Sebulba's Podracer was a podracer famously piloted by the Dug racing champion Sebulba prior to the Invasion of Naboo.
Characteristics[]
Sebulba's Podracer featured two Collar Pondrat Plug-F Mammoth Split-X engines. The frontal split-X radiators utilized a ram-air intake system to ensure effective operation of the racer's huge turbines. Although illegal, the engines were fueled by tradium power fluid pressurized with quold runium, activated with ionized injectrine, to give the pod an extra speed boost. Because of these attributes, the pod had a loud, unique engine rumble. The estimated maximum speed was 829 km/h and had a maximum altitude of 85 meters.
History[]
Sebulba piloted the huge Podracer on many tracks throughout the galaxy, from the methane lakes of Malastare to the sandy dunes of Tatooine, cheating his way to be the best of the best. Sebulba always brought his famous orange and black Pod to the sands of Tatooine to attend the Boonta Eve Classic. With his Podracer, he was always a favorite to win in the Boonta, due to his brutal and competitive edge. Sebulba's Podracer was an imposing giant, an orange-hued bully of a craft whose pounding, thundering engine roar seemed powerful enough to knock down opponents. With a top speed of 829 km/h, the racer was very fast, behind the Scatalpen, the BT310, and Skywalker's Podracer.
Sebulba modified his Podracer heavily in the time he has owned the pod. At one point, the Podracer was designed to shoot nails into opponent's engines. but then Sebulba replaced the nail-shooter with a buzz saw that would sever an unfortunate Podracer's steelton cables. Later, Sebulba replaced the buzz saw with an illegal flamethrower hidden inside a compartment on the side of one engine, which would open up and release a high-powered fire, ready to roast any competitor who came too near. Before a race, Sebulba took measures to make sure he would not be disqualified, because if any race official managed to get a close look at the racer, it would be deemed illegal. When officials do demand inspections, however, his podracer always looks clean, because in an effort not to get caught for murderous cheating, Sebulba always removes his illegal and weaponry from his pod before an inspection, then equips them afterwards. However, when Sebulba does use his illegal flamethrower, nobody says anything about it, either because they love Sebulba too much to see him kicked out of the podracing circuit, or it is simply too hazardous to mess with Sebulba, as he can put bounties on people's heads.
The Podracer's deadly attributes and illegal fuel system was packed in very large package; the vehicle was one of the largest Podracers ever to be manufactured, and one of the sturdiest. The pod had a high resistance to damage, much to Sebulba's advantage; not only was the large, long, loud, bright-orange-hued Podracer able to intimidate the most fearless racer, it was durable enough to bunk Podracers off the track and into incoming obstacles with a small tug of its reins, without taking so much as a scratch. Sebulba favored this tactic and used it to destroy a few pods, such as Mawhonic's podracer, which was destroyed when Sebulba rammed the Gran's pod into a wall in Mushroom Mesa.
Illegal equipment aside, Sebulba made many modifications to his Podracer. The controls in his cockpit was designed to fit especially for the Dug's anatomy, so if any daring racers were to try sabotaging the pod, they would not know exactly what they were doing. So in-tune with the machinations of his pod, Sebulba knew how to break off parts of his pod without damaging it and using them to his advantage. During the Boonta, he broke off a piece of iron from his cockpit, threw it behind him to land into one of Mars Guo's engine fans, resulting in the destruction of Guo's huge engines and sent the Phuii into the desert sands. Later, Clegg Holdfast, in an attempt to place first, dared to try and pass Sebulba's pod, with near lethal results; his Podracer's engines ignited from the Sebulba's illegal flamethrower, sending the Nosaurian crashing into the desert flats.
That high-stakes race saw Sebulba engage in a perilous face-off with Anakin Skywalker who flew a custom Radon-Ulzer racer. Though Sebulba sabotaged the slave boy's pod, Skywalker managed catch up to his rival, side by side. Sebulba attempted to take advantage of his pod's size, and rammed the smaller pod continuously. After a few attempts to crush the smaller pod in Hutt Flats, Sebulba inadvertently managed to lock a hook from his cockpit into one of the latches on Skywalker's cockpit that a steelton cable was attached to, resulting in the both pod's cables intertwining on the inner engines with Skywalker's in Hutt Flats. The panicked Dug tried his hardest to pull his Podracer away from Anakin's smaller engines, with no avail. Skywalker managed to break free by boosting his engines; Sebulba pulled one last tug of his reigns. To Sebulba's surprise and horror, the resulting forces ultimately detached the Pod's steelton cables from the cockpit, and sent both Split-X engines flying. The left engine flew into a rock, spun out of control, and then burst into three flaming pieces. His right engine flew opposite, hit the ground and exploded. His Split-X cockpit bounced up, then nose-dived into the desert, spinning and sliding around until it came to a stop, all with Sebulba still in the cockpit. He survived the crash without even a scratch, but the famous Pod met its demise seconds before he would have made it to the finish line.
Sebulba later replaced his ruined Podracer with the pod that won the Boonta: the racer belonging to Anakin Skywalker.
Appearances[]
- Episode I Adventures 5: The Ghostling Children (Game Book)
- Episode I Adventures 6: The Hunt for Anakin Skywalker (Game Book)
- Episode I Adventures 7: Capture Arawynne (Game Book) (Mentioned only)
- Episode I Adventures 8: Trouble on Tatooine (Game Book)
- Star Wars: Episode I Racer
- Podracing Tales
- Episode I: Anakin Skywalker (Picture only)
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace novelization (First appearance)
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace unabridged audiobook
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
- † Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace video game
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace junior novelization
- Episode I: The Phantom Menace ½ (In flashback(s))
- Star Wars: Racer Revenge
- Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
Non-canon appearances[]
Sources[]
- Star Wars: Episode I Incredible Cross-Sections
- Star Wars: Episode I The Visual Dictionary
- Star Wars: Episode I Insider's Guide
- Star Wars: Episode I toy line
- Star Wars: Episode I Podracer Punch-Outs
- Star Wars: Power of the Jedi
- Star Wars Customizable Card Game — Tatooine Limited (Card: Sebulba's Podracer) (backup link)
- The Official Star Wars Fact File 19 (POD3-4, Sebulba's Podracer)
- The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels
- Star Wars: Complete Cross-Sections
- Star Wars Fandex Deluxe Edition
- "Ask Lobot" — Star Wars Insider 128
- Podracer, Sebulba's in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Sebulba in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Star Wars: Complete Vehicles
- Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Clegg Holdfast)
- Boonta Eve Classic Podracer Pilots in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Sebulba's Podracer in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Official Star Wars Fact File
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Star Wars: Complete Cross-Sections
- ↑ Podracer, Sebulba's in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)