Zuckuss

Zuckuss, an insectoid being distinguished by his compound eyes, was a male Gand with Force-sensitivity born on Gand, his species' homeworld. As a traditional findsman of the planet, he utilized ancient mystic practices for tireless tracking until those traditions began to fade. After failing to secure a T'karra flower from a charon's nesting area, he was judged to have failed a findsman rite, leading to his expulsion from his clan. Becoming one of the first to venture beyond Gand's dense, toxic atmosphere, he used a respirator to inhale ammonia while operating in the oxygen-rich environments of the wider galaxy. He became a bounty hunter, taking on lucrative assignments that capitalized on his exceptional tracking abilities, making him a highly sought-after hunter. He frequently collaborated with 4-LOM. Despite some feeling uneasy about Zuckuss's unusual talents, he and 4-LOM proved to be a formidable team. They traveled aboard the Mist Hunter, which Zuckuss filled with gasses reminiscent of his home planet.

One of the initial tasks Zuckuss undertook with 4-LOM involved hunting down Culisetto doctor Cribiriz Idollax at the request of Deva Lompop. After overcoming Idollax's droid bodyguards, Zuckuss would kill the doctor by bisecting him with his snare rifle. Subsequently, Zuckuss and 4-LOM agreed to divide the bounty equally. Unbeknownst to them, the doctor they eliminated was actually Sribiriz, Cribiriz's brother, prompting Cribiriz to seek vengeance against the bounty hunters.

In 9 BBY, Zuckuss and 4-LOM apprehended Beris Ford, a minor criminal, holding him captive on their ship with the intention of using the reward money to cover tractor beam repairs. Weeks later, the hunters accepted a bounty from Rekias Nodo on Han Solo and confronted him at Valtos Space Port. Zuckuss used his snare rifle to fire a stun net, incapacitating the smuggler, and then he and 4-LOM transferred Han's cargo to the Mist Hunter, where they imprisoned him alongside Ford. Sensing a disturbance in the Force, Zuckuss investigated the stolen cargo only to be ambushed by Chewbacca, who emerged from one of the containers and struck him with a stun net from his own rifle. Zuckuss was left bound while the Wookiee freed Han and Beris, and the scoundrels escaped back to the Millennium Falcon with their cargo. However, the hunters gave chase, and after a skirmish, Zuckuss pursued the Falcon into space.

Following Solo and Chewbacca to an uncharted planet, Zuckuss again felt something amiss, but 4-LOM pressed on through a dense cloud layer until their ship's systems—and 4-LOM himself—abruptly shut down, forcing them to crash-land on a beach. Zuckuss became trapped in the wreckage and called to Solo for assistance in freeing his legs, though he placed stuncuffs on Solo once he was within reach. However, the planet's technology-disrupting effects caused the cuffs to release Solo, who then abandoned Zuckuss in his predicament. After Solo and Chewbacca discovered an energy projector emitting an immobilizer beam, Zuckuss attacked them with local spears as they scaled the tall mast. Chewbacca dislodged the projection sphere from the top, causing it to plummet onto the beach below, which triggered the emergence of mechanical drones from the sand that attacked all three intruders.

To avoid the scorpion-droids, Zukuss, Solo, and Chewbacca ascended the projector. The trio battled the droids until 4-LOM reactivated. After 4-LOM destroyed several of the scorpion droids, the four made their way to the ocean and swam to the Falcon. Once airborne, Zuckuss and 4-LOM demanded that Solo transport them to Nodo to collect the bounty on Solo. Han then manipulated a lever on the Falcon, causing the ship to plummet back to the planet. This led 4-LOM and Zuckuss to believe the Falcon had entered another dampening field, and they sought a means of escape. When Solo mentioned there were only two Anti-grav chutes available, Zuckuss and 4-LOM stunned Solo and Chewbacca. The pair then jumped from the Falcon, but Zuckuss realized that Solo had tricked them once more. The two bounty hunters were left on the planet, vulnerable to the scorpion-droids.

Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, Darth Vader enlisted Zuckuss, alongside Krrsantan, IG-90, Dengar, Chanath Cha, Beebox and C-21 Highsinger, to locate and retrieve Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra, who had been captured by the Rebel Alliance.

Following the Battle of Hoth, Vader once again hired him, this time to track down the Millennium Falcon and capture its occupants alive. However, the Empire, aided by Boba Fett, soon located and captured the passengers on Cloud City.

Zuckuss and 4-LOM soon became aware of a bounty placed on Cadeliah, who was traveling with the cyborg bounty hunter Beilert Valance. Determined to capture the girl, they followed Valance to the Spur Orbiting Market, where they briefly clashed. Valance managed to injure the findsman and escaped to bring the girl to Lowik. The insect-headed duo pursued Valance to the forest world and once again clashed with the cyborg, but this time also against members of the Rebel Alliance. Zuckuss deployed a cache of super battle droids to deal with the Rebel soldiers while he searched for the girl. After incapacitating Yuralla Vega and stunning Cadeliah, Zuckuss made off with his prize but was stopped in front of the Mist Hunter by Valance. Valance bought 4-LOM and Zuckuss off his trail by giving them a Fire ruby. They left soon after, Zuckuss vowing the two would resume their hunt in three rotations.

Continuing their pursuit, the duo eventually caught up with Valance and his new partner Dengar in the Y'Toub System, engaging in a brief dogfight through an Asteroid field before the Corellian bounty hunter brokered a truce with 4-LOM and Zuckuss. This agreement involved providing information about the bounty Jabba the Hutt had recently placed on Boba Fett, and his location on Nar Shaddaa. Following this exchange, the two sets of hunters departed the system.

Zuckuss, with 4-LOM's assistance, tracked Boba Fett to Nar Shaddaa and infiltrated his ship, Slave I, in search of Han Solo. Upon Fett's return from a bar, he engaged the duo in a skirmish, displeased that they had disrespected his vessel—and by extension, his father's legacy—by trespassing. Fett won the brawl by activating a hidden bomb onboard the ship, knocking Zuckuss off the platform, with Fett leaving Nar Shaddaa with the head of the disabled 4-LOM.

Left for dead on the moon, the wounded Zuckuss stumbled into Jega's Music Hall and Petting Zoo in Wormstew Town. After meeting with Trot, Zuckuss recounted one of his first jobs with 4-LOM. Zuckuss soon became distracted, sensing 4-LOM outside, and ran out to encounter the rebuilt 4-LOM, controlled by Cribiriz. Jega's Squad fought the monster droid while Zuckuss tracked down the nearby Cribiriz and killed him. Zuckuss then destroyed the device controlling 4-LOM, freeing him. The rebuilt 4-LOM malfunctioned, fleeing into the alleys of Nar Shaddaa, leaving Zuckuss alone.

Following the loss of his friend and partner, Zuckuss sought refuge at the Gand floating sanctuary in the Outer Rim, a place where he could breathe his body's intended ammonia-rich atmosphere. There, he was approached by T'onga and Losha Tarkon to join their crew. Initially hesitant, the Gand bounty hunter eventually agreed and joined the likes of Tasu Leech in the crew whose goal was to find Cadeliah and unite the galactic underworld. Zuckuss's tracking skills quickly proved valuable, as he tracked Valance, who knew the child's location, to Jekara, the site of the Auction for Han Solo. On the icy world, Zuckuss and the crew discovered a tied-up Bossk, feigning death in order to steal Zuckuss's knife to break free. Bossk informed the crew that he knew the location of Valance.

Later, aboard an abandoned Hutt freighter, the reprogrammed 4-LOM lured Zuckuss and the rest of the team into a trap, but they managed to triumph. Zuckuss restored 4-LOM's true programming and the two again worked together as part of T'onga's crew.

Zuckuss, a Force-sensitive being, was a relentless tracker with remarkable abilities that made him a successful bounty hunter. Possessing a sixth sense, he claimed to perceive disturbances in the Force, which his partner 4-LOM dismissed as mere superstition. Early tests by the Inquisitorius suggested that Zuckuss did not register as Force-sensitive according to their measurement methods. However, Andressa Divo believed the Inquisitors' assessment might be incorrect, as he exhibited extrasensory abilities beyond Imperial scientific understanding. Zuckuss referred to himself in the third person. Zuckuss was also a follower of Laromun'rac, a faith denomination originating from the Osia'Kru Brume lowlands.

Zuckuss used a gas mask respirator connected to breather packs to facilitate breathing ammonia in oxygen-rich environments. He wore heavy battle armor beneath his beige findsman body cloak and armed himself with a GRS-1 snare rifle and a knife. He and 4-LOM piloted the modified G-1A starfighter Mist Hunter.

Zuckuss made his debut in the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, portrayed by actress Cathy Munro. Concept artists Ralph McQuarrie and John Mollo designed Zuckuss, and Stuart Freeborn crafted his mask, using bubble wrap packing material to cover the mask's eyes.

In the fourth draft of The Empire Strikes Back screenplay, Zuckuss, then named "Tuckuss," was described, along with Dengar, as a battle-scarred mangy human type. Only Dengar remained human in the final cut of the film. Both his original name and appearance were featured in Donald F. Glut's novelization.

Zuckuss's costume, including the full-head mask, featured cylinders filled with colored water, which required an assistant to help Munroe put on and remove. Munroe described the costume as both hot and restrictive. Between takes, Munroe was provided with a chair on set if she needed to rest. The mask limited her vision to what was directly in front of her and included a tube into which Monroe could blow air to create bubbles in one of the water-filled cylinders on the chest of the costume.

Zuckuss appeared in the LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures Season Two episode "Return to the Wheel," which premiered on August 3, 2017. He and several bounty hunters including Dengar, Bossk, 4-LOM, and IG-88 captured the Freemakers but they escaped after Kordi created a fight between the droid and organic bounty hunters.