 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed.(April 2022) |
| Tusken Raiders | |
|---|---|
 Tusken Raider male costume with gaffi from Episode IV | |
| In-universe information | |
| Home world | Tatooine |
| Language | Tusken |
| Leader | Tribal leaders |
Tusken Raiders [lower-alpha 1] are a fictional alien race in the Star Wars franchise. They first appeared in Star Wars (1977).
The Tusken Raiders are depicted as xenophobic and are known to be aggressive in their interactions with other species, though they are capable of compromise and cooperation with outsiders. They dress in heavy cloth robes, and cover their heads with strips of cloth to secure a breath mask and eye protection. They learned to train the Banthas native to Tatooine as mounts, and a marauding group of Tuskens will ride them single file, to hide their numbers. [1]
Tusken Raiders first appeared in Star Wars (1977). Early on in the film, a party of them attack Luke Skywalker and knock him unconscious. However, Obi-Wan Kenobi frightens them off by imitating the call of a local predator and rescues Luke. [2]
Tusken Raiders briefly appear in Episode I: The Phantom Menace , taking shots at the Boonta Eve Classic podracer pilots, and again in Episode II: Attack of the Clones , set 22 years before Star Wars; in this film, they kidnap Anakin Skywalker's mother, Shmi Skywalker, and torture her for a month. Anakin eventually finds her, but she is mortally injured and dies in his arms. Seized by a violent rage, Anakin slaughters the entire tribe out of revenge, including the women and children. [3] [4] This was referenced by Chancellor Palpatine in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith to justify Anakin's reasoning for killing Count Dooku, and after he says it, a faint sound of the Tusken Raider's braying calls is heard in Anakin's mind as he ponders. In Star Wars Rebels Season 3, Episode 20, a group of Tuskens attack Ezra and Chopper when they land on Tatooine to look for Kenobi, successfully destroying their ship. However, Ezra and Chopper escape and the Tuskens are killed by Darth Maul.
Tusken Raiders appear in The Mandalorian . In the Season 1 episode "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger", Din Djarin comes across a small group of Raiders while travelling through their land, in search of a bounty. [5] They are initially hostile until he communicates with them via sign language. In the Season 2 episode "Chapter 9: The Marshal", a Tusken clan teams up with villagers from Mos Pelgo in order to slay a Krayt dragon. [6]
A tribe of Tusken Raiders appear in various flashbacks in the first three episodes of The Book of Boba Fett , where they find Boba Fett after the latter escaped from the Sarlacc, was robbed of his Mandalorian armor, and left for dead. They initially force him to work as a slave digging for black melons in the desert, until he wins their respect and admiration after he kills a large sand creature, saving a Tusken child's life in the process. Following this, the Tuskens welcome Fett as one of their own, teaching him their combat style and desert survival skills, and eventually initiating him into their tribe after he passes a trial. In turn, Fett helps the Tuskens raid a Pyke Syndicate spice train that had been attacking their territory, teaching them how to ride speeder bikes in the process, and demands that the Pykes pay a toll to the tribe before entering their territory again in the future. However, after returning from collecting the toll, Fett finds that the tribe has been massacred, seemingly by the Nikto gang he had stolen the speeder bikes from, and holds an impromptu funeral. In the seventh episode, it is revealed that it was the Pykes who killed the tribe and framed the Nikto gang.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2017) |
According to the noncanon Star Wars Expanded Universe sources, [7] Tusken Raiders are named after Fort Tusken, an early Old Republic mining settlement in which all of the settlers were overwhelmed, captured, or killed by Tusken Raiders, then referred to as "Sand People". The attack probably occurred due to the fort's placement over one of the Raiders' holy wells.
Although the Sand People are aggressive and violent by nature, they have deep-seated traditions that they cling to tightly. Young raiders are required to prove their adulthood in various physical activities. While the Sand People have no written language, the most revered member of a Tusken clan is the storyteller. He knows the life-story of every member of his clan, and also knows of the clan's history. The storyteller is required to memorize the histories word-for-word, eliminating any chance for misinterpretation or distortion. Apprentice storytellers often are more hard-pressed to prove themselves than warriors, for a single mistake in reciting the histories means instant death by decapitation. [8] As violent as their nature is, Sand People stay as far from the moisture farmers as the farmers do them. There are occasional skirmishes with the more outlying settlements.
The comic book series Star Wars: Republic explains that exiled Jedi Sharad Hett and his son A'Sharad Hett lived among the Tusken Raiders for many years. Hett was one of the few non-Tuskens to be accepted into their ranks and was even given the title of "warlord". Although A'Sharad Hett believed he was half-Tusken for the better part of his life, during his training on Coruscant he learned that Humans and Tusken Raiders were genetically unable to interbreed. This leads him to believe that his mother must have been a human, captured by the Tusken Raiders at a young age and raised as a Tusken. The series Star Wars: Legacy , set some 200 years later, reveals that A'Sharad eventually turned to the dark side of the Force and, as the Sith Lord Darth Krayt, briefly conquered the galaxy.
In the Junior Jedi Knights [ broken anchor ] and New Jedi Order series, it is revealed that Jedi Knight Tahiri Veila was raised by the Tusken Raiders after they killed her parents.
A Tusken Raider named "Hoar" appears as a playable character in the PlayStation fighting game Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi . In the Xbox Original game Star Wars: Battlefront II players are allowed to play as Tusken Raiders in a special game mode called "hunt".
Tusken Raiders appear in Knights of the Old Republic and The Old Republic when players visit Tatooine. In Knights of the Old Republic, it is suggested that humans, Jawas, and Tusken Raiders share a common ancestry and that Tusken Raiders refer to themselves as the "ghorfa". [9]
Star Wars creator George Lucas said that the Tuskens' design was inspired by the Bedouin, an Arab tribe from the desert regions of North Africa. [11]
In his script for The Mandalorian episode "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger", Dave Filoni mentioned that the Tusken Raiders should use some form of sign language. Deaf actor Troy Kotsur was hired as a consultant. When developing the sign language, he attempted to avoid American Sign Language and suit the Tuskens' cultural and environmental context. A lifelong Star Wars fan, Kotsur also played a Tusken scout in the episode. [12] The sign language later appeared to a greater extent in "Chapter 9: The Marshal", as well as the first three episodes of The Book of Boba Fett. [13]
"Chapter 5: The Gunslinger" was the first time that Tuskens had communicated on-screen. [11] Media outlets praised the sign language for humanizing the Tuskens and moving away from their characterization as indigenous "savages". Fans, especially deaf viewers, were similarly enthusiastic about the inclusion of an alien sign language in Star Wars and started a Facebook group to further develop the Tusken language. [lower-alpha 2]
Tusken Raiders have been criticized as an Arab or Islamic stereotype. [9] Further cultural criticism compares the representation of the Tusken Raiders to stereotypes of Indigenous people. [6]
Boba Fett is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. First appearing in the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), where he was voiced by Don Francks, he is an armored bounty hunter featured in both the original and prequel film trilogies. In the original trilogy, the character is a supporting antagonist and was mainly portrayed by Jeremy Bulloch and voiced by Jason Wingreen. Notable for his taciturn demeanor and for never removing his helmet, Fett appears in both The Empire Strikes Back (1980), employed by the Galactic Empire, and Return of the Jedi (1983), serving the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. While seemingly killed in Return of the Jedi after falling into a sarlacc, he has since appeared in Star Wars media set after the film, confirming his survival within the new canon, portrayed by Temuera Morrison. Daniel Logan plays a preteen Boba in the prequel film Attack of the Clones (2002), which reveals the character's origins as the genetic clone and adoptive son of Jango Fett, also a famous bounty hunter. Morrison appeared first in Star Wars media playing Jango. The animated series The Bad Batch further reveals Boba to have been born Alpha, and to have a biological twin sister, Omega. The series also reveals that he has another sister named Emerie Karr.
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was introduced in the original film trilogy and also appears in the sequel trilogy. Raised as a moisture farmer on the planet Tatooine, Luke joins the Rebel Alliance and becomes a pivotal figure in the struggle against the Galactic Empire. He trains as a Jedi under Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, and eventually confronts his father, the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Years later, Luke trains his nephew Ben Solo and mentors the scavenger Rey. Luke is the twin brother of Leia Organa.
The Star Wars space opera universe, created by George Lucas, features some dialogue spoken in fictional languages. The lingua franca of the franchise is known in-universe as Galactic Basic, which refers to the language of the film or work itself, be it English or a language that the work was dubbed or translated into.
R2-D2 or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical Star Wars films to date, including every film in the "Skywalker Saga", which includes the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy and the sequel trilogy. At various points throughout the course of the films, R2, an astromech droid, is a friend to C-3PO, Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. R2-D2 and his companion C-3PO are the only characters to appear in every theatrical Star Wars film, with the exception of Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).
Tatooine is a fictional desert planet that appears in the Star Wars franchise. It is a beige-colored, desolate world orbiting a pair of binary stars, and inhabited by human settlers and a variety of other life forms. The planet was first seen in the original 1977 film Star Wars, and has to date featured in a total of seven Star Wars theatrical films, three live-action television series, and four animated series.
Banthas are fictional creatures in the Star Wars franchise. They are large, quadrupedal mammals with long, thick fur, and are first seen in the film Star Wars (1977), where they are used as beasts of burden by Tusken Raiders on the planet Tatooine. They have since been featured in several other Star Wars works, including the Special Edition version of Return of the Jedi (1983), the prequel films The Phantom Menace (1999) and Attack of the Clones (2002), and the television shows Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett, as well as video games and books.
The Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones novelization was written by R. A. Salvatore and published on April 23, 2002 by Del Rey. It is based on the script of the film of the same name. It expands some scenes and includes others which were cut from the film or are entirely original to the book. A limited release of 500 copies were autographed by the author.
"Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II" is a 2008 episode of the television comedy series Robot Chicken, and the sequel to the Annie Award winning "Robot Chicken: Star Wars", which aired as a one-off special during Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block on November 16, 2008. Like "Robot Chicken: Star Wars", it has been released on its own DVD on July 21, 2009, and will not be part of a season box set. The DVD contains the original broadcast version, and the "Extended Version", which features an additional 15 minutes of footage cut from the broadcast version. It was nominated for a 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.
Cad Bane is a character in the Star Wars franchise. Created by George Lucas, Dave Filoni and Henry Gilroy, he first appeared in the 2008 animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Burton would return to voice Bane in the 2021 animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch and live-action series The Book of Boba Fett on Disney+.
"Chapter 5: The Gunslinger" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American streaming television series The Mandalorian. It was written and directed by executive producer Dave Filoni. The episode takes place in the Star Wars universe five years after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983). In the episode, the Mandalorian and the Child are forced to land in Mos Eisley to get the Razor Crest repaired after a dogfight. He teams up with an inexperienced bounty hunter to capture mercenary Fennec Shand, in order to get enough money to pay for the repair of the damaged ship.
Din Djarin, known as The Mandalorian, or Mando for short, is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise, who appears as the titular protagonist of the Disney+ television series The Mandalorian and also appears in its spin-off The Book of Boba Fett. Orphaned as a young child, The Mandalorian was adopted into the Mandalorian culture and trained as a warrior, later becoming a bounty hunter and taking the title of his people as a sobriquet. The character is barely seen without his silver, beskar helmet, which he is forbidden by creed to remove publicly.
Fennec Shand is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise portrayed by Ming-Na Wen in the Disney+ television series The Mandalorian, The Bad Batch, and The Book of Boba Fett. An elite mercenary and assassin, she was introduced in "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger" of The Mandalorian, in which she is sought by the show's title character and another bounty hunter, Toro Calican, who seemingly kills her. "Chapter 14: The Tragedy" established that Fennec was saved by Boba Fett, leaving her in his debt, and had parts of her body replaced with cybernetics. As Fett's new partner, she assists him in his mission to recover his old armor from the Mandalorian, and later to rescue Grogu to honor an agreement made with the latter. Once their mission is completed, the two conquer Tatooine and the remnants of the Hutt cartels. In The Book of Boba Fett, Fennec and Fett come into conflict with various enemies attempting to seize power from them, leading them to ally with the Mandalorian once more to defend their new crime empire.
Cobb Vanth is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. Introduced in the 2015–2017 Chuck Wendig novel trilogy Aftermath, he is a former slave who has used the Mandalorian armor of Boba Fett to bring order to Tatooine "Freetown" Mos Pelgo in the five years after the events of the 1983 film Return of the Jedi. Throughout the trilogy, Cobb faces off against the Red Key Raiders mining collective, the Tusken Raiders, and a krayt dragon, and while successful in defeating the former is unable to find the latter.
"Chapter 9: The Marshal" is the first episode of the second season of the American streaming television series The Mandalorian. It was written and directed by the series' showrunner Jon Favreau and released on Disney+ on October 30, 2020. The episode stars Pedro Pascal as the Mandalorian, a lone bounty hunter on the run with "the Child", in search of other Mandalorians to help him return the Child to his people. The episode was critically acclaimed, with praise for the performances and Favreau's writing and direction.
The Book of Boba Fett is an American space Western television miniseries created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is part of the Star Wars franchise and a spin-off from The Mandalorian, taking place in the same timeframe as that series and its other interconnected spin-offs after the events of the film Return of the Jedi (1983). The Book of Boba Fett follows bounty hunter Boba Fett from The Mandalorian and other Star Wars media as he establishes himself as the new crime lord of Jabba the Hutt's former territory.
