Malakili Malakili was a human male from the planet Corellia who spent much of his childhood living in the slums of the moon Nar Shaddaa . Having an affinity for animals , Malakili was hired as a beastmaster for Hutt circus es , but he was sold into slavery after a creature got loose and killed audience members . Purchased by Jabba the Hutt , Malakili served as a caretaker to the creatures in Jabba ' s Palace on the desert planet Tatooine . During that time , Malakili became fond of Jabba ' s rancor , Pateesa , and the creature saved his life during a Tusken Raider attack . Sympathizing with Pateesa , Malakili planned to one day escape with the beast . In 4 ABY , Luke Skywalker of the Rebel Alliance arrived at Jabba ' s Palace in an attempt to rescue Han Solo . Skywalker was tricked into Jabba ' s rancor pit , where , to Malakili ' s distress , the rebel killed Pateesa . In the aftermath , Skywalker escaped with Solo , and Jabba was killed . Over the following months , Malakili was one of the last to leave the palace , and he wandered into the Dune Sea toward the Great Pit of Carkoon . Feeling purposeless without his creatures , Malakili considered committing suicide , and he wandered further into the desert . In the desert , Malakili was attacked by the Red Key Raiders , criminals who had risen to power in Jabba ' s absence , but he was rescued by Sheriff Cobb Vanth and Issa - Or , self - proclaimed law enforcers . When the two learned Malakili was a beastmaster , they offered him a job in Freetown to work with ronto s and teach a Huttlet . Malakili accepted the position and felt he had regained purpose . Vanth was concerned about the growing power of the Red Key Raiders , so with Malakili ' s help , the sheriff formed an alliance with a group of Tusken Raiders . Later , when Freetown was attacked by Red Key thugs , the Tusken Raiders arrived to help . Eventually , Malakili was reunited with Porcellus , the former head chef of Jabba ' s Palace . Together , they traveled to Mos Eisley and opened the Crystal Moon Restaurant . Biography . Beastmaster for the Hutts . Malakili was a human male born on Corellia , a planet in the galaxy ' s Core Worlds . Malakili departed Corellia at a young age , winding up in the slums of the Outer Rim moon Nar Shaddaa . Skilled with handling beasts , Malakili spent his childhood training vicious creatures called gugverm s to stop stealing from local food stores ; with time , the gugverms became Malakili ' s pets , friends , and protectors . Eventually , Malakili was hired as a beastmaster for traveling Hutt circus es , such as Circus Horrificus , in which he domesticated and taught a variety of creatures , including sand dragon s , kill - wing s , costumed womp rat s , and eventually rancor s , monstrous creatures no one else could tame . His circus career ended after a show on Nar Shaddaa , when one of the dangerous beasts got loose and killed audience members . As a result of the incident , Malakili was made a slave and , by 0 BBY , was sold to Jabba Desilijic Tiure , a Hutt crime lord on the desert planet Tatooine . Serving as a caretaker in Jabba ' s Palace , Malakili was responsible for tending to Jabba ' s menagerie of creatures , including the Hutt ' s prized male rancor , Pateesa , who was named after the Huttese word for " friend . " Pateesa was purposed with eating prisoner s , and Malakili would tend to the wounds he received doing so . During Malakili ' s time at Jabba ' s Palace , he became very fond of the rancor , and he , along with the Kadas ' sa ' Nikto Giran , considered Pateesa to be their favorite of Jabba ' s creatures . Pateesa also had a fondness for Malakili , and one day , when the beastmaster was attacked by Tusken Raider s , the rancor saved his life . In Jabba ' s Palace , Malakili grew sympathetic toward Pateesa , and he planned to one day escape with the creature . Shortly before the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY , Jedi Luke Skywalker , a commander in the Alliance to Restore the Republic , attempted a bargain with Jabba to save the life of his captured friend , Han Solo . Jabba declined the offer and tricked the Jedi , who , along with the Gamorrean guard Jubnuk , fell through a trap door leading to the palace ' s rancor pit . While the guard was promptly eaten by Pateesa , Skywalker evaded the beast ' s claws and ran under the pit ' s gate toward a windowed back door . When Skywalker reached the exit , he discovered it was locked from the other side and would not open for him . Malakili and Giran were in the adjoining chamber , playfully fighting over their dinner , and when Skywalker tried opening the barred gate , the two laughed at the rebel and used spear s to force him away . As the rancor approached Skywalker , the cornered Jedi picked up a skull , and he used the Force to propel it toward the gate ' s utility panel . The bone smashed the button , causing the panel to short - circuit and release the gate down upon the rancor ' s head , crushing the beast ' s skull . Shocked , Malakili opened the door , rushed to Pateesa ' s side , and wept upon seeing he was dead . Whimpering , Malakili turned away from the fallen beast , placing an arm around Giran for comfort . Leaving the palace . Following the rancor ' s death , Jabba demanded that Skywalker and his friends be taken to the Dune Sea and executed in the Great Pit of Carkoon , the resting place of a sarlacc , a dangerous creature and one of Jabba ' s favorite pets . While Jabba left aboard his sail barge , the " Khetanna " , to witness the execution , Malakili remained in the palace with several others . However , the rebels escaped , killed Jabba , and destroyed the sail barge , leaving the palace residents unsure of what to do . The inhabitants of Jabba ' s Palace said that a new Hutt would come to take the castle , so Malakili remained , waiting for his new employer to arrive . After a time , the palace began to run out of food and water , but Malakili and many other residents still stayed . Some of the palace dwellers realized that no Hutt was coming , creating rumors that changes in the galaxy had caused fighting to erupt among the Hutts in an underworld war . As many of the tenants left , Malakili became one of the last to remain in the otherwise empty fortress , but one day he also left , putting the palace and the unmoved carcass of Pateesa behind him . Feeling purposeless without Pateesa and his other creatures , Malakili set out toward the Great Pit of Carkoon , creating an ultimatum for himself : successfully tame the sarlacc , or commit suicide by throwing himself into the monster ' s mouth . When Malakili reached the sarlacc , he found it was injured ; the " Khetanna " s destruction had sent burning wreckage onto the creature , partially exposing its massive body from the sand , and Jawa s had slit open its stoma - tubes to scavenge weapons , armor , droid s , and tools . Upon seeing the sarlacc wailing , unable to fend off pillagers and deprived of its sole purpose , Malakili empathized with the creature and wept . Finding purpose . In 5 ABY , months after Jabba ' s death , Malakili wandered toward the town of Mos Pelgo . En route , he was found by two thugs of the Red Key Raiders , a criminal syndicate that posed as a mining company . Malakili ran from the gang , but he was older and slower than he once had been , and the thugs quickly caught up , knocking him to the ground and rummaging through his few belongings . One of the thugs took Malakili ' s waterskin , drank what was left , and introduced himself as Bivvam Gorge . Gorge declared that the area was the territory of the Red Key , and that the leader of the syndicate , Lorgan Movellan , deserved his cut of Malakili ' s possessions . A blaster bolt then struck and killed Gorge , and the remaining thug began firing at the attackers before being shot himself . Malakili feared the gunmen were also raiders , so he played dead . The new arrivals , a human man and a Twi ' lek woman , approached Malakili , introducing themselves as Cobb Vanth and Issa - Or . Vanth explained that he was a lawman and de facto mayor of Mos Pelgo , which had been renamed Freetown . When the pair asked Malakili if he had any skills , he stated that he was worthless without his creatures . Issa - Or asked Malakili if he was a beastmaster , and he replied that he was . Hearing this , Vanth offered Malakili a job taming ronto s , which the trainer accepted . Asked if he could train a Huttlet , the beastmaster replied that he could teach one and agreed to work with Vanth in Freetown . Feeling a new sense of purpose , Malakili taught the Huttlet , whom he named Borgo , in Freetown . Vanth , acting as Freetown ' s sheriff , was wary of the Red Key ' s growing power , so he made a deal with a group of Tusken Raiders , who agreed to leave Freetown alone in exchange for water . To complete the deal , Malakili procured a krayt dragon pearl , gifting it to the Tusken Raiders in exchange for their protection . Months into Malakili ' s stay , the alliance was put to use when an army of Red Key Raiders , led by Movellan , attacked Freetown . During the raid , Malakili was chained up by Movellan ' s thugs , and he , along with Vanth and Borgo , was dragged into the town ' s center . As Movellan prepared to kill them , Vanth signaled Malakili with a nod and a wink , and the beastmaster returned the nod , instructing Borgo to alert the Tuskens . However , Trayness , a Red Key thug , clubbed Malakili in the head , causing the man to clutch the bleeding wound and fall . Responding to Malakili ' s order , the Huttlet released a howl , and soon after , the town ' s front gates opened as a Tusken astride a massive bantha charged toward the Red Key thugs . As more Tuskens arrived , Malakili used a magna - driver to remove his and Vanth ' s shackles , and the lawman attacked Movellan , stating that Freetown would never submit . Sometime after the skirmish , Malakili was reunited with Porcellus , the former head chef of Jabba ' s Palace . The two became business partners , and they eventually traveled to Mos Eisley , where they opened the Crystal Moon Restaurant . Personality and traits . Malakili was a Corellian with blue eye s and light skin . Having a giant and burly stature , he stood at a height of 1 . 72 meter s , or five feet , eight inch es , and had a mass of 95 kilogram s . Although the Corellian was naive , brutish , tough , crude , and antisocial , he displayed tenderness and sympathy toward animals , caring deeply for all of his creatures . Malakili cared most of all for the rancors , whom he thought to be precious , and he took joy in working with them . When Pateesa , the human ' s favorite creature , was killed , he wept with shock . After the deaths of Pateesa and Jabba , Malakili thought that Luke Skywalker was a lucky fool and that the Jedi ' s rebel friends were cruel . Having abandoned Jabba ' s Palace , Malakili contemplated feeding himself to Jabba ' s sarlacc as a means of committing suicide . Upon finding the creature severely wounded , the beastmaster sympathized with the monster , as its only purpose had been taken from it , and he wept for its fate . Malakili believed that his sole purpose in life was working with animals , and he felt useless without his creatures . As he wandered the deserts of Tatooine , the beastmaster felt like a scrap of cloth or piece of trash being blown across the sand without destination or meaning , and he believed he was going to die . After Cobb Vanth rescued Malakili from Red Key Raiders , the sheriff told him that he looked familiar , but the Corellian responded that he was no one . Malakili added that he had no value or use to Vanth , and he told the man to kill him . When Issa - Or inquired if Malakili was a beastmaster , the human thought he was undeserving of the word " master , " but he acknowledged that he trained beasts . Once Vanth offered Malakili a job in Freetown , the beastmaster felt that he had found a new purpose , and he felt the darkness inside of his heart be replaced with light . Malakili stayed in Freetown for months , and during the raid on Freetown , he felt gleeful , despite receiving injuries . Despite being a slave to Jabba , Malakili saw the Hutt as an employer who provided him with food , a home , and a purpose . When Vanth and Issa - Or introduced themselves as law enforcers , the former slave did not believe them , nor did he believe there could be any law on Tatooine without the Hutts . Malakili considered the Hutts sentient beings , not pets , and he thus corrected Vanth after being asked if he could train a Huttlet , remarking he could instead teach one . Once Vanth reworded the proposition , the beastmaster accepted . Later , Malakili named the Huttlet Borgo , and during the raid on Freetown , the beastmaster comforted Borgo using a singsong voice . Skills and abilities . Skilled with animals from a young age , Malakili trained vicious gugverms on Nar Shaddaa to stop stealing from food stores , and with time the creatures became his pets , friends , and protectors . The human was hired as a beastmaster for Hutt circuses , and he trained a variety of creatures , including sand dragons , kill - wings , womp rat s , and rancors , the latter of which no one else could tame . During his slavery to Jabba , Malakili worked with the Hutt ' s creatures , including the rancor Pateesa . The slave befriended the rancor and tended wounds he received , and Pateesa saved Malakili ' s life during a Tusken Raider attack . While wandering the Tatooine desert , Malakili was rescued from Red Key Raiders by Vanth and Issa - Or , and the Corellian played dead , a trick he had learned from many of his creatures . The human was able to gather a krayt dragon pearl , which he gifted to Tusken Raiders in exchange for their protection . Equipment . As a rancor keeper , Malakili wielded a gaderffii stick , and he used cages for transporting young rancors . Additionally , Malakili ' s sleep ing quarters in the palace were connected to the rancor pit , and the room was equipped with a device capable of stun ning the beast into submission . At the time of Skywalker ' s arrival , Malakili wore a dark , sweat - soaked rag belt , ancient circus pants , a brown headdress , spiked armbands , and wrist guards . While wandering in the desert , Malakili wore a hood and carried a satchel that contained a waterskin , a lucky braid of bantha fur and teeth , a small water shiv made out of dewback bone , and a few droid gears and shiny chits to pay off Jawas or Tusken Raiders . During the skirmish in Freetown , Malakili used a magna - driver to remove Vanth ' s shackles . Behind the scenes . Malakili first appeared in , the final film in the original trilogy , which was released on May 25 , 1983 . Malakili was conceived by George Lucas , who liked the idea of someone loving the rancor . The character was first imagined as an alien , but he was changed to a human . In December 1981 , Malakili ' s costume concept was finalized by Nilo Rodis - Jamero . Malakili was portrayed by Paul Brooke , and his sobs were provided by Ernie Fosselius ; neither Brooke nor Fosselius were credited in the film . Many film critics praised Malakili ' s brief appearance , and of the noted that details like Malakili ' s distress are what make " Star Wars " films " more than just . " In " Return of the Jedi " , Malakili was unnamed , listed in production notes as the " human rancor keeper , " but he was later named in the " Star Wars Roleplaying Game " of the " Star Wars " Legends continuity . In the new " Star Wars " canon , the name " Malakili " was first used in the mobile game " " , which initially launched in 2013 . Although the launch of " Force Collection " predates the " Star Wars " canon reset of 2014 , Lucasfilm Story Group member Leland Chee confirmed that the game was kept updated to fit with canon . Beyond " Return of the Jedi " , Malakili appeared in " " , a mobile game released in 2014 and discontinued in 2016 . In " Galactic Defense " , Malakili , alongside Luke Skywalker , were unlockable Champions available during the limited - time event " Enter the Pit . " Players who won Malakili were able to use him on missions , and they could use his Champion Skill of summoning a young rancor to help fight enemy forces . According to " " , a young - readers reference book by Pablo Hidalgo , Malakili would likely lose in a theoretical fight against Bobbajo , a storytelling Nu - Cosian who trained various critters . In 2015 , Chuck Wendig , author of the novel " Aftermath " , expressed interest in potentially writing stories about Omi , Chief Chirpa , or Malakili . Subsequently , Wendig featured Malakili in the remainder of " " , with the character appearing in interlude chapters of " " and " " .