A high-ranking male subordinate of Jabba the Hutt, known as Heater, resided in Mos Eisley. Due to his obese and repulsive physique, he frequently impersonated Jabba for public engagements. Furthermore, he operated a small, upscale cruise line on Tatooine, profiting from the notoriety of Luke Skywalker following the Battle of Yavin. His sail barge, named Dune Princess, was deliberately designed to closely resemble Jabba's personal sail barge, Khetanna, but he made sure that his was smaller as a sign of respect to the Hutt. After the demise of Greedo, Jabba instructed Heater to employ bounty hunters to hunt down Han Solo.
A scene in the radio adaptation of A New Hope features Heater (voiced by Joel Brooks) confronting Han Solo at Docking Bay 94. This scene bears a strong resemblance to deleted scenes from the film where Declan Mulholland played a Human portraying "Jabba", and also to a scene featuring "Jabba the Hut" (sic) in Star Wars (1977) 2. Following the 1997 release of the "Special Editions", which retconned these scenes to depict Jabba himself, these earlier scenes were removed from canon.
It is highly probable that Heater is the same character as the Fat Man from Sleight of Hand: The Tale of Mara Jade by Timothy Zahn, given the striking similarities in their characterization and background. Heater's appearance was in The Essential Guide to Characters in November 1995, while the Fat Man was introduced in Tales from Jabba's Palace two months later, in January 1996. Andy Mangels, the author of the Essential Guide, stated that he utilized information from unpublished manuscripts and novels. Considering that another character conceived by Zahn also appeared in the guide, it is very likely that some form of coordination occurred, and the matching descriptions of Heater and the Fat Man are not merely coincidental.
Some fans have theorized that the early Marvel Star Wars depictions of Jabba the Hutt were based on Mosep Binneed, a Nimbanel later identified as Jabba's accountant, and that "Heater" and "Jabba the Hut" were actually aliases used by Binneed. Another theory suggests that Heater was a Human who physically resembled the "Human Jabba" portrayed by Mulholland. Mulholland's likeness was subsequently used on the 2013 Topps Star Wars Illustrated: A New Hope trading cards, which featured Heater. Previously, his appearance in the deleted scene had served as the physical description for a separate character, Opun Mcgrrrr.