Wampa

Wampas are a fictional species of the Star Wars universe that resemble Yeti s or the extinct Giant Ground Sloth .

CHARACTERISTICS

Like most species balances (such as highly intelligent but physically weak), wampas are incapable of acting past their killing instinct. Wampas live on the planet Hoth . Wampas' hands have five fingers, each with one large claw. They also have a horn protruding from either side of their heads that curves and points forward. The wampas' feet resemble an Elephant 's, in that they don't protrude from the thigh and are rather massive. They have a mouth of sharp teeth and their main prey is Tauntaun s. Wampas attack with a vicious slash using their massive claws.

Wampas have good memories; the wampa that Luke Skywalker encountered (see below) remembered him on a return mission to Hoth.

APPEARANCES IN FILM

In '''', Luke Skywalker is captured by a wampa and trapped in a cave, suspended upside down by his feet, which are frozen to the ceiling. Luke uses The Force to retrieve his Lightsaber , half-burried in the snow. After cutting himself loose, Luke cuts the wampa's arm off and escapes.

The Rebellion 's base of operations on Hoth, Echo Base , held several wampas in cages (as seen in '' Shadows Of The Empire ''). The dead tauntaun that is seen in Echo Base during ''Empire'' was most likely killed by a wampa. Doors to the wampa cage rooms had a bright orange warning sticker. Although it was cut from the movie, C-3PO tore off one such sticker when the Rebels were trying to escape the besieged base (this shot is seen in one trailer for the movie). The sticker can be seen off to one side of the screen when Han Solo , Princess Leia , and C-3PO try to escape.

Behind the scenes

Several other wampa sequences were planned for ''Empire'', but they were ultimately cut. In one such scene, the beeping of Astromech Droid s attracted wampas.

The wampa sequences originally seen in ''Empire'' were trimmed down due to problems with the wampa suit. Instead, a few quick shots of a puppet were used to attack Luke, and the sequence in the ice cave was done so that the wampa was not seen, adding to its menace (similar to that of the shark in '' Jaws ''). There are, however, one or two shots of the wampa suit in the original 1980 edition, and Des Web is credited for playing the snow monster. The 1997 Special Edition put in new footage of the wampa to complete the sequence.

APPEARANCES IN VIDEO GAMES

Wampas appear in the '' in Echo Base, as well as a canyon on the moon of Gall . They also make an appearance in the videogame '' Jedi Academy ''.

In '''', wampas are one of the environmental hazards you must deal with while playing a land battle on Hoth.

Wampas also make an appearance in the game ''''. In the Hunt mode on the planet Hoth, you are given the option to play either against rampant wampas, or as a member of their ranks. All wampas have listed for their equipment is "claws." On January 31 , 2006 , LucasArts introduced downloadable content via Xbox Live ; the included " Rhen Var : Harbor" map also allows gamers to play Hunt with or against wampas.

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Wampa