From the real-world production to his in-universe self, there’s much more depth to Jabba the Hutt than what you see in the movies. Although he may seem like a one-dimensional character, he’s more than just a heartless crime lord. And how he got to that point is more complex than you might think!
Table of Contents
1. Jabba Was Originally a Human
The original release of A New Hope completely cut out Jabba the Hutt’s appearance, but there is still footage of the original filming. As you can see from this reconstructed video, he was originally portrayed by Declan Mulholland. Despite the knowledge that he would be completely matted out and dubbed over, Mulholland still delivers a phenomenal performance.
The cut was made due to budget limitations during the original 1977 production. George Lucas originally planned to have Mulholland digitally replaced by a CGI version of Jabba. However, due to the complexities of the scene (notably, the moving camera and characters moving in front of the actor) the edits weren’t feasible. It would have required intensive work, and Lucas’ studio wasn’t able to afford it.
With advancements in technology, this was later remedied in the 1997 Special Edition of A New Hope.
2. From CGI to Elaborate Puppet
When it came time for Jabba’s reappearance in Return of the Jedi, the studio made an interesting pivot from using CGI to constructing an expensive, elaborate puppet. Although the technology of the 80s would have had more realistic digital effects, it’s possible that they opted for a puppet to provide an incomparable appearance.
Depending on the scene, the puppet required two to three people to operate it. In most scenes it was just two, one person controlling the right arm and mouth, the other controlling the left arm and head movements. For wider scenes, a third person would be used to control the motion of the tail.
It’s because of this costume that the credits of The Phantom Menace have an interesting quirk to them. Although they could have opted to list the people operating the costume, the studio instead chose to list Jabba as being played by “Himself.” You can see this here, about a third of the way into the credit sequence:
3. Jabba Had a Soft Spot
Despite what his power projection and iron rule over the crime of the Outer Rim suggests, Jabba cared deeply for his family, and particularly his son, Rotta.
As part of a plot by Count Dooku to weaponize Jabba’s power against the Republic, he ordered the kidnapping of Rotta and framed it as the work of the Jedi. The kidnapping was originally carried out by Ziro, Jabba’s uncle, and Rotta was then further transported by Asajj Ventress. When Jabba learned of this, though not knowing who committed it, he sought help from anyone who would listen. The Jedi Order were happy to aid him.
The Order tasked Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano to retrieve Rotta from Teth, where Ventress took him. When they found him, however, he had become gravely sick. Although they were taking care of him, Dooku manipulated a recording of them to make it seem like they were hurting him instead. He then leveraged this doctored footage to turn Jabba against the Republic.
It wasn’t until Skywalker and Tano returned to Tatooine with Rotta that the deception was revealed to Jabba. Although he initially planned to execute the two, he stopped when he got a message from Padmé Amidala. She explained to him that Ziro was part of the plot, which was then confirmed by Ziro himself admitting to colluding with Dooku.
4. Forced into the Shadow Collective
While Rotta’s rescue led to a treaty between the Hutts and the Republic, it would prove to be short-lived.
After Darth Maul formed the Shadow Collective, he sought to bring Jabba into the fold to exploit the resources and contraband trafficking that the Hutt Clan could provide. While Jabba was initially receptive to the deal, wondering what they could gain in return, Maul revealed his proposal: complete control over the Hutt Clan’s empire and all of its resources. When Jabba turned down the deal, Maul was quick to threaten the life of himself and other Hutts.
When the rest of the Hutt Council opposed the deal, Maul led the Shadow Collective to wage war against them. Despite their victory, however, most of the Hutts escaped capture. Maul would go on to locate Jabba on Tatooine, threaten him once more, and force his hand into assimilating into the Shadow Collective.
5. How Jabba Became the Leader of the Hutt Clan
Despite Jabba’s influence and massive empire, his ascension to the leader of the Hutt Clan is much more tragic than just climbing the ladder.
After the Empire shut down the Shadow Collective, Jabba’s alliance with the Empire was severed. This changed when Darth Vader learned of Jabba’s bounty on Han Solo. Employing Boba Fett to track Solo down and capture him, Jabba had him frozen in carbonite, as seen in the famous scene from The Empire Strikes Back. Jabba planned to use his new trophy as a bargaining chip to curry favor with the Empire.
Vader, however, felt that this was unnecessary and took matters into his own hands. Rather than give the Hutts leverage, he decided to launch his own campaign to steal Solo from them, securing his prize and leaving the Hutts with nothing. Under orders from Darth Sidious, he tracked down the Hutts’ ship and worked to take Solo by force. When the Hutt Council did not relent, he resorted to slaughtering them all, seemingly ending the extensive rule of the Hutt Clan.
When it was all over, Jabba was the only Hutt left, leaving him to be the de facto ruler of the remnants of the Hutt Clan, ruling until his death.
6. Boba Fett Usurping the Hutt Clan
Jabba’s death left a power vacuum amongst the remaining Hutts. No consensus was made, especially due to the Hutts now being viewed as vulnerable. Instead, taking the opportunity, Bib Fortuna (Jabba’s majordomo and right-hand man) took over Jabba’s old palace and assumed control of his operations on Tatooine.
It was only five years after, in 9 ABY, that Boba Fett took advantage of the weakened empire and took on Fortuna with the assistance of Fennec Shand. With Fett’s power and influence, he saw to it that Tatooine returned to being a crime and bounty hunter hotspot.