Fans of the original Star Wars trilogy are familiar with the hilarious scene in Empire Strikes Back when Leia calls Han Solo a nerf-herder, even if they weren’t exactly sure what the insult meant. Based on Han’s reaction, it was clear that Leia cut to the core of him with those seemingly venomous words–and now fans are given the full explanation as to why that is.
In Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, the Rebel Alliance are gathered in their Hoth base, though after some time fighting alongside the Rebellion following his assistance in the destruction of the Death Star, Han Solo decides it is time to leave. However, Han’s plans are put on hold as the base goes on lockdown, meaning no ships were to fly in or out of the area. So, in true Han Solo fashion, he jokingly attributed this hang-up to Leia’s ‘desire’ to keep him around, teasing that she already expressed her true feelings for him on a previous mission. In response, Leia calls Han a “stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder.”
In Star Wars #17 by Jason Aaron and Leinil Francis Yu, fans learn that ‘nerf-herder’ wasn’t really an insult so much as something that Han just did one time. In this chapter–which is set between the events of Episodes IV and V–Luke and Han are looking to make a quick buck, so they hang around a seedy bar in the hopes of scoring an easy smuggling job. While Luke is able to find them some work (since Han was still trying to lay-low from Jabba the Hutt), it isn’t necessarily easy, as they are hired to transport an entire herd of nerfs–which, as it turns out, are big, hairy animals akin to cattle that are used primarily for their milk.
Han Solo Is Literally A Nerf-Herder - So Why Was It An Insult?
Throughout this issue, Han Solo is incredibly embarrassed that he’s had to resort to carrying illegal nerfs across the galaxy and is legitimately angry at Luke for agreeing to do this job–then, their situation went from annoyingly humiliating to downright deadly. Before long, a team of Imperial Patrol Troopers are on their tail, all while the Millennium Falcon’s hyperdrive is broken–meaning they can’t even go into hyperspace to escape. Essentially, Luke and Han were nearly blown to bits all because of a herd of nerfs. Not only that, but while the two Star Wars heroes were having a pretty ridiculous adventure, Leia was actually doing something important. At that time, Leia was risking her life to save an entire prison full of criminals who were being executed one-by-one by a heinous villain. While Leia was on a righteous mission to save the lives of hundreds of people and potentially gaining valuable allies in the process, Han Solo was herding nerfs, and nearly died doing so.
So, the insulting aspect of Leia calling Han a nerf-herder in Empire Strikes Back wasn’t so much that it was a mean name, but because it reminded Han Solo of his most humiliating moment as a professional smuggler within the Star Wars universe.