The scariest villains in the original Star Wars trilogy are, of course, the uber-powerful Sith Lords Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, but they’re not the only terrifying presence in the movies. In addition to facing the might of the Empire, the Rebels also have to contend with a bunch of spooky monsters across a galaxy far, far away.
From the tentacled beast lurking in the Death Star’s trash compactor to the giant razor-toothed mouth in the middle of the desert that Jabba the Hutt tries to feed the Rebels to, the original trilogy was filled with terrifying creatures.
The Wampa
While Luke is on patrol on the snowy plains of Hoth, he heads out on his own and runs straight into the path of a wampa. The wampa drags Luke back to his ice cave, hangs him upside down, and prepares to eat him. Wampas are hulking, fur-covered carnivores stalking unsuspecting prey in a bleak wintry wasteland, and they could be the subject of a whole monster movie set in the Star Wars universe.
Luckily, Luke is able to Force-grab his lightsaber so he can free himself, chop off the wampa’s arm, and escape from the cave—but the blood smeared all around the wampa’s mouth would suggest that its other victims weren’t so fortunate.
The Rancor
In the opening act of Return of the Jedi, every attempt to rescue a frozen Han from Jabba’s palace fails in quick succession. When Luke arrives to bargain with Jabba, the Hutt crime lord pops open a trapdoor under the Jedi’s feet, sending him into the dungeon lair of his pet rancor.
At around 16 feet tall, the rancor is practically a kaiju. When Jabba sends a walking, talking snack into the rancor’s lair, it usually picks them up and eats them like a candy bar. Luke is completely outmatched by the rancor and only stands a chance against the beast when he throws a bone from one of its previous victims at the control panel on the door, causing the closing door to crush it.
The Dianoga
The trash compactor sequence is one of the most iconic scenes in the whole Star Wars saga. George Lucas creates a real sense of claustrophobic Hitchcockian suspense with tight framing, clearly established stakes, and help from John Williams’ tense musical score. But Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie are in trouble even before the walls start closing in.
Right after they flee from the Stormtroopers down the garbage chute and land in the wet, disgusting trash compactor, it becomes apparent that they’re not alone, as there’s a tentacled monster lurking under the water. The most terrifying thing about the dianoga is that it hides beneath the surface of the water, so audiences only see it in glimpses. Lucas shows the tentacle that grabs Luke, and the dianoga pokes its bulbous eye out for a second, but the rest is left to the audience’s imagination.
Jawas
Standing at around three feet tall, the Jawas aren’t as physically imposing as wampas or rancors, but their faces hidden under hoods and their beady yellow eyes give them an unsettling appearance.
Jawas prowl the desert landscapes of Star Wars' planet Tatooine in a giant Sandcrawler, mainly looking for scrap metal to sell on and starships to strip for parts. They may not stand out against the pantheon of bizarre creatures in the Star Wars universe, but the fact that their bodies are always totally obscured makes them undeniably eerie.
The Exogorth
When Han and Chewie are being chased by the entire Imperial fleet in The Empire Strikes Back, they take a detour through an asteroid field in order to lose them. But, the enemy ships keep relentlessly hunting them down, so they fly into a cave on one of the asteroids to wait for the heat to die down.
Except, it’s not a cave; it’s the mouth of an exogorth, also known as a “space slug.” The Falcon barely manages to make it out as the exogorth’s jaws come crashing down. This is one of the biggest creatures in the Star Wars universe, and they clearly dwarf any living creature known to exist on Earth.
Krayt Dragon
Star Wars fans didn’t get to see a krayt dragon in action until Mando teamed up with Cobb Vanth and a bunch of Tusken Raiders to kill one in The Mandalorian, but krayt dragons have given audiences the creeps ever since the skeleton of one was seen in the Tatooine desert.
The sheer scale of the krayt dragon’s skeleton in comparison to C-3PO standing next to it instantly establishes the magnitude of the danger lurking in the Dune Sea. When Jon Favreau and co. brought the krayt dragon to life in The Mandalorian, they made it even bigger.
Mynocks
The mynocks are a rare case of spooky Star Wars creatures that live inside the mouth of another spooky Star Wars creature. When Han lands the Falcon in the exogorth’s mouth, the heroes initially think it’s a cave. Then, Leia peers out the window and sees a mynock swooping around.
Mynocks are like bats, except their wings are much bigger, and they have dragon-like tails. They feed on the energy supply of starships, so it’s hardly surprising that Leia lets out a shriek when she spots one hanging off the side of the Falcon.
The Sarlacc Pit
After Jabba captures all the Rebels who infiltrate his palace to save Han, he takes them all out into the desert to feed them to the Sarlacc Pit. Fortunately, Luke has a trick up his sleeve and manages to get a hold of his lightsaber before any of the heroes get devoured.
The Sarlacc is a giant mouth in the middle of the desert with razor-sharp teeth and tentacles. The people who are unfortunate enough to be eaten by it don’t die right away; they have to live through a slow, agonizing digestion process. Boba Fett managed to survive being eaten by the Sarlacc, but he was left horrifically scarred by the ordeal.