"A Boy and His Monster: The Rancor Keeper's Tale" is a short story by Kevin J. Anderson that provides the backstory for Jabba's rancor and Malakili, the rancor keeper. It was published in Tales from Jabba's Palace, which was published December 1995 by Bantam Spectra.
Plot summary
When the fearsome rancor monster is found in a shipwreck in Tatooine's Dune Sea, Jabba's underlings present it as a gift to the gangster. Jabba tasks Malakili with the care and feeding of his new pet. Malakili is overjoyed to have custody of Jabba's rancor, but he resents the captivity of what he considers so magnificent a beast. Over time, he and the rancor develop a certain rapport, which convinces Malakili that he must find a way to free the rancor. To this end he makes an agreement with Jabba's local rival, Lady Valarian, to transport both himself and the rancor to a remote planet where they might live together untroubled by others. However, the date set for the escape fatefully coincides with the arrival of Luke Skywalker, who kills the creature, thereby upsetting Malakili's plans.
Continuity
The rancor's arrival on Tatooine was first described in The Star Wars Sourcebook (1987), a roleplaying gamebook published by West End Games. The date of the rancor's arrival is kept vague in that source, but has subsequently being pegged at about 0 BBY since Bidlo Kwerve, the rancor's first victim, is seen alive and well in Rebel Dawn (1997).[2]
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