Arleil Schous

Arleil Schous was a Defel fortune hunter who spent time in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina in Mos Eisley spaceport on the planet Tatooine in 0 BBY. That year, he was having drinks with a Trandoshan at a table near the establishment's entrance when the bounty hunter Bossk'wassak'Cradossk asked after the rogue Imperial astromech droid 261 at the cantina.

Later in the year, Schous was sat at a table in one of the cantina's backrooms with the Arcona Hem Dazon, the Advozse Bom Vimdin, the Siniteen Pons Limbic, and the Stennes Shifter Braconnor Bakiska when the moisture farmer Luke Skywalker and the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi entered the establishment seeking a pilot to take them to the planet Alderaan.

Schous soon moved to a table nearer the cantina's entrance to meet with the Pacithhip Ketwol and the Devaronian Kardue'sai'Malloc over a jigger of Merenzane Gold. The Lamproid Dice Ibegon was also seated with the trio by the time Skywalker was thrown into the table next to them during an altercation with the criminals Ponda Baba and Doctor Cornelius Evazan, whom Kenobi then subdued.

By 0 BBY, Schous was getting old and slowly losing the ability to bend light around his body and virtually disappear, a trait of the Defel species. The Defel had brown fur, brown skin, and red eyes.

While at the cantina, Schous wore a tan jacket.

Arleil Schous first appeared in the original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, which was released on May 25, 1977. He was added to the film during a series of supplemental shots filmed for the cantina sequence on a sound stage in Dovington's Hollywood studio between January 24–25, 1977. Arleil Schous' mask was created by creature designer Rick Baker, who made it from a commercial werewolf Halloween mask he had designed. An unaltered version of the mask was used for the character Lak Sivrak, but for Schous, Baker chopped the mask's face up, added ears, and fabricated it with glowing eyeballs.

The mask was originally made for "The Thing in the Attic," a Halloween show put on by Bob Burns in 1974. During the show, Baker wore the mask and portrayed a demon summoned by a possessed girl inspired by The Exorcist. Due to time and budget restraints, the mask was then recycled for use in Star Wars, where the character became known as "Bat-Demon Guy," "Wolfe," or "Wolfman" during production. In the film's original release, Schous was visible in a second shot in the cantina, but director George Lucas had long been bothered by the character's off-the-shelf mask, as although he had approved its use, the mask had been created outside his sphere of control. Because of this, the second shot was replaced in the Special Edition re-release of the film with a close-up of the character Melas instead.

In the current Star Wars canon, Schous was first identified by the 2015 reference book Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know. The name originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where it was first used on a card in the 1998 "Official Tournament Sealed Deck" for the Star Wars Customizable Card Game produced by Decipher, Inc.. In Legends, Defels' ability to bend light around themselves was based on the fact that Schous was hidden in shadow during his appearances in the film; however, as various well-lit imagery of the Defel was used, Decipher eventually explained the discrepancy by establishing that he was slowly losing the ability due to his age.

• Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
• Star Wars: Complete Locations
• Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded
• The Moviemaking Magic of Star Wars: Creatures & Aliens
• The Star Wars Archives: Episodes IV–VI, 1977–1983
• Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga – The Official Collector's Edition