The Duros flight instructor Chachi De Maal was married to fellow Duros Ohwun De Maal. Together, the pair owned and operated several docking bays in Mos Eisley spaceport on the planet Tatooine, including Docking Bay 94. The couple used false names during shady business, with Chachi using the name Baniss Keeg.
In 0 BBY, the De Maals had a heated discussion in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina in Mos Eisley before turning to look at an altercation at the cantina's bar. Shortly afterward, several other patrons of the cantina engaged in a shootout with stormtroopers in Docking Bay 94 before escaping in the Millennium Falcon, a YT-1300 light freighter that had been parked there.
Chachi De Maal was a Duros female flight instructor who owned and operated several docking bays in Mos Eisley spaceport on the planet Tatooine with her husband, Ohwun De Maal. The couple regularly made deep-space runs that connected through Mos Eisley together. During shady operations, the couple often used false names, with Chachi also going by Baniss Keeg and Ohwun using the names Ellor Madak or Ellorrs Madak.
Chachi De Maal (right) was married to Ohwun De Maal (left).
Docking Bay 94 was one of the bays that the couple owned and, in 0 BBY, the YT-1300 light freighter known as the Millennium Falcon was parked there while its pilots, Han Solo and Chewbacca, drank in the nearby Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina. The De Maals were also in the cantina at the same time and were having a heated discussion in Durese while leaning against the wall of one of the booths when the local moisture farmer Luke Skywalker entered with Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.
The Duros both turned to look when Skywalker and Kenobi got into an altercation with the criminals Doctor Cornelius Evazan and Ponda Baba at the cantina's bar, but the couple soon returned to talking jive between themselves. Ohwun then moved away to sit elsewhere in the cantina as Skywalker and Kenobi hired Solo to take them to the planet Alderaan. As the crew of the Falcon prepared to leave Mos Eisley, they were attacked by Imperial stormtroopers in the De Maals' docking bay but escaped after a shootout.
Chachi De Maal had blue-green skin and red eyes.
While in the cantina, Chachi wore a yellow shirt with a green cravat.
Chachi De Maal's finger was broken during one take.
Chachi De Maal appeared in the original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, which was released on May 25, 1977. Both Ohwun and Chachi were portrayed by modelmaker Jon Berg, who went uncredited for the roles, 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. Phil Tippett created the duo's unarticulated, slip-on masks which were created from a single sculpt that was cast twice from latex.
The dimensions of each mask was 20 inches by 12 inches by 12 inches (51 centimeters by 31 centimeters by 31 centimeters). For ease of use, the masks had a slit in the back that could be sealed by an interior strip of Velcro and the inside of the mask's head was stuffed with foam for support. The Duros were known as "Goggle-Eyes" on set, with the mask's eyes made of plastic and finished with speckled red paint. Ending up in the collection of Tippett, one of the two masks underwent sympathetic stabilization by Tom Spina Designs to internally patch areas where the latex was splitting. The company also created a custom support to preserve the mask's shape. The mask then sold for $55,000 at auction in 2016, at which time it was in overall good condition with some minor wear.
Chachi De Maal's costume included a slip-on mask and alien gloves.
Only Chachi was fitted with alien hands, with Ohwun visibly having gloved human hands in the film. The alien gloves were also made of slip cast latex with a split up the back that helped to fit the hand that could be sealed using an interior strip of Velcro. They were padded on the inside with soft foam and had metal rings that formed the structure of each of the three-knuckled fingers. The overall dimensions of each glove were 18 inches by 10 inches by 3 inches (46 centimeters by 25 centimeters by 8 centimeters). In the film's blooper reel, the actor playing Chachi can be seen jabbing the actor playing Ohwun's chest too hard and breaking one of the fingers of the alien glove. Three of the gloves ended up in Tippett's collection with the mask and were sold at the same auction in 2016. One that was in overall good condition but with some cracked latex around the knuckles and a loose interior Velcro strip sold for $7,500, while a pair with similar latex cracking and some wear sold for $8,000. An alternate Duros costume consisting of a silver jacket, black pants, and the alien gloves was also used at one stage.
In the current Star Wars canon, Chachi was first identified in the mobile card game Star Wars: Force Collection, which initially launched in 2013. Although the launch of Force Collection predates the Star Wars canon reset of 2014, Lucasfilm Story Group member Leland Chee confirmed that the game was kept updated to fit with canon. The 2016 reference book Star Wars: Complete Locations then also introduced the character's alternate name: Baniss Keeg.
The characters Chachi and Owhun De Maal from Galaxy Guide 7: Mos Eisley were not originally associated with the film Duros in the Legends continuity.
Both of the character's names originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where the character Chachi De Maal was first mentioned in Galaxy Guide 7: Mos Eisley, a 1993 West End Games Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game supplement written by Martin Wixted; however, the book did not associate the name with the Duros seen in A New Hope. A card in the 1995 Premiere Limited expansion of the Decipher, Inc. Star Wars Customizable Card Game then identified the film character as "Baniss Keeg." The two characters were then established to be one and the same in "The University of Sanbra Guide to Intelligent Life: The Duros," an article published in the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Roleplaying Game magazine Star Wars Gamer 2 in February 2001.
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