Ziro Desilijic Tiure
Ziro Desilijic Tiure, also known as Ziro the Hutt, was a crime lord of the Hutt species and male sex. Holding the title of Master of the Hutt Clan, he exerted control over seven star systems on behalf of the Hutt Clan during the decline period of the Galactic Republic. As a native to the planet Sleheyron, Ziro eventually chose to leave Hutt Space and instead take up residence in the galaxy's Core Worlds, establishing his base of operations on Coruscant, the galactic capital of the Republic. His family consisted of his father and mother, as well as his son Hiro, and Jabba Desilijic Tiure, who was his nephew and the father of the Huttlet heir Rotta. Another influential relative of Ziro was Gorga Desilijic Aarrpo, who served as a member of the Grand Hutt Council.
In 22 BBY, during the early days of the [Clone Wars](/article/clone_wars], Ziro secretly allied himself with Count Dooku, the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Ziro, with the Separatists' assistance, orchestrated the abduction of his great-nephew Rotta, who was then taken to a B'omarr monastery on the distant planet of Teth. Anticipating that the Jedi Order would dispatch members to rescue the Huttlet, Ziro hoped that the deaths of Rotta's would-be Jedi rescuers would instigate a conflict between Jabba and the Republic. With Jabba removed from power, Ziro intended to seize control of their clan.
Senator Padmé Amidala uncovered Ziro's involvement in the conspiracy during the mission to rescue Rotta, confronting the gangster in his Coruscant nightclub. After Rotta was safely returned to his father on Tatooine, Ziro was apprehended by the Coruscant Guard. However, as the war progressed, the Grand Hutt Council deemed Ziro too dangerous to remain in a Republic prison due to his knowledge of their internal affairs. Consequently, the Hutts hired bounty hunter Cad Bane, who freed Ziro and delivered him to the Hutt Council. Despite Ziro's subsequent escape from the Hutts, he was ultimately murdered in 21 BBY by Sy Snootles, a Pa'lowick singer and Ziro's former lover, who had been hired by Jabba to assassinate his uncle and retrieve the Hutt Council records.
Biography
Mama and [Papa](/article/papa] were Ziro's parents, and he was born to them at some point. He had two brothers, one of whom was Jabba Desilijic Tiure's father, and the other was named Ebor. During his lifetime, he had a relationship with Sy Snootles, a dancer working for his nephew Jabba. However, Ziro ended this relationship and relocated to Coruscant. From his nightclub, Ziro managed his criminal organization. At some point, Ziro fathered a son named Hiro. Eventually, Ziro was granted the title of Master of the Hutt Clan for seven star systems.
Clone Wars
During the [Clone Wars](/article/clone_wars], Ziro struck an agreement with Count Dooku, the Separatist leader. As part of this agreement, [Asajj Ventress](/article/asajj_ventress], Dooku's assassin, would kidnap Rotta, the son of Ziro's nephew Jabba. However, Ziro later learned from Padmé Amidala, a Senator from Naboo, that the Jedi had successfully rescued Jabba's son. Fearing that his role in the kidnapping would be exposed, Ziro contacted Dooku to inform him of Amidala's investigation. Dooku reassured Ziro that Jabba believed his story about the Jedi killing his son. Dooku also assured Ziro that when the Jedi were brought to justice for allegedly killing Jabba's son, Jabba would execute the Jedi responsible, and Ziro would then become the master of all the Hutt Clans. Dooku then instructed Ziro to eliminate Amidala if she continued her investigation.
Ziro, accompanied by his IG-86 sentinel droids, located Amidala. Upon realizing it was Amidala, Dooku informed Ziro that his allies would pay him for delivering her. Ziro agreed to the deal and had Amidala imprisoned in his dungeon, thanking Dooku for the profitable alliance. However, Ziro discovered that Amidala had contacted her protocol droid, C-3PO, for assistance. Consequently, he decided to execute Amidala, confident that his powerful friends in the Republic Senate would protect him. Ziro and his droids were then attacked by Commander Fox and his detachment of the Coruscant Guard, who had been summoned by 3PO. Ziro was then held at gunpoint by Amidala. Ziro pleaded his innocence to Amidala, but to no avail. Ziro contacted Jabba on Tatooine, and Amidala informed Jabba that Ziro was the mastermind behind Rotta's kidnapping. Ziro also confessed that Dooku had assisted in the kidnapping. Jabba vowed that Ziro would face severe punishment.
Imprisonment and revenge on Amidala
Ziro was incarcerated in the Judiciary Central Detention Center. Seeking revenge on Amidala, Ziro hired the bounty hunter Aurra Sing to assassinate her as retribution for thwarting his plot with the Separatists. Sing tracked the Naboo Senator to Alderaan, where she awaited Amidala's speech to fellow senators regarding the refugee crisis resulting from the Clone Wars. Sing attempted to assassinate the senator on two separate occasions, but her efforts were thwarted by Ahsoka Tano, who had been experiencing premonitions of the assassination attempts.
Sing was subsequently taken into custody on Coruscant, with Padawan Ahsoka Tano, Amidala, and Bail Organa present to deliver the assassin to Republic authorities, represented by Grand Master Yoda and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. However, Ahsoka experienced another vision, unknowingly describing the Hutt gangster, which led Amidala to identify Ziro as the ringleader behind the assassination attempts.
Anakin and Ahsoka then traveled to the Republic prison complex to interrogate the Hutt, where Ziro inadvertently confirmed that he had hired Sing to carry out the job. Ziro was left furious after revealing his involvement, vowing to seek revenge on the Jedi and the senator. When Sing failed, Ziro spoke with Skywalker and Tano. When Tano told Ziro that Sing revealed that he paid her, Ziro confessed to hiring her. However, Tano tricked him and his sentence was increased.
Prison release
During this period, Jabba and the Hutt Council were aware that it was only a matter of time before Ziro disclosed the location of the Council's records to the Republic Senate. Consequently, the council decided to hire Cad Bane to free Ziro. Bane and his team successfully held several members of the Republic Senate hostage, compelling Chancellor Palpatine to release Ziro. Ziro was brought out when Senator Orn Free Taa arrived to provide the Detention Center's guards with a pardon disc. Ziro then boarded HELIOS-3D's speeder and was transported to the Galactic Senate Building despite his objections. HELIOS-3D and Ziro then collected Bane's team. After Bane and his group boarded the speeder, Ziro recounted his captivity in the detention center to Bane and expressed his approval of Bane killing off the senators. Ziro congratulated Bane on securing his release, but Bane reminded him that he expected to be paid.
Death
Ziro was taken to Nal Hutta, where he engaged in conversation with Gardulla and the Hutt Council. Despite expressing gratitude for his escape from Republic captivity, Ziro was aware that they did not want him to reveal the location of the Council's records. He threatened to have the records delivered to the Republic senate if he were killed. Consequently, the Council confined Ziro to a prison cell. Ziro managed to escape with the assistance of Snootles. Ziro and Snootles successfully made their escape by stealing a speeder and traveled to Mama's house. Ziro persuaded his mother to provide him with her ship so that he could travel to Teth.
On Teth, Ziro visited his father's grave, where the council records were concealed. However, Snootles had been secretly hired by Jabba to retrieve the records. Snootles then shot Ziro through the chest, leaving his body to be discovered by both the Jedi and Bane.
Legacy
In 19 BBY, prior to Quinlan Vos being dispatched to assassinate Dooku, Obi-Wan Kenobi reflected that the last time they had worked together was during the failed mission to track down Ziro, recalling that they were never able to determine the identity of Ziro's murderer.
Personality and traits
Ziro was a large Hutt of the male sex, with purple skin and emerald green eyes. His body was adorned with glow-in-the-dark cosmetics, and he had a tattoo of a sun on his belly. Before his arrest, Ziro wore a feathered hat and several rings on his fingers. Ziro's length was 3.9 meters, or 12 feet, 10 inches.
Although Ziro understood his native Huttese, he spoke fluent Basic with a high-pitched voice and a slight lisp. Like many Hutts, he was driven by greed and determined to seize control of the Hutt criminal empire by any means necessary, even if it involved blackmailing his relatives. He was also quite fashion-conscious and very flamboyant for a Hutt. Ziro harbored grudges, seeking revenge on Senator Padmé Amidala for exposing his allegiance to the Separatists, leading him to hire bounty hunter Aurra Sing to assassinate her.
Ziro was prone to being over-dramatic, as evidenced by his immediate complaint about his release from prison not occurring at night after being exposed to sunlight for the first time. He even complained to Cad Bane about his time in prison and expressed concern about recovering from his experiences. When his life was threatened, Ziro displayed cowardice by begging for mercy when clone shock troopers arrested him, and again when his ex-girlfriend Sy Snootles held him at gunpoint before murdering him and stealing his holo-diary.
Skills and abilities
As a member of the Hutt Council and the leader of his own criminal organization, Ziro possessed exceptional skills in persuasion and intimidation.
Behind the scenes
Ziro the Hutt made his debut in the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars, with his voice provided by the prolific voice actor Corey Burton. Burton reprised the role in four additional episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Despite Ziro being the first Hutt to speak Galactic Basic Standard onscreen, this was not the original intention. The initial plan was for Ziro to speak Huttese into a microphone, which would then translate his speech into English. However, this idea was abandoned when the producers felt that younger audiences would not understand the translator. Later, George Lucas intervened and specifically requested that Ziro sound like Truman Capote. Due to the character's popularity among the production team, he was brought back for further appearances in the subsequent The Clone Wars series. Ziro's final words, "What a world…", are a reference to the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz", where "What a world" were among the final words spoken by the Wicked Witch of the West, the film's primary antagonist.
Some media outlets criticized Ziro's portrayal in The Clone Wars film as an anti-gay stereotype, but Dave Filoni considered Ziro's sexuality to be ambiguous. Other outlets disputed the characterization of Ziro's traits as offensive stereotypes, with some instead viewing the character as "campiness in a franchise known for being far too self-serious." Continuity experts had also informed Filoni that Ziro, similar to slugs, did not have a sex. However, in the new canon continuity, unlike in Star Wars Legends, the Hutt species does have separate sexes.