, or simply '''Jabba the Hutt''', (''. Jabba is of the
Hutt Race and, like most of his species, a
Gangster . Hutts are a large
Slug -like race with thick, leathery skin, human-like arms, large amber eyes, and wide mouths. A Hutt may weigh in excess of several
Ton s. They speak
Huttese , a language reminiscent of
Quechua .
A mobster, Jabba the Hutt was the unsurpassed top dog of crime in the
Outer Rim Territories . Overseeing his business out of
Tatooine , Jabba had interest in a number of profitable and illegal schemes—
Slavery ,
Gunrunning ,
Spice -
Smuggling ,
Extortion and more.
Jabba was a robust Hutt, with a broad, slobbering smile dividing his dreary countenance, and two yellow-red reptilian eyes gazed with detached amusement from his mammoth cranium. Surrounded by the criminal sect of the social order, it was necessary for him to guarantee his security with a shield of henchmen. He dwelt in a luxurious but entropic stronghold out on the edge of the
Dune Sea on Tatooine. Jabba the Hutt died at the age of 606. At the podrace in ''The Phantom Menace'', another Hutt can be seen next to Jabba; her name is Gardulla. Anakin mentions her to Padme in Watto's shop when he says "my mum and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, but she lost us betting on the podrace."
Jabba's dark
Hedonism was well-known. He entertained himself by tormenting, humiliating, and killing his followers. He kept slave girls shackled to him for his entertainment and pleasure, his lust for them giving him a somewhat lascivious reputation. If his slave girls did not do what Jabba said, or if he acquired a new, younger, better looking one, or if he just felt fickle, Jabba would make them suffer horrifying deaths. He especially loved to open a trap door for them to be eaten by the
Rancor .
In '''', Jabba makes a
Cameo Appearance at the Boonta Eve Classic
Podracing event where he declares the beginning of the race. He is then dozing off at the end of the race, until
Bib Fortuna wakes him. Jabba was computer generated and credited as playing "himself."
Prior to '''', Jabba sent
Han Solo on a
Kessel run to smuggle
Spice . However Han was forced to dump the spice when he was boarded by an
Imperial starship. Jabba demanded that Han pay him the value of the cargo. When the smuggler failed to pay him back, he put a price on Han's head.
Greedo attempted to collect the bounty, but was killed for his efforts.
'' in which Jabba confronted Solo in the ''
Millennium Falcon '''s launch bay, but this scene did not appear in the original
1977 theatrical release. In this scene, following the death of
Greedo , Jabba met Han in the ''Millennium Falcon'''s hangar bay, where he agreed to let Han go, in exchange for a premium of 15%, with a warning that if Han delayed payment again, he would have a price on his head so high that Han would not be able to go near a civilized star system.
In the unaltered film footage, Jabba was portrayed by a stocky male actor (Declan Mullholland) in a shaggy coat. Mullholland was intended to be only a temporary stand-in that would be replaced by a
Stop-motion creature in
Post-production , but this process was unsuccessful due to the limitations in visual effects at the time. Eventually, the
1997 Re-release Of The Film restored the sequence, but with a
CGI version of Jabba (more mobile than suggested by his sedentary ''
Return Of The Jedi '' appearance) that obscured the original actor, and with newly recorded dialogue in the Huttese language (also introduced in the later film.)
A challenge was that the scene had been staged for two ordinary-sized humanoid characters, and
Harrison Ford , playing Solo, had walked around the other actor without allowance for the bulk and large tail that the later version of Jabba would have. Lucas and his effects team dealt with this by manipulating the image so that Solo appears to walk ''over'' Jabba's tail and Jabba yelps in pained surprise. This somewhat humorous effect was not entirely popular with fans of the series, since it was inconsistent with the personality traits displayed by Jabba up until then. In another odd twist, as Solo leaves Jabba for his ship, he says that Jabba is a "wonderful human being," which may be intended
Ironically since Jabba is neither wonderful nor a human being.
Further improvements in CGI techniques led to yet another version of the scene for the
2004 Re-release , improving Jabba's appearance. Also, Jabba appears ready to angrily punch Solo for walking on his tail, but is quickly pacified by Han's promise of more money, a possible appeasement for fans who disliked the corny aspect of the gag.
The bounty on Solo's head was eventually collected, between Episodes V and VI, by
Boba Fett .
In '''', Jabba's depravity is demonstrated by his treatment of the slave dancer
Oola , whom he feeds to the
Rancor for refusing his lustful embrace. Immediately after this,
Princess Leia (disguised as the
Bounty Hunter Boushh ) and
Chewbacca attempt to rescue Han Solo, but fail, resulting in further incarceration for Solo and Chewbacca. Jabba held Leia captive by his side, dressed in the skimpy outfit and chain and shackle of a slave, thus taking Oola's place. He then defiled Leia and intended to eventually execute Han and Chewbacca.
Luke Skywalker arrived on the scene in an attempt to persuade Jabba to release his friends, but instead Jabba attempted to feed Luke to the Rancor. Luke defeated the Rancor, and as a result, Jabba became livid and ordered the executions of the Rebels, save for Leia and the droids, who would remain his servants. The Rebels were taken to the
Dune Sea , where they were to be fed to the
Sarlacc . Once there, Luke started a battle which resulted in the defeat of Jabba's minions. During this battle, Leia strangled Jabba to death with the very chain which bound her. Jabba's death has been acknowledged by George Lucas as being a nod to the
Garroting death of
Luca Brasi in ''
The Godfather '', directed by his mentor
Francis Ford Coppola .
In this movie, Jabba is "played" by a large
Puppet requiring several operators. Possibly the most expensive animatronic creature ever made, he was designed by Stuart Freeborn, sculpted by
John Coppinger and operated by
David Barclay (right arm, and mouth - doing original voice in English),
Toby Philpott (left arm, head and tongue) and
Mike Edmonds (tail swishes).
Jabba the Hutt is also a
Tuba Solo made famous by tubist
Chester Schmitz of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra . It was composed by
John Williams for the movie ''Return of the Jedi''.
By the time he was 600, Jabba had become ''the'' Hutt, cutting out an extensive crime syndicate covering most of the
Outer Rim Territories . Although the well-known
Black Sun syndicate controlled the Core and adjacent regions, Jabba and the other Hutts had gained themselves extensive autonomy in the Outer Rim, and had deep tendrils of control and influence extending throughout the Core and Mid-Rim- the products of a multi-century push by the Hutts to covertly purchase and otherwise control major Core corporations.
Jabba relocated the Desilijic business from
Nal Hutta to
Tatooine , a remote desert world he started to consider home. He erected his stronghold in the environs of a very old
Monastery of the
B'omarr Monks .
Jabba controlled the entire planet of
Tatooine , however he conducted most of his business out of
Mos Eisley .
Mos Eisley was appointed a puppet Mayor by the
Hutt . His wealth and influence was so great that the Hutt owned an entire private box at the
Mos Espa Arena, and invited his friends (and sometimes enemies) to watch the
Podraces with him.
Jabba's only true friend was
Ephant Mon , who was saved by the Hutt while
Gun Running on a frozen moon. The
Hutt had wrapped the large creature in his blubber, and almost died himself. Jabba felt betrayed by Ephant when Ephant refused to go on the ill-fated trip to the
Dune Sea .
Jabba may or may not have been involved in the fall of the Jedi during the
Great Jedi Purge . He was involved in the fall of the
Black Sun crime syndicate. It is rumored he has connections with
Palpatine ; these speculations are bolstered by the fact that Jabba had acquired some of the most secret and sensitive back doors into the main Imperial mainframes within the Imperial Palace on
Coruscant - these backdoors allowed him almost unfettered access; amongst the data Jabba could acquire were the complete specifications and blueprints of the second Death Star.
Jabba the Hutt got Oola from one of his henchmen Bib Fortuna. Bib Fortuna lied to Oola a daughter of a chieftain of tales of the 'handsome' Jabba the Hutt. When he saw Oola, he was immediately smitten and made her his favorite slave.
It's still debatable to why Jabba the Hutt would fall in love with girls outside his species like Leia and Oola. In some lewd parodies, he and Leia are placed in a very undesirable position which is even worse than usual.
There are rumors that the name of Jabba the Hutt is based on the '' and ''
Snake ''). Authors reportedly looked for words that were spelled in an ugly way. There is also the possibility that, like "
Alderaan ", it may have come from a disused
Real-world Star Name of
Arabic origin.
In the
Radio version of the series, a version of the scene with Han Solo added to Episode IV was included, with a new character called Heater replacing Jabba.
In the
Expanded Universe , the death of Jabba cancelled the debts of many individuals and as such, Luke was held with considerable favour for removing that dangerous complication in their lives.
Years after Jabba's death, many Hutts preferred that Jabba lived. If he did live, there would have been no
Darksaber project. The disastrous deal that the Hutts made with the
Yuuzhan Vong would never have happened.
In the movie ''
Spaceballs '', Jabba the Hutt was
Parodied as "
Pizza The Hutt ", a cheesy blob whose name is also a reference to
Pizza Hut . Pizza the Hutt, like Jabba, dies in the movie. However, his cause of death is eating himself "to death" after he became trapped in his "stretched"
Limo .
Since ''
Return Of The Jedi '', the character of Jabba has become so well known in popular culture that his name has become synonymous with repulsive obesity. To say that someone "looks like Jabba the Hutt" is commonly understood as a supreme insult to impugn anyone's weight and/or appearance.
Jabba the Hutt also got his own
Comic Book . It was called ''
The Art Of The Deal '' and features Jabba,
Bib Fortuna and the rest of Jabba's crew, where, through his various adventures, he lectures in dirty tricks and exchanging of favors.
Jabba has been made into a toy five times: a playset in 1983, a version as he appeared in the Special Edition of '''' with Han Solo, a vomiting Jabba "Glob", a podrace spectator Jabba (with a gong and Fode and Beed) in
1999 , and an "ultra" Jabba in
2004 . These were made by
Kenner /
Hasbro
