Mawhonic, hailing from the planet Hok, was a Gran male who achieved notoriety as a podracer pilot. His distinctive three eyes provided him with a competitive edge over his fellow racers. Piloting a GPE-3130 Podracer, he participated in the renowned Boonta Eve Classic race held on the desert planet Tatooine in 32 BBY. This Gran pilot was widely regarded as a formidable rival to Sebulba, the favored pilot expected to secure victory. Before the race commenced, Mawhonic acknowledged the spectators in the Mos Espa Grand Arena with a bow. His advantageous pole position on the starting grid afforded him an excellent initial burst.
Maintaining a close pursuit of Sebulba at the forefront of the pack, Mawhonic held his position until the racers reached the Mushroom Mesa during the initial lap. At this juncture, Mawhonic's attention wavered from the track as he directed an angry fist shake towards Sebulba, who had intentionally collided with his vehicle. Sebulba seized this opportunity to maneuver the Gran's vehicle into a collision with a cliff face, resulting in the explosion of one of its engines against the rock wall and Mawhonic's subsequent elimination from the race.
Originating from the planet Hok, Mawhonic, a Gran of middle-class standing, epitomized the podracer culture of the Outer Rim Territories. Engaging in the trade of spare parts with Hutts, he eschewed the currency of the Galactic Republic and operated outside its legal framework. In 32 BBY, he entered the Boonta Eve Classic race on the desert world of Tatooine. His representation was symbolized by a green flag adorned with yellow accents in the lower right and upper two corners, complemented by a black stylized cross positioned above the lower left. Having risen to prominence as a podracer, he was perceived by astute followers of the sport as a genuine threat to Sebulba, the racer anticipated to claim victory.
Piloting a green GPE-3130 Podracer, he occupied the coveted nearside pole position on the front row of the starting grid within the Mos Espa Grand Arena. He stood beside his vehicle as two Gran mechanics performed pre-race preparations. Subsequently, a human carried Mawhonic's standard in a procession showcasing the flags of the various competitors as they traversed the starting line. Upon the announcement of Mawhonic's name by the race's commentator, Fodesinbeed Annodue, the Gran bowed in acknowledgment of the cheering spectators in the grandstands. With the commencement order issued by the event's host, the crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, Mawhonic and his fellow racers boarded their vehicles, initiating their engines as their respective crews vacated the racetrack.
As soon as Jabba signaled the start, the racers surged forward from the starting line. Mawhonic's advantageous grid position enabled him to secure an excellent initial acceleration, positioning himself closely behind the leading racer, Sebulba, who had started alongside Mawhonic and was favored to win. Navigating the circuit, the racers traversed the Waldo Grade before entering the Mushroom Mesa. Here, Sebubla rammed his vehicle into the side of Mawhonic's pod, prompting the Gran to unleash a curse in Huttese while shaking his fist at his rival.
Sebulba responded with a taunt and executed a second ramming maneuver, forcing Mawhonic's vehicle into a collision with a cliff face. Although the podracer rebounded from the wall, Sebulba pressed his advantage, driving Mawhonic into the wall a final time as the Gran attempted to evade him. This resulted in the GPE-3130's left engine crashing into the wall and exploding. Mawhonic's repulsorpod remained attached to the remnants of the destroyed engine, spinning out of control, while the detached second engine continued forward independently, eventually plummeting to the desert floor and disintegrating as it tumbled through the sand.
Having swiftly eliminated his Gran adversary during the opening lap, Sebulba gloated over Mawhonic's misfortune, yet ultimately succumbed to his own crash before Anakin Skywalker secured the race victory. Overall, the Gran was the second racer to be eliminated from the Boonta Eve Classic, surpassing only the amateur pilot Ben Quadinaros, who failed to even leave the starting grid. Mawhonic was later mentioned in an artist's journal, which was restored, expanded, and displayed at the Graf Archive sometime after 34 ABY.
Mawhonic stood among Tatooine's elite podracer pilots, harboring aspirations of triumph in the Boonta Eve Classic. However, his ambitions were thwarted when his focus shifted from the track to his competitors within the treacherous Mushroom Mesa, a section demanding unwavering concentration due to the potential for shadows and intense light to distort depth perception. By neglecting the necessary caution when confronting an opponent like Sebubla, the Gran steered his vehicle too close to a cliff face, affording his rival the opportunity to eject him from the race. Mawhonic possessed pink skin and three prominent, black eyes, with his tri-ocular vision proving advantageous for split-second timing during races. Furthermore, his ability to perceive a broader spectrum of light than most adversaries provided him with a competitive edge. The Gran male stood at a height of 1.22 meters (four foot).
During his participation in the Boonta Eve Classic, Mawhonic donned a set of metallic gray armor, proudly displaying his two stomachs encased within a textured armor plate. The ensemble also incorporated wrist guards, shoulder guards, leg guards, and a purple and gray jumpsuit overlaid with netting beneath the armor.
Crafted by Galactic Power Engineering, Mawhonic's GPE-3130 Podracer was a visually unconventional and relatively unpopular model engineered primarily for speed. While affordable and formidable on open, high-speed tracks characterized by long straightaways and gentle curves, its twin ThrustMaster 9000 aerospike rocket engines utilized extremely volatile fuel prone to detonation at the slightest provocation. The vehicle's power control curve and overall speed rendered it exceptionally difficult to manage, particularly in sharp turns and confined spaces. The cockpit was also notoriously uncomfortable, featuring an unintuitive control layout that obscured critical information such as altitude and airspeed from the pilot's view.
Mawhonic made his debut in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, part of the prequel trilogy. He was brought to life by Mark Coulier, distinguishing him as the sole alien podracer in the film portrayed by an actor in costume, while the others were realized through puppets or digital effects. Nevertheless, a low-resolution computer-generated model of Mawhonic was also created for cockpit shots during racing sequences. Mawhonic's podracer was also among the few full-scale vehicles constructed for filming the starting grid sequence, enabling Coulier to occupy the reclining seat atop the vehicle. The starting grid scenes were captured in Chott el Gharsa, Tunisia, between August 5 and 6, 1997.
Deleted scenes from the film showcase additional footage of Mawhonic waving to the crowd from his repulsorpod as the racers ignite their engines. He is also depicted revving his engines shortly before the race's commencement. Mawhonic's mask was conceived by special effects artist Nick Dudman and his team, who drew inspiration from the Gran mask created for the character Ree-Yees featured in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Dudman's team employed techniques mirroring those used for the original mask while incorporating state-of-the-art radio-controlled animatronics to enhance the character's expressiveness in close-up shots. Multiple Gran masks were produced for the film, with several others utilized for members of Mawhonic's pit crew. One of the fabrics incorporated into Mawhonic's costume was developed by a textile student who integrated latex and pebbles hand-picked from the English seashore. As the character's scenes were filmed in the Tunisian desert during the height of summer, the pebbles would eject from the costume at increasingly perilous velocities as the fabric heated under the sun's intensity.
Mawhonic of Hok appeared in the film's script as early as the revised rough draft. Initial conceptual art depicted him as a multi-eyed species, with Terryl Whitlatch creating a piece on August 23, 1996, and Jay Shuster creating pieces on September 12 and 19, 1996. This design was used in storyboards and animatics before being replaced with the Gran design. Later art depicted Mawhonic as a thin Gran. Mawhonic's final design was far more corpulent, along with how Gran were portrayed in general throughout the Prequel trilogy. The 2016 reference book Star Wars: Complete Locations mistakenly uses Ben Quadinaros' flag for Mawhonic, while assigning the Gran's flag to Ratts Tyerell.
Mawhonic appears in the non-canon LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures episode "Race on Tatooine," which was broadcast on July 18, 2016. In this episode, he is shown participating in the 29th Annual Bricklayers' Classic podrace on Tatooine. During the race's second lap, the bounty hunter Dengar approaches Mawhonic's pod from behind in the stolen IPG-X1131 LongTail of Teemto Pagalies and then jumps onto the back of the Gran's repulsor pod. From there, Dengar leaps to the engine of another pod and continues to jump between vehicles in pursuit of the Freemakers, a family also competing in the race. During the pursuit, Dengar leaps on and off Mawhonic's pod again, surprising the Gran, before reaching his target. However, the Freemakers ultimately win the race.
Mawhonic is also featured in "Exit from Endor," the premiere episode of LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales, which aired on July 6, 2015. This episode offers a non-canon reimagining of The Phantom Menace, depicting Mawhonic surviving into the second lap of the Boonta Eve Classic, trailing just behind Sebulba. Skywalker then overtakes the Gran, who collides his engines into podracer. However, Skywalker swings his engines back, sending Mawhonic spiraling into the sky, where the Gran emits a Wilhelm scream before his podracer explodes. Debris from the vehicle then lands in the sand around a sunbathing Obi-Wan Kenobi.
In the 2022 non-canon video game LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Mawhonic participates in the Boonta Eve Classic, mirroring his appearance in the film, but crashes before reaching the Mushroom Mesa. Players can find him in the streets of Mos Espa, where he offers the mission "Pod Parts Procurement." He laments that Sebulba consistently destroys his podracer during competitions and tasks the player with retrieving super tough bone from the planet Utapau to construct a new vehicle. In Pau City on Utapau, players collect three bone fragments that have fallen from the city's ossic architecture.
These fragments, while more brittle than typical Utapauan bone, are accepted by Mawhonic, who thanks the player and encourages them to watch for his new bone pod in the next Boonta Eve Classic. While brainstorming names for the vehicle, he suggests "Skele-torque" and "Rib-osine," ultimately dismissing the former as terrible.
Upon completion of the quest, Mawhonic becomes available for purchase as a playable character. His in-game description characterizes him as dynamic but lacking the ability to defeat Sebubla, and notes that his podracer features an uncovered pod for enhanced visibility. In the game, Mawhonic frequently ends sentences with "see."