Con artist/Legends
- "A mining colony?"
"Yeah, a Tibanna gas mine. Lando conned somebody out of it. We go back a long way, Lando and me." - ―Princess Leia and Han Solo speaking about Lando Calrissian
A con artist, grifter,[2] flammer,[3] or hustler[4] was a person who tricked, or conned, other individuals out of their credits or property by way of lying, cheating or defrauding.
Characteristics
Most con artists preferred to make a quick turnaround, choosing their mark, deceiving them and then disappearing with the pilfered credits all within a matter of minutes. Due to their desire to avoid violent confrontations, con artists chose their marks carefully.[2]
The rarer, and more dangerous type of con artist performed the long con. These grifters set up extensive and elaborate cover stories to gain their target's confidence. These con artists often made off with a much larger fortunes.[2]
History
In the year 4000 BBY, the space pirate Quanto attempted to con a young Nomi Sunrider out of her collection of precious pontite crystals. He "accidentally" bumped her, while pickpocketing her at the same time. He was subsequently found out and confronted by Sunrider's husband, Andur.[5]
Lirin Banolt was a Human conman and thief operating on Tatooine. He posed as an Imperial Procurement Agent to perform his cons. This offense was overlooked by the Empire due to the fact that he was in the employ of Sate Pestage, stealing priceless artifacts for his personal collection. He was executed by agents of Pestage when he became too greedy and attempted to blackmail the Grand Vizier.[6]
In 19 ABY, the con artist Flim was hired by Moff Vilim Disra to impersonate Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo in an attempt to bring several officers within the Imperial Starfleet under his command and ultimately cause a civil war within the New Republic. His charade was discovered and exposed by Gilad Pellaeon, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Remnant.[7]
