In 4 ABY, Barquin and the band performed for Jabba and his court in the palace's throne room. While they played Jedi Rocks, Jabba interupted the music by dropping the enslaved dancer Oola into a pit below the throne room, where she was eaten by the rancor Pateesa. Barquin was then still present in the throne room when Princess Leia Organa arrived disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh in order to present the Wookiee Chewbacca to Jabba. The next day, Organa and her allies killed Jabba, and a delighted Barquin fled to Mos Eisley spaceport
Hailing from the planet Bith, Barquin D'an was a Bith male who was the younger brother of Figrin D'an, leader of the band Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes. Barquin also worked as a professional musician and, after Figrin ironically caused the death of Evar Orbus, Barquin visited the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure's palace on the planet Tatooine looking for work. Barquin then stumbled into playing the kloo horn in the Max Rebo Band, the Hutt's house band, who were practically enslaved by Jabba due to a contract signed by the band's leader, Max Rebo.
Barquin D'an played in Jabba Desilijic Tiure's house band.
In 3 ABY, Barquin and the rest of the Max Rebo Band were playing on the Khetanna, Jabba's personal sail barge, when the Hutt's majordomo, Bib Fortuna, contacted the bounty hunter Boba Fett for an update on Han Solo, a smuggler who had been frozen in carbonite that Fett was delivering to the Hutt. Fett eventually did deliver the smuggler to Jabba's Palace, where Solo was hung on a wall in the throne room as a trophy. Solo's allies in the Alliance to Restore the Republic, including Princess Leia Organa and the Wookiee Chewbacca, then began planning to rescue Solo.
In 4 ABY, the rebels initiated their plan, having Solo's friend Lando Calrissian infiltrate the palace as a guard and sending the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO to Jabba as a gift. Shortly after the droids arrived, Barquin and the rest of the Max Rebo Band put on a performance for Jabba and his court in the throne room, playing a relatively slow tune while the enslaved dancers Oola and Yarna d'al' Gargan performed before the Hutt. Once the song ended, Jabba ordered Oola to repeat her performance, but thinking that the Hutt was giving orders to the band, the singer Joh Yowza shouted for them to start playing again.
Barquin D'an and Doda Bodonawieedo playing Jedi Rocks
After stopping the Growdi Harmonique player Rappertunie from starting a different song, Yowza had the band play "Jedi Rocks." Leaning back as he blew into the kloo horn, Barquin stood beside the Rodian bandmember Doda Bodonawieedo as the song went on, although the performance was abruptly interrupted when Jabba dropped Oola through a trap door after the dancer refused his advances. With the music ended, other members of the court rushed forward to watch through a grate in the floor as Oola was devoured by Jabba's pet rancor, Pateesa, in a pit below the throne room.
Once the excitement was over, Barquin was still present in the throne room when Organa arrived in disguise as the bounty hunter Boushh, dragging her supposed prisoner Chewbacca with her. During negotiations over a bounty that Jabba had placed on Chewbacca, Organa activated a thermal detonator, terrifying Rebo and many other members of the court. Jabba merely laughed, and offered "Boushh" an improved price, which Organa accepted. Chewbacca was dragged away and the court then celebrated his capture.
Barquin D'an did not enjoy playing for Jabba.
The next day, Jabba ordered the executions of Chewbacca, a recently unfrozen Solo, and their newly arrived ally, Luke Skywalker. The Hutt and much of his court, including some members of the band, then traveled on the Khetanna to watch the executions at the Great Pit of Carkoon; however, the rebels freed themselves and killed Jabba and many of his allies at the pit. Following the Hutt's death, the band was freed and Barquin made his escape to Mos Eisley, a spaceport on Tatooine.
While working for Jabba, Barquin wore a black shirt, black pants, and black shoes. The Bith played a kloo horn in the Max Rebo Band.
Barquin D'an was portrayed by creature and model maker Don Bies in the Special Edition re-release of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi on March 14, 1997. Director Richard Marquand, the puppet team at Industrial Light & Magic, and producer George Lucas had wanted to shoot a larger musical number in the original release of Episode VI, but lacked the budget, and so Lucas added an extended replacement sequence for the Jedi Rocks performance in the re-release. Concept art for the "Jabba Rocks" musical number drawn by concept artist Terryl Whitlatch on January 23, 1996, showed a new Bith member of the Max Rebo Band labeled as "Figrin D'an," with the piece earning a "Fabulouso" stamp from Lucas. The number was shot on a reproduction of about one quarter of the original Jabba's throne room set on a Industrial Light & Magic stage.
The character's mask and costume were designed from the costumes used for the Modal Nodes in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In the current Star Wars canon, the character was first identified in Music in the Star Wars Galaxy: The Modal Nodes vs. The Max Rebo Band, a StarWars.com article written by Amy Ratcliffe and published on February 24, 2015. The name originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where the character was first identified as Barquin D'an in Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook, Special Edition, a supplement for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game published by West End Games in October, 1997.
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