Kam Nale

Kam Nale, a Fluggrian male native to the watery planet Ploo IV in the Expansion Region, was an unforeseen obstacle for Glymphid assassin Aldar Beedo when Beedo accepted the task of eliminating Nale's father, Borzu Nale. Borzu Nale, a successful Fluggrian crime lord, posed a threat to Orin Nyell's smuggling operations. Nyell hired Beedo to assassinate Borzu, allowing Nyell to continue his scheme of selling Ploo IV water to the Outer Rim planet Sernpidal at inflated prices without interference. Nale was devastated by his father's death and invested heavily in finding the assassin's identity. Upon learning Beedo's name, Nale vowed to avenge his father by killing the Glymphid. He tracked Beedo, who was also a Podracer pilot, to the Outer Rim world of Tatooine, where he discovered that Beedo had entered the upcoming Boonta Eve Classic Podrace. Nale quickly devised a plan to enter the race himself and destroy Beedo and his Podracer.

Using all available truguts, a form of currency, Nale acquired an old Kurtob KRT 410-C. Despite its appealing streamlined design, the Kurtob was quite outdated by the time of the Boonta race in 32 BBY. Consequently, it suffered from poor acceleration and top speed, although it retained a powerful boost system. However, Nale's immediate concern shifted when he learned that Rango Tel, a rookie bounty hunter, was pursuing him.

To evade the bounty hunter, Nale adopted numerous aliases and false identities. Tel, like Beedo, had been hired by Orin Nyell, who feared that Kam Nale would reclaim his father's criminal empire. At the time, Nale had no intention of claiming his inheritance, a fact Tel discovered but continued his pursuit nonetheless. On the eve of the Boonta race, while many of the competing Podracer pilots attended a concert by the glimmik singer and Podracer contestant Boles Roor, Nale created a recording detailing his plans for Beedo in case he died during the Boonta. That same night, Beedo was also occupied with his own schemes. At the concert, the Devlikk pilot Wan Sandage hired Beedo to kill Sebulba, a notorious cheater, during the Boonta.

The following morning, the racers gathered, and Nale had switched to his chosen alias, "Elan Mak"—simply his name spelled backward—to avoid arousing Beedo's suspicion. Before Nale reached the arena, Tel confronted him in an alleyway, confident that his speed and armor would protect him from any attack. Instead, Nale shot Tel with a heavy blaster pistol that easily pierced the rookie's flimsy armor, killing him.

Nale, now known as "Elan Mak" on the track, began the Boonta from the inside of the fourth row on the starting grid, positioned next to the Phuii pilot Mars Guo and behind the Veknoid Teemto Pagalies. Beedo started in the front row on the outside. As the race commenced, Mak had a strong start, positioned with the leaders, holding second place ahead of Beedo for the initial part of the first lap. Falling behind, Mak remained close behind the leader, Sebulba, when the Dug crashed Mawhonic's Podracer into a cliff.

Mak eventually fell back further, staying near the middle of the pack, while Beedo stayed ahead, aiming his racer at Sebulba. However, Sandage crashed into a sandcrawler during lap three. Far ahead, Sebulba collided with the Podracer of Anakin Skywalker, a Human, and crashed into the desert upon pulling away, clearing the path for Skywalker's victory. Mak attempted to shoot Beedo's racer with his blaster pistol, but Ebe Endocott, another contestant, obstructed his aim. Beedo finished third, while Mak finished fifth, ahead of Boles Roor in last place. Realizing his enjoyment of the race and his ability to outperform more experienced pilots, Mak chose to pursue Podracing as a career, using his races as a cover for his mission to eliminate Beedo. He also decided to reinvent himself as a dedicated Podracer pilot.

From then on, Mak continued to race, gaining recognition on Malastare as the most popular pilot on the Dug Derby racecourse and becoming the preferred racer for a Malastare drag course. However, his Dug Derby success stemmed more from the audience's admiration for his repeated attempts to finish the race in record time. Mak later competed in Malastare's Phoebos Memorial Run, the fifth race of the Vinta Harvest Classic, where he again faced Beedo. Beedo and Wan Sandage were still collaborating to eliminate Sebulba. Mak positioned himself above Beedo during the final stretch of the race to shoot his target, but his plans were disrupted when Sebulba tricked By't Distombe into flying over a geyser, causing an explosion that forced many racers to break off. Beedo again failed to eliminate Sebulba, and Mak failed to kill his Glymphid target. Sebulba won the race, followed by Sandage, with Mak and Beedo close behind. All four racers qualified for the Classic's final race, which ran the same course, but Mak again failed to eliminate Beedo. When Sandage died of old age sometime before 29 BBY, Beedo decided to join forces with his former target, Sebulba. At some point, Podracing Quarterly magazine noticed Mak's pursuit of Beedo and published a short piece about his investment in his Kurtob Podracer.

Mak was still hunting Beedo in 26 BBY, when they both ended up on Euceron to compete in the Galactic Games. Sebulba was also present but allowed his son, Hekula, to race instead. Anakin Skywalker, the Boonta winner and now a Jedi in training, also participated on behalf of the Aleena brothers Deland and Doby Tyerell. Gasgano, the Boonta runner-up, also competed. During the first lap, Mak caught up to Beedo and cut him off after narrowly avoiding the wreckage of Ody Mandrell, who had crashed while attempting a tight turn. Beedo couldn't avoid Mak's Podracer and collided with it, destroying both vehicles. After surviving the wreck, both pilots emerged from the debris and fled the track to avoid being crushed by other racers. They immediately blamed each other for the crash. However, Mak did not capture or kill Beedo, and Skywalker secured another victory. Other competitors included "Scorch" Zanales and Will Neluenf.

Having failed to avenge his father despite coming close to his killer, Mak began to accept that he might never catch and kill him. At the same time, he feared being targeted by other bounty hunters like Rango Tel. "Mak" resumed his former identity as Kam Nale to reclaim his father's criminal empire, using his family's wealth to hire numerous bounty hunters and mercenaries to track down the elusive Glymphid. In 24 BBY, Beedo was still active on and off the track, working as Sebulba's on-track bodyguard.

However, Nale also continued racing as "Elan Mak" by 22 BBY, participating in races on Tatooine, Felucia, and Coruscant, among other worlds. With their careers still intersecting, one of Nale's mercenaries finally caught up to Beedo on the jungle world Baroonda during 22 BBY. The mercenary shot down the Glymphid's craft during the Fire Mountain Rally race and arrested him, finally bringing Beedo before Nale for Borzu's murder. Around the time of Beedo's capture, Nale's false identity was exposed. HoloNet News reported both the exposure and Beedo's arrest, and the scandalous nature of both incidents placed Podracing's future under scrutiny.

Kam Nale was consumed by vengeance upon learning of his father's death and immediately sought out his killer. Discovering that Aldar Beedo, a known Podracer, was responsible, Nale risked his life by entering the Boonta Eve Classic to defeat Beedo. On Malastare, he even risked fines and suspension by using an illegal weapon during a race to shoot Beedo's Podracer. However, Nale eventually realized his inability to eliminate Beedo personally and hired mercenaries to find him. After his encounter with Rango Tel, Nale became somewhat paranoid and, despite his initial distaste for his father's illegal activities, took over his organization to handle future threats. As "Elan Mak," he often mocked other racers' pods, commenting on their cheap-looking parts.

As a Fluggrian, Nale had three-digit hands ending in sharp, purple-hued claws, and his forearms were lined with natural spikes. He had a green exterior with a white stomach area, yellow eyes, and purple marks across his face, making him unique among the Boonta contestants, along with his pink, puffy lips. Fluggrians were generally short, and Nale stood at only 1.02 meters tall. The knobby protuberances on his forehead served as sensory inputs.

Kam Nale had no prior Podracing experience before his first Boonta race and was surprised to finish, especially with an outdated Podracer. His piloting skills continued to improve, and he became a popular pilot on Malastare. His aggressive track personality and image as a dedicated racer were also notable aspects of his career. Nale was also a capable shot, able to outdraw and kill Rango Tel. Despite this, he failed to shoot down Aldar Beedo's Podracer during the Boonta Eve Classic or the Vinta Harvest Classic, eventually resorting to hiring others to eliminate Beedo. Nale was trilingual, speaking Huttese, Galactic Basic Standard, and another dialect.

Kam Nale wore a light brown vest and a headset with a comlink while racing. He owned a silver blaster pistol that he used against Rango Tel and Aldar Beedo during the Boonta Eve Classic, and later on Malastare.

Nale entered the Boonta Eve Classic with an outdated Kurtob KRT 410-C Podracer. The pod had a spherical design with large, bulbous engines and a circular, upright cockpit. The cockpit had a large apparatus on its right side, where one of the engine cables connected, although this attachment was removed during Nale's participation in the Vinta Harvest Classic on Malastare. The color scheme was primarily white, with red and blue markings on the engines and cockpit. Similar designs adorned the flag he used to represent himself during the Boonta.

The vehicle had few advantages against modernized Podracers, suffering from poor acceleration and below-average handling. However, the engines were durable and could withstand moderate damage. Despite an average top speed, the Kurtob pod had a useful boost ability and an effective cooling system that quickly cooled the engines after each boost, although the Podracer could only boost intermittently due to rapid engine overheating. Nale finished fifth during the Boonta Eve Classic and ranked among the top five in a qualifying race for the Vinta. Instead of buying a stronger Podracer, he chose to upgrade his Kurtob and use it throughout his career.

Elan Mak first appeared in the 1999 novelization of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, written by Terry Brooks and based on George Lucas's screenplay for the film of the same name. Despite a detailed maquette and concept art created by the film's art department, Mak was only represented in the film's Podracing sequences as a low-resolution computer-generated model for distance shots of his Podracer. A more detailed close-up was created for a deleted scene on the film's DVD release, depicting the character as fully computer-generated.

Mak had a more significant role in the 1999 Nintendo 64 video game Star Wars Episode I: Racer, where he was a playable character from the start. Tom Kane voiced him in the game. The Episode I Racer Nintendo Power companion guide, Star Wars: Episode I Racer Official Nintendo Player's Guide, revealed parts of Mak's backstory, including that "Elan Mak" was an alias for Kam Nale. He later appeared in several Star Wars Legends stories, including the comic book Star Wars: Emissaries to Malastare and the junior novel Jedi Quest: The Dangerous Games by Jude Watson.

A Kurtob engine with the same markings as Nale's Podracer appeared in junk dealer Watto's garage in the 2002 video game Star Wars: Racer Revenge, although Nale himself did not appear. He was originally intended to be in the game. His voice lines were recorded, but he was ultimately cut. His voice files and other references to his involvement can still be found in the game's files. The character was also included in Kinect Star Wars, a 2012 video game for the Xbox 360. He was featured as "Elan Mak" in the game's Podracing feature, where he was a competitor the player could race against. Players could also use his vehicle as their Podracer. The conflict between Nale and Aldar Beedo was explored in the 2000 webcomic Podracing Tales, but their conflict was not resolved until "The Not-So Magnificent Seven," a 2013 blog article on the Official Star Wars Blog that detailed the lives of several untalented bounty hunters. Both Nale and Beedo were referenced under Rango Tel's entry, which provided details on the outcome of Nale's hunt. Nale was also mentioned in Star Wars Magazine 2, which misspelled his pseudonym as "Elan Nak."