Possibly the most famous frog-eating slug to grace the silver screen, Jabba the Hutt is one of the great Star Wars bad guys.
He's the Tatooine-based crime lord who placed a bounty on Han Solo's head after he failed to complete a smuggling assignment, and he was first mentioned in A New Hope as he had employed bounty hunter Greedo to find Solo and kill him as revenge.
Jabba was a pretty quotable character when he was fully realized in Return of the Jedi. He was featured as the antagonist in the first third of the movie and, in being so, became one of the most iconic Star Wars characters. In modern culture, Jabba has become a symbol of corpulence and greed that Gordon Gecko would approve of.
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
- “I will not give up my favorite decoration. I like Captain Solo where he is.”
- “This Bounty Hunter is my kind of scum, fearless and inventive.”
- “You weak-minded fool! He is using an old Jedi mind trick.”
- “There will be no bargain, young Jedi. I shall enjoy watching you die.”
- “You will soon learn to appreciate me.”
- “Bring me Solo and the Wookiee. They will all suffer for this outrage!”
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
Jabba was also snuck into a short scene with Han Solo in the Special Edition of A New Hope and had some quotable banter with the space pirate. They were discussing why Han hadn't paid his debt.
- “Han, my boy, you disappoint me. Why haven't you paid me, and why did you fry poor Greedo?”
- “Han, I can't make exceptions. What if everyone who smuggled for me dropped their cargo at the first sign of an Imperial starship?”
Facts About Jabba
- The original script of A New Hope describes Jabba as a “fat, slug-like creature with eyes on extended feelers and a huge ugly mouth.” A character from the Dune book inspired his creation.
- Jabba the Hutt was played by actor Declan Mulholland in scenes cut from the 1977 release of Star Wars.
- That character was filmed as a fully costumed actor, suggesting that director George Lucas had changed his mind about Jabba being a slug – presumably for design constraints or budget reasons.
- In Return of the Jedi, Jabba is a one-ton puppet that took three months and half a million dollars to construct. While filming the movie, it had a makeup artist.
- The puppet required seven puppeteers to operate, making it one of the largest ever used in a motion picture.
- Scriptwriter Lawrence Kasdan suggested Jabba's death in Return of the Jedi. The film's director, Richard Marquand, suggested that Leia strangle him.
- Jabba had a small cameo in The Phantom Menace, where he fell asleep during the famous Pod Race. Bib Fortuna was seen lurking nearby as well.
- People often remark about that laughing little critter he kept by his side in Return of the Jedi. He was Jabba's court jester and is known by the delicious name of Salacious Crumb
(check out his species reappearance in The Mandalorian as BBQ food). - Jabba was alluded to by Han Solo in Solo near the end of the movie. It set up a potential sequel covering how Han got into debt with Jabba.
(check out his species reappearance in This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.