Rum Sleg

Rum Sleg was a humanoid male bounty hunter who spent time in Mos Espa spaceport on the planet Tatooine in 32 BBY. While in the spaceport, he passed by a DRK-1 Dark Eye probe droid shortly before attending the Boonta Eve Classic podrace in the Mos Espa Grand Arena. He sat in the arena's stands and cheered for the Dug podracer Sebulba, who ultimately lost to the human racer Anakin Skywalker.

Biography[]

Rum Sleg, in bright red armor, and a human in green and black armor talk in the streets of Mos Espa on Tatooine. — Rum Sleg (bottom right) was in Mos Espa during the Boonta Eve Classic.

Rum Sleg was a humanoid male who worked as a bounty hunter^[1] during the reign of the Galactic Republic.^[2] In 32 BBY,^[3] Sleg stood and spoke to a human in the streets^[2] of the Mos Espa spaceport^[4] on the planet Tatooine.^[2] He^[1] then began walking through the streets and passed a^[2] DK-1 Dark Eye probe droid^[5] that had been sent out by the Sith apprentice Darth Maul to search for Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Queen Padmé Amidala of the planet Naboo.^[2]

The bounty hunter^[1] later attended the^[2] Boonta Eve Classic^[5] podracing event and sat in the stands at the^[2] Mos Espa Grand Arena,^[4] where each of the three laps of the race started and ended. Sleg cheered when the Dug podracer Sebulba passed through the arena in the lead after the first lap of the race; however, during the final lap, the Dug crashed and was beaten by the human podracer Anakin Skywalker.^[2]

Equipment[]

While on Tatooine, Rum Sleg wore a painted-skull visor to cover his face,^[1] along with a red-and-black suit of armor, including a helmet and a silver backpack. He also carried a blaster pistol holstered on his belt.^[2]

Behind the scenes[]

Filming[]

"In 1998, I was working at ILM's "Rebel Mac Unit". One day, someone came in and said "Come with me"… we walked over to Windward Stage where I was given essentially a scuba suit with helmet and accessories."

―Alex Lindsay^[6]

Rum Sleg and a humanoid in yellow and black armor sit together in the stands of the Mos Espa Grand Arena cheering. — Rum Sleg was portrayed by different actors in his two separate scenes.

Rum Sleg first appeared as a background character in the 1999 prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.^[2] For the scene in the streets of Mos Espa, he was portrayed by^[6] Industrial Light & Magic digital effects artist^[2] Alex Lindsay, who in 1998 was brought to the Windward Stage and given what he describes as a "scuba suit with helmet and accessories."^[6] He was then filmed in the costume walking and talking with^[7] fellow digital effects artist^[2] Jonathan Rothbart, although Rothbart was then rotoscoped out of the shot so that Sleg seemed to be walking alone.^[7]

Lindsay says this was possibly because you could see too much of Rothbart's face. After filming the scene, Lindsay was asked to "t-pose" for photographs that could then be used to make an action figure, and ultimately one was released in 2009^[7] as part of the Star Wars: The Legacy Collection toyline.^[8] He believes he was picked to portray the character simply because he was the right size for the suit, but did not get to keep the costume after filming and doubts it would have held up well. A separate actor portrayed Sleg viewing the podrace.^[7]

Naming and the Light Side[]

"I was running the RPG on my kitchen table in Virginia Beach, and everybody named their own characters, of course. Dan's was named "Rum Sleg," and his battle cry was "Just Chill"!"

―Chuck Kallenbach^[9]

For the current Star Wars canon, Rum Sleg's name was used in the mobile card game Star Wars: Force Collection,^[1] which initially launched in 2013. Although the launch of Force Collection predates^[10] the Star Wars canon reset of 2014,^[11] Lucasfilm Story Group member Leland Chee confirmed that the game was kept updated to fit with canon.^[12]

A protocol droid introduces Boba Fett to a class of baby versions of various Star Wars characters including Malakili, Jaxxon T — A baby version of Rum Sleg appeared in "The Light Side."

The character's name originated in the Boonta Eve Podrace expansion set of the Star Wars Legends Young Jedi Collectible Card Game, released by Decipher in 2001.^[13] According to^[9] Decipher employee^[14] Chuck Kallenbach, Sleg was named after a character that^[9] fellow Decipher employee^[14] Dan Bojanowski played in a Star Wars roleplaying game that Kallenbach ran. The character's catch phrase was "Just Chill!"^[9]

A baby version of Sleg holding an ice cream cone was included as part of a class of various "baby" versions of Star Wars characters in Jamie Cosley's "The Light Side" comic in the two hundred-and-first issue of Star Wars Insider magazine, which was published by Titan Magazines^[15] on March 30, 2021.^[16] In the comic panel, the class is being introduced by a protocol droid to Boba Fett, who refuses to take on the group but claims to know someone else who will.^[15]