The Kintan crushers, alternatively known as Kintan enforcers among other designations, represented a species of powerfully-built beings originating from the planet Kintan, situated within Hutt Space. They shared a lineage with the semi-sentient Kintan striders, although they possessed superior intellect. Their capacity for obedience and understanding complex instructions rendered the Kintan crushers a favored choice as enforcers within the ranks of the Hutt Cartel. The species had undergone centuries of domestication at the hands of the Hutts by the time the Cold War began.
These crushers were naturally suited for forceful combat: Despite their short, sturdy legs, their upper bodies and arms were exceptionally large, providing immense power to their strikes. They were known to be brutal opponents in battle, employing slapping, stomping, and bashing maneuvers, and even generating small groundquakes. The size of Kintan crushers varied significantly, ranging from slightly taller than an adult Human to truly enormous sizes. While the Hutts commonly utilized beast masters to oversee crushers in captivity, the species was capable of surviving independently in the wild through foraging.
Kintan crushers were observed patrolling the territories surrounding the palace of Fa'athra the Hutt and the palace of Karagga the Hutt on the world of Nal Hutta. Among these, Foreman Crusher stood out as the largest and most imposing, guarding the entrance to Karagga's palace until a group of intruders managed to defeat him. Kintan crushers also existed beyond the confines of Hutt Space during the Cold War era and beyond, with one particular specimen wandering the Clabburn Tundra of the ice world Hoth.
Related to the semi-sentient Kintan striders, the Kintan crushers displayed a higher level of intelligence. These powerfully-built creatures stood upright on two thick legs, which extended from prominent buttocks and ended in feet with two toes. They possessed heavily muscled arms, and their hands, equipped with four clawed digits, were capable of both delicate manipulation and forming powerful fists. Their posture was hunched, with the head protruding from the domed midsection at a right angle to the torso. Lacking a distinct neck, their facial features were minimal, consisting of small eyes and a wide, horizontal mouth. Two sharp teeth projected upwards from the center of their lower jaw. A substantial tongue, ranging in color from pale yellow to pale gray, was visible within their jaws. Their vocalizations consisted of deep, resonant roars.
The hides of Kintan crushers exhibited a range of brown and gray hues. Some individuals displayed dark stripes running vertically along their backs and arms, while others had uniformly colored skin. Their eyes also varied in pigmentation, with some having brown, yellow, gray, or blue irises.
Significant variations in size were observed among members of the species. Smaller Kintan crushers were slightly taller than an adult Human, while larger individuals could reach sizes where a Human would only reach their knee. The rows of spikes along their spine, upper arms, and lower legs also varied with overall size. In larger crushers, these spikes were prominently visible, while in smaller individuals, they were barely noticeable. While they often moved about on their hind limbs, they employed a quadrupedal gait when moving quickly, alternating their weight between their hands and feet. The largest specimens were capable of generating minor groundquakes with their movements.
Despite possessing greater intelligence than the semi-sentient Kintan striders, Kintan crushers were fundamentally ferocious and bestial creatures. In their natural habitat, they inhabited the wilderness of the planet Kintan, where they foraged for food, consuming items found on the ground, either alone or in small groups. However, by the time of the Cold War, the majority of crushers were employed by various members of the Hutt Cartel. Their relatively high intelligence allowed them to follow complex instructions, but they also possessed the awareness to expect compensation for their services. Numerous rumors circulated regarding the methods by which the Hutts and their associates compensated their crusher forces, ranging from the absurd to the disturbing. Crushers working for the Hutts were sometimes accompanied by handlers and wore restraints around their neck, upper arms, shoulders, wrist, and waist, to which chains or ropes could be attached for control.
The species was also referred to as "Kintan enforcers," and various other names were used to describe specific groups within the population. These included Kintan beast slaves, Kintan behemoths, Kintan maulers, Kintan rock throwers, Kintan warhounds, Kintan ancients, and Kintan devourers.
Crushers were formidable opponents in combat. Their primary attack involved striking enemies with their fists, but they also employed tactics such as slapping and stomping, as well as stamping or pounding the ground to knock opponents off balance. They also used their upper body strength to lift and hurl large rocks at enemies. Another tactic involved striking enemies with their belly and feet to send them flying backward. Larger crushers were capable of generating minor groundquakes to harm nearby opponents. They defended themselves by using their muscular upper limbs to protect vital areas. Some crushers were known to enter a battle frenzy after sustaining sufficient injury, during which they moved and struck with increased speed and force.
The Kintan crushers derived their name from their homeworld, Kintan, a planet that had been subjected to intense radiation when its star, M'dweshuu, underwent a nova event in the distant past. This radiation event eradicated most life on the planet, with the survivors undergoing mutations into monstrous forms. Among these survivors were the Kintan crushers and their cousins, the Kintan striders. The planet was also inhabited by the sentient Nikto, who established themselves as the dominant species by nearly exterminating all other life forms. Around 25,100 BBY, Kintan became a contested territory in a war between the forces of the Human warlord Xim the Despot and the Hutts, both seeking control of Kintan's region of space, the Si'Klaata Cluster. The Hutts secured the allegiance of the Nikto, and together they defeated Xim and his forces at the Third Battle of Vontor. Following Xim's defeat, the Hutts incorporated Kintan into their empire, which eventually became known as Hutt Space. Several centuries prior to the Cold War, the Hutts learned to domesticate the Kintan crushers and utilize them in their criminal enterprises.
By the time of the Cold War, more Kintan crushers were in the employ of the Hutts than living in the wild on their native planet, and they were distributed throughout Hutt Space. The Hutts considered them to be among their most dependable and loyal enforcers, often employing them as muscle to combat their adversaries. For example, Sludge Kintan was a crusher who patrolled the grounds outside Voontara Fa'athra's palace in the Eastern Grime region of Nal Hutta. This individual was killed by an ally of the Sith Empire. The Evocii rebel Grov the Destroyer enslaved a number of local creatures, including a Kintan crusher with shock devices implanted in its spine and arms, to use against his enemies.
When hostilities resumed between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, Karagga the Hutt, the leader of the Hutt Cartel, maintained several Kintan crushers to guard his palace on Hutta. These crushers and their handlers patrolled a yard near the runoff from the palace moat. The largest and most formidable crusher on Karagga's palace grounds was the massive Foreman Crusher, who guarded the entrance to Karagga's droid factory just beyond the moat area. A group of Twi'lek infiltrators managed the massive beast and kept him chained down unless needed. When a large group of hostile invaders penetrated the grounds of Karagga's palace, they overcame the Kintan crusher forces guarding the moat, prompting Karagga's handlers to release Foreman Crusher. The interlopers slew the beast in the ensuing battle, granting them access to the depths of Karagga's greater palace.
Later in the conflict, Kintan crushers were used to guard Drilling Platform Fwanna on the Cartel mining mesa of the planet Makeb. This facility was controlled by Szajin, the Archon of the Hutt Cartel during its invasion of the planet, and the crushers were supervised by Whiphid beast handlers.
Other crushers lived far beyond the borders of Hutt Space. For instance, at the end of the Cold War, several crushers escaped captivity from the prisons of the planet Belsavis and roamed the Ancient Rakatan Keep, the Caves of the Primeval Wardens, and the Cells of the Lords of the Infinite, all areas within the Tomb, an ancient prison complex used by the Rakata species and their Infinite Empire to hold dangerous beings in stasis approximately 20,000 years before the Cold War. During the same period, the enormous Kintan crusher known as Gargath patrolled a snowy region known as Gargath's Watch, part of the Clabburn Tundra on the ice planet Hoth. A group of offworlders confronted Gargath before the war's end, defeated the crusher in battle, and killed the beast.
The Kintan crushers were conceived as enemy characters for the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG, released by BioWare in December 2011. Artist Zach Hall designed the species, which was initially labeled "Kintan" during the development process. The species name "Kintan crusher" is found in an entry within the game's built-in encyclopedia, the Codex, which is unlocked after the player defeats a "released Kintan ancient" enemy character on Belsavis.
Several non-player characters in the game share the same general appearance and animations as the released Kintan ancient, although none explicitly names a species. Instead, most of these enemy characters use the label "Kintan" as if it were a species name rather than a planetary designation. These include Sludge Kintan on the planet Hutta; the Kintan devourers on Belsavis; and the Kintan behemoths, Kintan maulers, Kintan rock throwers, and Kintan warhounds found in the area of Karagga's palace in the multi-player operation "Hutt Hospitality." Finally, two of the characters are not identified by species at all: Foreman Crusher in the same operation—nicknamed "the Slavedriver"—and Gargath, a world boss on Hoth—called a "Snow Giant" in game text. Both of these latter two characters grant a Codex entry upon being defeated, but neither explicitly names the species. The only difference among all of these characters is in overall size and the length of their spikes, so this article treats them as members of the same species, as detailed in the "Kintan Crusher" Codex entry granted upon defeat of a released Kintan ancient.
Within Star Wars: The Old Republic, players can obtain the Codex entry "Primeval Beasts" in the Tomb area of Belsavis, an area populated by "released Kintan devourer" and "released Kintan ancient" enemy types. The Codex indicates that many of the creatures held within the ancient prisons of Belsavis were more dangerous than their counterparts on other worlds, possibly due to genetic manipulation. Some of these creatures had been in stasis since the Rakata controlled the planet, others were allowed to breed for generations in isolated colonies, while others were kept alive but out of stasis, with no need for nourishment, from that same era. The entry does not specify which of these categories the Kintan crushers on Belsavis fall into, or whether they are more recent arrivals.
Completing the full storyline of The Old Republic only requires navigating past—but not necessarily defeating—Karagga the Hutt's Kintan forces, with the exception of Foreman Crusher, who must be defeated. The operation is available to both the Sith Empire and Republic factions in the game, with minimal impact on the plot depending on the player characters' allegiance. The other unique Kintan crushers in The Old Republic are entirely optional encounters, but this article assumes all were defeated as part of full game completion.