back into his true form. Pretending to be distressed by Aphra's attempt to exploit him, he recalled the quote Aphra told him when he first revealed his ability. Evazan shape-shifted out of his disguise, acting as if he was worried that he would give himself away. Reminding "Yas" of the frozen interrogation bor they had seen previously, she revealed that he was standing on top of a coolant grille, which she activated, freezing Evazan. Tam Posla exited his ship to confirm that Aphra had Evazan, and fell for the "trick". Posla took the chunk of ice containing Evazan aboard his ship, and left Accresker Jail.[35]
As he flew away, Posla looked behind him at his frozen prisoner, having doubts about whether it was truly who he thought it was. In order to find out, he ordered his ship to divert its power to the heating array, so that the ice containing "Yas" would melt.[35] After it did so, Evazan pretended that he was Yas, and Posla returned to Accresker Jail so he could confront Aphra. Evazan followed him, and found Aphra watching a transmission of Darth Vader interrogating Tolvan. Posla stepped out to arrest Aphra, but was attacked from behind by 0-0-0 and killed. Evazan escaped, meeting up with Aphra as Triple-Zero was dragging her to his ship. He shot the assassin droid, pretending to save Aphra, who began to thank him. Evazan then stunned Aphra and took both her and the droid aboard Tam Posla's ship.[32]
Evazan reveals his true identity
By the time that Aphra woke up and questioned what he had done, Evazan had begun to work on the incapacitated Triple-Zero, implanting his proximity bomb in the droid. Evazan turned to Aphra, removing the pluripleq from his face and revealing who he truly was. He finished his work, telling a shocked Aphra that her own proximity bomb was now linked to the one placed in 0-0-0. As he did so, Ponda Baba docked with the ship, and Evazan began to leave, taking the Aqualish's severed arm with him. He repeated the quote that Aphra had said to him, wishing to test her mother's theory. As he left, boarding the ship that his friend had brought, he told Aphra that she and Triple-Zero deserved to be together.[32]
Live entertainment
- "Old friend, the galaxy trembles at the infamy of Doctor Cornelius Evazan and Ponda Baba. We must lie low. I simply thought this would help pass the time while I build you a new arm."
- ―Cornelius Evazan, to Ponda Baba
Retreating to a hidden location, Evazan and Baba watched a viewscreen showing a live feed through the photoreceptors of Triple-Zero. Evazan began working on a cybernetic arm to replace the one Baba lost, watching as Aphra and the droid made their way to Milvayne to find Rajam Nuss, the personal cyberneticist of Tam Posla. However, Triple-Zero had worked out that Evazan was watching their actions, requesting a mirror so he could look the doctor in the eye. The threat unnerved Evazan, as did the pair's success as locating Doctor Nuss, but he shrugged it off, doubting the cyberneticist's abilities.[17]
Evazan and Baba watch the viewscreen
Nuss began to work on extracting the proximity bombs, waking up Aphra and the droid and claiming that he had succeeded. As Aphra went to leave, Triple-Zero demanded that Nuss trace the broadcast signal from his eyes. Evazan and Baba were worried by this, until Aphra realized that Nuss had failed to remove the bombs, instead triggering a countdown. Cheering, Evazan watched as Triple-Zero murdered Nuss, believing that the cyberneticist was no longer useful.[17]
With only ten hours until the bombs went off, Aphra and Triple-Zero sought out Professor Prexo, Nuss' mentor. At the same time, Evazan contacted the hunters Nokk and Winloss, posing as Princess Leia Organa of the Rebel Alliance. As Organa, Evazan tasked the hunters with the destruction of Triple-Zero. They immediately refused and went to leave, but stopped upon noticing Aphra on the viewscreen.[36] As the hunters had been tricked and left for dead by Aphra before,[37] Evazan changed the offer, requesting the death of Aphra instead. Winloss and Nokk accepted, leaving to hunt their new target.[36]
Once the hunters had gone, Evazan removed the pluripleq he had been using to disguise himself as Organa. He expressed his doubt in Winloss and Nokk's success, but thought either outcome would be interesting to watch, turning nervously to look at the viewscreen, where Triple-Zero was threatening him through a mirror. Aphra and the assassin droid continued to make their way across Milvayne City, but they were intercepted by Tam Posla, who had been resurrected by the Force-imbued gundravian hookspores.[36]
Evazan installs Baba's new cybernetic arm
As Evazan and Baba continued watching, Nokk arrived, impaled Posla and confronted Aphra and Triple-Zero, with Winloss at his side. However, the hunters were distracted by BT-1, who attacked them, letting the latter pair escape. With the commotion temporarily over, Evazan installed Baba's new cybernetic arm, equipped with its own mini-flamer. Fearing Triple-Zero may survive to hunt him down, he then strengthened the broadcast signal from the droid's eyes to present his entertainment back to the residents of Milvayne. With the populous now watching the live feed, Evazan announced Aphra and Triple-Zero as fugitive on the run, prompting any willing individuals to help the Milvayne Authority catch them. As money-craving callers made false claims about the pair in the hopes of winning the prize, Posla, revived again by the hookspores from his impalement, re-affiliated himself with the Milvayne Authority and led them to the fugitives as they traveled on a bloatbarge.[38]
Eventually, Evazan and Baba were tracked down by Winloss and Nokk, who had sought help from Professor Prexo to locate the fugitives.[39]
Personality and traits
- Cornelius Evazan: "You just watch yourself. We're wanted men. I have the death sentence on twelve systems."
- Luke Skywalker: "I'll be careful."
- Cornelius Evazan: "You'll be dead!"
- Obi-Wan Kenobi: "This little one's not worth the effort. Come, let me get you something."
- ―Cornelius Evazan, Luke Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi[src]
Evazan attempts to intimidate Luke Skywalker.
Prior to being gripped by madness, Doctor Cornelius Evazan was a promising surgeon,[3] though he later gained notoriety for the cruelty he inflicted upon his patients,[10] while his reputation as a smuggler and murderer also made him many enemies across the galaxy. He and Ponda Baba enjoyed brawling and gunning down defenseless beings,[3] and Evazan was quick to antagonize those who crossed him, as demonstrated by his brushes with Cassian Andor on Jedha[21] and Luke Skywalker in Mos Eisley.[4] It was said that he never stopped until his victims begged him for death, just so he could say no.[19] However, despite his ruthlessness, Evazan was capable of true loyalty; when Baba lost his arm, Evazan replaced it with a cybernetic one, excusing that evil didn't preclude friendship.[38]
A self-described "techflesh artist",[19] Evazan was boastful of his infamy, openly informing Skywalker in the Mos Eisley Cantina that he had the death sentence on twelve systems. After Baba began to bully Skywalker,[1] Evazan was quick to escalate the argument,[12] even going so far as to threaten Skywalker before Obi-Wan Kenobi interceded. Ignoring the old man's attempt to smooth the rising tension, the doctor resorted to violence, shoving the farmboy aside and drawing his blaster pistol, which ended poorly for both Evazan and Baba.[4]
To avoid his many death sentences, Evazan used a pluripleq to change his face. Adopting a new name, "Lopset Yas",[32] he managed to stay off the grid for over a month,[18] until he revealed himself to Chelli Aphra.[32] As Yas, he was quick to become nervous or fearful, begging Dek-Nil to let him into his squad after his first hubdroid exploded,[7] and gaining a stutter whenever he became frightened.[18] He quickly learned a lot about Aphra, second-guessing her connections with the underworld.[7] Evazan was also very conscious of his surroundings, noticing a lot of weird doings in the Accresker Jail. He also trusted Chelli Aphra a lot, having to follow her wherever they she went due to the hubdroid they had in common. When she followed the Force spirit to the Penumbra-1 shattersprite Yas was quick to follow[33] and he made sure to keep Dek-Nil's central processor to keep their implants from detonating.[18] He continued to carry the piece of Dek-Nil even when the implants were disabled.[34]
Evazan, as "Lopset Yas"
A human male,[3] Evazan had light skin[4] and stood at a height of 1.77 meters.[3] His eyes were colored hazel,[5] though his right eye was blind and the flesh around it severely scarred, while his nose looked as if it had barely survived an unfortunate encounter with a meat shredder.[28] Due to his wounds, Evazan lived in a constant state of pain and anger and relied on a constant, alternating barrage of narcotics and physical violence to mitigate his perpetual agony.[23] His hair was colored brown with patches of gray, though he showed signs of balding, and stubble covered the lower half of his face.[4] Evazan had foul-smelling breath.[28]
When using his pluripleq, Evazan could take many forms, including Kelko Dev and Sandewar Mandewar. But he usually had a similar appearance to the abednedo species, having brown skin, and eyes that changed color over time.[33]
Skills and abilities
- "E-electrician. You said you were an electr--"
""Multidisciplinary", I said. Though I prefer "cyborganic artist"." - ―Chelli Aphra and Evazan
Evazan was also a skilled electrician. He was able to find and rebuild a transmitter on Accresker Jail, and gave it to Aphra to use.[7] Evazan also had a knowledge of other subjects, able to recognize the gundravian hookspores and describe them in some depth.[18]
Equipment
- "No blasters! No blasters!"
- ―Wuher, as Cornelius Evazan draws his blaster pistol
Evazan wore a long-sleeved khaki shirt underneath a brown vest, a pair of dark-brown pants, and a pair of black boots. His black belt had a golden buckle and a holster[3] for his SE-14C blaster pistol[4] When operating, Evazan wore scrubs and used a variety of medical instruments.[40] During his servitude at the Accresker Jail, Evazan wore dark brown leather clothing with a large hood and compartments around the waist, an outfit worn by all prisoners at Accresker Jail.[7]
Behind the scenes
Conception and portrayal
Alfie Curtis has his makeup applied by a member of the art department, transforming him into Cornelius Evazan.
Cornelius Evazan first appeared in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope,[4] in which he was played by Alfie Curtis.[41] The original 1976 novelization of Star Wars, ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster, described the character as a "short, grubby-looking human" with a surprisingly deep voice. This story's version of events,[42] which closely matches the film's revised fourth draft,[43] describes Obi-Wan Kenobi as cutting off Evazan's arm, rather than Ponda Baba's, with Evazan retreating into the crowd without a word following the fight.[42] The Evazan character dates back as early as The Star Wars: Rough Draft from May 1974.[44]
Star Wars creature effects make-up artist Nick Maley was displeased with Evazan's distinctive facial prosthetic. He felt that the prosthetic's texture did not work well with that of Curtis' face.[45] Evazan also appears alongside Baba in[21] the 2016 Anthology Series film[46] Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a direct prequel to the events of A New Hope. In Rogue One, the character was portrayed by Michael Smiley, who is credited as "Dr. Evazan."[21] Rogue One writer Gary Whitta disagreed with Evazan and Baba's inclusion in the film, opining that he "thought having Evazan and Walrus Man was a little too much. You have to reign in that instinct to go back and put things in just because you loved them when you were a kid."[47]
Character development
The character's name originates in Star Wars Legends storytelling, as he was first referred to as "Roofoo" in Brian Daley's 1981 Star Wars radio dramatization.[48] The name "Evazan" originated in Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope, a 1989 Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game supplement written by Michael Stern and Grant S. Boucher.[49] "Doctor Death: The Tale of Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba," a short story written by Kenneth C. Flint for the 1995 anthology book Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, created the name "Cornelius" as an alias of Evazan's,[50] while The Official Star Wars Fact File 51 from 2002 was the first source to establish the character's full name as Cornelius Evazan.[51] The original StarWars.com Databank later established "Roofoo" as another of Evazan's aliases.[52]
Doctor Evazan and the armless Ponda Baba pose on the cantina set.
In the new Star Wars canon, Cornelius Evazan's name was used in the mobile card game Star Wars: Force Collection,[53] which initially launched on September 4, 2013. Although the launch of Force Collection predates[54] the Star Wars canon reset of April 25, 2014,[55] Lucasfilm Story Group member Leland Chee confirmed that the game was kept updated to fit with canon.[56] In addition, Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, written by Pablo Hidalgo and published in 2016, established "Roofoo" as an alias.[16]
Inconsistencies
Both the Cornelius Evazan and Ponda Baba StarWars.com Databank entries claim that Evazan died following his confrontation with Obi-Wan Kenobi,[1][12] but the 2016 Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded, written by Pablo Hidalgo, states that Evazan survived the encounter.[3] The short story "The Secrets of Long Snoot," included in the 2017 anthology From a Certain Point of View, also presented Evazan as surviving his encounter with Kenobi,[30] as well as the Star Wars: Doctor Aphra comic series showing what he did[32] after the encounter[18] with Kenobi.[28] Updated and Expanded also states that Evazan is 1.77 meters tall,[3] while the character's Databank entry provides a height of 1.7 meters.[1] This article presents the information from Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded, "The Secrets of Long Snoot" and Star Wars: Doctor Aphra as more recent sources.
Several sources, including the Mos Eisley Cantina and Tatooine StarWars.com Databank entries and the junior novel The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure, mistakenly identify Evazan as an alien.[27][31][57]
