Ewok battle wagon The Ewok battle wagon , or war wagon , was a large war vehicle created by the Ewok Erpham Warrick on the Forest Moon of Endor . The weapon consisted of two levels : a lower stage for its battering ram , and an upper stage with the skull of a tusked bantha alongside a ceremonial drum . The wagon was primarily assembled from logs strapped together with cord . Levers and ropes controlled the machine ' s parts , and a main support peg kept the war wagon from collapsing . The base of the machine was rectangular and supported four walls and four longer pylons , which held up the vehicle ' s second level . The upper deck was accessible by a wooden ladder . The battle wagon ' s main armament was a battering ram , essentially a long , thick tree trunk . Mobility was achieved via four stone wheels and required the users to push the device unless going downhill . Erpham Warrick of Bright Tree Village built the battle wagon to defend against the forces of a tribe of Duloks with whom the Ewoks had a long - standing feud . When Dulok warriors arrived in the forest and sought to destroy the Ewok village ' s Soul Tree s — objects of great spiritual value to the Ewoks — Warrick commanded the battle wagon and drove the aggressors from the battlefield . The weapon proved instrumental in ending the conflict in the Ewoks ' favor , forcing the Duloks to remain in Endor ' s swampier regions . However , as the years passed , the Ewoks largely forgot about Warrick ' s massive siege engine . Three generations later , in 3 ABY , the device was rediscovered by Erpham Warrick ' s descendant , Wicket Wystri Warrick . The younger Warrick rebuilt the wagon using his ancestor ' s blueprints ; fellow tribe member Malani and the bordok Baga aided him in the endeavor . When the Dulok king , Gorneesh , learned of the restoration , he ordered his tribe to capture the vehicle . Meeting no real opposition , the Duloks stole the wagon and used it to attack Ewok territory , again with the aim of destroying the Soul Trees . The assault failed when Warrick removed the weapon ' s main support peg and caused the device to collapse . The battle wagon was rebuilt yet again by the Ewok tribe and used to resist the forces of the Galactic Empire after the galactic government established itself on Endor . Description . The Ewok battle wagon , or war wagon , was a large war machine found on the Forest Moon of Endor . The device operated under the basic principle of rolling the device toward enemy fortifications or vehicles and breaking through them with the wagon ' s attached battering ram . The weapon accommodated a crew of up to eight Ewoks , and on one occasion , it held thirteen Duloks . The battle wagon ' s basic structure incorporated two rectangular platforms that lay parallel to one another and to the ground with their shorter sides facing toward the weapon ' s front and rear . At its front and rear , the upper platform was supported by cross - beams held aloft by four pylons , which extended vertically from each corner ; the greater length of the support posts at the wagon ' s front caused the upper deck to be uneven , with an upward - slanting mid - section connecting the lower aft to the higher fore . A square hole cut into the weapon ' s bottom level opened to the ground below and allowed the siege engine ' s occupants to drop into the hole and push the vehicle from within . Both platforms were made from thin wooden logs tied together with cord and varnished . A support peg on the inside of one of the posts kept the contraption together ; if pulled out of place , the battle wagon collapsed into its constituent pieces . A short wall made of tied - together logs stood upright at the wagon ' s right and left sides ; the structures protected the passengers and crew but permitted them to wield their own weapons and hurl missiles at the enemy . The walls were detachable by pulling a lever in the rear corner of the wagon ; leaned against one another at a right angle , the disjoined walls made an impromptu fort . Another wall of logs protected the wagon ' s front by extending from the base platform to the top deck ; a rectangular cutout in the wall permitted the battering ram to swing through . A crank on the wagon ' s upper platform attached to the front wall raised and lowered it as a ramp , thus permitting the warriors inside to charge the enemy with melee weapons such as spears . The battle wagon rolled on four large wheels made of stone , which were set into the four corners of the base platform , with two on each of the weapon ' s longer sides . Crewmembers pushed the device from within the hole in the lower platform or from the vehicle ' s rear . The battle wagon thus gained more momentum when pushed down a slope . Although the wagon was a land - based weapon , it floated in water with only its bottom platform , wheels , and pylons submerged . The war wagon ' s primary weapon was an enormous battering ram made from a large , wooden log . A cap at the log ' s striking end served as the focal point of each impact . The ram hung from the upper deck from forked structures . Crewmembers operated the battering ram from a lever inside the wagon ; when aimed correctly , the wagon was capable of crushing through barriers of stone and wood , and even for battling against All Terrain Scout Transport walkers . A cage for ferrying prisoners hung from a hook at the end of a rope at the back of the battle wagon , nestled into a notch cut from the vehicle ' s rear . The cage was constructed from long lengths of wood tied together to form a rectangular prism nearly as tall as the space between the top and bottom platforms . The size made it large enough to hold a Human or Dulok prisoner . One side of the cage acted as a door and swung open to allow captives to be placed within or taken out ; a lock at the top of the cage and a padlock on the door prevented escape . A pair of longer pieces of wood extended horizontally from the cage to allow Ewoks to carry it on their shoulders . A wooden ladder was attached to the battle wagon toward the rear of its left side and leaned forward into a notch in the vehicle ' s top platform . The wagon ' s top platform held a large skull , a drum , and two cranks . The skull , bleached white and large enough to hold four Ewoks or three Duloks inside , lay at the front of the vehicle . Individuals hiding inside the skull were able to peer out through its eyeholes to act as lookouts or to direct crewmembers below who were pushing the war wagon . The skull , from a type of bantha with large tusks , served ceremonial purposes as well , as did the battle drum located to its rear . In addition to the ramp - lowering hand crank on the upper platform , the other crank raised and lowered the cage at the back of the weapon . History . Ewok – Dulok war . Hundreds of seasons before 3 ABY , the Ewoks of Bright Tree Village were at war with a nearby tribe of Duloks , inhabitants of Endor ' s swamps . As part of the war effort , the warrior Erpham Warrick designed the Ewok battle wagon , using a piece of parchment to outline his plans . During construction , the rest of Warrick ' s village considered the project to be foolish and laughed at the Ewok ' s folly . Nevertheless , Warrick persisted and finished the battle wagon single - handedly . Warrick ' s foresight proved itself when the Bright Tree Ewoks came under attack by a band of Duloks intent on chopping down the Ewoks ' Soul Tree s , which played a key role in Ewok spirituality . Warrick led the counterattack , calling his fellows to arms from the roof of the battle wagon and then attacking the Duloks with the siege weapon . The Duloks fled back into the swamps at the sight of the device , and the Ewoks won the day . Warrick was fêted as a hero and became famous from the incident ; a stone slab was placed within the wagon to commemorate the victory . The village legend keeper , Kaink , gained possession of Warrick ' s written plans . Meanwhile , the wagon itself fell into disrepair as vegetation from the woods reclaimed it , making it useful as little more than a rain shelter . The Ewoks , save for Kaink , forgot about the contraption and left it abandoned in the woods . Reconstruction . Seasons later , in 3 ABY , three of Erpham Warrick ' s great - grandsons — Weechee , Willy , and Wicket W . Warrick — rediscovered the battle wagon when a sudden rainstorm prompted them to seek shelter within what they originally took to be a small cave . The slab inside revealed the refuge ' s true nature , however , and the Ewok priestess Kaink , who had also sought shelter within the decrepit war machine , explained the device ' s role in the long - ago war with the Duloks , as well as Erpham Warrick ' s role in the affair . Wicket W . Warrick pledged to refurbish his great - grandfather ' s battle wagon , despite his elder brothers ' dismissal . When Warrick ' s friends showed more interest in roughhouse behavior that endangered the fragile remains of the wagon , the young Ewok resolved to fix up the dilapidated device on his own using his great - grandfather ' s plans , which he had received from Kaink . Nevertheless , the female wokling Malani and Warrick ' s pet bordok , Baga , provided assistance . The repairs entailed replacing old and broken planks , cleaning the bantha skull , changing the skin over the war drum , varnishing the wood , and adding a flower for decoration . Unbeknownst to Warrick and his companions , their activities caught the attention of a Dulok scout . A few days before the Ewoks finished the repairs , the scout informed the ruler of his tribe , King Gorneesh , of the refurbishment of the battle wagon . Unable to determine the Ewoks ' intentions , Gorneesh dispatched the village shaman , Umwak , to investigate the matter . Accompanied by Gorneesh ' s wife , Queen Urgah , Umwak beseeched the Dulok oracle , Murgoob , for information on the battle wagon . From the bowels of his lair , the ancient Dulok regaled his younger tribemates with the tale of the Duloks ' defeat seasons ago due to the Ewoks ' use of the siege weapon . Murgoob admitted that the wagon terrified him , but he suggested that if the Duloks managed to steal the contraption , it might allow them to wrest control of the forest from the Ewoks once and for all . The scout led Gorneesh and Umwak to the construction site , and Gorneesh suggested a cautious approach : they would wait until the repairs had been completed and then overpower the Ewoks to take the machine . Several weeks after he had initiated the project , Warrick declared the repairs on the wagon complete . That night , Gorneesh , Umwak , and Dulok warriors rolled the weapon through the forest with the sleeping Warrick inside . Although the Ewok awoke from the jostling and escaped into the forest , the Duloks reached their village and began to plan their attack . Attack on the Soul Trees . Warrick ' s warning to his village went unheeded ; because the wagon had been constructed by two children with only a bordok to help them , the villagers dismissed the battle wagon as a viable threat even if under Dulok control . The next day , Warrick sought solace at the Soul Tree of his great - grandfather Erpham Warrick . The elder Warrick ' s ghost consoled the boy and reassured him that the village had scornfully dismissed the weapon during its original construction as well . At his great - grandfather ' s urging , Wicket W . Warrick swore to reclaim the battle wagon from the Duloks . Meanwhile , the Duloks struggled to operate the war machine , their first attempt landing the device in a river . When Umwak beseeched Murgoob to help the Duloks with the weapon , the Dulok Oracle suggested the tribe use it to destroy the Ewoks ' Soul Trees and thus crush the Ewoks ' will to live . Nevertheless , Murgoob refused to come out of hiding to participate in the assault . Warrick espied the exchange and took advantage of Murgoob ' s reclusion to impersonate the elderly Dulok . As Gorneesh ' s troops loaded the battle wagon with weapons for the impending attack , the disguised Warrick convinced them to roll the machine in the wrong direction and back into the river . As Warrick rushed to warn Bright Tree Village once again , the real Murgoob , at last outside his hut , caught the young Ewok . Warrick found himself held prisoner in the wagon ' s cage . Loaded with Dulok warriors , King Gorneesh , Queen Urgah , the shaman Umwak , and Murgoob , the war wagon rolled out . The Duloks first attacked a group of picnicking woklings , whom Warrick warned about the impending Dulok assault on the Soul Trees . The young Ewoks escaped to alert the village , so by the time the Dulok war party reached its target , a line of Ewoks led by Chief Chirpa and the shaman Logray met them , determined to defend the Soul Trees to the last . Undeterred , Gorneesh ordered the Duloks to accelerate the wheeled weapon to ramming speed . The battle wagon barreled through barricades of logs and boulders , the Duloks hurled spears at lines of Ewok fighters , and the wagon ' s battering ram scattered other Ewok defenders . Only a single Ewok stayed at speed with the battle wagon , the wokling Malani riding on the bordok Baga . Although Gorneesh dismissed her as no threat , she managed to leap onto the battle wagon , where a wild swing by a Dulok warrior missed the wokling but bashed open Warrick ' s cage . The two Ewoks then took advantage of their intimate knowledge of the wagon ' s workings to pull various levers , flatten the wagon ' s walls , activate the battering ram , and dump unsuspecting Dulok warriors and Murgoob from the device . On the battle wagon ' s top platform , agile dodges and further removal of wagon components , such as the ladder , allowed Warrick and Malani to send all but Gorneesh and Urgah over the edge . With no other choice , Warrick pulled the war wagon ' s main support peg . As the Ewoks jumped clear of the contraption , it collapsed directly before Erpham Warrick ' s Soul Tree — with Gorneesh and Urgah caught in its rubble . Later use . The Bright Tree Village Ewoks held a celebration to commemorate the victory , but Wicket W . Warrick gave the battle wagon up as destroyed . Nevertheless , his fellow Ewoks rebuilt the war machine without Warrick ' s knowledge and presented it to Warrick as a surprise . The memory of his experience rebuilding the wagon and battling the Duloks remained fresh in Warrick ' s mind even into adulthood , when he reminisced about the events as one of the great adventures of his youth . By the time of the Dulok theft of the battle wagon , the Galactic Empire had established a presence on Endor . At some point after Bright Tree Village recovered and rebuilt the machine and before the Empire ' s defeat at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY , the Ewoks came into conflict with the invaders from offworld . During an encounter with Imperial forces , the Ewoks used the battle wagon to combat stormtroopers and AT - ST walkers . The shaman Logray manned the wagon ' s bantha skull , Wicket W . Warrick shot a bow and arrow from the top platform , Teebo attacked from the weapon ' s front ramp , and Paploo and another Ewok guarded a stormtrooper prisoner in the device ' s cage . The wagon was still in use at the time of the Battle of Endor , when the Ewoks showed the weapon to the Human Rebel Alliance operative s Leia Organa , Luke Skywalker , Han Solo , and the droids C - 3PO and R2 - D2 . Behind the scenes . The toy company Kenner introduced the Ewok battle wagon in 1984 as a vehicle and playset . Earlier drafts of the toy ' s box art depict the battle wagon toppling over under attack from an AT - ST walker ' s guns , but Lucasfilm rejected the design in favor of a version where a tree blocks the Imperial vehicle ' s blast . Although the instruction manual for the toy labels it as part of Kenner ' s " " line , the box art marks it instead as part of the " " series . Catalogs and prototype proof sheets show that the company originally intended to release the vehicle for both lines . A 1985 television advertisement for the " Ewoks " toy line prominently features the battle wagon . A band of Duloks led by Gorneesh has trapped Logray in a wooden cage . However , Wicket W . Warrick leads Chirpa and Paploo into the Duloks ' territory from a perch in the eye socket of the battle wagon ' s ceremonial skull . Although the Dulok scouts flee , the shaman Umwak casts a magic spell that animates nearby trees to attack the siege weapon . However , the bewitched plants prove no match for the war wagon ' s battering ram . Umwak then causes a groundquake to forge a chasm between the Duloks and Ewoks ; nevertheless , the wagon ' s front ramp drops to allow the Ewoks to cross the ravine . The defeated Duloks flee the scene and allow the Ewoks to free the Ewok shaman . The siege weapon appears in " Wicket ' s Wagon , " an episode of the " " animated cartoon series that originally aired on November 9 , 1985 . Due to the long production process of animation , it is unclear whether the cartoon series ' producers took the idea for the siege weapon from Kenner ' s toy or vice versa . Writer Jon Bradley Snyder has declared " Wicket ' s Wagon " as one of the highlights of the series due to the " great animated sequences , " and authors Amy Pronovost and Daniel Wallace have listed it as a prime example of Dulok villainy . The – based Dragon Picture Books published a storybook adaptation of " Wicket ' s Wagon " in 1987 . " Tales from the Endor Woods " , a 2004 DVD compilation , also features the episode . A few disparities differentiate the animated battle wagon from its plastic counterpart ; for instance , the cartoon device employs three forked pieces to support its battering ram , while the toy uses only two . Later reference works mention or describe the battle wagon . Indeed , " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " includes two separate entries on the siege weapon , in one instance as the " Ewok battle wagon " and the other as the " war wagon . " Stephen J . Sansweet in " " doubts the commonly asserted connection between the battle wagon ' s tusked skull ornament and the bantha species , since banthas are native to the planet Tatooine . Nevertheless , this article follows the bulk of sources that identify the skull ornament as having come from a bantha . Kenner ' s battle wagon playset had a second life in 1992 as part of the " " action figure line , based on the feature film directed by . Kenner redecorated the wagon to fit the theme of the film . For instance , the new battle wagon came with a catapult that fit on its upper deck in lieu of the bantha skull . The catapult itself was also a reused Ewok weapon from the " Star Wars " license .