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In 3 ABY, a male wampa that lived outside of Echo Base on Hoth attacked Luke Skywalker and his tauntaun shortly before the Battle of Hoth,[2] killing the tauntaun and dragging the unconscious Skywalker into its cave. As the wampa devoured tauntaun meat, Skywalker was eventually able to regain consciousness and free himself using his lightsaber, slicing off the wampa's right arm just before it could strike him.[1] The wampa eventually recovered enough strength to venture out of its cave once more.[4]
Behind the scenes[]
The wampa first appeared in the 1980 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back.[1] In the Star Wars Legends reference book Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy, this wampa was identified as two seperate creatures, a female wampa called One-Arm and an unidentified male.[5] This wampa is the Canon counterpart to both of these creatures.[4]
When filming the scene, Mark Hamill was under the impression that Luke would merely scare off the wampa with a lightsaber and was horrified to see the amputation in the final product, believing that Luke wouldn't do something so cruel.[6]
While the Star Wars Day-at-a-Time Calendar 2020, released in 2019 by Trends International LLC,[7] states that the wampa was killed, the 2020 short story "Hunger," written by Mark Oshiro and published in the book From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back, establishes that the wampa eventually recovered enough strength to leave its cave once again.[4]
Appearances[]
- Star Wars in Pictures: The Original Trilogy
- Star Wars Treasury: The Original Trilogy
- The Odyssey of Star Wars: An Epic Poem
- Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (First appearance)
Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures – "Luke vs. the Wampa - Cavern Escape"
- The Empire Strikes Back: So You Want to Be a Jedi?
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back junior novelization
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Screen Comix
- "Hunger"—From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back
- Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side! (Indirect mention only)
- Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side! audiobook (Indirect mention only)
Non-canon appearances[]
- LEGO Star Wars Movie Short: Wampa Woes
LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales – "Flight of the Falcon" (In flashback(s))
Sources[]
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back on StarWars.com (backup link)
Star Wars SDCC 2014 Exclusives Checklist on StarWars.com (backup link)
Star Wars: Card Trader (Card: Luke Skywalker - Rebel Commander - Base Series 1)
Star Wars Helmet Collection 58 (Helmets: 2-1B Surgical Droid; Highlights of the Saga: To Save a Jedi)
Star Wars Helmet Collection 69 (Databank A-Z: Vulptex–Wampas)
Every Creature in the Star Wars Movies | Star Wars By the Numbers on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
- Star Wars Day-at-a-Time Calendar 2020
- Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge – Adventure Awaits
Star Wars: The Black Series Archive (Pack: Luke Skywalker (Hoth)) (backup link)
- Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga: The Official Collector's Edition
Bacta Tank in the Databank (backup link)
Wampa in the Databank (backup link)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Star Wars: Complete Locations
- ↑ The Odyssey of Star Wars: An Epic Poem
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Hunger"—From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back
- ↑ Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy
- ↑ Mark Hamill Was “Horrified” How Wampa Scene Turned Out in 'Empire Strikes Back' – The Hollywood Reporter. hollywoodreporter.com. Archived from the original on January 21, 2022.
- ↑ Star Wars Day-at-a-Time Calendar 2020, "Wampa" (March 4)