Jabba's rancor

< Jabba's rancor
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For other uses, see Rancor.
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"Oh no! The rancor!"
―C-3PO, upon seeing the Rancor beast[6]

Jabba's rancor was a rancor given to the Hutt kajidii Jabba Desilijic Tiure as a birthday present from his henchmen. It was kept beneath a trapdoor in his chamber at his palace. He was fond of dropping people into the rancor's pit and watching them be eaten.

Biography

Early life

Jabba's rancor with a large bone caught in its mouth

Jabba's rancor with a large bone caught in its mouth

Native from Dathomir,[1] a planet of the Outer Rim Territories,[7] a male[4] rancor was being transported from the Tarsunt system by Grizzid for a Bothan merchant named Grendu, when it broke out, killing Grizzid and his crew, and causing the ship to crash on Tatooine.[5]

In 0 BBY[8] A Jawa Sandcrawler captain named Tteel Kkak discovered the wreckage.[5] His group of Jawas informed Bidlo Kwerve that a Bothan ship had crashed in the Tatooinian desert, containing a fearsome creature.[9] Intrigued, and hoping to curry favor with Jabba, Kwerve went out to investigate along with several of Jabba's Gamorrean guards,[10] claiming he was going womp rat hunting.[11] In the downed ship, Bidlo Kwerve found the rancor, which was only subdued when the Corellian pirate threw eight gas grenades at it.[5] Both he and Bib Fortuna knew they would not be able to bring the beast back to Jabba's Palace alone and decided that working together—something they had never done before—was the least dangerous option.[12] The duo took the creature to the lower dungeons of the desert citadel. They presented it to Jabba as a birthday present. Fortuna was rewarded by being made Jabba's majordomo, while Kwerve was fed to the rancor.[5]

Serving Jabba

"I think this is a rancor. I have heard of them, but never dreamed that I would be lucky enough to see one in my lifetime."
―Malakili to Bib Fortuna[5]
The rancor was took care by the human .

The rancor was took care by the human Malakili.

The rancor served the dual purpose of not only amusing Jabba, but also disposing of unwanted servants, musicians, or anyone else the Hutt would want to get rid of.[4] With a shout of "Boska!" Jabba would activate a secret trap door in front of his throne, sending his victims to be eaten by the creature.[3]

Malakili was bought from the Circus Horrificus in order to care for the rancor. He became very emotionally attached to it. While he took the rancor for a walk in the desert, it saved him from a small gang of Sand People. Malakili forged a close bond with the rancor, such that the creature would allow him to treat its wounds and eat meals with it.[5]

Despite Malakili's best cares,[5] the rancor was seriuosly abused as it was forced to live in a dungeon where it could barely move and was left half-starved.[13] Jabba enjoyed pitting the rancor against other exotic monsters for his amusement. It always won, but was seriously wounded by three Caridan combat arachnids. When Malakili discovered that Jabba planned to pit the rancor against a krayt dragon, which would surely kill it, he made plans to betray Jabba to Lady Valarian and escape Tatooine with the rancor.[5]

At one point, the bloodthirsty gamblers demanded more violence. So Jabba ordered Malakili to train the rancor for battle, and had a special weapon harness built.[5] Malakili fitted the rancor with the weapons harness and entered his master's dangerous demolition derby.[14] Malakili and his mount, however, did not emerge victorious in the contest.[15] Also, Jabba's Tusken battle talisman somehow ended up falling into its pit, where the rancor ate it, too.[16]

In 4 BBY[17] Jabba executed a prisoner by feeding him to his rancor, a scene witnessed by the Twi'lek dancer Oola who was terrified so much, that she forced herself onto Jabba and climb over him so she wouldn’t have to watch anymore.[18]

Death

"The Keepers forced Jabba's rancor into a dungeon where it could barely move. It was half-starved. Though I didn't have a choice, I'm still sorry I had to kill it."
―Luke Skywalker[13]
Jabba's rancor devouring the Gamorrean guard, Jubnuk.

Jabba's rancor devouring the Gamorrean guard, Jubnuk.

Jabba frequently used his rancor as an amusing form of execution.[3] In 4 ABY[2] Oola was dropped in for resisting Jabba when she finally got fed up with his advances on her. Later, Jabba used it against Luke Skywalker, accidentally dropping a Gamorrean guard named Jubnuk in as well. The rancor ate Jubnuk, but Skywalker proved to be more of a challenge: the young Jedi Knight, when it first attempted to eat him, placed a large femur[3] of a previous victim[4] between its jaws, forcing the rancor to let him go before snapping it in two with effort. It tried to devour him again, but Luke smashed its hand in self-defense with a rock.[3]

Luke, out of options due to the rancor's handlers preventing him from escaping, lured it under a heavy portcullis, then smashed the control panel with a skull, causing the gate to pierce and crush the beast's skull, killing it.[3] Ironically,[19] the skull Luke threw[3] had belonged to its first victim, Kwerve.[20] As it was dying, the rancor moaned weakly, with Malakili rushing to the rancor's aid and then breaking down in tears when he discovered it was too late.[3]

Legacy

Jubnuk was later cut out of the rancor's stomach, still alive due to both his armor and the Tusken battle talisman he found inside the stomach, which he had been tasked to find earlier.[16]

Later, Luke stated that he had another reason for killing it, other than defending himself. The rancor was so abused and mistreated that rehabilitating it would have been impossible, and Luke believed that it would be best to put the poor creature out of its misery.[13] Even two decades after the fact, Luke expressed that it was a shame that he had to kill the rancor. He felt that as a species, they were such fine creatures.[21]

Behind the scenes

"I like the idea that everyone loves someone. And even the worst, most horrible monster you can imagine was loved by his keeper. And the rancor probably loved his keeper."
―George Lucas[22]
The creatures below Jabba's Palace

The creatures below Jabba's Palace

An image often mistaken to be the rancor battling a krayt dragon is in truth, a joke from the crew of ILM. They placed a model of one of the dragons from the film Dragonslayer in the arms of the rancor model and took a picture. The picture was included in the book Star Wars: Chronicles.[23] A creature based on the appearance of this dragon appears in one of Jabba's creature pens in Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy.[24]

The rancor is a mini boss in Lord Starkiller's Mission To Tatooine.[25] The rancor also acted as a boss in the Return of the Jedi chapter of Star Wars Trilogy: Apprentice of the Force. Although its fate was overall the same, the rancor can also "summon" more Gamorrean guards by stomping and causing more to fall down everywhere, alongside rocks. After the player backs it up to the gate, the player then delivers the coup de grace by Force-pushing a rock at the control panel.[26]

The 2002 Infinities comic Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back shows Jabba possessing a pair of Nexus in 3 ABY instead of the rancor,[27] which he should have chronogically since 0 BBY.[8]

In the current Star Wars canon, the rancor was given the proper name Pateesa in 2016.[28]

Appearances

Non-canon appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Star Wars: Head-to-Head Tag Teams
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Essential Atlas
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 StarWars.com Encyclopedia rancor in the Encyclopedia (original site is defunct)
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 "A Boy and His Monster: The Rancor Keeper's Tale" — Tales from Jabba's Palace
  6. ↑ Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
  7. ↑ Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 The New Essential Guide to Characters placed Kwerve's death in 0 BBY, thus indicating that the rancor was discovered around that year.
  9. ↑ Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook, Special Edition
  10. ↑ Databank title rancor in the Databank (original site is defunct)
  11. ↑ WizardsoftheCoast Jabba's Rancor: Part 2: The Birthday Present on Wizards.com (original site is defunct)
  12. ↑ Galaxy Guide 5: Return of the Jedi, second edition
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side
  14. ↑ Star Wars: Demolition
  15. ↑ In the video game Star Wars: Demolition, Malakili's winning cutscene had the Twi'lek dancer Lyn Me eaten by Jabba's rancor. However, the Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook, Special Edition established that Lyn Me survived Jabba the Hutt, which renders the wrangler's winning cutscene non-canon.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Jabba's Palace Pop-up Book
  17. ↑ The Essential Reader's Companion
  18. ↑ "A Time to Mourn, a Time to Dance: Oola's Tale" — Tales from Jabba's Palace
  19. ↑ Swccglogolg Star Wars Customizable Card Game — Jabba's Palace Limited Card: Skull (backup link)
  20. ↑ Swccglogolg Star Wars Customizable Card Game — Jabba's Palace Limited Card: Skull (backup link)
  21. ↑ Young Jedi Knights: Shadow Academy
  22. ↑ The Making of Return of the Jedi
  23. ↑ Star Wars Chronicles
  24. ↑ Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy
  25. ↑ Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition
  26. ↑ Star Wars Trilogy: Apprentice of the Force
  27. ↑ Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back 3
  28. ↑ Aftermath: Life Debt
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