Cabuck

"That's her. She killed the Jedi! And ruined my bar!"

―Cabuck misidentifies Verosha Aniseya as Mae-ho Aniseya — 20?cb=20250116042720

Cabuck was a Drezar from Drez who was born around 166 BBY. He served as owner, manager, and bartender of the Lomi Usqi Noodle Shop in Point Ueda on the world Ueda during the High Republic Era but resisted customizing it due to a superstitious belief that it was haunted by Lomi Usqi, a previous owner.

In 132 BBY, he witnessed the assassin Mae-ho Aniseya enter the establishment and confront Jedi Master Indara, remaining behind the bar as the pair then fought throughout the noodle shop. He eventually accidentally drew their attention by making a noise, causing Aniseya to throw a knife at him. Indara used the Force to stop the knife before it could hit Cabuck, but this distraction allowed Aniseya to throw another knife into the Jedi's chest, killing her.

Aniseya then approached a surrendering Cabuck at the bar and prepared to attack him until she saw Cabuck's three-year-old son, Cabuck Junior, clinging onto the bartender's leg, after which she left him unharmed and exited the establishment. While investigating the murder, the Jedi Order brought Cabuck to the Trade Federation freighter Fallon, where he misidentified Aniseya's twin sister, Verosha Aniseya, as the murderer.

Biography

Noodle provider

Cabuck, a bearded Drezar in a brown shirt, stands with his mouth open. — Cabuck owned the Lomi Usqi Noodle Shop.

Cabuck was a Drezar from Drez who was born^[1] around 166 BBY.^[2] During the High Republic Era, he was owner, manager, and bartender of the Lomi Usqi Noodle Shop,^[1] a rundown eatery^[4] that was the only establishment of its kind in Point Ueda, the capital city on the planet Ueda.^[1] Although he served as his own boss,^[5] Cabuck avoided re-naming or overly customizing the shop due to a superstitious belief that it was haunted by Lomi Usqi, a previous owner from over a hundred years prior to the Drezar's birth.^[1]

After the birth of his son, Cabuck Junior,^[1] around 135 BBY,^[2] he sometimes^[6] brought the shy child to work with him. Cabuck stocked the Noodle Shop's bar with more than broth, meaning it became a welcoming public house for both locals and visiting travelers.^[1] The Drezar always kept the noodles flowing for his customers^[6] and employed the velospeeder rider Miow Joon to keep the shop's circular noodle-drying rack spinning during the athlete's training seasons in exchange for offering Joon a space to work out and free carbohydrate-packed food.^[1]

Bartender bystander

"Master Indara."
"Yes, my child?"
"We have unfinished business."

―Mae-ho Aniseya challenges Indara in Cabuck's shop — 20?cb=20250116042720

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Cabuck watches the hooded Mae-ho Aniseya warily from behind the counter at the Lomi Usqi Noodle Shop. — Cabuck was at the bar when Mae-ho Aniseya entered his shop.

While Cabuck was thirty-four years old^[1] in 132 BBY,^[2] the assassin Mae-ho Aniseya entered the noodle shop in search of Jedi Master Indara.^[3] As Aniseya surveyed the room, Cabuck eyed her with suspicion^[7] while tending the bar, but went back to his work as Aniseya approached the table where Indara was sitting with several other patrons. Intending to kill the Jedi, Aniseya demanded that Indara fight her, attacking the other patrons sitting with her target when the Jedi refused.^[3]

Cabuck remained behind the bar and watched as Aniseya subdued the other patrons, after which Indara engaged the assassin. As the eatery's customers fled, Cabuck remained half-crouched behind the bar, rearing back when Aniseya leapt past him to the building's upper level, where she took^[3] Kella Antro, who delivered seasoning minerals to Cabuck's shop,^[1] hostage. Indara pursued Aniseya and rescued Antro when Aniseya threw^[3] her^[1] from the shop's interior balcony. The pair then continued fighting until Cabuck accidentally drew their attention by making a noise from behind the counter.^[3]

Witness to a murder

▶️ to a preview of Cabuck gasps
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Cabuck lets out a gasp as Indara stops a knife just before it hits him

Cabuck stares in shock with his mouth open at a dagger suspended in air inches from his face. — Cabuck was saved from Mae-ho Aniseya's knife by Master Indara, who used the Force to freeze it in mid-air.

Cabuck looked up at the two combatants but did not flee as Aniseya hurled a throwing knife at the bartender's head. Indara used the Force to halt the blade in mid-air, inches from Cabuck's face, but this distracted the Jedi and allowed Aniseya to throw another blade into Indara's chest, fatally wounding her. As the Jedi Master collapsed, the blade in front of Cabuck fell from the air to the counter, causing the Drezar to gasp. After watching Indara's final moments, Aniseya approached the bar as Cabuck backed away from her with his hands raised^[3] submissively.^[7]

Aniseya collected the blade she had thrown at Cabuck and then raised it to throw at the bartender but paused upon hearing whimpering from beneath the bar. Both Aniseya and Cabuck looked down to find^[3] the three-year old^[1] Cabuck Junior, who clutched at the barkeeper's leg and whimpered. Cabuck slowly placed his hand upon his child's head, while Aniseya hesitated and then turned away and left the noodle shop. The bartender looked up to see her go and then turned to tend to his child.^[3]

A case of mistaken identity

"I'll know her when I see her."

―Cabuck, to Tasi Lowa — 20?cb=20250116042720

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Cabuck stands in the doorway of Verosha Aniseya's bunk room pointing accusingly. — Cabuck mistakenly accused Verosha Aniseya of Indara's murder.

During the Jedi Order's investigation of Indara's death, the Jedi mistakenly believed that Aniseya's identical twin, Verosha Aniseya, had committed the murder based on the assassin's physical description, as Mae-ho was believed to have perished years prior. Verosha was working as a meknek on the Trade Federation^[3] freighter Fallon,^[1] and Jedi Knight Yord Fandar and his Padawan Tasi Lowa brought Cabuck onto the freighter in order to confirm the identification.^[3]

After the Jedi confronted Verosha at her bunk, Lowa fetched Cabuck and brought him to her.^[3] Not having much choice in the matter,^[8] the bartender immediately pointed to Verosha and declared her Indara's killer, also complaining that she had ruined his bar. The Jedi then arrested Verosha for the murder and transferred her to^[3] the DTE-CSA-17 Calaboose prison ship Palwick^[9] to be taken to^[3] the planet^[7] Coruscant to face trial.^[3]

Personality and traits

Cabuck's superstitious belief in ghosts was strong enough to affect his business decisions, although he still brought his child to the shop.^[1] He did not flee from the fight in his eatery but surrendered^[3] submissively^[7] when Mae-ho approached. He later confidently misidentified her identical twin as Mae-ho.^[3] The bartender had wideset green eyes that allowed him to attend to multiple guests while watching out for his son at the shop and calloused brown skin that had been toughened by a lifetime of kitchen work^[1] by 132 BBY.^[2] His chest-length beard^[7] was a graying brown. He stood 1.93 meters (6 foot 4 inches) tall.^[1]

Equipment

At the shop, Cabuck wore a black shirt, with black pants, black shoes, a black belt, and a brown apron. Several containers including a secret spice shaker hung from his belt, and he also wore a brown satchel with a black strap.^[1]

Behind the scenes

"In this fight, I thought it was important to show that Mae's sort of testing Indara in her own way. She's making sure that Indara's always going to be a Jedi and that she's going to protect the innocent."

―Christopher Clark Cowan discussing Indara and Mae's Ueda duel — 20?cb=20250116042720

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Concept art of Cabuck and Cabuck Junior showing them with purpler skin and hats. — Costume concept of Cabuck and Cabuck Junior by Sophie Fretwell

Cabuck appeared in "Lost / Found,"^[3] the first episode of the television series Star Wars: The Acolyte, which aired June 4, 2024 on Disney+.^[11] Prior to the release of the episode, Cabuck was revealed in a trailer exclusively shown at Celebration Europe^[12] during the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase on April 7, 2023.^[13] Martin Rezard designed and sculpted Cabuck's head and hands, sculpting the head in ZBrush. Brian Best then used ZBrush to create a 3D mould that was printed and reinforced in fibreglass before foam was added. The hands were a traditional plasticine sculpt.^[14] The character's costume was designed by costume designer Jennifer Bryan with a concept illustration of it drawn by illustrator Sophie Fretwell. The illustration showed Cabuck with purple skin and wearing a tall hat.^[15]

Performance artist Liam Cook physically portrayed the character, who was credited only as "Ueda Barkeep."^[3] Mike Quinn provided the on-set voice reference for Cabuck and controlled the character's lip-syncing while Colin Purves and Adrian Parish controlled the eyes and brows of Cabuck's mask.^[16] The scenes in the shop were filmed at Shinfield Studios,^[17] England.^[18] The Acolyte's action designer and second unit director, Christopher Clark Cowan, wanted the duel in the shop to show that Aniseya was testing Indara to see if the Jedi would protect the innocent,^[10] with the assassin targeting bystanders like Antro and Cabuck.^[3] The character was identified by an entry for the Lomi Usqi Noodle Shop in the Databank section of StarWars.com, which was released the day after the episode on June 5, 2024.^[4]