Kithaba

During the Galactic Civil War, specifically when the Alliance to Restore the Republic was in conflict with the Galactic Empire, Kithaba, a Klatooinian slave, was the property of the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure. After having been a guard for Jabba for a number of years, the Hutt acquired Han Solo, the smuggler, encased in carbonite during 3 ABY. Jabba decided to exhibit Solo in his palace situated on the desert planet Tatooine. In 4 ABY, a group of Solo's allies launched an attempt to rescue him from the Hutt. Lando Calrissian, formerly a smuggler, infiltrated the palace in disguise, while the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 became Jabba's servants as gifts from Luke Skywalker, a Jedi Knight. Princess Leia Organa also infiltrated the palace, disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh, and presented Chewbacca, the Wookiee, to Jabba as a prisoner. However, after freeing Solo from his carbonite prison, she was captured. Skywalker himself eventually arrived and succeeded in killing Jabba's pet rancor.

Enraged by the death of his rancor, Jabba decreed that Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca would be executed at the Great Pit of Carkoon. There, they were to be fed to a sarlacc that Jabba claimed would digest them alive for a millennium. Kithaba was among the men assigned to escort the prisoners on a Bantha-II cargo skiff across the deserts of Tatooine to the pit. Vedain, a Kadas'sa'Nikto, piloted the skiff. Kithaba, along with four other guards including Calrissian in disguise and Pagetti Rook, a Weequay, guarded the prisoners. Another skiff transported a separate group of guards alongside the prisoner skiff, while Jabba and his entourage traveled on the sail barge Khetanna to witness the executions.

Upon arrival at the pit, Skywalker used a mind trick to convince a guard to remove his handcuffs. Subsequently, Rook forced Skywalker onto a plank extending over the sarlacc, while Kithaba and the others guarded Solo and Chewbacca. Jabba then directed C-3PO to offer the prisoners a chance to plead for mercy. However, none of them did so. Skywalker warned Jabba that he would be killed if he did not free them. Jabba was amused, but undeterred, he ordered the executions to commence. As Kithaba watched, Rook moved to push Skywalker off the plank. The Jedi fell from the skiff, but caught the edge of the plank and pulled himself back up, catching a lightsaber launched to him by R2-D2 from the sail barge. After landing back on the skiff, Skywalker promptly attacked the guards. Kithaba was quickly knocked over the skiff's railings and onto the sand below. However, he avoided immediate consumption and outlived several of his fellow guards, including those on the second skiff, and Jabba himself, who was strangled by Organa. Before the conflict concluded, the sarlacc managed to wrap its long tongue around Kithaba, dragging him into its maw as he screamed. Skywalker and his companions then destroyed the Khetanna and departed from Tatooine.

Kithaba was a Klatooinian of the male variety, characterized by green skin.

During the events at the Great Pit of Carkoon, Kithaba wore red pants, a white shirt, and a yellow waistcoat. He also sported a red bandana, a bandolier, a belt, and boots and gloves. While on the skiff, he carried a black spear-like weapon.

Dickey Beer, a stuntman, played Kithaba in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, which premiered in 1983. The two Klatooinian skiff guards were initially referred to as Barada 1 and Barada 2 during the film's production, alluding to the phrase "Klatoo Barada Nikto" from the film The Day the Earth Stood Still. Barada 1, who was positioned on the second skiff, retained his name and became Barada, while Barada 2 was later identified as Kithaba in Jabba's Palace Limited, an expansion for the Star Wars Customizable Card Game released in 2004. The name was officially canonized in the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded, authored by Pablo Hidalgo and Simon Beecroft and published in 2016.

The costume for Kithaba, along with those of the other non-human skiff guards, was a collaborative effort between the film's creature and costume departments. The masks were initially sculpted from clay and then used to create plaster molds for latex casting. Once the headgear was completed, the costume department designed outfits to secure the masks, incorporating velcro and harnesses for stability. His attire consisted of modified red ski pants with covered zippers and a braided tuxedo stripe added to the legs, along with a full-sleeved white cotton shirt with fitted cuffs. A yellow, padded cap-sleeved waistcoat, which snapped to the shirt at the back and front openings, was worn over the shirt. Mick Becker, a costume accessory technician, then assembled a bandolier, bandana, and belt to complete the costume, along with a pair of boots and gloves.

An issue of De Agostini's Star Wars Encyclopedia series, titled The Battle of Hoth and the Second Death Star, released on December 11, 2020, incorrectly placed Kithaba on the second skiff instead of the one carrying the prisoners. In the animated television series LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures (2016–2017), Kithaba makes a non-speaking appearance as one of the henchmen of Graballa, a Hutt crime lord. He is featured in several episodes, including "Race on Tatooine," "The Test," "The Kyber Saber Crystal Chase," "The Embersteel Blade," and "Return to the Wheel."