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Nippet was an Ewok born in 3 BBY as daughter of Zephee of the Bright Tree tribe on the moon of Endor. As the youngest member of the tribe, Nippet captivated those around her and explored the forest with help from her mother.
In 4 ABY, Nippet hid in fear when the protocol droid C-3PO was raised into the air above the Bright Tree Village center by the Jedi Luke Skywalker in an attempt to scare the Ewoks into freeing Skywalker and his companions from captivity. The wokling later listened to C-3PO tell stories of Skywalker's adventures and squeaked in terror when the droid described the Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Biography[]
Wonderful wokling[]
Nippet, daughter of Zephee, was one of the woklings of Bright Tree Village.
Nippet was an Ewok female born in 3 BBY on[1] the forest moon[3] Endor. She and her mother, Zephee,[1] were part of the Bright Tree tribe that lived in Bright Tree Village on Endor.[3] Zephee helped Nippet learn and explore their forest home with a gentle touch and warm smile, teaching her daughter the true essence of being an Ewok.[4] Nippet also had a sister and when[2] the Galactic Empire began constructing the Death Star II superweapon over Endor,[3] Zephee worried what terrible things its completion would mean for her tribe and children.[2]
Scary stories[]
- "Eek!"
- ―Nippet squeaks at C-3PO's re-enactment of Darth Vader
In 4 ABY,[5] Nippet was just a small[3] wokling[6] when a scouting party led by the Ewok Teebo[7] returned with a group of rebels that had been caught in one of the tribe's net traps. The Ewoks of the village had mistaken one of the captives, the protocol droid C-3PO, for the deity[8] known as the Golden One[9] and so seated him on a throne in the village center,[10] where Nippet was seated in a basket. As Nippet watched the proceedings,[8] Zephee[11] stroked the wokling's head.[8]
Nippet listened to C-3PO tell stories.
The tribe then prepared to sacrifice the captives in C-3PO's honor, placing the humans Han Solo and Luke Skywalker over cooking fires to be made part of a grand banquet for the droid. Skywalker then had C-3PO tell the Ewoks to spare his companions, warning that he would otherwise become angry. When the Ewoks ignored the threat, Skywalker used the Force to lift the droid into the air, causing the Ewoks present to panic.[8]
As C-3PO floated above the platform, Nippet squealed in terror and hid within the basket. After the Ewoks had freed the captives, Nippet was among the residents of the village that gathered[8] in Chief Chirpa's hut[10] with their new allies to listen to C-3PO tell stories of Skywalker's various adventures in fighting the Empire. During the storytelling, Nippet was held in the arms of a brown furred Ewok who stood next to[8] Widdle Warrick.[12] After the droid introduced the Sith Lord Darth Vader and recreated the sound of his breathing, Nippet let out a yelp of terror.[3] Once the story was finished, Chirpa made the former captives into members of the tribe and agreed to help the rebels in their fight against the Empire.[8]
Personality and traits[]
As a wokling, Nippet was innocent and fun-loving, embodying a sense of wonder and innocence that captivated all those around her as her tribe's favorite wokling while she was the youngest Ewok in the group. She explored her homeworld's lush forests with wide-eyed curiosity and discovered the beauty of its enviroment as well as the joys of friendship, bringing joy and lightness to the group with her playful nature and reminding others of the true essence of love and happiness.[1]
Nippet was scared by the apparent demonstration of C-3PO's divine powers[8] and the droid's description of Darth Vader but was fascinated by the adventure, heroism, and sound effects in C-3PO's story.[13] The wokling had chestnut brown and white fur, black eyes, and light skin. As a wokling she stood one foot (thirty centimeters) tall.[1] By the time of the Battle of Endor,[8] Nippet could not yet speak beyond babbling.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
The Nippet puppet was auctioned in 2019.
Nippet first appeared in the 1983 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.[8] The wokling was portrayed via puppet with a sheet foam body, plastic eyes, and a foam latex face, ears, and hands, all covered in faux fur. In the bottom of the puppet there is an opening for a puppeteer's hand, and a puppeteering wire in the wrists and neck allows for movement. The dimensions when sitting are 53.5 centimeters by 35.75 centimeters by 38 centimeters (21 inches by 14 inches by 15 inches).[14]
Puppeteer Mike Quinn modified the inside of the puppet's head with a thumb grip and finger grip made from gaffer tape and glued inside the mouth so that the lips could be manipulated.[15] As of 2019, when the puppet was sold for £22,500 at auction, the prop had some fading to the paint throughout, the rubber was fragile from age, and there was rusting to the puppeteering wire.[14] The Ewok village scenes were filmed between January 18 and February 2, 1982 on Stage 3 at Elstree Studios.[16]
In the new Star Wars canon, the wokling was first named in Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side!, a 2015 adaptation of Return of the Jedi written by Tom Angleberger. The name was misspelled as "Nippett" in the adaptation,[3] but the correct spelling was later used in the 2017 reference book Star Wars: Geektionary: The Galaxy from A - Z.[13] In the Star Wars Legends continuity, an Ewok named Nippet first appeared in the 1984 storybook The Baby Ewoks' Picnic Surprise, which was written by Melinda Luke.[17] The wokling seen in Return of the Jedi was established to be Nippet by an action figure of the character released as part of the Star Wars: The Legacy Collection toy line by Hasbro in 2008.[18]
Appearances[]
- Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi (First appearance)
- Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side! (and audiobook) (First identified as Nippett)
Sources[]
Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Zephee (★★★)) (Indirect mention only)- Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know (Picture only)
- "Jedi Master's Quiz" — Star Wars Insider 172
- Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded (Picture only)
- Star Wars: Geektionary: The Galaxy from A - Z (First identified as Nippet)
- The Star Wars Archives: Episodes IV–VI, 1977–1983 (Picture only)
- Star Wars Galaxy of Sounds — "Oddities"
- Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: A Visual Archive (Picture only)
- Ewok in the Databank (backup link) (Picture only)
Notes and references[]
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