Dud Bolt, a male Vulptereen hailing from the planet Vulpter, made his living as both a podracer pilot and a hired hitman. Piloting a Vulptereen 327, he also served as an airborne bodyguard for the Dug podracer Sebulba. He piloted in the Boonta Eve Classic on Tatooine in 32 BBY.
Considered a strong contender in the race, Bolt ultimately crashed following a collision with Ark Roose on the third lap. Surviving the incident, he received medical attention at a medcenter within the Mos Espa spaceport. Continuing his racing career, he participated in a 22 BBY race on Ando Prime, which was broadcast to the Outlander Club on Coruscant.
Hired as a hitman, Dud Bolt was a male Vulptereen from the world of Vulpter. He was a podracer pilot during the waning decades of the Galactic Republic. He made use of a Vulptereen 327 vehicle originating from his homeworld and acted as the aerial bodyguard for Sebulba, a brutal Dug racer. By the time 32 BBY rolled around, Bolt had participated in the annual Boonta Eve Classic podrace held in the spaceport of [Mos Espa](/article/mos_espa] on the desert planet of Tatooine. That particular year, he and Sebulba both entered as competitors, with both racers considered among the favorites.
Bolt's vehicle was positioned in the second line of the starting grid at the Mos Espa Grand Arena, right behind Sebulba. Before the race, the Vulptereen was in the cockpit of his machine while his mechanic, Mat Rags, worked on it. After the Troig announcers Fodesinbeed Annodue presented "the mighty Dud Bolt," the crowd cheered. Annodue also referred to him as "the Great Dud Bolt." Following the introductions, each racer's flag was paraded across the front of the grid, including Bolt's: a thin blue triangle above a thin dark gray one, with a large red rectangle below.
When the crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure gave the signal, Bolt left the starting line but soon dropped back. He managed to stay ahead of at least two racers and was close behind Clegg Holdfast, a Nosaurian, when Anakin Skywalker, a human who had stalled, overtook them both before the Notch on the first lap. Bolt made it to the third lap before crashing into Ark Roose in the Coil section of the track, shortly before Sebulba crashed on the Hutt Flats. Skywalker won, and Bolt ended up in a Mos Espa medcenter.
Despite the setback, Bolt continued racing across the galaxy. In 22 BBY, he entered a race on Ando Prime using his Vulptereen 327. Footage of the race was broadcast live on the HoloNet to the Outlander Club on Coruscant when Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, entered. A poster for the Boonta Eve Classic mentioning Bolt appeared in the Tatooine section of the Galactic Explorer's Guide, a book authored by pirate Hondo Ohnaka and his protocol droid DK-RA-43 sometime after the Battle of Crait in 34 ABY.
Dud Bolt piloted a famous Vulptereen 327 podracer, described by Fodesinbeed Annodue as an "incredible racing machine." The podracer engines were primarily red, with silver fronts and blue backs. The cockpit was blue with red glyphs. He wore brown leather armor with goggles built into the helmet while racing.
Dud Bolt was created for the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, part of the prequel trilogy. Artist Terryl Whitlatch created anatomical concept art on May 30, 1996. Two costume concepts were drawn, one labeled September 12, 1996, and the other by Jay Shuster. A maquette was also produced based on Witlatch's sketch. The podracing aliens were designed with evolutionary advantages for high-speed racing, such as Bolt's sensitive antenna on his snout.
Bolt's name is a pun on "deadbolt." In an earlier draft, he was "Dud Cullindaros of Chuba." The names "Bozzie Barada" and "Bozzie Baranta" were also considered, appearing on concept art. Bozzie Barada was mistakenly used in the 1999 novelization by Terry Brooks, while Bozzie Baranta became a separate character in the 1999 Star Wars Legends video game Star Wars: Episode I Racer.
Danny Wagner, a model maker, created a hand puppet of Bolt, consisting of his torso, head, and arms. It was molded and cast in latex, possibly with foam latex, and reinforced with cheesecloth. After curing, polyfilla was added, and the puppet was dressed in a costume of vaccu-formed pieces covered in dyed leather and greebles. Green sticks were used as puppeteering rods to control the puppet during filming.
A Model Build/Shoot Gantt chart from February 27, 1998, indicated a full puppet of Bolt was needed between April 12 and May 10 of that year, potentially in the United Kingdom. Wagner and Mark Siegel controlled the puppet on set, spending about a day shooting with visual effects supervisor John Knoll, but only a few seconds made it into the film. Bolt was one of two podracers rendered as a physical puppet, although digital rendering was used for distant shots. The puppet is featured in the Star Wars Identities exhibition.