The Star Wars franchise has always been known for its dense and elaborate world-building, with every character, no matter how small, given a rich backstory. From a simple Jawa to a heroic Jedi Knight, each alien, human, or droid is framed within the larger tapestry of galactic events.
The novels, comic books, and other paraphernalia from the Expanded Universe have many fascinating stories in them. Writers and artists invented some wild tales for beloved characters, only some of which have crossed over into official canon. What's been relegated to Star Wars Legends may contain some inconceivable backstories, but they help make the galaxy far, far away feel a lot more real.
Sy Snootles Was A Singing Spy
Fans may remember Sy Snootles from her prominent moment in the Return of the Jedi Special Edition with her punchy number at Jabba's Palace. Aside from being known for her pipes, the long-lipped chanteuse had a side gig that helped pay the bills (and keep her on Jabba's good side).
Snootles pulled one over on Ziro the Hutt, Jabba's uncle and competitor so that she could retrieve some sensitive information. Jabba paid her a hefty sum to get on his uncle's good side. Once she gained access to the valuable datapad information, she shot Ziro with a blaster and had a residency at Jabba's Palace ever since.
The Sarlacc Used Its Victims' Consciousness To Communicate
Xenobiologists have documented a great deal about Sarlacc, from their mating habits (smaller males become parasites to larger females until they're roughly the same size) and birthing functionality (the males explode, releasing thousands of spores into the atmosphere), to their lifespan (mature at 30,000 years of age) and eating habits.
It's the last feature that was given the most emphasis in A Barve Like That: The Tale of Boba Fett, where the bounty hunter recounted what it was like being digested in the Pit of Carkoon. The creature both leached nutrients and provided them in a process that could take a thousand years. When the Sarlacc's consciousness took the form of one of its victims to communicate, Fett befriended it and eventually lulled it into a false sense of security before escaping.
The Wampa Tried To Get Revenge On Luke
The wampa Luke battled on Hoth's story didn't end after he injured her in The Empire Strikes Back. What hadn't been known to the budding Jedi at the time was that the wampa was sentient, and after he left the ice planet, she rallied the wampa tribes into an army to attack colonizers on her homeworld.
When Luke returned to the site of Echo Base in the Legends novel Darksaber, he reencountered his old nemesis, this time while she was launching raiding parties on settlers. When she saw the glow of his lightsaber, she recognized him as her nemesis, but he destroyed her with one well-timed swing, ending their decade-long feud.
Dengar Was Turned Cyborg By The Empire
The bandaged bounty hunter first seen in The Empire Strikes Back acquired both his headwrap and his surly disposition by way of a run-in with Han Solo, after which he was subjected to a series of Imperial experiments.
In order to save his life after crashing in a deadly swoop race with Solo, experimental surgery had to be performed. Financed by the Empire, it turned him into a callous cyborg equipped with only the most primal emotions. He was regularly used by the Empire as a brute enforcer, all the while longing for a chance to get back at Han Solo.
R5-D4 Was A Droid With The Force
Star Wars Tales was a series of comics that allowed authors and artists a chance to go beyond the parameters of normal canon, and the very first issue focused on R5-D4 or "Skippy," a Force-sensitive droid who wound up on Tatooine and got kidnapped by Jawas just like Threepio and R2-D2.
Even though Skippy wasn't an organic life form, the Force connected him to all living things, and he could sense the presence of Luke Skywalker. He wanted the future Jedi to be his new master, but after seeing a vision of Darth Vader obtaining Leia's message from R2-D2 before he could deliver it to the farmboy, Skippy sacrificed himself ("It's a bad motivator!") so that Luke would choose the other astromech.
Cornelius Evazan Ran Terrible Experiments
Before Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi encountering Cornelius Evazan and Ponda Baba at the Mos Eisley cantina, Evazan was engaged in a series of macabre experiments on a quest to simulate immortality, many of which are outlined in Doctor Death: The Tale of Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba.
In the bowels of a wealthy benefactor's castle, Evazan invented everything from a mind transferring machine (which he used to swap Baba's consciousness into the body of his financier) to the Decraniated, humans that were kidnapped and had their brains effectively removed, turning them into mindless drones that could be sold as obedient slaves to the likes of Dryden Vos.
Bubo Earned The Right For His Brain To Be In A Jar
Though he's seen for only a few moments in Return of the Jedi, Bubo the frog-dog was an important fixture in Jabba's Palace. Jabba's pet once helped thwart a complex bomb threat by an assassin hired to kill the notorious crimelord aboard his skiff.
Tongue-tied: Bubo's Tale explained that Bubo ate the final component of the bomb and exposed the villain as a traitor, saving his master (and incidentally Luke, Han, Chewie, and Leia). He was rewarded by having his brain put into a B2-16 perimeter droid, the spider-looking vessels used by the B'Omarr monks to live forever.
IG-88 Became The Death Star
The story of IG-88, one of the most ruthless assassins in the galaxy, was told in Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88, which delved deeply into the droid's past. Created to be the perfect killer, he murdered his maker as well as all the occupants of a nearby droid factory, planning to use an army of droids to take over the galaxy.
Sometime before Return of the Jedi, IG-88 decided that an army of droids was insufficient and uploaded his consciousness to the Death Star. The Imperials aboard didn't figure out his plan, which allowed him to get away with all sorts of mischief, like messing with the hydraulic systems of a door and closing it in the Emperor's face.
The Dianoga Was A Force-Sensitive Philosopher Who Baptized Luke
Just because it lived in the trash didn't make it worthless, as fans found out in the anthology From A Certain Point Of View when the dianoga from the Death Star trash compactor got its due. Told in the short story The Baptist, the squid-like monster, said to have been named Omi, was personally responsible for Luke's "baptism" into the Force.
She had been taken from her home planet and put to work for the Empire in its garbage disposal system, living a morose existence until Luke and Co. tumbled into her home. She sensed the future Jedi's Force sensitivity and decided to baptize him, yanking him under the sludge so that he might cast off his old self and be born anew as a Jedi.
Wuher, The Mos Eisley Bartender, Turned Greedo Into A Smoothie
Wuher may not have like Threepio and R2-D2, but he was perfectly fine using a C2-R2 droid to liquefy Greedo's dead body. Following the bounty hunter's scuffle with Han Solo in the cantina, Wuher decided not to waste the Rodian, who had emitted an aroma that Wuher thought might make a hot-selling exotic drink.
Aside from the pheromones, Greedo's entire body got put into a drink in Be Still My Heart: The Bartender's Tale and Wuher eventually got what he wished for; a bestselling drink special found only in the most wretched hive of scum and villainy. It's presumed that along with the large clientele he developed, he eventually dropped his "no droids" policy.