Umpass-stay

Umpass-stay was a Klatooinian male born into a life of enslavement to the Desilijic clan. He grew up on the planet Shawti, where he maintained the mud baths of local Hutt leaders. Umpass-stay became the favorite of the Hutt Shebba Kalshi Desilijic, and he became a personal bodyguard for the Hutt. His talent of judging the intentions of the people who approached Shebba proved deadly when the Klatooinian misjudged the Hutt's nephew, Jabba Desilijic Tiure. After Shebba was killed, Umpass-stay was then offered a place in Jabba's criminal empire as a spy in the Hutt's palace on the planet Tatooine.

Umpass-stay, alongside the drum master Ak-rev, performed with the Max Rebo Band when they came to Jabba's palace. In 4 ABY, the Klatooinian performed the song "Jedi Rocks" with the band just before Princess Leia Organa, disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh, arrived with her bounty, Chewbacca. After Jabba was killed by the Princess at the Great Pit of Carkoon, Umpass-stay and Ak-rev set out for the city Mos Eisley to look for work. When the landspeeder they were traveling in was waylaid by Tusken Raiders, the Klatooinian had to walk his way to Mos Eisley. Umpass-stay eventually served the Hutt Jocoro Desilijic Tiure on the planet Du Hutta.

Biography

Hutt favorite

Umpass-stay played the drum alongside Ak-rev.

Umpass-stay, a Klatooinian male, was born into a family enslaved to the Desilijic, a Hutt clan,^[1] for centuries. On the planet Shawti, he spent his childhood on a large agricultural plantation. As he aged, he was trained in maintaining the mud baths of Hutt leaders local to the area. Umpass-stay soon became the favorite of the Hutt plantation leader Shebba Kalshi Desilijic, gaining employ as first a food taster^[3] and unofficial advisor^[4] and then a personal bodyguard. As he silently watched Shebba, Umpass-stay learned the in-and-outs of Hutt business and discovered his talent for judging the intentions of those who came to the Hutt.^[3]

Shebba began to rely on the instincts of Umpass-stay, keeping him close by when dealing with relatives and associates. His instincts failed him^[3] for the first time^[4] when he misjudged Shebba's nephew, the crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure. Jabba assassinated Shebba, ending the bright future Umpass-stay once had. Though the Hutt had led the Klatooinian to think his life would be over^[3] at his hands,^[4] Jabba offered him a new place in his criminal empire, even after hearing his name both praised in cursed in family circles.^[3] Umpass-stay traveled to the planet Tatooine, where he spied on members of Jabba's court^[3] at the Hutt's palace,^[5] trying to find those who wanted to hurt the Hutt. In his spy duties, he served snacks to the court,^[3] appearing like a typical goon or servant,^[1] and played a large^[3] power drum^[6] alongside the Weequay drum master Ak-rev. The Weequay watched over his subordinate and spent many hours playing sabacc with him when Jabba slept in the afternoons.^[3]

Spying musician

Umpass-stay performed with the Max Rebo Band.

At one point,^[3] Umpass-stay caught^[7] a team of assassins hiding as a band of minstrels who aimed to kill Jabba. After that incident, Jabba insisted that all bands playing in the court incorporate Umpass-stay and his drum in an effort to not repeat the minstrel episode. Most observers read this as just one of Jabba's eccentric decrees,^[3] and not even^[7] Jabba's majordomo^[3] Bib Fortuna knew of Umpass-stay's purpose.^[7] Some bands didn't work in the drum on the principal of art, but Jabba didn't see this as a problem and forced them to perform within the palace's rancor pit. When word of Jabba's drum practice spread, the drum had a renaissance in the bands that worked in the palace and^[3] the Desilijic Complex^[6] in the spaceport city Mos Eisley.^[3] When the Max Rebo Band came to perform at Jabba's palace, the band was warned by Fortuna about Jabba's drum desires, but Ortolan Band leader Max Rebo came prepared with several musical numbers incorporating the power drum.^[3] The Klatooinian was then ordered to sit in with the band by Jabba.^[8]

In 4 ABY^[9] Umpass-stay and Ak-rev, with the rest of the Max Rebo Band, performed in the throne room of Jabba's palace. As their performance came to a close,^[10] Jabba ordered his enslaved dancer, Oola, to perform her dance again, but band singer Joh Yowza thought that Jabba was ordering the band to perform again, and the band kicked in^[11] playing the song "Jedi Rocks." During the performance, Jabba dropped Oola into the rancor pit^[10] after she refused to sit with him,^[11] causing the band to stop. Shortly after the dancer was fed to his rancor, Princess Leia Organa, disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh, entered the room with the Wookiee Chewbacca, her bounty. Organa and Chewbacca were both Rebel Alliance members who had come to the palace to free the smuggler Han Solo, who was kept frozen in carbonite in the throne room.^[10] Umpass-stay and Ak-rev watched^[6] as Organa and Jabba negotiated over the price of the Wookiee. When a settlement was reached after a thermal detonator scare from the princess, the band began to play^[10] as the throne room party started up again.^[11]

Freed from Jabba

Umpass-stay and Ak-rev were ambushed by Tusken Raiders (pictured).

That night,^[11] Organa and Solo were captured by Jabba after the former was caught unfreezing the latter. Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker came to the palace^[10] the next morning^[11] asking for the release of his friends, though he failed and killed Jabba's rancor. Because of this, Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca were sentenced to death at the Great Pit of Carkoon.^[10] Because he was considered to be a lowly servant, Umpass-stay was not invited to travel among Jabba's entourage to the pit and thus did not get a chance to worn the Hutt about Lando Calrissian, a guard who was being watched very closely by the Klatooinian. Calrissian was actually a Rebel Alliance member who was posing^[3] as the guard "Tameel Skreej."^[12] At Carkoon, Jabba was killed by Organa,^[10] freeing Umpass-stay from the Hutt service.^[1]

When it was clear Jabba would not be returning, Umpass-stay and Ak-rev set out in a landspeeder to Mos Eisley in an effort to find work. A band of Tusken Raiders,^[7] a species indigenous to Tatooine,^[3] ambushed^[7] and waylaid^[3] the pair's speeder. The habit of Jabba's Weequay employees slaughtering banthas to their god did not sit right with the indigenous people, as they worshiped banthas. The band let Umpass-stay go but beat Ak-rev to death and let his corpse to rot. Now without a speeder, food, or water, the Klatooinian walked nearly seventy kilometers to Mos Eisley. At the city, he met the Frell spacer Darson Kinderlot, who gave him passage to Hutt Space in exchange for work.^[7] The directionless^[1] Umpass-stay eventually ended up faithfully serving the Hutt Jocoro Desilijic Tiure on the planet Du Hutta.^[7] Like many other young Klatooinians, Umpass-stay spent most of his life working in service to the Hutts^[1] and it seemed as if he was destined to remain a bodyguard for Hutts the remainder of it.^[8]

Personality and traits

Umpass-stay was an energetic Klatooinian^[1] who was huge in size^[13] with brown skin^[1] and black-colored eyes.^[2] He had little interest in music^[7] and believed the Hutts were gods because of their long lifespan.^[2] The Klatooinian was a trusted individual to both Shebba and Jabba.^[13]

Skills and abilities

Umpass-stay was trained in maintaining the mud baths of Hutt leaders local to Shawti. When he worked as a bodyguard to Shebba, he was trained in many self-defense techniques to better serve the Hutt. Umpass-stay also had a talent for judging the intentions of those who approached Shebba, though he misjudged Jabba, leading to the Hutt's death.^[3] When he worked with Jabba, Umpass-stay was an average musician who was a better spy.^[7]

Equipment

Umpass-stay utilized a blaster pistol. When playing^[3] the power drum^[6] with Ak-rev, he used a drum mallet.^[3] While performing with the Max Rebo Band^[10] in 4 ABY,^[9] the Klatooinian wore a black shirt with white sleeves and tan padding, gray pants, and brown shoes. In addition, he also wore black chest armor with red sashes, a tan belt with pouches, spiked brown bracers, and a tan head wrapping.^[2]

Behind the scenes

Umpass-stay first appeared in the Special Edition re-release of Return of the Jedi (poster depicted). — Umpass-stay first appeared in the *Special Edition* re-release of *Return of the Jedi* (poster depicted).

Umpass-stay first appeared in the Special Edition re-release of the original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode VI Return to the Jedi,^[10] which released on March 14, 1997.^[14] The characters wardrobe was newly crafted for the Special Edition, but his face and hands were original Return of the Jedi props taken from the Lucasfilm Archives. Both Ak-rev's and Umpass-stay's drumming style is attained from the Japanese practice of Taiko.^[15]^[1] Prior to the re-release, the character was first pictured in the "Star News" section of the thirty-second issue of Star Wars Insider,^[16] and in the "Renewing the Universe" section of the tenth issue of the Star Wars Galaxy Magazine.^[17] Both issues were published in January 1997.^[18]^[19] The character was first identified in Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook, Special Edition, a supplement for West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game^[3] published in October 1997.^[20]

An image of Umpass-stay was used to portray the character Gamall Wironicc in^[21] the May 11, 2001^[22] Tatooine Limited expansion set to the Star Wars Customizable Card Game by Decipher.^[21] Holocron continuity database maintainer Leland Chee announced in 2011 that he planned to retcon Wironicc as one of the unidentified Klatooinians seen in the background of the 1999 prequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.^[23] In Umpass-stay's Databank entry posted on StarWars.com^[1] on December 18, 2001,^[24] the text incorrectly states that the band of minstrels caught by the Klatooinian were sitting in with the Max Rebo Band,^[1] which can not be the case as it is anachronistic to the events introduced in the Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook.^[3]