Jabba the Hutt

"There will be no bargain, young Jedi. I shall enjoy watching you die."

- Jabba the Hutt to Luke Skywalker

Jabba Desilijic Tiure, mostly known as Jabba the Hutt, is a major character in the Star Wars franchise. He appears as a major antagonist in the last film in the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi, and a cameo character in ​The Phantom Menace​, the first film of the prequel trilogy. He also appears as a major character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

He is a fat, slug-like alien gangster, one of the most successful crime lords in the entire galaxy, and a member of the Hutt Clan and the Grand Hutt Council. He is 604 years old and is extremely prosperous and wealthy, as well as a major figure on Tatooine, where he controlled the bulk of the trafficking in illegal and iniquitous goods, piracy and slavery that generated most of the planet's wealth.

He was also highly authoritative and influential in the entire Outer Rim. He had a bad history with Han Solo and placed a high bounty on his head.

In the original trilogy, he was portrayed by the late Declan Mulholland, and voiced by the late Larry Ward. In the Clone Wars animated series, he was voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, who is best known for voicing Captain Gantu in the Lilo & Stitch franchise, Lester Krinklesac in The Cleveland Show and The Joker in The Batman.

Appearance
As an enormous, fat slug-like creature of the Hutt species, Jabba can barely move around in an environment of humanoids. He is also shown to be defenseless on his own — instead relying on numerous henchmen and slaves to get what he wants.

Jabba is best remembered by audiences for his disgusting appearance and enormous girth, which has been parodied numerous times and is commonly associated with obesity — even though in Jabba's case, it is an inherent trait of his race.

Personality
"If I told you half the things I’ve heard about this Jabba the Hutt, you’d probably short-circuit!"

- C-3PO to R2-D2 about Jabba the Hutt

Jabba's personality is just as vile as his outward form. He is shown to be an extremely cruel, sadistic, misogynistic and lustful individual, and that he enjoys the suffering of those who oppose him, feeding them to his pet rancor (or the sarlacc) while he watched, entertained.

Jabba had a perverted desire towards humanoid females, often keeping them as his slave girls, forcing them to dress revealingly and dance provocatively for his amusement. If one of his slave girls rebels against him, he has them killed by his pet rancor and simply claims another slave girl to take their place. He is also known for making his favorite slaves (such as Oola and Leia) sit next to him and be chained to him like his personal prize. However, his fetish towards humanoid females proved to be his downfall, as he was killed by his final slave girl Leia when she strangled him to death using the very chain he used to enslave her with.

Jabba is a great deal more intelligent and manipulative than he appears to be, which is why Luke Skywalker’s attempt in using a Jedi mind trick doesn’t work on him.

Jabba is also rather cowardly and pusillanimous, as he prefers using his hired servants and monsters like the rancor to do his bidding; to be fair, he is large and slow and has arms too short for fistfights. However, Jabba can be cowed by a person of genuine will with enough leverage — such as Darth Maul, for example.

The Phantom Menace
In the time of the old republic where he hosts the Podrace on Tatooine.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Movie
During the time of the clone wars, Jabba's son was kidnapped by his brother Ziro the Hutt. Luckily Anakin Skywalker a former resident of Jabba's planet, saved him.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Series
He had to help the jedi during the time of the Clone Wars.

A New Hope 20th Anniversary Director's Cut
In this director's cut, Jabba meets Han at the Falcon, to demand the money the captain owed him, and to ask why he killed Jabba's henchman Greedo in an earlier scene. Han then tells the Hutt that he has a charter and will pay him back with a little extra. Jabba agreed, but he made it clear that if Han failed again, he would put such a high price on Han's head, that he wouldn't be able to go anywhere without an army of bounty hunters waiting to collect it. During the conversation Han accidentally steps on Jabba's tail. The last time Jabba is seen in this version is when he tells Boba Fett and others to get moving and they leave.

Return of The Jedi
During the time of the empire, Jabba the Hutt had been holding a frozen Han Solo on his wall. He was in the first act of the film, where Princess Leia Organa, Chewbacca and Luke Skywalker attempt to rescue their friend, Han Solo, who had been imprisoned in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back by Boba Fett and Darth Vader.

The captured Han is delivered to Jabba by Boba and placed on display in the crime lord’s throne room. Lando Calrissian, C-3PO, R2-D2, Leia and Chewbacca infiltrate Jabba's palace to save Han. Leia herself is soon enslaved by the Hutt, and she is forced to wear her iconic golden bikini along with being chained to Jabba. Soon afterwards, Luke arrives to "bargain for Solo's life"; but Jabba condemns Luke, Han and Chewbacca to the Sarlacc. At the Great Pit of Carkoon, Luke escapes execution with the help of R2-D2 and defeats Jabba's guards. During the subsequent confusion, Leia strangles Jabba to death with the very chain he forced her into; with that, Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 manage to escape.

Trivia

 * Jabba also wants a green lightsaber. He always makes the sounds himself.
 * Jabba is the only major antagonist of the original trilogy that does not serve the Empire.
 * The whole scene of Jabba CGI's appearance in A New Hope was highly disliked by most Star Wars fans. Mainly because Jabba's design in the 1997 Special Edition looked nothing like his portrayal in Return of the Jedi. There is also the fact that Jabba's appearance (and himself) was supposed to be a mystery to the audience until Return of the Jedi came out. It's 2004 edition was better liked for being closer to his Return of the Jedi look.
 * In Return of the Jedi, Jabba's slimy sound was mostly made with a bowl of melted cheese.
 * Wizard ranked Jabba the Hutt as #28 on their "Top 100 Greatest Villains" list.

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Jabba the Hutt