The cliff wampa represented a brown-furred subspecies adept at rock climbing. This creature was bioengineered from the original wampa, an ice creature hailing from the frozen planet of Hoth within the Outer Rim Territories. The Galactic Empire, having observed the ice wampa's impressive power during the Battle of Hoth, captured several specimens. Imperial biologists then artificially adapted these wampas to thrive in diverse environments. By 3.5 ABY, the Empire had deployed the resulting cliff wampa on Gall, a rocky moon situated in the Outer Rim, to protect local Imperial interests.
The cliff wampa, a product of Imperial bioengineering, was essentially a manufactured subspecies derived from the wampa ice creature, which was originally native to the icy planet of Hoth. Unlike the ice wampa, which possessed a white fur coat for camouflage on Hoth's icy plains, the cliff wampa exhibited gray or light brown coloration. This allowed it to effectively blend into the rocky terrain of Gall, a moon under Imperial control. The cliff wampa was equipped with sharp claws, as strong as iron, enabling it to climb or dig through solid rock, similar to how the Hoth wampa dug through ice.
Similar to its Hoth counterpart, the cliff wampa possessed semi-sentient qualities. These creatures were known for their volatile temperament and insatiable hunger, readily attacking any individual or object they encountered.
The story of the cliff wampa began when the Rebel Alliance occupied Echo Base on Hoth, an ice planet located in the Outer Rim Territories. The Rebels stationed at Echo Base faced repeated attacks from the native wampas of Hoth. In response to one such attack, the Rebels managed to subdue and confine several wampas, holding them in isolated enclosures within the base.
Later, during the Imperial assault on Echo Base, known as the Battle of Hoth, some of Darth Vader's elite snowtroopers were killed by the Rebels' imprisoned wampas. These troopers had charged headlong into a holding pen within the base. Imperial biologists, impressed by reports of the wampas' ferocity at Echo Base, captured several of the creatures. Through bioengineering, they adapted them to survive in various environments, using them as guard animals. The cliff wampa was one of the results of this endeavor.
A mere months after the Battle of Hoth, by 3.5 ABY, the Empire had deployed the cliff wampa to guard the Cadavine Sector Fleet Imperial Enclave located on Gall, a rocky moon in the Outer Rim. Dash Rendar, a mercenary who had previously encountered the Rebels' captured ice wampas within Echo Base during the Battle of Hoth, faced a lone cliff wampa. This occurred during his failed attempt to infiltrate the Imperial Enclave through the high cliffs of Smuggler's Canyon, hoping to rescue Han Solo from the clutches of Boba Fett, the bounty hunter.
The cliff wampa was initially conceived for the 1996 video game Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. According to Jon Knoles, the game creator, as detailed in the Star Wars Insider 33 article LucasArts takes on the Wampa, the LucasArts game developers included a rock-camouflaged wampa in the "Gall Spaceport" level as a playful addition to the game. Ryan Kaufman, a developer, is jokingly credited as "Cliff Wampa Zoologist" in the game's credits. The article compares the cliff wampa's inclusion in Shadows of the Empire to hidden tricks, or "Easter eggs," that game designers have traditionally used to "stretch the fun factor." However, it also notes that LucasArts developers were cautious about the secrets they incorporated into their games, aware that any creation could potentially appear in other Star Wars works and become official canon, even if that was not the original intention.
The Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Limited Collector's Edition strategy guide, compiled by Crispin Boyer for the Shadows of the Empire video game in 1996, was the first source to label the creature found in the "Gall Spaceport" as a "cliff wampa." Jon Knoles described LucasArts' original backstory for this "fabled" creature as originating from Imperial bioengineering, a detail later fully canonized in the 2006 reference book The New Essential Guide to Alien Species. In both Shadows of the Empire: Game Secrets and Shadows of the Empire: The Official Strategy Guide, published by Prima Games, Bart Farkas informally refers to the cliff wampa as a "mountain wampa."