Zorba Desilijic Tiure

Zorba Desilijic Tiure, a member of the Huttese Desilijic clan, came into existence around 1000 BBY on Nal Hutta. He was the older brother to Jiliac Desilijic Tiron, Pazda Desilijic Tiure, and the conniving Ziro Desilijic Tiure. Zorba, like Pazda, was an anomaly among Hutts, possessing hair due to a rare genetic trait. He sported long, white dreadlocks and a large, braided beard. This unusual characteristic set him apart and was often met with distaste by other Hutts, who considered him a mutant. In addition to his unique appearance, Zorba was a powerful crime lord and a member of the Desilijic kajidic, a prominent Hutt criminal organization within the galaxy. However, he was known for his incompetence as a criminal leader.

By 600 BBY, Zorba had risen to the top of the Desilijic clan. Despite the clan's previous influence, it was facing financial difficulties during Zorba's leadership. His poor planning and organization worsened the situation. Known for his ambitious and reckless schemes, Zorba attempted numerous grand plans that consistently failed, further depleting the clan's resources. Despite his unpopularity among clan members, Zorba maintained control through an iron fist, thwarting any attempts to remove him from power.

As a male Hutt, Zorba fathered several sons, one of whom, Jabba Desilijic Tiure, displayed exceptional criminal talent. Zorba considered Jabba his heir and imparted his knowledge of deception, dealing with smugglers, handling enemies, and controlling slaves. Jabba flourished and established his own criminal organization at a young age. Zorba also engaged in a fierce rivalry with Aruk Besadii Aora of the Besadii clan, with intense mutual hatred. Zorba eventually became a grandparent to Gorga Desilijic Aarrpo and Grubba Desilijic Aarrpo, as well as Jabba's son, Rotta.

Despite being raised by Zorba, Jabba maintained his independence, efficiently managing his own organization in a way that Zorba couldn't match. Nevertheless, Zorba occasionally visited Jabba at his desert palace on Tatooine, where he was always welcomed. In 32 BBY, during one of Zorba's visits, Jabba offered to free one of his slaves, Dorn, and allow him to work for Zorba. To prove his loyalty, Dorn was instructed to recapture the Ghostling children, whom he had previously rescued from Gardulla the Hutt's custody. However, Dorn betrayed Jabba, rescuing the children once again and escaping from Tatooine.

By this point, Zorba was very old, even by Hutt standards. He was over 900 years old, making him one of the oldest Hutts alive. Zorba had also grown weary of leading the Desilijic clan and seeing his plans fail repeatedly. During the Separatist Crisis, Zorba took his starship, the Zorba Express, to the remote planet of Kip in hopes of mining valuable ulikuo gemstones, which were highly sought after for their beauty. Unbeknownst to Zorba, mining these gemstones was illegal on Kip. He was apprehended by local law enforcement, though he managed to conceal his stash of gemstones. Under pressure from the Galactic Republic, which wanted to keep Zorba imprisoned for as long as possible, the Kip government tried him in court and sentenced him to forty-five standard years in the Girigard Subsurface Correctional Facility, a much harsher sentence than usual. Zorba's lawyer, Bequin Fobas, tried to appeal, but Kip had no appeals process. Zorba was imprisoned, and the Republic sent additional resources to prevent his escape.

The Hutt clans were outraged, with many believing Zorba had been framed. Despite his unpopularity, the Hutt Ruling Council attempted to extradite him to Nal Hutta to face charges there, but Kip's local laws prevented this. Zorba's rival, Aruk, publicly expressed his relief that Zorba would no longer tarnish Hutt society. Zorba's few supporters desperately tried to prove he had been set up, but to no avail. Jiliac took over control of the Desilijic clan, and Jabba quickly absorbed much of Zorba's holdings on Nar Shaddaa, Shaum Hii, and Tyne's Horky. Zorba's conviction negatively impacted the Desilijic clan's finances, forcing them to cut funding to many podracing circuits.

Zorba, however, remained unconcerned. He knew his properties and businesses in Hutt Space would be turned over to Jabba, who would manage them far better than he had. Zorba also knew that Hutt law required Jabba to sell the properties back to his parent at cost, making Zorba's imprisonment potentially lucrative. Additionally, forty-five years was insignificant in the long life of a Hutt, making Zorba's imprisonment seem more like a vacation. While in prison, Zorba occasionally sent envoys to clan meetings to represent him. Jabba exceeded Zorba's expectations, usurping Jiliac and becoming the Desilijic leader through unscrupulous tactics. Zorba watched with glee, anticipating his release and retirement on Jabba's hard-earned funds. During his time on Kip, Zorba briefly spoke with an Imperial Grand Moff, but they clashed due to the Grand Moff's low opinion of Hutts and their culture.

In 4 ABY, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, a prominent member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, killed Jabba Desilijic Tiure. The Desilijic clan was thrown into chaos, with many vying for control of his organizations. Eventually, after months of infighting, two Hutts named Kumac and Jelasi rose to the position once held by Zorba. As Kip was so remote, Zorba never received news of this. However, less than a year after Jabba's death, Kip was conquered by alien pirates, and the prisoners of the Girigard Subsurface Correctional Facility were freed in the chaos. The natives of Kip were unable to operate the Zorba Express, so Zorba found it untouched. The old Hutt retrieved his gemstones and set course for his son's residence on Tatooine. Unbeknownst to Zorba, his release had been orchestrated by Ysanne Isard, the Director of Imperial Intelligence and ruler of the Empire, who planned to use Zorba for her own purposes.

Zorba arrived at Jabba's Palace on Tatooine, but the TT-8L gatekeeper droid refused him entry, informing him that the palace was under new ownership. When the droid learned he was a Hutt, it retracted, leaving him with no option but to leave. Confused and furious, Zorba went to the Mos Eisley Spaceport, hoping to find answers about Jabba's whereabouts in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina. The cantina's patrons, including Grand Moff Bertroff Hissa, who was there on Imperial business, and Tibor, a notorious Barabel bounty hunter, told Zorba that Jabba had been strangled to death by his slave, Leia Organa, at Carkoon. Distraught, Zorba vowed revenge on Organa and hired a group of bounty hunters, led by Tibor, to retake Jabba's Palace.

Zorba quickly recovered and began planning how to exploit the situation. No will of Jabba's had been found, so local authorities had seized many of his lucrative properties and operations. However, Zorba knew about Jabba's secret "true will and testament," a holorecording stored in the memory banks of a hidden droid named CB-99. Zorba and his bounty hunter entourage located the droid and recovered the will. In the recording, Jabba stated that he wanted his entire legacy to go to Zorba, including his desert palace, his townhouse in Mos Eisley, and the Holiday Towers at Cloud City on Bespin. While Zorba claimed the will was authentic, many suspected it was a forgery.

In the Zorba Express, the old Hutt and Tibor traveled to Bespin to reclaim Jabba's properties on Cloud City, also the last known location of Leia Organa. En route, Zorba spread the word about Jabba's will among various criminal empires. Lando Calrissian, the Baron Administrator of Cloud City, had taken over the Holiday Towers Hotel and Casino. Despite Zorba's demands, he was denied entry into Jabba's former penthouse suite. Zorba requested an audience with Calrissian, and while waiting, he sampled the sabacc tables at the casino, rarely winning. When Calrissian arrived, Zorba reiterated his demands for the hotel to be handed over. Calrissian refused, but knowing Zorba wouldn't relent, he challenged him to a game of sabacc. If Calrissian won, Zorba would leave the city and never return. If Zorba won, Calrissian would hand over Cloud City and appoint him governor. Zorba insisted on using Jabba's marked deck of cards, which had ultraviolet markings visible to Hutts but not Humans.

Using the marked deck, Zorba defeated Calrissian and won control of Cloud City. He banished Calrissian and immediately took over the city, hoping to revive the tourist trade that had declined. The main obstacle was the "braze" created by a nearby factory barge under the control of Trioculus, a would-be Emperor. Zorba prioritized negotiating with Trioculus to reduce the factory's toxic emissions. Meanwhile, Tibor learned that Leia Organa was on Bespin, held captive by Trioculus. He told Zorba that Trioculus might trade her for Ken, a so-called Jedi Prince wanted by Trioculus who had been apprehended by the Cloud Police. To confirm Ken's identity, Zorba decided to question him. Ken initially refused to cooperate, but a dose of avabush spice, a potent truth serum, and Zorba's careful questions eventually revealed that he was indeed the Jedi Prince.

Zorba arranged a meeting with Trioculus and allowed him to interrogate Ken. Zorba offered to hand over Ken if Trioculus closed down his factory and gave him Organa. Trioculus, who planned to marry Organa, vehemently refused, despite Zorba's protests. Zorba declared them mortal enemies. Each signaled for their security forces to enter the room, but Zorba's Cloud Police outnumbered Trioculus's stormtroopers. Zorba took Trioculus captive and threatened to encase him in carbonite. With Trioculus imprisoned, Zorba led a ragtag fleet of bounty hunter vessels in an attack on the Imperial factory barge where Organa was being held. The ships quickly destroyed the barge. Satisfied that Organa was dead and Jabba avenged, Zorba returned to Cloud City to mock Trioculus. Trioculus vowed that an armada of Imperial ships would destroy Zorba's city, but Zorba encased Trioculus in carbonite and kept him in Cloud City to deter the Imperials from attacking.

Zorba had a replica of Trioculus's carbonite slab placed in the Figg & Associates Art Museum, while he kept the real one on his ship. During his administration of Cloud City, Zorba began planning to turn Jabba's dormant palace into a high-security prison. Shortly thereafter, members of the Central Committee of Grand Moffs rescued a counterfeit slab of carbonite, believing it was Trioculus's body. Zorba's efforts to make Cloud City profitable were failing. Despite destroying the factory barge and reducing the braze, he had lost over eighteen million credits in revenue. His audit droids informed him that most tourists were visiting Hologram Fun World instead of casinos. Zorba gathered his bounty hunter team and went to Hologram Fun World in the Zorba Express, hoping to scare away its visitors.

Zorba, along with his gang, wreaked havoc upon the tourists visiting Hologram Fun World through acts of looting, pillaging, and general destruction. As time passed, droves of tourists ran away, and Tibor managed to pilfer a substantial quantity of valuable gems. During the destructive outburst, the Barabel bounty hunter spotted Leia Organa, accompanied by her betrothed, Han Solo, as they entered a performance by the famous illusionist, Bithabus the Mystifier—she had previously survived the factory barge's obliteration on Bespin. Tibor relayed this information to Zorba, but the Hutt quickly recovered from his astonishment and devised a strategy. One of his bounty hunter associates, Cobak, belonged to the same species as Bithabus; Zorba's underlings seized the magician and provided his attire to Cobak, allowing him to impersonate Bithabus. Cobak successfully coaxed Organa onto the stage and into a cage, which Tibor then transported to the Zorba Express.

Determined to prevent Organa from escaping death once more, Zorba and Tibor made the decision to transport her to Carkoon on Tatooine, the site where she had eliminated Jabba, intending to offer her as sustenance to the sarlacc pit. He engaged in conversation with her for the first time, but Organa remained defiant, asserting that she had acted in self-defense when she killed Jabba; Zorba confined her alongside Trioculus's corpse for the duration of their journey to Tatooine.

As the Zorba Express drew near to Tatooine, it was ambushed by an Imperial warship—the Central Committee of Grand Moffs's Moffship—which utilized a tractor beam to bring Zorba's vehicle to a standstill. The Hutt prepared himself with a handheld ion cannon, while Tibor wielded a pair of blaster pistols, as the Imperial forces commenced boarding. Zorba and Tibor eliminated numerous attacking stormtroopers, but Grand Moff Hissa deployed several smoke grenades, hindering Zorba and Tibor's defensive efforts. Zorba was apprehended and shackled, and the Moffs discovered and revived Trioculus, who threatened to kill Zorba; the Hutt, however, remained calm, aware that he possessed a significant advantage in the form of Leia Organa. Zorba negotiated his freedom in exchange for revealing Organa's location on his ship to the Moffs. After finding her, Trioculus reneged on his agreement—he cast Zorba from the Moffship and into the sarlacc pit. The massive creature consumed the Hutt entirely—however, the combination of the Hutt's size and protective mucus layer triggered a bout of indigestion in the sarlacc. The sarlacc regurgitated Zorba into the darkness of the desert night.

For several days, Zorba wandered the desert without provisions or water, awaiting rescue. Eventually, a Jawa sandcrawler agreed to transport Zorba to Mos Eisley in exchange for one hundred slightly used Spin-and-Win machines from the Holiday Towers casino. In Mos Eisley, Zorba paid a spacer to transport him to Space Station Scardia in the Null Zone—the home of the false Prophets of the Dark Side, who were enemies of Trioculus and the Committee. Zorba intended to offer the Prophets what little information he possessed about Trioculus and the Committee's schemes, hoping to exact revenge on those who had cast him into the sarlacc. Zorba managed to charter a cargo freighter to deliver him to the Prophets, who, upon learning that he had information about Trioculus, welcomed him as an honored guest, hosting a lavish banquet.

Zorba had limited information to share with the leader of the Prophets, Kadann, but he did inform the false Prophet that Trioculus and his allies were seeking the Lost City of the Jedi, and that the Moffs were traitors. While Zorba's information was not particularly useful to the Prophets, he was able to provide a recorded testimony in the illegitimate trial of the Grand Moffs, which was conducted by the Prophets aboard Space Station Scardia. Zorba asserted that they were plotting against Kadann and deserved severe punishment; he also argued that the Committee's leader, Bertroff Hissa, should receive an even harsher sentence for his more egregious crimes. In the end, Hissa met his demise on Yavin 4, Kadann was killed by Grand Admiral Afsheen Makati, and the remaining Moffs were eliminated by Ysanne Isard.

With his plan to assassinate Organa thwarted, Zorba departed from Space Station Scardia and returned to Hutt Space. At some point, Zorba relinquished ownership of Cloud City back to Calrissian, who then entrusted it to the Ugnaught workers who resided there. Zorba's other offspring continued his pursuit of Organa and Solo, placing a substantial bounty on their heads; however, they were unsuccessful, and around 10 ABY, the bounty was withdrawn. Through the Hutt courts, Zorba invoked Jabba's will to claim his son's criminal empire, and control of the Desilijic clan was seized from Kumac and Jelasi. Following Jabba's death, the Besadii clan—led by Durga Besadii Tai—had surpassed Desilijic as the most prosperous of the Hutt clans, and Zorba was unable to restore Desilijic to its former glory.

However, Zorba's final period as a crime lord was brief. Sometime after Zorba assumed control of the clan, the Hutt Grand Council declared Jabba's "true will and testament" to be fraudulent, and Zorba was disgraced. His assets and leadership of the clan were stripped from him by numerous other relatives, leaving Zorba virtually destitute. As the will was deemed false, Zorba retreated into seclusion and was not seen in public for an extended period. Rumors of his death circulated widely and were generally accepted as true.

Zorba Desilijic Tiure held immense pride in his Hutt heritage. He considered Hutts to be a just and honorable species; they treated each other with kindness, even while expecting everyone else to comply with their wishes. He frequently invoked the name of the ancient conqueror, Kossak the Hutt, and it distressed him to hear other sentients speak negatively of Hutts. Zorba was incensed when the gatekeeper droid at Jabba's Palace refused him entry, believing it was due to anti-Hutt prejudice. Zorba also maintained close ties with his family, especially Jabba, although Jabba and Jiliac did not hold Zorba in high regard.

Unlike most Hutts, Zorba did not enjoy overseeing criminal operations and often avoided power—for the nearly 600 years he served as leader of the Desilijic clan, he never truly desired to manage the clan and the family enterprise. Nevertheless, he ruled with an iron fist and thwarted any attempts to supplant him. Zorba possessed an entrepreneurial spirit and was a Hutt brimming with ideas. He constantly sought unconventional methods to expand his criminal empire; he envisioned transforming Jabba's Palace into a maximum-security prison and attempted to develop Bespin into a popular tourist destination. Zorba was utterly incompetent at managing finances and operating his criminal empire, and his outlandish schemes nearly bankrupted Desilijic.

Zorba was almost universally disliked by his fellow Hutts and most non-Hutts. Due to a rare genetic anomaly that gave him a full head of hair, Zorba was frequently ostracized by other Hutts—they considered him impure and unfit for such a prestigious position, and they made no effort to conceal their disapproval. Zorba was a vengeful individual who had no reservations about harming innocent people to achieve his goals. On Bespin, he destroyed an Imperial factory barge, killing all of its workers, in an attempt to assassinate Leia Organa, and he and his associates terrorized visitors at Hologram Fun World to attract them to his casinos in Cloud City.

Zorba the Hutt was conceived by Paul and Hollace Davids for the Jedi Prince series of books aimed at young readers. He made his debut in the third book, Zorba the Hutt's Revenge, serving as the primary antagonist, and he made brief appearances in the subsequent three books in the series, Mission from Mount Yoda, Queen of the Empire, and Prophets of the Dark Side. While the series is generally disregarded by the rest of the Expanded Universe, Zorba has remained prominent in other works. Tom Veitch's Dark Empire endnotes were the first source to mention him, coinciding with the release of Zorba the Hutt's Revenge, and he has since been referenced in A. C. Crispin's Rebel Dawn; numerous Essential Guides; Episode I Adventures 7: Capture Arawynne, by Dave Wolverton; HoloNet News, by Paul Ens and Pablo Hidalgo; a Wizards of the Coast online article titled Hutt! Hutt! Hutt!, which explores his early life; and in Karen Traviss' Star Wars: The Clone Wars novelization.