Kithaba/Legends
Kithaba was a famous Klatooinian assassin[3] who, by 4 ABY,[1] served as a skiff guard[2] for the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure.[4] He could adapt to challenging situations,[3] and intended to escape his servitude to the Hutt to become a musician.[5] Information discovered after his death points to a plan to kill Jabba.[source?]
Wielding a vibro-staff,[6] Kithaba was onboard the skiff carrying Jabba's Rebel captives Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker and smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca as they were brought to be fed to the sarlacc inhabiting the Pit of Carkoon. Skywalker escaped, and in the ensuing battle, Kithaba was the first of the skiff's guards to fall. Despite his struggling to survive, he was eventually seized by the sarlacc's tentacles and devoured.[2]
Behind the scenes
The 1983 novelization of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi by James Kahn identifies a no-nonsense, blaster-carrying guard aboard the prisoners' skiff as "Barada".[7] Lucasfilm employee Leland Chee later established this individual to be the first guard to fall from the skiff in the film, though he confirmed his name to be "Kithaba",[8] as introduced in 1998 by the Jabba's Palace Limited expansion of Decipher's Star Wars Customizable Card Game.[3] Kithaba and Barada, a separate character, were also conflated in the StarWars.com databank, which included an image of the former in the latter's entry.[8]
The original Kenner Barada action figure was sculpted to look like the character of that name, but was painted to resemble Kithaba. In 2012, an action figure bearing Kithaba's name and likeness was released in Hasbro's The Vintage Collection line, available with either a red or black bandana.[9]
Appearances
- Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
- Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novelization (First appearance) (as "Barada")
- Return of the Jedi Storybook
- Return of the Jedi 2
- Star Wars Manga: Return of the Jedi 1
- Escape from Jabba's Palace
- "The Revenge of Tag & Bink" — Star Wars Tales 12 (Non-canonical appearance)
Sources
Star Wars Customizable Card Game – Jabba's Palace Limited (Card: Kithaba) (backup link) (First identified as Kithaba)- Star Wars: Behind the Magic
- The New Essential Guide to Alien Species
"Jabba's Skiff Guards" – Keeper of the Holocron's Blog, Leland Chee's StarWars.com Blog (content now obsolete; archived from the original) - "Mistaken Identities" – Keeper of the Holocron's Blog, Leland Chee's StarWars.com Blog (content now obsolete; archived from the original)
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 220 ("Kithaba")
Star Wars: The Vintage Collection (Pack: Kithaba (Skiff Guard)) (backup link)
Classic Star Wars (Set: 9496 Desert Skiff)
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The New Essential Chronology dates the Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon to 4 ABY.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Star Wars Customizable Card Game – Jabba's Palace Limited (Card: Kithaba) (backup link)
- ↑ The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 130 ("Jabba the Hutt (Jabba Desilijic Tiure)")
- ↑ The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 220 ("Kithaba")
- ↑ "Jabba's Skiff Guards" – Keeper of the Holocron's Blog, Leland Chee's StarWars.com Blog (content now obsolete; archived from the original)
- ↑ Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novelization
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Mistaken Identities" – Keeper of the Holocron's Blog, Leland Chee's StarWars.com Blog (content now obsolete; archived from the original)
- ↑ Star Wars: The Vintage Collection (Pack: Kithaba (Skiff Guard)) (backup link)