Wooof

Wooof was a Kadas'sa'Nikto who served the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure during the Galactic Civil War. Jabba placed the Nikto in charge of his fleet of skiffs and his sail barge, Khetanna. In 4 ABY, Wooof witnessed the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 deliver a hologram message to Jabba from the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. The Jedi bargained for the freedom of his friend and smuggler Han Solo.

After the Hutt refused Skywalker's offer, Wooof and other members of the court trapped Leia Organa from exiting the palace after she freed Solo herself. The next day, Skywalker arrived at the palace to bargain for Solo, though Jabba dropped the Jedi into the rancor pit below the throne room. Skywalker killed Jabba's rancor, only for Jabba sentence him and his allies to death at the Great Pit of Carkoon. Wooof traveled to view the executions on board the sail barge Khetanna, taking a refreshment from the now drink-serving R2-D2. Upon reaching the pit, Skywalker defeated the guards accompanying him and made his way onto the Khetanna. Wooof rushed to the deck of Khetanna, only to be killed when Skywalker deflected Wooof's own blaster bolt back at him.

Biography[]

A Kadas'sa'Nikto from the planet Kintan, Wooof^[1] was a former smuggler who worked for the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure. Jabba placed the Nikto in charge of the fleet of skiffs Jabba kept at his palace on the planet Tatooine as well as the crime lord's sail barge Khetanna.^[5]

In 4 ABY,^[2] Wooof was present one morning^[6] in the throne room of Jabba's Palace when the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO delivered a message to the Hutt from Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker of the Rebel Alliance. The hologram of Skywalker stated his intention to see Solo, who was imprisoned in the palace within a block of carbonite, set free. Wooof walked across the throne room when the Hutt declared that he would not bargain for Solo's freedom. Skywalker then gifted the two droids to Jabba, and they were escorted by several of the Hutt's henchmen from the room.^[3]`

Jedi drawbacks[]

"Bring me Solo and the Wookiee. They will all suffer for this outrage!"

―Jabba, to his various servants^[3]

Stairway at Jabbas palace — Wooof behind Leia Organa

Wooof then took part in a trap that Jabba set for Leia Organa, who had actually come to the palace, disguised as bounty hunter Boushh, to free Solo from carbonite. Having been warned by the bounty hunter Boba Fett that Boushh was not who they seemed, the Hutt had Wooof and many other court members lay in wait behind curtains in the throne room later that night. After they had waited for an hour,^[6] the princess entered the room while she thought everyone was asleep. Once she freed Solo from the carbonite, Jabba had the curtains pulled back, revealing Wooof and the others, surrounding Organa and her ally. Both Solo and Organa were then captured.^[3]

Luke-DL18 — Wooof advancing on Skywalker

The next morning,^[6] Wooof was in Jabba's throne room, sitting in an alcove with the Elom Tanus Spijek, when Luke Skywalker arrived to negotiate the release of Solo. Skywalker had been let in by a mind-tricked Bib Fortuna. Wooof and other members of Jabba's court surrounded Skywalker as he demanded that his allies be set free. Jabba was not interested in Skywalker's proposal, and Skywalker used the Force to snatch Nizuc Bek's DL-18 blaster pistol from his holster. The Hutt, however, opened the trapdoor of the throne room, and Skywalker fell into the pit of Pateesa, the Hutt's pet rancor. Skywalker prevailed in the fight against Pateesa. Along with the Human guard Fozec, Wooof retrieved Skywalker, Solo and the Wookiee Chewbacca to bring them into the throne room, pointing a DL-18 blaster pistol at Skywalker while Jabba sentenced them to execution. After Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca were sentenced, Wooof and Fozec escorted Chewbacca out of the throne room and left with the rest of the court.^[3]

Death by deflection[]

KhetannaInterior-RotJAVA — Wooof on *Khetanna*

The Nikto later traveled on board Khetanna to the Great Pit of Carkoon to witness Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca's execution. Wooof grabbed a beverage from the drink-serving R2-D2 just before the droid bumped into C-3PO.^[3] Upon reaching the pit, Wooof stood beside Boba Fett while Jabba gave the prisoners one last chance to beg for their lives. Things took a turn after Jabba ordered Skywalker put over the edge of the Bantha-II cargo skiff into the sarlacc below, as the Jedi leapt back aboard, now armed with his lightsaber, which R2-D2 had launched to him. The Jedi began cutting down the guards around him as panic ensued on board the barge. Wooof rushed to the top deck of Khetanna, as weapons master Vizam fired at Skywalker and his friends.^[3]

Wooof and a Gamorrean removed a piece of material covering the Khetanna's deck cannon while Skywalker used a cargo skiff to jump onto the side of Khetanna, pulling himself up to the deck. Wooof fired at Skywalker with his blaster pistol; however, the Jedi deflected the shot with his blade, rebounding the bolt into Wooof, killing him. Soon after, Skywalker and Organa destroyed Khetanna with the deck cannon and left with their allies.^[3]

Personality and traits[]

Wooof had green skin, black eyes, and clawed fingers.^[3]

Equipment[]

Wooof wore a silver helmet, heavily distressed white shirt, a breastplate, leather jerkin, a codpiece of the same leather, loincloth, ammunition bandolier, and a wrist bracer.^[7] The Nikto wielded a DL-18 blaster pistol during the Rescue of Han Solo.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

Creation and Elstree Studios shoot[]

"It was easy because Phil's workshop was next door to me."

―Nilo Rodis-Jamero describes the collaboration leading to the creation of the Wooof costume^[7]

WooofPolaroid-SWCOT — On-set photo of Wooof

Wooof first appeared in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, the final installment of the Star Wars original trilogy.^[8] The design for Wooof came from a 1981 illustration by Nilo Rodis-Jamero, which labeled the character "Wooof #3." During the production of Jedi, Wooof was considered to be an alien race, but was later re-dubbed Klaatu in reference to The Day the Earth Stood Still. The character's mask, hands, and costume were created through a collaboration between Rodis-Jamero's costume team and Phil Tippett's creature design team.^[7]

The costume consisted of a loincloth which production notes describe as being made from "crummy sheep skin," a chestplate made out of urethane, heavy leather jerkin and codpiece of the same leather, ammunition bandolier, wrist bracer, and a helmet made by the Industrial Light & Magic plastic shop, which had a much rougher finish than the Imperial helmets.^[7]

In the film, Wooof was played by an uncredited^[3] Mike Stevens.^[7] The throne room scenes were filmed between January 25 and February 8, 1982 on Stage 8 at Elstree Studios, and the sail barge interior shots were filmed on Stage 9 between February 9 and February 11.^[8]

Canon[]

In the new Star Wars canon, the character was first identified by name in the 2015 book Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know published by Dorling Kindersley,^[5] though the production^[7] name was first applied to the character in the Star Wars Legends continuity with the Jabba's Palace Limited set of cards from Decipher's Star Wars Customizable Card Game.^[9]

Wooof appears in "Tatooine Rhapsody," an ambiguously canon short film in the Star Wars: Visions series^[10] released on September 22, 2021.^[11] In the short, Wooof, Boba Fett, a Human and Pagetti Rook interrupt a performance of the band Star Waver to capture band member Geezer Odajion, on whom Jabba has placed a bounty. When the band fights back, Wooof gets repeatedly hit in the face by the band member Lan Ar-Shoo. After the band defeats Rook and the Human, Wooof is thrown off the stage.^[10]

After Fett captured Odajion and took him to the Mos Espa Grand Arena on the planet Tatooine, Wooof aimed a blaster rifle at the back of Ar-Shoo as lead singer Jee Ken Tsokee informed Odajion of the fact that they would perform one song before Odajion's execution.^[10]