Rancor / Legends Rancors were large carnivorous reptomammal s native to the planet of Dathomir . They were usually born brown , but in special circumstances , such as the mutant rancor , jungle rancor , and the bull rancor , their color may have differed . Although found on other worlds such as Lehon — where they were brought by crashed starships — Ottethan , Carida , Corulag , and Felucia , those from Dathomir were said to be stronger and more intelligent than others . They had been used for many things , ranging from mounts for the Witches of Dathomir , to pets for crime lords such as Jabba Desilijic Tiure , to being a source of food , and as a means of entertainment by dropping someone into its pit . Vonnda Ra of the Nightsisters used a stuffed rancor head as a chair . In her youth as a Jedi trainee , Hapan Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo used two trophy rancor teeth for handles to create both her first lightsaber and second lightsaber . Rancors were also the source of the delicacy ( or at least an edible meal ) known as raw rancor - beast liver . Biology and appearance . Warm - blooded rancors fell into the reptomammal category , along with other creatures such as the wampa . Rancors were attracted to other rancor mates by a smell , or a pheromone . While it is known that rancors did care for their young — usually born two at a time — they did not suckle and hatched from eggs like those of a reptile . The 3 meter tall hatchlings rode the mother , one dorsal , one ventral , until reaching maturity , though despite this nurturing nature , it was not entirely unheard of for a mother to eat her young . Rancors walked on two relatively stubby legs , with longer forelimbs utilized for catching prey , though they also walked on all fours at times and had a short tail . A rancor ' s flat face was dominated by a large mouth full of razor - sharp teeth . Although it had sharp teeth , it would often swallow smaller prey ( such as humanoids ) whole . The skin of a rancor was tough enough to deflect blaster bolts , making it an efficient killing machine — and an excellent source of leather for expensive vests and boots . At least on Dathomir , rancors had good night vision , but their eyesight was not as sharp as a Human ' s in daylight . Rancors had a symbiotic relationship with gibbit bird s , an avian species that would clean their teeth , an action that provided the birds with food and the rancors with a form of " dental hygiene . " In rare cases , some rancors were sentient enough to be able to read and write , such as Tosh , herd - mother of a rancor family that belonged to the Singing Mountain Clan on Dathomir . Tosh would try and teach those high skills to other intelligent rancors . History . Dathomir . Though they were usually considered unintelligent beasts , the rancors of Dathomir at least were semi - sentient , caring creatures who mourned their family members when they died , and who passed on oral histories of the matriarchal herds into which these were organized . Their native way of life seems to have been very primitive , using their strength and size to hunt live prey across the planet ' s savannahs — with the planet ' s Human population at one point becoming their primary prey species ; but in the last centuries of the Galactic Republic , the rancor was " domesticated " by the Witches of Dathomir ( though Force - sensitivity was apparently necessary to accomplish the difficult task ) and the symbiosis of rancor sow and female rider seems to have played a major role in dictating the subsequent structure of Dathomiri society . According to the rancors ' own traditions , the symbiosis began when a warrior - woman met and healed an injured female ; by mounting the rancor ' s back , her sharper eyesight enabled it to hunt better prey during the day , so that it grew in size and status to become a mighty herd - mother . By the time of the New Republic , most of Dathomir ' s rancor population lived in symbiosis with the planet ' s Witches of Dathomir clans , being used as mounts , and learning to make and use armor and bladed weapons with their help . Rancors of a clan were marked to show clan ownership , but younger ones were not marked and could basically serve as undercover mounts , belonging to no clan . In the first years of the New Republic , Tosh the herd leader of the Singing Mountain Clan ' s rancors , learned to read and write , and began to pass on this skill to other rancors in her group . Around the years of the Galactic Empire , it was believed that the last herds of untamed mountain rancors were driven into the plains and destroyed ; but a few decades later , a wild herd wandered into the Great Canyon , indicating that a population had survived in the vast tracts of Dathomir ' s surface area that remained unexplored , far beyond the knowledge of the planet ' s Human population . On Dathomir they would often eat pig - like rodents . The wider galaxy . The rancor was relatively well known in the wider galaxy , having spread across various planets with early spacefaring civilizations even before the rise of the Old Republic ; but the rancor ' s homeworld had been forgotten , and its sapience was rarely recognized . Among the planets that housed rancor populations were Carida , Corulag , Dantooine , Ohma - D ' un , Trinta and Regosh . The Jedi Order named the Niman style of lightsaber combat after the rancor . This was a style that was known for being well rounded , with no certain offensive or defensive attributes . This might have suggested something about the rancor ' s predatory style . On a few worlds like Ottethan , rancors were used as mounts by warrior clans as they were on Dathomir . Herds of young rancors roamed wild on Lehon , descended from those brought by the Infinite Empire , and some were domesticated as beasts of war by the Black Rakata under The One . Several of those rancors attacked Revan after he betrayed the promise given to The One to kill the Elder Rakata . Revan also had to fight his way to the Ancient Temple and to the Elder Rakata ' s enclave through rancors who surrounded the former and guarded the latter . While stranded on Taris , the reformed Revan had to pass a rancor in order to infiltrate the Black Vulkars base . He did this by placing a synthetic odor that made the rancor think that its prey was nearby within a pile of corpses , where a grenade was placed . The rancor , grabbing what it thought was food , swallowed the grenade , which exploded in its mouth and killed the beast . Thousands of years later Darth Bane encountered more rancors of Lehon while following Revan ' s path . Rancors were perhaps most closely associated with the criminal underworld , where individual creatures were kept as pets , guards and status - symbols . Rancors were occasionally used for gambling matches , pitting one beast against another or unleashing one upon slaves and seeing which one survived the longest . One such gambling ring existed on Nar Kreeta . Infamous slaver Phylus Mon , who dealt in rancors , also used two crossed rancor claws as the symbol of his organization . Sometimes Phylus Mon used rancors to attack his personal enemies , and sometimes his enslaved Force adepts created illusions of rancors to attack his enemies . Rancors were also kept by such criminals as Nirama , Hlisk Squin , Borvo the Hutt , and the crimelord from Nar Kreeta . The inhabitants of Felucia managed to tame the local rancors in a manner similar to Dathomiri Witches . They also used the rancors as mounts , and the bones of the deceased creatures were made into weapons . In addition , they usually painted the rancors with fluorescent paints to make them look more intimidating . These rancors were used by the Jedi Shaak Ti and Maris Brood . Several of those rancors were slain by Galen Marek during his mission in 2 BBY . The Zann Consortium used many rancors with Nightsisters astride them in their campaign to corrupt the galaxy , most notably Nightsister Silri ' s pet , Cuddles . Perhaps the most famous such rancor was the one owned by Jabba Desilijic Tiure , who kept it in a pit beneath his palace courts , dropping in victims who displeased him in some way in order to feed it . His rancor was cared for by Malakili , a famous beast tamer who had traveled with the Circus Horrificus . Malakili formed an unlikely bond with the animal , even going so far as to sneak the rancor out of Jabba ' s palace for a run in the desert , and wept when the beast was killed by Luke Skywalker . The Galactic Empire attempted to exploit the combat potential of the rancor — perhaps not a great surprise given that a fully grown Dathomiri rancor was capable of single - handedly destroying an entire AT - ST unit . Subspecies . Many subspecies of rancors existed , both on Dathomir and other worlds . Among the subspecies of Dathomiri rancors were the gnarled rancor and the rancor pygmy . Offworld breeds had evolved into such distinct subspecies , such as the amphibious Tra ' cor found on Socorro or the gigantic tyrant rancor . An extremely rare variant was the bull rancor of Felucia , an ancient and near - mythical beast that was marked by its paler flesh , elongated tail and immense horns that sprouted from its massive head . One such rancor was tamed and used as a pet by the Dark Jedi Maris Brood . Several subspecies did not evolve naturally , but were instead bred , using either genetic manipulations or Sith alchemy . One such variant was the jungle rancor , which was quite different from its common brethren and was found on worlds such as Teth . The Sith Lord Quorlac Fornayh used the Sith Alchemy to create Coloi , a rancor with lighter bones and large wings , who had the skin replaced with black metallic plating that could serve as armor . Only one such creature existed and was subsequently destroyed . The reborn Emperor Palpatine also kept several alchemically altered Chrysalide rancors at his citadel on Byss in order to defend it . Other mutant rancors were unique and impossible to classify . In 14 ABY a mutant rancor was bred by the Disciples of Ragnos , who planned on releasing the beast in Taanab cities so that during the chaos they could steal arms , credits , and other needed goods . The beast was much larger than normal rancors , had green capsules on its back , could breathe a stream of green toxic gas , and had an unnatural green hue to its skin . However , once released , the rancor began attacking the Disciples themselves , who were unable to stop it , as the mutant was immune to conventional weapons . Eventually it was killed by the Jedi Jaden Korr , who managed to pin it between a force field and a large crate on a conveyor belt . Another example of a mutant rancor is the Undead Rancor , which was mutated by Imperial Bioweapons Project I71A , and resided on Dathomir in the Imperial Quarantine Zone . This rancor was later killed by a group of spacers . Behind the scenes . The concept for the rancor in " Return of the Jedi " was described by its creators as " a cross between a and a . " It was first to be played by an actor in a suit , but no one was satisfied with the results . The rancor was then made as a rod - operated puppet , filmed with a high - speed camera to slow its movements down to give the illusion of a much larger creature . A combination of matte painting , cartoon rotoscoping , and CG elements were added around the creation to make it look bigger and more menacing . Some of these changes were later omitted or replaced with CG effects in the 2004 DVD release of the original trilogy . In contrast to the rancor ' s classification in other sources , " Star Wars Galaxies " states they ' re a hybrid of a crustacean and an arachnid . Ben Burtt , sound designer for all seven movies , said in the " Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide " that he created the rancor ' s sounds from those of a dachshund .