Hey there, Rebelscum fans! We’ve been sailing away this week with our coverage of one of the most famous vehicles in the Star Wars criminal underworld, Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge Khetanna. Make sure to check out our “Expand Your Mind” article first to read up about the history of the sequence and how it was brought to life, but stay tuned throughout the week for more exciting articles, videos, and merchandising spotlights.
Like the Cantina sequence in A New Hope, both Jabba’s palace and barge required a great deal of background characters to populate the motley crowd. This wasn’t a case where the villains were wearing identical armor and uniforms like any of the Imperial threats, so Lucasfilm’s production team crafted an eccentric group of alien creatures that feasibly could fit within Jabba’s ranks.
Many of these characters have had a long-storied history in the Expanded Universe, and many of their stories are collected in Kevin J. Anderson’s 1995 short story collection Tales From Jabba’s Palace. Here are some of our favorites:
- "A Boy and His Monster: The Rancor Keeper's Tale" by Kevin J. Anderson: This story shows the long journey that the tear-stricken Rancor keeper Malakili had as a beast handler and his relationship with Jabba’s famous pet.
- "Taster's Choice: The Tale of Jabba's Chef" by Barbara Hambly: A diet of frogs? This story gives insights on Jabba’s food taster Porcellus.
- "That's Entertainment: The Tale of Salacious Crumb" by Esther M. Friesner: Salacious Crumb’s extended history is explored as he pulls practical pranks on Jabba’s visitors.
- "A Time to Mourn, a Time to Dance: Oola's Tale" by Kathy Tyers: The tragic fate of Jabba’s dancer is even sadder than you’d expect; she dreamed of becoming a dancer, thinking Jabba’s palace was a luxury environment.
- "Let Us Prey: The Whiphid's Tale" by Marina Fitch and Mark Budz: It took Leia to slay Jabba, but this story explores a failed assassination attempt by the spy J'Quille.
- "Sleight of Hand: The Tale of Mara Jade" byTimothy Zahn: Timothy Zahn explored what one of his most famous characters was doing in relation to the Hutt cartel.
What do you think, Rebelscum fans? Do you have a favorite story from this collection? What other characters from Jabba’s barge would you like to know more about? Let us know below, and as always, may the Force be with you!
