Hoss

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"Name's Hoss. Our heavy. Heard he once took out two Imperial squads using nothing but their own weapons."

―Jaylen Vrax to Kay Vess, about Hoss — 20?cb=20250116042720

Hoss was a Sullustan male mercenary, gunslinger, and violent criminal who lived in the galaxy. Seen as an outlaw legend, he was known for his wild gambling, collection of weapons, and risk-taking. He eventually became a bandit on the desert planet Tatooine after losing everything he owned to gambling.

In 3 ABY, he returned from the dunes after agreeing to join a crew for a heist being organized by the thief Kay Vess. Before the heist, Hoss lost a game of sabacc and used Vess's merqaal companion, Nix, to pay off the debt, upsetting Vess and causing her to break into the palace of the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure to rescue Nix. Shortly after, Hoss was captured by Vail Tormin, a bounty hunter searching for Vess. In an attempt to free himself, he shared Vess's whereabouts with Tormin and Jabba, ultimately leading to Hoss being mauled by two reptilian massiffs while at Jabba's palace.

Biography

Legend to bandit

"Hoss was recently arrested by a small-time Sheriff for looting vaporators. Not very 'legendary.'"

―ND-5 to Kay Vess, about Hoss — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[3]

Hoss operated from an abandonded moisture farm

Born by 60 BBY,^[1] Hoss was a Sullustan male mercenary who was active during the reign of the Galactic Empire.^[3] By 3 ABY,^[2] Hoss had been rumored to have taken out two Imperial squads using their own weapons.^[3] During the same time, the Empire's Imperial Security Bureau had a report on his criminal history, which noted Hoss had been involved in numerous felonies, including fraud, larceny, burglary, and more than one murder. These actions had earned Hoss a reputation as a capable mercenary, as well as earning him death sentences in six star systems. The report went on to note that despite his long history within the criminal underworld, he had not established lasting collaborations with any of the galaxy's major crime syndicates. It concluded with a prediction that Hoss would likely be the cause of his own demise.^[3]

The prediction in the ISB report proved accurate when Hoss lost everything while gambling on the desert planet Tatooine, forcing him to venture out into world's Dune Sea with no starship nor crew. Hoss eventually joined a bandit group that operated out of the abandoned lair of a Krayt dragon in the South Jundland Wastes region of Tatooine, but was eventually kicked out of the group.^[3]

In 3 ABY,^[2] he was arrested at an abandoned moisture farm for stealing moisture vaporators from the town Wayfar located in Tatooine's Great Chott salt flat by the town's sheriff Quint Cresadde. Hoss later escaped from the town's prison and fled back to the moisture farm. In the following days, Cresadde directed multiple bounty hunters to the farm where she had captured him so they could collect his bounty. At least one of the hunters attacked Hoss at the farm, resulting in a fatal wound to the hunter. Afterward, Hoss fled east in a landspeeder, which he eventually crashed into a rock formation. Following this, he was captured by a tribe of Tusken Raiders, believing they would be able to trade him back to his former bandit gang for their stolen krayt dragon pearl.^[3]

Traded for pearls

O'Urr'Akk: [Speaks in Tusken]

Kay Vess: "Uh, sorry, what?"

Hoss: "O'Urr'Akk thinks you're here for me. Only reason they let you pass."

―O'Urr'Akk to Kay Vess, with Hoss translating — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[3]

Hoss with O'Urr'Akk's Tusken Raider tribe

A few days after Hoss's escape, the thief Kay Vess traveled to Wayfar to try to recruit Hoss for a heist she was planning for the crime lord Jaylen Vrax. As she arrived, a group of Hutt Cartel thugs looking to collect on Hoss's bounty also arrived at the town. When they learned of Hoss's escape from Cresadde they threatened to rob the Town's residences to make up for their missed bounty. After Vess helped Cresadde repeal the attack, the sheriff shared the coordinates of the moisture farm where she had captured Hoss with Vess.^[3]

Upon arriving at the farm, she found the body of the bounty hunter that had attacked Hoss, as well as the hunter's transponder, which was still tracking Hoss's location. Vess followed the transponder's signal to Hoss's crashed speeder and scaled a nearby rock formation, where she found the same group of Tusken Raiders that had captured Hoss. She was then escorted to Hoss and the tribe's leader, O'Urr'Akk. Acting as a translator for O'Urr'Akk, Hoss explained the situation to Vess. She agreed to recover the stole pearl in exchange for Hoss's freedom and his commitment to join the heist.^[3]

After Vess traveled to the bandit's camp, she was able to successfully retrieving the pearl from the bandits. Upon exiting the cave, she met Hoss and his Tusken captors and she exchanged the pearl for Hoss. In an attempt to take advantage of Vess's ignorance of the Tusken language, Hoss tried to claim that the chief also wanted her to pay his tab at the cantina before he would be free. However Vess was not fooled and agreed to meet Hoss later at Docking Bay 94 in Mos Eisley spaceport on Tatooine.^[3]

Gambling with merqaals

"Who's a loser now?"
"The legendary Hoss, as always. Now pay up!"
"Don't have it."

―Hoss to an Aqualish gambler, while playing sabacc — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[3]

Hoss playing sabacc with an Aqualish gambler

Hoss chose to play sabacc at Mos Eisley's Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina with an Aqualish gambler instead of meeting Vess at the docking bay. His actions forced Vess to search for him in Mos Eisley. As a disappointed Vess arrived at the cantina, Hoss lost the current hand of sabacc he was playing. When Hoss stated that he did not have the money to cover his loss, the Aqualish drew their blaster and aimed it at him. After the Aqualish commented on Nix, a merqaal companion to Vess, Hoss quickly grabbed Nix and hoped to use him as collateral, much to Vess's outrage. Provoked, Nix bit Hoss's hand, prompting the latter to toss the merqaal across the table into the Aqualish's arms. The ensuing brawl resulted in Vess being knocked out.^[3]

When she later regained consciousness, she slammed Hoss's face on a table and drew her blaster on him, demanding to know Nix's whereabouts. Initially, Hoss reacted with surprise at her behavior until she fired a shot at the wall, forcing him to guess that Nix was likely being sold to the infamous gangster and leader of the Hutt Cartel, Jabba the Hutt. As Hoss proceeded to tell Vess she would likely never set foot in Jabba's palace, she knocked him with her blaster and headed out to rescue Nix. Sometime after Vess's departure, Hoss was captured by the bounty hunter Vail Tormin, who was tracking Vess as part of a death mark contract for the Zerek Besh crime syndicate.^[3]

Hoss in Jabba's rancor pit, just before being mauled by massiffs

Tormin later flew to Jabba's palace with Hoss, where she informed Jabba of Vess's intention to steal Nix back from him, which later resulted in her capture. Tormin brought out Hoss from behind Jabba's throne in chains while Vess attempted to talk her way free of Jabba. As the Hutt commended Tormin's intelligence, Hoss eagerly asked if his bounty was going to be cleared, but was ignored as Jabba proceeded to drop Vess into his rancor pit. Tormin quickly caught Vess by her wrist and accused Jabba of violating their agreement. However, the Hutt declared he owed nothing to Zerek Besh. One of Jabba's Gamorrean guards then kicked Tormin into the pit, causing the still-chained Hoss to be dragged in with the pair. Spotting two reptilian massiffs in the pit with them, Hoss tried to yank his chains to throw Tormin toward them in an effort to save himself. Instead, the bounty hunter released the chain, causing Hoss to fall forward and come face to face with the massiffs, who proceeded to pounce on him and maul him to death. After questioning if Hoss deserved it, Vess escaped the pit with Tormin and eventually made amends to Jabba.^[3]

Legacy

Jaylen Vrax eventually replaced the deceased Hoss with the Twi'lek rebel Asara Deyn for the group's planned heist on the planet Cantonica.^[3]

This section of the article assumes 100% game completion of Star Wars Outlaws. Any alternate stories may be noted in the "Behind the scenes" section. The events in this section may or may not have been confirmed as canon.

That same year,^[2] Vess asked around Chalmun's Cantina for another gunslinger on Tatooine who could teach her some skills. The bartender directed her to an old gunslinger named Shepp, who ran through a list of several dead gunslingers before suggesting Hoss. However, Vess informed Shepp that Hoss was also dead. Vess later returned to Cresadde in Wayfar to receive gunslinger training, and the pair briefly mentioned Hoss.^[3]

Assumption ends here.

Personality and traits

"Better you than me. Ahh."

―Hoss to Vail Tormin — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[3]

Hoss was a Sullustan with orange skin and black eyes. As a bandit, he was willing to lie, steal, and murder. He did not know when to quit, giving him a reputation for wild gambling and risk-taking, with the ISB's report on Hoss referring to him as a volatile liability. Hoss would willingly betray his allies if it meant protecting himself.^[3]

Skills and abilities

"He's a legend with a blaster, ND. And we need him if want any chance of getting out of Sliro's vault alive."

―Jaylen Vrax to ND-5, about Hoss — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[3]

Hoss had a longstanding reputation as one of the galaxy's fiercest mercenaries and as an excellent marksman. One rumor indicated that Hoss was capable of defeating two squads of Imperial soldiers using nothing but the soldiers' own weapons. He spoke Galactic Basic and could understand the Tusken language.^[3]

Equipment

Before becoming a bandit, Hoss had a collection of powerful weapons.^[3] In 3 ABY,^[2] he wore a tan fabric shirt under a brown vest, a leather bandolier, a brown belt, and a blue scarf. Hoss also wore a canteen, gray pants, and gray boots along with leather wristbands on each arm. That year, Hoss used an X-34 landspeeder while operating from the abandoned moisture farm.^[3]

Behind the scenes

Hoss first appeared in the video game Star Wars Outlaws, which was developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft.^[3] Prior to the game's release on August 30, 2024, he was first pictured, though unnamed, in the game's "Official Story Trailer" that was released on April 9 of the same year.^[4] He was first identified by name in the game's "Official Gameplay Showcase" trailer released on June 10, 2024.^[5] Hoss was voiced by Greg Rogers^[6] and was part of two of the game's main quests—"The Heavy" and "Partners."^[3] The game's cutscene where he sells Nix to pay off his debts was one of the first scenes the development team recorded. A storyboard of this scene was released in the 2025 The Art of Star Wars: Outlaws reference book.^[7]

During development, Hoss was originally a different species with chin horns, but was eventually made into a Sullustan to better connect him to the timeline of the Star Wars original trilogy. In the game, every one of the crew characters had their own color scheme, with Hoss's outfit using earthy tones and a combination of fabric and leather to reflect his time on Tatooine. His blue scarf was added to further distinguish him from the other characters. Hoss's bandolier was added to underscore his status as a mercenary.^[7] Concept art for the Sullustan was done by the Concept Artist Iuliia Misiul under Lead Concept Artist Marthe Jonkers and Art Director Gerard Miley.^[8] Lighting for the game's cinematic that featured Hoss's death was done by Lighting Artist Tristan Orenes.^[9]