Ugly/Legends
- "I hate Uglies."
- ―Han Solo
An Ugly, known by hundreds of colloquial names including juicecan, buzzzer, and Z-wing,[1] was any type of starfighter that had been cobbled together out of parts that had been salvaged from varying origins, including crashed starfighters and ex-military surplus. The term itself seemed to be of Corellian origin.
History
Uglies were predominantly used by pirates, smugglers, and other groups that lacked the resources to purchase or build conventional starfighters. Ugly fighters were best known as products of independent shipyards in the Corellian system, but they and the yards that created them could be found throughout the galaxy. Some Ugly types had relatively standardized designs, but most were unique and had wildly varied performance traits. An Ugly generally tended to be a poor match for a modern conventional military-built fighter, as they typically ended up with more of the weaknesses than the strengths of their component parts.
Many uglies during the New Republic era were amalgamations of parts from Rebel and Imperial craft. They were used by gangs such as Kavil's Corsairs, who flew them against Rogue Squadron. Other versions of uglies could be found in pirate and mercenary fleets such as that of the Invid pirate fleet led by Leonia Tavira. The Sacorrian Triad was known to make heavy use of uglies during the First Corellian Insurrection.
These craft could sometimes have surprising abilities, although they were sometimes prone to failure and may have needed repeated repairs. One such craft was encountered by Han Solo, and was armed with a planetary defense cannon.[source?]
Examples
Examples of this type of starfighter included the TYE-wing (which bore the ignominious nickname "DIE-wing" due to its lackluster performance capabilities), the Y-TIE, the X-TIE Fighter, the X-ceptor, the Z-'ceptor, the Corellian/B-wing Ugly, the Twi'lek Chir'daki "Death Seed," and the Invids' Clutch.
Appearances
"The Treasure of Celis Mott" – Instant Adventures- Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Family Ties
- Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Masquerade
- X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble (as a disguise)
- X-Wing: The Krytos Trap
- X-Wing: The Bacta War
- X-Wing: Wraith Squadron
- X-Wing: Iron Fist
- X-Wing: Isard's Revenge
- I, Jedi
- Ambush at Corellia (First appearance)
- Assault at Selonia
- Showdown at Centerpoint