Nimbanel/Legends

The Nimbanels, or Nimbanese, were best known as the only species to petition the Hutts and voluntarily enter their service. They were humanoid, warm-blooded reptilians who evolved from grazing animals on the planet Nimban.

Culture and history

Nimbanese evolution was driven by the need to develop problem-solving skills in order to get food from the traveling plants of Nimban, such as the puzzleflower and the boyy'lo. As their society developed, competitive puzzle-solving skills were used to settle clan rivalries instead of the open warfare used by other primitive cultures. In competitions called muhndees, a clan would present its rivals with a logic puzzle or mathematical problem to be solved within a year. This interest in competitive logic led the Nimbanese to develop new ways to obfuscate and convolute meaning. Over the centuries, this led to the development of a highly complex bureaucracy. Rather than stockpiling weapons, rival clans would stockpile information and challenge one another with mountains of paperwork.

After developing spaceflight and colonizing several planets in the Nimban system, they were discovered by the Galactic Republic, which they soon joined. The Nimbanels, having been tested by their own complex bureaucracy, easily found niches in the comparatively simple systems of the Republic. One Nimbanese clan, the Bovark clan, became a prime data holder for the Bureau of Ships and Services. Unfortunately for the Bovarks, their competitive nature led them to threaten another BoSS family. When BoSS removed all Nimbanese clans as data holders in response, a competing clan, the Krovalis clan, stepped in. Noting that Hutt Space was expanding towards Nimbanese territory, they approached Zochaeb the Hutt and made a deal. Under this agreement, the Hutts backed the Krovalis application for a share in BoSS's data holdings, and would continue to enjoy much the same personal freedoms and standard of living as before. In return, the Hutts would have access to all of the Nimbanese databanks, and the Nimbanels would owe allegiance to the Hutt Clan of Ancients.

Since becoming associates of the Hutts, Nimbanels were found throughout the galaxy as bureaucrats and business administrators for legitimate businesses, governments, and Hutt criminal interests. One such Nimbanel was Mosep Binneed, an accountant working for Jabba the Hutt in Mos Eisley. During the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War, such companies as the starship manufacturer Hoersch-Kessel Drive, Inc. and the droid manufacturer Delban Faxicorp were owned by Nimbanels.

Sample Nimbanel names

Beels Lebeleb
Nirbella Tanless
Prenlarr Brelm
Sarab Mullo

Behind the scenes

On set, the Nimbanel later identified as Mosep was nicknamed "Walrus", "Ming", or "Mingo".

Before the appearance of the Hutts was established in Return of the Jedi's original release, Howard Chaykin used Mosep as the basis for the appearance of "Jabba the Hut" (sic) in the Marvel Star Wars comics. This inspired the writers at West End Games to make the Nimbanese associates of the Hutts.