Malakili

A human male was born on Corellia, a planet situated within the Core Worlds of the galaxy. During his early childhood, his mother abandoned him in their sleeping quarters, which forced Malakili to live on the streets. Approximately one week later, a rare and intense snowstorm struck, nearly causing Malakili to freeze to death. He was rescued by an elderly Utai beast healer known as Scraps, whose harr companion, Nibbles, discovered Malakili and developed an affection for him. Scraps offered Malakili a place to stay in exchange for his assistance.

Malakili resided with Scraps and Nibbles, becoming Scraps' apprentice and student, and learning everything he could about beasts. After a number of years, their home was raided by pirates, who killed Scraps and Nibbles when they resisted. Their deaths left Malakili with no purpose, and he was chained and taken away by the pirates. While awaiting sale, Malakili maintained his will to live by befriending the rats in his cage.

Malakili was subsequently sold to various owners, eventually ending up in the slums of the Outer Rim moon Nar Shaddaa. Possessing expertise in handling beasts, Malakili trained fierce creatures known as gugverms to prevent them from stealing from local food vendors. Over time, the gugverms became Malakili's companions, friends, and protectors. Eventually, Malakili secured employment as a beastmaster for traveling Hutt circuses, including Circus Horrificus, where he tamed and trained a diverse range of creatures, such as sand dragons, kill-wings, costumed womp rats, and eventually rancors, monstrous beings that no one else could control. His circus career came to an end after a performance on Nar Shaddaa, when one of the dangerous animals escaped and killed members of the audience.

As a consequence of this incident, Malakili was enslaved and, by 0 BBY, was sold to Jabba Desilijic Tiure, a Hutt crime lord residing on the desert planet Tatooine. Serving as a caretaker at Jabba's Palace, Malakili was tasked with tending to Jabba's collection of creatures, which included the Hutt's prized male rancor, Pateesa, whose name was derived from the Huttese word for "friend." Pateesa's purpose was to eat prisoners, and Malakili would care for the wounds he sustained while doing so. During his time at Jabba's Palace, Malakili grew deeply attached to the rancor, and he, along with the Kadas'sa'Nikto Giran, considered Pateesa to be their favorite of Jabba's creatures. Pateesa also had a fondness for Malakili, and one day, when the beastmaster was attacked by Tusken Raiders, the rancor intervened and saved his life. While residing at Jabba's Palace, Malakili developed a sense of sympathy for Pateesa and began to plan their eventual escape together.

Shortly before the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Jedi Luke Skywalker, a commander within the Alliance to Restore the Republic, attempted to negotiate a bargain with Jabba in order to save the life of his captured friend, Han Solo. Jabba rejected the offer and deceived the Jedi, who, along with the Gamorrean guard Jubnuk, fell through a trapdoor that led to the palace's rancor pit. While the guard was immediately devoured by Pateesa, Skywalker managed to evade the beast's claws and ran beneath the pit's gate towards a windowed back door. Upon reaching the exit, Skywalker discovered that it was locked from the other side and could not be opened. Malakili and Giran were in the adjacent chamber, playfully fighting over their dinner, and when Skywalker attempted to open the barred gate, the two laughed at the rebel and used spears to force him away.

As the rancor approached Skywalker, the cornered Jedi picked up a skull and used the Force to propel it towards the gate's utility panel. The bone struck the button, causing the panel to short-circuit and release the gate down upon the rancor's head, crushing its skull. In shock, Malakili opened the door, pushed Giran and Skywalker aside, rushed to Pateesa's side, and wept upon discovering that he was dead. Whimpering, Malakili turned away from the fallen beast, placing an arm around Giran for comfort.

Following the rancor's death, Jabba ordered that Skywalker and his companions be taken to the Dune Sea and executed in the Great Pit of Carkoon, the home of a sarlacc, a dangerous creature and one of Jabba's favorite pets. While Jabba departed aboard his sail barge, the Khetanna, to witness the execution, Malakili remained in the palace with several others. However, the rebels managed to escape, killed Jabba, and destroyed the sail barge, leaving the palace residents uncertain about their next course of action. The inhabitants of Jabba's Palace speculated that a new Hutt would arrive to take control of the castle, so Malakili stayed, awaiting the arrival of his new employer.

As time passed, the palace began to experience shortages of food and water, but Malakili and many other residents remained. Some of the palace dwellers came to the realization that no Hutt would be arriving, which led to rumors that changes in the galaxy had triggered infighting among the Hutts in an underworld war. As many of the occupants departed, Malakili became one of the last to remain in the otherwise deserted fortress, but eventually, he too left, leaving behind the palace and the lifeless carcass of Pateesa.

Feeling that he had no purpose without Pateesa and his other creatures, Malakili headed towards the Great Pit of Carkoon, creating an ultimatum for himself: either successfully tame the sarlacc or commit suicide by throwing himself into the monster's mouth. Upon reaching the sarlacc, he discovered that it was injured; the destruction of the Khetanna had caused burning wreckage to fall upon the creature, partially exposing its massive body from the sand, and Jawas had cut open its stoma-tubes to scavenge weapons, armor, droids, and tools. Upon seeing the sarlacc wailing, unable to defend itself from pillagers and deprived of its sole purpose, Malakili sympathized with the creature and wept.

In 5 ABY, several months after Jabba's death, Malakili wandered toward the town of Mos Pelgo. Along the way, he was discovered by two thugs from the Red Key Raiders, a criminal organization that posed as a mining company. Malakili attempted to flee from the gang, but he was older and slower than before, and the thugs quickly caught up, knocking him to the ground and rummaging through his few possessions. One of the thugs seized Malakili's waterskin, consumed the remaining contents, and introduced himself as Bivvam Gorge. Gorge declared that the area was under the control of the Red Key, and that the syndicate's leader, Lorgan Movellan, was entitled to a share of Malakili's belongings. A blaster bolt then struck and killed Gorge, and the remaining thug began firing at the attackers before being shot himself. Malakili feared that the gunmen were also raiders, so he pretended to be dead.

The new arrivals, a human man and a Twi'lek woman, approached Malakili, introducing themselves as Cobb Vanth and Issa-Or. Vanth explained that he was a lawman and the de facto mayor of Mos Pelgo, which had been renamed Freetown. When the pair asked Malakili if he possessed any skills, he stated that he was useless without his creatures. Issa-Or inquired whether Malakili was a beastmaster, and he confirmed that he was. Upon hearing this, Vanth offered Malakili a job taming rontos, which the trainer accepted. When asked if he could train a Huttlet, the beastmaster replied that he could teach one and agreed to work with Vanth in Freetown. Feeling a renewed sense of purpose, Malakili taught the Huttlet, whom he named Borgo, in Freetown. Vanth, acting as Freetown's sheriff, was wary of the Red Key's growing power, so he made a deal with a group of Tusken Raiders, who agreed to leave Freetown alone in exchange for water. To complete the deal, Malakili procured a krayt dragon pearl, gifting it to the Tusken Raiders in exchange for their protection.

Several months into Malakili's stay, the alliance was put to the test when an army of Red Key Raiders, led by Movellan, attacked Freetown. During the raid, Malakili was chained up by Movellan's thugs, and he, along with Vanth and Borgo, was dragged into the town's center. As Movellan prepared to kill them, Vanth signaled Malakili with a nod and a wink, and the beastmaster returned the nod, instructing Borgo to alert the Tuskens. However, Trayness, a Red Key thug, struck Malakili in the head with a club, causing him to clutch the bleeding wound and fall to the ground. Responding to Malakili's order, the Huttlet released a howl, and soon after, the town's front gates opened as a Tusken riding a massive bantha charged towards the Red Key thugs. As more Tuskens arrived, Malakili used a magna-driver to remove his and Vanth's shackles, and the lawman attacked Movellan, declaring that Freetown would never surrender.

Sometime after the skirmish, Malakili was reunited with Porcellus, the former head chef of Jabba's Palace. The two became business partners, and they eventually relocated to Mos Eisley, where they established the Crystal Moon Restaurant.

A native of Corellia, Malakili was a swarthy, stocky human with [blue](/article/color] eyes. Possessing a large and robust physique, he stood at a height of 1.72 [meters](/article/meter], or five [feet](/article/foot] and eight inches, and had a mass of 95 [kilograms](/article/kilogram]. Although the Corellian was naive, brutish, tough, crude, and antisocial, he displayed tenderness and compassion towards animals, caring deeply for all of his creatures. He felt a stronger connection to his creatures the uglier and more vicious they were. Malakili cared most of all for the rancors, whom he considered precious, and he took pleasure in working with them. When Pateesa, the human's favorite creature, was killed, he wept in shock. After the deaths of Pateesa and Jabba, Malakili thought that Luke Skywalker was a lucky fool and that the Jedi's rebel friends were cruel.

Having abandoned Jabba's Palace, Malakili considered feeding himself to Jabba's sarlacc as a means of committing suicide. Upon finding the creature severely wounded, the beastmaster sympathized with the monster, as its only purpose had been taken from it, and he wept for its fate. Malakili believed that his sole purpose in life was working with animals, and he felt useless without his creatures. As he wandered the deserts of Tatooine, the beastmaster felt like a scrap of cloth or piece of trash being blown across the sand without destination or meaning, and he believed he was going to die. After Cobb Vanth rescued Malakili from Red Key Raiders, the sheriff told him that he looked familiar, but the Corellian responded that he was no one. Malakili added that he had no value or use to Vanth, and he told the man to kill him.

When Issa-Or inquired if Malakili was a beastmaster, the human thought he was undeserving of the word "master," but he acknowledged that he trained beasts. Once Vanth offered Malakili a job in Freetown, the beastmaster felt that he had found a new purpose, and he felt the darkness inside of his heart be replaced with light. Malakili stayed in Freetown for months, and during the raid on Freetown, he felt gleeful, despite receiving injuries.

Despite being a slave to Jabba, Malakili saw the Hutt as an employer who provided him with food, a home, and a purpose. However, he felt hatred towards the Hutt for how he treated Pateesa. When Vanth and Issa-Or introduced themselves as law enforcers, the former slave did not believe them, nor did he believe there could be any law on Tatooine without the Hutts. Malakili considered the Hutts sentient beings, not pets, and he thus corrected Vanth after being asked if he could train a Huttlet, remarking he could instead teach one. Once Vanth reworded the proposition, the beastmaster accepted. Later, Malakili named the Huttlet Borgo, and during the raid on Freetown, the beastmaster comforted Borgo using a singsong voice.

Skilled with animals from a young age, Malakili trained vicious gugverms on Nar Shaddaa to stop stealing from food stores, and with time the creatures became his pets, friends, and protectors. The human was hired as a beastmaster for Hutt circuses, and he trained a variety of creatures, including sand dragons, kill-wings, womp rats, and rancors, the latter of which no one else could tame. During his slavery to Jabba, Malakili worked with the Hutt's creatures, including the rancor Pateesa. The slave befriended the rancor and tended wounds he received, and Pateesa saved Malakili's life during a Tusken Raider attack. Malakili was not Force-sensitive, and was not talented in speed or diplomacy. He did, however, have above-average intelligence and strength and moderate fighting ability.

While wandering the Tatooine desert, Malakili was rescued from Red Key Raiders by Vanth and Issa-Or, and the Corellian played dead, a trick he had learned from many of his creatures. The human was able to gather a krayt dragon pearl, which he gifted to Tusken Raiders in exchange for their protection.

As a rancor keeper, Malakili wielded a gaderffii stick, and he used cages for transporting young rancors. Additionally, Malakili's sleeping quarters in the palace were connected to the rancor pit, and the room was equipped with a device capable of stunning the beast into submission. At the time of Skywalker's arrival, Malakili wore a dark, sweat-soaked rag belt, ancient circus pants, a brown headdress, spiked armbands, and wrist guards.

While wandering in the desert, Malakili wore a hood and carried a satchel that contained a waterskin, a lucky braid of bantha fur and teeth, a small water shiv made out of dewback bone, and a few droid gears and shiny chits to pay off Jawas or Tusken Raiders. During the skirmish in Freetown, Malakili used a magna-driver to remove Vanth's shackles.

Malakili made his debut in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, which served as the concluding chapter of the Star Wars original trilogy. The character was conceived by George Lucas, who was fond of the idea of someone loving the rancor despite the rancor easily being one of the "worst, most horrible monsters" anyone could imagine. Malakili was initially envisioned as an alien, but he was later changed to a human. Creature designer Phil Tippett was tasked with articulating the alien mask to cry for the scene of the rancor's death, but on October 30, 1981, Tippet was informed via telex that the mask would no longer need to be articulated due to the filmmakers' decision to change the keeper's species, which led to Malakili's original mask being used for Wooof instead. In December 1981, Malakili's costume concept was finalized by Nilo Rodis-Jamero. The costume was fabricated by costume makers in the U.S., and the outfit was modeled by Ira Keeler, a modelmaker at Industrial Light & Magic. Reference photography of Keeler in the costume was sent to the costume department in England.

Malakili's on-screen presence was brought to life by Paul Brooke, while his distinctive sobbing sounds were voiced by Ernie Fosselius. It's interesting to note that neither Brooke nor Fosselius received screen credit for their contributions. Ben Burtt, the sound designer, revealed that Fosselius drew inspiration for Malakili's sobs from the comedic stylings of early film star Stan Laurel. Film critics generally gave Malakili's brief performance high marks, and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times pointed out that it's these kinds of details, like Malakili's emotional state, that elevate the Star Wars movies beyond simple space operas.

Although Malakili was simply referred to as the "human rancor keeper" in the production notes for Return of the Jedi, his name was later established in the Star Wars Legends continuity through the Star Wars Roleplaying Game. In the current Star Wars canon, the name "Malakili" first appeared in the mobile game Star Wars: Force Collection, which debuted in 2013. Even though Force Collection launched before the 2014 canon reset, Leland Chee of the Lucasfilm Story Group confirmed that the game was kept in line with the established canon through updates.

Beyond his appearance in Return of the Jedi, Malakili also featured in Star Wars: Galactic Defense, a tower defense mobile game that was released in 2014 but discontinued in 2016. In Galactic Defense, Malakili, along with Luke Skywalker, could be unlocked as Champions during the limited-time "Enter the Pit" event. Players who acquired Malakili could deploy him on missions, utilizing his Champion Skill to summon a young rancor to aid in battling enemy forces. According to Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Head-to-Head, a reference book for young readers authored by Pablo Hidalgo, Malakili would likely be defeated in a hypothetical fight against Bobbajo, a Nu-Cosian storyteller who trained various creatures. In 2015, Chuck Wendig, the author of the novel Aftermath, expressed his interest in potentially writing stories centered around Omi, Chief Chirpa, or Malakili. Subsequently, Wendig included Malakili in the remaining books of The Aftermath Trilogy, featuring the character in interlude chapters of both Aftermath: Life Debt and Aftermath: Empire's End.

Malakili is a character in the 2022 video game LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Within the game, the assassin droid IG-88 is found in Mos Eisley, where he inquires with the player about the whereabouts of an escaped rancor keeper. He explains that Malakili absconded during the commotion at Jabba's palace, and he has been tasked with apprehending him. He then enlists the player's help in the quest titled "Green Harvest."

Following IG-88's instructions, the player engages with local residents to gather information about Malakili's location, relaying the details to IG-88. A Gran informs the player that they overheard someone discussing a rancor in the cantina recently. Upon entering Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina, an Aqualish reveals to the player that the rancor keeper had been there and spoke with the owner of a market stall near the Dowager Queen. The Twi'lek at the market confirms this, stating that the keeper mentioned opening a restaurant in Mos Eisley. The player and IG-88 reconvene at the restaurant, and IG-88 forcefully breaches the entrance. Malakili welcomes them into his Crystal Moon Restaurant, inquiring about their orders. The droid attempts to capture Malakili, who explains that he assumed Jabba's death meant he was free from his employment, prompting IG-88 to realize that he will not be compensated for his bounty hunting efforts. The droid decides to leave Malakili to his tato wraps. Completing this quest unlocks IG-88 as a character available for purchase.

After the quest is completed, the player can converse with Malakili, who expresses sadness over the loss of Pateesa and then reveals that he now runs a meat-free, creature-friendly restaurant. He explains that Tatooine lacks a diverse selection of vegetables and requests the player to procure some for him in the quest "Vegetable Variety." He specifically asks for chak-root from Naboo and chyntucks from Kashyyyk. Once the vegetables are obtained, the player delivers them to Malakili, who then contemplates the dishes he can create with them. He fondly recalls how Pateesa enjoyed a sweet chyntuck blossom with chak-root sauce. Malakili expresses his gratitude to the player and offers them complimentary meals at his restaurant. This concludes the quest and unlocks Malakili as a character that can be purchased.