Wampa / Legends Wampa ice creatures were carnivorous predatory reptomammal s indigenous to the remote Outer Rim Territories ice planet Hoth . The bipedal beasts stood over two meters in height with shaggy white fur constantly stained with the gore of slaughtered prey . Wampas were armed with jagged yellow teeth and deadly claws . Primarily solitary hunters , wampas occasionally hunted in packs , preferring to ambush their prey from the camouflage of Hoth ' s snow banks and blizzards . Stunned victims were carried back to the creatures ' lairs , typically large ice caves , where the wampas ate at their leisure . The planet ' s omnivorous tauntauns formed the bulk of the wampas ' prey , although they would attack anything they encountered . The Alliance to Restore the Republic ' s Echo Base on Hoth came under constant wampa assaults in 3 ABY . While rarely seen away from their remote homeworld , wampas were known to have participated in illegal gladiatorial combat venues . They were highly valued among big - game hunter s for the challenge that came with hunting the creatures , as well as for their pelts , stuffed heads , and other miscellaneous souvenirs that commanded high prices on the black market . Wampas were later protected under legislation to prevent endangered species from falling into extinction by the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances . Biology and appearance . Covered with shaggy white fur , standing at heights of up to three meters , and weighing an average of 150 kilograms , Hoth ' s wampa ice creatures were lethal predatory beasts . They possessed long , powerful arms , razor - sharp claws capable of carving layers out of ice , and a fanged maw . Aided by an acute sense of smell and a well - camouflaged coat of thick fur , the carnivorous wampas roamed Hoth ' s icy plains preying on near - helpless animals . Wampas ranged in height from 2 . 2 to three meters , with an average height of 2 . 5 meters , weighed up to and occasionally exceeding 200 kilograms , and had eerie yellow eyes . Adult wampas possessed short , jagged , curving horns , which were an indication of age . The horns began to appear at the onset of puberty and continued to grow larger as the wampa aged . Wampas ' horns were similar to those of Hoth ' s native tauntauns , though the two species were entirely unrelated . Wampas had a single heart within their thoracic cavity . Wampas were classified officially as reptomammal s , creatures combining the best defensive characteristics of reptiles with the more adaptable physiologies of mammals — specifically , they were linked to primates . The wampa physiology was well adapted to conserving heat in the extreme cold . Beneath their protective fur was a layer of blubber for greater insulation . They were also physiologically equipped with a self - regulating metabolism . Wampas comprised 11 percent of Hoth ' s total indigenous animal population . The wampa reigned at the top of the Hoth food chain as the planet ' s most violent alpha predator . With their strong sense of smell , coat of thick white fur , which blended in perfectly with the icy landscape of Hoth , and brute strength , wampas made excellent natural hunters . A single powerful blow from a wampa ' s forearm was enough to neutralize the largest prey , while the creature ' s bite was deadly . Very rarely were wampas themselves the victims of predators — in fact , the creatures had no natural enemies except for other wampas . Wampas typically traveled on two or four legs , preferring four except during an attack . The creatures stalked their prey until reaching close enough proximity to make a rush attack . A wampa would take a final sighting of its target by rising on its hind legs and then springing forward in a deadly pounce with claws outstretched . In terms of the creature ' s diet , wampas subsisted primarily on Hoth ' s many varieties of omnivorous tauntauns , although they also hunted lumbering icetromper herd beasts , antlered mammals called rayboo , and other , smaller unwary creatures — as well as attacking anyone or anything else they encountered that might seem to be a source of food if particularly hungry . The powerful wampa required large amounts of food to sustain itself , and a single tauntaun was enough to nourish one wampa for a considerable period . Wampa family groups , in particular , required a substantial supply of meat , since a female wampa could birth up to three cubs at once . However , the competition among wampas for Hoth ' s relatively small number of prey animals formed a limit to the numbers of the creatures existing on Hoth , keeping the wampa relatively scarce . Wampas were particularly sensitive to high - pitched noises , sounds that were similar to those made by a female in search of a mate . While wampas were naturally well - insulated against the Hoth elements , as a result of their dense fur , they were made almost invisible to most standard life - form sensor scans , which is how they managed to avoid detection by Republic xeno - biologists for so long . Wampas were even said to possess , at least in one case , the capacity to retain long - term memory . During the Rebel Alliance occupation of Hoth during the Galactic Civil War , Jedi Luke Skywalker was attacked by a wampa while patrolling the planet ' s ice wastes , but he escaped the creature ' s clutches after slicing off its arm with his lightsaber . Almost a decade later , during a return visit to Hoth , Skywalker re - encountered the same wampa whose arm he severed years before . Skywalker claimed that the one - armed beast remembered both him and his lightsaber . One male wampa , named Ku - Kak , had a rare , natural affinity for the Force . Another , the giant wampa Unkajo , towered at a height much greater than the species ' average height of 2 . 5 meters . Still another giant wampa creature , larger than ordinary wampas , lived on Hoth during the early portion of the Galactic Civil War . This giant wampa possessed a freezing breath as a natural weapon . Subspecies . Subspecies of wampa were found on other worlds , clearly transplanted there from Hoth , though scientists were unable to determine the exact method by which this occurred . These subspecies included the cliff wampa , a beast bioengineered by the Galactic Empire and used as a sentinel on the rocky Outer Rim Territories moon of Gall , and the swamp wampa of Dromund Kaas . Swamp wampas were identical to the Hoth wampa in almost every way , prompting scientists to theorize that they were directly descended from them . Though the exact nature of the swamp wampa ' s development was unclear , it nevertheless indicated a strong adaptability of the wampa species . There also existed Tatooine Howler s , colloquially named " desert wampas " for their strong resemblance to wampas . Although their appearance , with heavy fur and tusks , was similar , genetic testing proved no relation between the Howler and the wampa . Behavior and intelligence . Hunting patterns and ice cave habitat . Wampas were typically solitary hunters . They wandered the frozen wastelands of Hoth in search of food , often stalking their prey for some time before finally taking the victim by stealth and surprise due to their natural white - fur camouflage . Wampas hunted both by day and , at shorter range , during Hoth ' s bitterly cold night . Although the tauntaun , a wampa ' s primary source of food , was relatively plentiful on Hoth , the scarcity of available wildlife on the planet meant that a single wampa had to cover a territory of more than a hundred kilometers when seeking prey . However , wampas learned to adapt to this necessity . They emitted a very faint scent , preventing tauntauns from detecting a wampa ' s approach . Their white fur , blending perfectly with their environment , enabled wampas to attack their prey without prior detection . As such , wampas rarely engaged in extended chases . Icetrompers , however , proved something of an exception — their multiple set of eyes made sneaking up on the giant herd beasts a difficult proposition for even the stealthiest wampas . The comfort zone for a wampa seeking prey was limited to Hoth ' s frozen plains and the cooler regions of the planet ' s subterranean caves . Often , Hoth ' s scaly tauntaun s would gather among warmer cave areas heated by bubbling pools as a defensive measure , areas that wampas found to be uncomfortably hot . Nevertheless , if hungry enough , wampas were known to ignore their extreme discomfort by venturing deep into these cave systems at night and during Hoth ' s blizzards . They would utilize cunning methods to draw the scaly tauntauns out of their sanctuaries , sometimes rushing into the heated areas to scare their prey out into the cold where they might be cornered . Other times , wampas would simply stalk their prey by waiting in the colder regions between these heated tunnels until the tauntauns ran from one tunnel to another . Wampas rarely killed their prey outright and never hunted when they were hungry . Because they preferred fresh meat , wampas instead always tried to stun their prey , keeping their victims unconscious , but alive , until ready to feed . After disabling their prey , wampas hauled the still - breathing victims back to their cave dwellings and , through different methods , secured them in the ice for later consumption . For some , wampas used their hot breath to melt the ice around a victim ' s legs and then coated parts of the body in saliva , placing them against the ice ceiling of their caves so they would freeze in place . The saliva also served as an anesthetic in the victims , which helped to keep prey comatose until the wampa was ready to eat . Alternatively , for larger creatures , such as the tauntaun , wampas frequently impaled them through the ankles on overhanging icicles or stalactites to keep them immobile . At times , several fresh victims were stored in this manner . Hanging their still - living victims from the cave ' s ice ceiling allowed wampas to keep their food in good condition and then snack at their leisure — tales existed of victims taking some days to die as the wampa slowly devoured them . This storage method also allowed wampas to return to the ice fields to continue hunting while the hostile Hoth weather held . Wampa lairs often housed huge amounts of food , a testament to how deadly a single beast could be . The creatures typically made their homes in one or more ice caverns , created by digging out a huge lair beneath Hoth ' s ice surface large enough to nest and store food in . Still , wampas rarely wasted their own energy hollowing out their own caves . Instead , they usually found a pre - existing lair or former tauntaun - dug site to occupy , sometimes ejecting the original inhabitant . Wampas would also sometimes make enlargements to these caves , especially when raising young . Nesting wampas typically shed their guard fur , which was gathered and used to line their caverns with , though opinion was divided among zoologist s whether this actually amounted to intelligent behavior or merely animal instinct . The dense guard fur lining made wampa caves almost invisible to standard scans . Wampas , solitary by nature , were nomadic in the sense that they rarely stayed in one cave for very long , unless they were with young . They regularly relocated to new lairs both out of the need to follow migrating tauntaun herds , and of the necessity to find cleaner dwellings . Wampas , males in particular , were remarkably messy animals , and their caves were constantly scattered with half - eaten corpses , decomposing entrails , and other bloody , rotting remains . Even nursing females , aside from their fur - lined nests in which cubs were born , lived in gore - filled caves . This rotting mess quickly made wampa caves uninhabitable , forcing the creatures to find new abodes . Reproduction method and societal characteristics . Wampas mated during the warmer months of the Hoth yearly cycle , during which time they gathered in regions where game was plentiful , to search for companionship . While the females remained together and waited , the males would go off in search of prey . After making a kill , the male wampa would commonly smear the blood of his victim across his chest and return with the dead animal to show the females , thus demonstrating his ability to care for a mate . Sometimes the males would spar with one another for a particular female ' s companionship . The winners of these bouts chose their preferred mates . They were then considered the alpha males of that region until the following mating season . In terms of their reproduction methods , wampas could be considered marsupial s . Their cubs were born live , but very underdeveloped , closely resembling a miniature worm small enough to fit on a caf spoon . After mating , female wampas would birth up to three cubs per litter . These infants , after birth , would crawl to their mothers ' pouches , where they nursed , grew , and developed over a period of roughly three months — after which time they left the pouch with a full set of teeth , needle - sharp claws , and an innate attitude of invincibility . Mothers would produce milk to nurse their young until the cubs were able to sustain themselves on meat alone . Wampa mothers were extremely protective of their offspring , and during the nursing period even males didn ' t risk the consequences of coming between a mother and her cubs . As they grew , young wampas were taught how to hunt , survive in the cold , and how to care for game from their mothers and fathers . Wampas were extremely territorial creatures , fiercely guarding their hunting grounds against any invaders to their domain , and often engaging in bouts to the death with other wampas encroaching on their land . The scarcity of Hoth ' s wildlife meant that a single wampa required a large hunting ground in order to survive , which was believed to be the primary reason why the creatures lived alone or in small family - based groups . Because of the substantial amounts of food required to sustain a wampa , they often extended their territory over enormous areas . Upon reaching maturity , younger wampas set out to claim territory of their own , competing with other wampas , including members of their own family , for territorial control , which contributed to keeping the species relatively scarce . Despite the cutthroat intra - family competition that existed among wampas for territorial control , the creatures nevertheless possessed a strong affinity for kinship . Galactic scientists discovered that wampas were very protective of their own and mourned their dead with great intensity . In the instance one was slain , the creatures would fly into destructive rages directed at the killer . If the death was natural , wampas would instead vent their rage on their surroundings , sometimes smashing cave walls or ripping apart anyone or anything within reach . Reports told of some wampas , in their bouts of hysteria , unwittingly causing avalanches and underground cave - ins , causing only more deaths . When the grieving wampas ' energy finally subsided , they would bury their dead in the snow , keeping guard over it for several days to make sure nothing ate the remains . If a wampa was injured , the rest of its pack would band together to repel the threat . Although they primarily hunted alone , some wampas occasionally hunted in packs , banding together to attack a threat to the local wampa community , such as a Human settlement . During the Cold War , for example , amidst the combined Galactic Republic – Sith Empire occupation of Hoth , many wampas of all ages gathered together in different series of subterranean ice caves . Many years later , during the Galactic Civil War , the Rebel Alliance occupation of Hoth drove many wampas to convene in and inhabit a large secluded valley surrounded by rocks and ice . The valley floor was littered with the remains of creatures who ventured into the wampas ' home , never to escape . Outside of mating season , however , the detection of a common threat was the only time wampas grouped together . By coordinating their hunting actions , wampas demonstrated a rudimentary level of intelligence and cunning , particularly in the capability to scout and determine their enemies ' location and strength before formulating an attack . The wampas ' aptitude for massively - coordinated attacks made the species one of the most cunning killers in the galaxy . However , despite wampas demonstrating some intelligence and social development , most respected scientists nevertheless doubted the species ' sentience . Wampas were capable of emitting a terrifying hunting roar that could compete with Hoth ' s howling winds . Their howl was one of their greatest natural gifts , for it could blend in almost imperceptibly with the winds . Only the creatures themselves could tell the two sounds apart . Thus , the howl provided wampas with a highly efficient form of communication that often proved lethal to disoriented prey . In one unique instance , the Force - sensitive wampa Ku - Kak was trained to naturally understand the Chevin . During the Republic occupation of Hoth in the Cold War , a group of Talz established a supply cache in a large cave that many wampas had overrun . However , the wampas within the cave did not show hostility toward the Talz , a species of white - furred beings from the frozen planet Alzoc III , due to the physical similarities between the two , for the wampas believed themselves and the Talz to be one and the same . History . Cold War encounters . Wampas roamed Hoth ' s frozen surface as early as 3643 BBY , during the final years of the Cold War between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire . Prior conflict in the Hoth system between the two sides left the planet a graveyard of downed starship wreckage , which attracted salvaging pirates and , eventually , both the Republic and the Empire to return to reclaim their war machines , bringing with them renewed hostilities to Hoth ' s surface — and encounters by all with the planet ' s native ice creatures . Hoth ' s alpha predators proved a surprisingly intelligent peril to the planet ' s newcomers , especially unwary travelers wandering too close to unexplored ice caves . Multiple combat patrols disappeared after seeking shelter in a cavern thought to be unoccupied . Horror stories of men swallowed whole by towering wampa ice creatures made the rounds among new arrivals to Hoth . According to reports during that era , wampas numbered among some of Hoth ' s most hostile wildlife to call the Clabburn Tundra home during the war . Disturbed by the occupiers ' encroachment on their habitat , wampas preyed on entire squads of soldiers . Wampas also roamed among Hoth ' s Whiterock Wastes , Highmount Ridge , and Glacial Fissure areas . The Hailstorm Brotherhood , a radical tribe of wilderness survivalists , were one of several pirate groups to gain purchase on Hoth . Republic forces on the planet first learned of the brotherhood from scouts who , while investigating a massive ice spire sculpture that the pirates had erected , reported encounters with half - naked warriors wearing wampa furs as they charged into combat . Master Sav , leader of the brotherhood , was once stranded and left for dead in wampa territory by Imperial forces , only to strangle one of the beasts with a tauntaun femur and skin it with one of its own claws , eventually making his way back to safety three weeks later . Sav ' s wampa ordeal made him a legend among his pirate brethren . During the war Shai Tenna , a Weequay leader of the White Maw pirate organization , ran a sizable pleasure den within Hoth ' s Highmount Ridge , connected to which was an ice cave in which Tenna had trapped more than two dozen wampas of all ages as his " pets . " After the Republic ' s Havoc Squad , sent to Hoth on a mission to acquire one of the Empire ' s enigmatic Umbra encrypters , made a failed attempt to infiltrate Tenna ' s group , the Weequay pirate had them thrown into the cave to be fed to the wampas . However , Havoc Squad fought its way through the wampa onslaught , defeating the creatures and making it out of the cave to freedom . While seeking refuge from Hoth ' s brutal elements , a Republic Talz commando unit and a group of wounded Republic soldier s fell under attack from wampas in their area . The Talz escaped from the attacking beasts , but the wampas dragged the Republic soldiers back to their den . At the behest of Kuthak , one of the Talz commandos , a Republic agent located the wampas ' den , defeated the beasts inside , and rescued the wounded Republic soldiers from the wampas ' clutches . To ensure no Republic soldier met the same fate again , the agent proceeded to kill the remaining wampas in the cave . Wampas again attacked a Republic reconnaissance squad that was investigating nearby caves and the took the scout team back to their den . Concerned both for his missing men and whatever may have attacked them as a looming threat to other Republic forces on Hoth , Gavon Kroan assigned a Republic agent to help the scouts . The agent successfully rescued the Republic scout team from the wampa den . A legendary wampa called the White Terror prowled Hoth ' s wastes during the Cold War , stalking whatever prey the conflict brought its way . While hunting for food , the White Terror once encountered the Jedi Kaiya Stas , who recognized that the wampa ' s path was taking it straight toward a colony of Ortolans . The White Terror wounded Stas in a failed attempt to stop the creature ' s approach . She later asked a Republic agent to destroy the wampa , warning that if the creature discovered a convenient source of food in the Ortolans , it would not stop its rampage until it wiped out the entire colony . The agent found the White Terror in the same den where wampas had previously taken the team of Republic scouts , and drew the wampa out from its lair by activating a sonic agitator . The agent then killed the White Terror , saving the Ortolan colonists . One of the Sith ' s weapons on Hoth during the war centered around a Beast - Lord of the planet Onderon named Brutann , whose mastery of the dark side of the Force enabled him to control Hoth ' s most vicious predators , including the wampa . Brutann gathered together an army of Hoth beasts aimed to destroy the Republic forces on the planet . Tasked by Jedi Master Heljus and his Padawan learner , Elsor , to stop Brutann , a Republic agent traveled to the Jagged Plains Cavern , where the agent defeated the Beast - Lord and his Force - dominated wampa , among other creatures . Another group operating on Hoth , a collection of ex - Mandalorians called the Terror Brigade , became known among the Republic forces for their efforts to find new and wild combat thrills , which included wrestling wampas . The Terror Brigade captured Imperial Moff Yoren and offered to hand him over to the Republic on the condition that someone could survive their so - called " Onslaught , " a series of combat trials against progressively powerful opponents , both animal and humanoid . A Republic agent undertook the task of going up against the Onslaught within their compound , battling and defeating the Terror Brigade and the wampas they kept as part of the trial , among other combatants . In the challenge ' s final trial , the agent engaged in an extended battle with a large wampa named Ujooku , killing the beast and defeating the Onslaught . In another wampa assault , the Imperial Agent " Cipher Nine " journeyed out to a large cave system in the Hoth glacial fissure known as the Bone Pits on a mission in conjunction with the Imperial - allied Chiss to perform surveillance on the rogue Imperial Admiral Layek Davos , who was meeting secretly with a group of pirates for his own personal ends . Cipher Nine found the Bone Pits to be filled with nearly two dozen adult wampas clustered together in the cave . Cipher Nine ' s spying of Davos ' s meeting with the pirates was interrupted when two of the beasts suddenly charged the agent ' s position , but Cipher Nine defeated both wampas . The agent proceeded to complete the surveillance mission and eliminate the largest wampas still remaining in the cave , before then slipping back out . A number of Republic Talz set up a supply cache of ordnance , food , and medical equipment within the Ice Behemoth Cave , which was also overrun by many wampas both young and old . The wampas inhabiting the cave , however , displayed no aggression toward their Talz occupiers , believing the white - furred aliens to be wampas themselves as a result of the species ' shared physical attributes . Upon discovering the site of the Talz supply cache , Imperial Commander Tritan tasked a group of agents with destroying their supplies in order to force the aliens into an assault , in which they could be destroyed . However , Tritan warned the agents of the danger in reaching the cache among the wampa cave and suggested that they not weigh themselves down when going against the ice creatures . The agents proceeded to kill many of the wampas en route to destroying the Talz cache . During the Battle of Hoth in the Great Galactic War , which precipitated further conflict on the planet during the Cold War , the Empire lost an ancient Sith holocron thought to be destroyed , but which resurfaced years later in Hoth ' s starship graveyard , within the den of a hulking wampa . In a mission managed by Imperial Captain Kanen , an Imperial agent entered the den and recovered the holocron from the wampa after killing the creature . An Imperial engineer named Soleks could not complete a mission to set up warning beacon s around a massive Hoth sinkhole in the Clabburn Tundra because his work area turned out to be a wampa hunting ground , driving him away . Soleks instead handed the duty off to an Imperial agent , who cleared the Clabburn Tundra area of wampas and successfully installed the warning beacons . Wampas also mauled a response team sent by Imperial Captain Viatar to stop Republic sappers from destabilizing the icy foundations of an Imperial garrison on the planet . At some point an Imperial agent also killed up to five wampas in Hoth ' s Glacial Fissure sector . Around 3639 BBY , several wampas were affected by a Seed of Rage , a Sith alchemical artifact planted in the northern reaches of the Glacial Fissure region , and they underwent significant physical changes . The infected wampas developed grey - black growths on their body , while their eyes turned red and their fur became black and gray . Kyrisa , wampa master . Circa early 2 ABY , the Force - sensitive Dathomiri Nightsister Kyrisa took refuge on Hoth after being exiled from her homeworld of Dathomir . Kyrisa , strong in the Force power of beast mastery , soon gained command of a pack of the ice planet ' s native wampas through mind control . Cut off from her home and her family on Dathomir , Kyrisa depended on one of her wampas for physical and emotional warmth . Aside from beast control , Kyrisa also dabbled in genetic engineering , through which she eventually produced a gigantic wampa of unnatural size , Unkajo . Kyrisa used her mind - controlled wampas to devastate nearby installations and to steal supplies . However , as complete control as Kyrisa had over her pack of wampas , her beast mastery quickly attracted the attention of both the Galactic Empire and Jedi sympathetic to the Rebel Alliance , who hoped to either harness her knowledge or remove Kyrisa as a threat to Hoth ' s local population . Imperial Intelligence leader " Blackhole " had his own ideas how to employ Kyrisa ' s beast mastery and dispatched a team of Imperial Security Bureau agents , led by Captain Jeffren Brek , to capture her . During their search for Kyrisa on Hoth , Brek ' s team encountered two of the Nightsister ' s trained wampas , as well as the giant wampa Unkajo , who towered over its smaller brethren , prompting a skirmish between the Imperials and Kyrisa ' s beasts . Brek ' s team killed both of the two smaller wampas , before hamstringing and , as they believed , finally killing Unkajo as well , although the wampas knocked at least one of Brek ' s men out cold . After the skirmish , the Imperial agents collected the wampas ' teeth and claws as souvenirs . Only moments later , Kyrisa herself appeared before the Imperial agents , surrounded by another pack of obedient wampas , like an army of trained soldiers . Enraged at the loss of Unkajo , Kyrisa ordered the wampas to kill the Imperial team . However , the second battle turned out little different than the previous , with many more of the trained wampas being slain , before Kyrisa slipped away , with the surviving wampas of her group covering her escape . Simultaneous with the Imperial mission , the Twi ' lek Jedi Knight Rachi Sitra , along with another Rebel agent , embarked on her own mission to capture the dangerous Kyrisa from Hoth . At some point , Sitra ran into one of Kyrisa ' s trained wampas as well , although her combat skills served her well in the fight with the attacking beast . The Rebel agent party to Sitra also encountered Kyrisa herself and two of the exiled Nightsister ' s trained wampas . Enraged at the Rebel agent for having previously killed another of her bioengineered beasts , Kyrisa ordered the two wampas under her command to kill the agent . The two wampas , well - trained , fought to the death to defend their master , but the Rebel agent eventually won the battle and drove Kyrisa away for the time being . Ultimately , the Dark Side Adept Namman Cha convinced Kyrisa to join him in service of Emperor Palpatine . He , too , however , had his own bout with Kyrisa ' s wampas while searching for her on Hoth before enlisting her as the Emperor ' s newest prize . The attack on Echo Base . The Rebel Alliance established its secret headquarters on Hoth during the Galactic Civil War following the Battle of Yavin , in a series of ice caves that came to be known as Echo Base . Hoth ' s wampas soon enough became a serious threat to the Rebels , repeatedly attacking the base and its personnel . In 2 ABY , as Echo Base neared completion , a group of Rebels were tasked with clearing caverns of wampas so that the base could expand into that area . Required to contend with Hoth ' s treacherous icy caverns with seemingly bottomless chasms , the Rebels at first encountered and neutralized single wampas . They eventually discovered a large wampa lair , eliminating the creatures ' presence from the area . During a bivouac while scouting the expanses of Hoth shortly after the final construction of Echo Base was completed , Rebel Major Kem Monnon , head of the Alliance Corps of Engineers responsible for the base ' s construction , and an outfit of men heard the howls of wampas in the night — one of the first encounters , albeit indirect , between the creatures and the Rebels of Echo Base . The Alliance Survey Team Theta at some point found on Hoth the personal logs of a smuggler named Jonox Forb , who inhabited the naturally formed ice caves before their conversion into Echo Base . Although the fate of Forb ' s smuggling band remained unclear , the Rebel survey team reportedly recovered the logs from an abandoned wampa lair . The content of Forb ' s logs were not publicly revealed until the release of former Echo Base General Carlist Rieekan ' s personal historical records , which detailed the Rebellion ' s time spent on Hoth , during the later years of the New Republic . As a measure of security , the Rebel Alliance ' s Standard Operating Procedure at Echo Base included scouting the barren wastes surrounding the facility . Initially , the Rebels detected only passive lifeforms , and there seemed to be very little danger on the remote ice planet . The first sign the Rebels saw that they were not alone was the discovery of a dead tauntaun just outside the base . When the dead animal was brought before 2 - 1B , the base ' s chief medical droid , he determined that the tauntaun ' s neck had been snapped . Knowing how strong the stubborn animals were , the thought that some creature was strong enough to do such damage was more than frightening to the base ' s personnel . 2 - 1B also assisted in an Echo Base investigation that led to the discovery and capture of several wampas from a nearby cave . Soon thereafter , Luke Skywalker and Han Solo were on a routine mission to place sensor beacons around the perimeter of the base . Solo informed Skywalker that he had encountered an animal carcass , which he believed to be a recent wampa kill , and urged Skywalker to be on guard before he headed back to Echo Base . Solo later told base personnel that he had discovered some wampa kills out in the snow . Skywalker , however , failed to report in from his scouting work , as he was attacked by a male wampa while astride his tauntaun . The wampa landed a crushing blow to Skywalker ' s face with a swipe of its powerful claw , knocking him unconscious and opening up a gash on the side of his face . His tauntaun was killed instantly with a crushing grip that snapped its neck . When Skywalker awoke , he found himself hanging upside down , his feet frozen to the ceiling of the creature ' s cave , and another wampa eating the corpse of his mount . Using the Force , Skywalker was able to escape the cave using the force to pull the lightsaber into his hands , cutting himself off the ceiling , then cutting off the creature ' s arm with his lightsaber just as it was about to attack him . After Skywalker revived from his medical treatment inside of a bacta tank , he confirmed the Rebels ' worst fears . He described being attacked by a large creature three meters in height with deadly claws . Although he had only knowingly seen one of the beasts , where there was one , the Rebels reasoned , there was likely to be more . As a result , the base immediately stepped up its security measures . Echo Base sent out a few patrols to locate the creature that wounded Skywalker . Although they failed to find Skywalker ' s one - armed attacker , they did encounter another wampa . After stalking the Rebels for some time , the wampa finally attacked the group from its cover beneath a snow mound , surprising its prey . The wampa continued to make hit - and - run attacks at the Rebels , trying to take its prey one being at a time , unwilling to allow such a significant amount of food to get away . The following evening after Skywalker ' s recovery , Echo Base came under attack . It started with the sound of howling , a noise not unusual to those in the base , who were accustomed to Hoth ' s howling winds . Still , this noise was louder and angrier . Shortly after the howling started , the base ' s command center received a brief comlink call from Bervin , a perimeter scout , which was abruptly cut off by a bellowing inhuman roar and a horrified , distinctly Human scream . Major Bren Derlin , head of security at Echo Base , and others in the command center rushed to Bervin ' s post . There , they found only the signs of a struggle , but no sign of Bervin himself . Blood was scattered against the far wall of snow , where a large cave - in had occurred . The blood trail followed the shallow trench where Bervin ' s body had been dragged out of the post and into the icy - cold night of Hoth . Before long similar calls began to come into the command center . Reports of attacks all along the base ' s perimeter were reported . All described the same : a lone sentry , attacked and dragged off into the night . Efforts were made to ready the base ' s T - 47 airspeeders , but there was no need . The creatures came to them , crashing through the carefully carved ice walls of the facility . The base was soon filled with a horde of attacking wampas . The personnel of Echo Base were ready to protect their fortress , however . They held off the beasts with concentrated artillery barrages , while the wampas outside the base were similarly repelled by the Rebels ' blaster fire . The creatures inside the base were rounded up with the help of the droids C - 3PO and R2 - D2 . At the heart of each attack was one commonality that had gone unnoticed until the droids brought it to the attention of Major Derlin . They noticed that the high - pitched beeps of the base ' s astromech droids drove the wampas into rages . The Rebels were able to use recordings of astromech droids to drive the creatures out of their dark , icy crevasses . They stunned the wampas into incapacitation , and stored them in heavily shielded pens in less vital sections of Echo Base . The pen doors were marked with yellow and orange warning signs , nicknamed by those in the base as " do not disturb " signs . The Rebels believed that the wampas had attacked the base to defend themselves from what they perceived as an invasion of their territory . Additionally , research later revealed that the astromech droids ' high - pitched beeps and wails were similar to the sounds made by females in search of a mate . This further justified the wampas ' rampages , with males having discovered pieces of metal machinery after thinking they had discovered a new companion . Battle of Hoth . The Galactic Empire discovered the Rebels ' hidden Echo Base in the immediate aftermath of the wampa assault on the ice facility through the reconnaissance efforts of a remotely - deployed Arakyd Viper probe droid . While performing its reconnaissance work of the ice planet prior to detecting the Rebel presence on Hoth and transmitting its accompanying sensor data back to the Empire , the probe droid discovered a large mound of snow in the Hoth wastes . Upon the droid probing the mound with a low - powered laser beam , a large wampa emerged from the snow pile , having been sleeping there . The probe droid quickly regulated the potency of its high - powered laser cannon and disintegrated the beast with a single blast . While hunting a herd of grazing tauntauns , another wampa also encountered and attacked another Imperial Viper probe droid scouting the planet . After a short clash between blaster and claws , the wampa defeated the droid and dragged it back to its ice cavern , where it suspended the machine in the icy ceiling above the skeletal remains of former prey . During the desperate haste to escape Echo Base in the face of the Imperial invasion during the Battle of Hoth , C - 3PO came upon one of the pen doors while trying to catch up with Solo , Princess Leia Organa , and the Wookiee Chewbacca on their way to the " Millennium Falcon " . Knowing an advance group of snowtroopers was directly behind him , Threepio tore off the door ' s warning label and proceeded to disappear around another bend in the corridor . The pursuing troopers reached the door . Their leader punched the controls to slide it open , knowing it would take more than locks to stop an Imperial advance . The group marched into the pen with military efficiency , only to be slaughtered by the caged wampas . Once Darth Vader reached the room , all he saw were piles of blood - stained snow , a cave - in exposing the pen to Hoth ' s daytime sun , and some of his most seasoned , well - trained troops dead on the ground . In the chaos during the battle , the primary entrance point the wampas ' used to infiltrate and attack Echo Base , a small room off one of the main corridors that had been sealed , was uncovered . The entrance point opened to a small tunnel that led to the large valley where many of the wampas lived and , consequently , where the attacking wampas had originated . As the battle raged , a visitor to Echo Base followed this tunnel into the large snowy valley , where , in a nearby camp , he found one Professor Blainekie , a Rebel researcher investigating the wampas in the vicinity . Blainekie required assistance with defeating the valley ' s wampas , including the giant wampa Unkajo . The Echo Base visitor complied and successfully brought down the towering creature . While attempting to escape from Hoth late during the battle , mercenary Dash Rendar encountered several of the Rebels ' caged wampas throughout the bowels of Echo Base . After witnessing the havoc wreaked upon the base by the wampas , the Empire in turn bioengineered the cliff wampa to guard Imperial interests on the Gall moon . Hunting wampas for sport . A certain subclass of big - game hunter s existed who specialized in the " sporting " hunt of large predators like the wampa . They often traveled to the remote Hoth system to hunt wampas . Poachers and hunters had been tracking wampas for decades prior to the onset of the Clone Wars , though their mortality rate often exceeded the creatures themselves . Wampa pelts or stuffed heads were prized trophies among hunters , and a black market fur - trading operation that involved wampas existed in the Outer Rim at some point before 33 BBY . Wampa " souvenirs " and even clothing made of wampa fur had been known to command high prices at galactic trading posts by the early years of the Galactic Civil War . Wampa meat was also served in some corners of the galaxy — as of 31 BBY , a serving kitchen within the space station Darkside on an asteroid in the Cularin system asteroid belt had twenty kilograms of ground lean wampa meat stored in a freezer . By 1 ABY , the sporting hunt of wampas was considered illegal , though hunters were still able to sell their wares on the black market for high gain . Wampas were later included in Galactic Federation of Free Alliances legislation to protect endangered species from extinction . In one well - known case , the wampas ' ability to organize coordinated attacks was well demonstrated . A group of failed stormtrooper cadets established a business as guides leading these big - game hunters in pursuit of Hoth ' s wampas . Initially , they met with great success due to their advanced weaponry . However , by the fourth expedition the wampas had learned their enemy ' s secrets . The hunters landed and set out in search of their quarry . Meanwhile , the wampas found and destroyed the expedition ' s starship . Over the course of the next several nights , the wampas circled the camp , howling madly . The frightened hunters wasted their ammunition shooting at shadows until the wampas attacked . The beasts dragged away just one hunter with each assault . Finally , the last two survivors killed one another rather than allowing themselves to fall prey to the wampas . This was one tale typically told by big - game hunters ; some circles doubted the validity of the tale , pointing to the loophole that if there were no survivors , no one could have lived to report what had happened . Skywalker later re - encountered the wampa he wounded with his lightsaber nine years later during a subsequent journey to Hoth with the Jedi Knight Callista Ming . There , they discovered a group of stranded wampa poachers , including a former stormtrooper named Burrk , and two Cathar brothers . The three had set up a business taking hunters to Hoth to hunt what they termed " the biggest game in the galaxy . " The group found success after two hunting rounds , collecting the pelts of several creatures and killing numerous others . But on their third trek out into the Hoth wilderness , the poachers met with disaster . They returned to their starship to find their pilot slaughtered . Trying to investigate what the cause of death was , the group was attacked by a group of wampas , killing a guide and three clients . The surviving five members found shelter in the abandoned Echo Base . When Skywalker and Ming arrived on the planet just days later , the two Jedi and five survivors were once again attacked by an army of wampas who had grouped together under the leadership of the dismembered beast , who recognized Skywalker ' s and Ming ' s lightsabers as a threat . As a coordinated group , the wampas displayed enough intelligence to ruin the flight controls of the Jedi ' s ship , as they had with the poachers , to prevent escape . After the wampa horde chased the group back into the confines of Echo Base , the beasts created a diversion by banging on the base ' s closed shield doors until they could break through the icy walls of the facility . Skywalker and Ming were able to reach their damaged ship with the stopping power of their lightsabers — Skywalker killing the one - armed beast for good in the process — and escape the planet after rigging their vessel to restart through an alternative power source , but not before the remaining poachers were killed . Skywalker later remarked that he believed the one - armed wampa recognized him personally and that they consequently possessed long - term memories . Other encounters . By 27 BBY , a Shi ' ido Changeling impersonating the former Twi ' lek Jedi Knight - turned - pirate Reess Kairn had set up a lumni - spice mining operation on Hoth using the planet ' s wampas as food - collecting servants . He fitted several of the creatures with a type of bio - stimulant brain implant , making them more docile and able to understand and respond to the Shi ' ido ' s verbal commands . They were instructed to retrieve tauntauns and bring them back to his subterranean cave , where they were taught to skin them in preparation for his consumption . Hoping to collect a posted price on Kairn ' s head , the bounty hunter Aurra Sing infiltrated the cave draped in the skinned hide of a dead wampa . She was able to neutralize the Kairn impersonator while simultaneously killing many of his wampas in a manufactured cave - in . The rocky collapse awakened a large dragon slug , which also crushed one of the wampas in its massive jaws . The Balti smuggler Bingo Mehndra possessed a captured pet wampa in a secret Hoth base of his . When the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure sent his musical retainers , the Max Rebo Band , on a covert assassination mission to Hoth to kill Mehndra , the smuggler threatened to feed the musicians to his wampa if he suspected a trick . The participants of Jabba the Hutt ' s demolition games later encountered a single wampa while competing on Hoth shortly before 4 ABY . On a mission to Hoth in 14 ABY , Jedi Master Kyle Katarn and his apprentice , Jedi student Jaden Korr , encountered several rogue wampas around the perimeter and inhabiting the ruins of Echo Base . Korr found one wampa in particular attacking a tauntaun within the base . Wampas in the galaxy . Knowledge of the wampa throughout the galaxy was limited . Of those aware of the creatures ' existence , understanding typically came by way of overhearing big - game hunters speak of what they considered legendary quarry on account of the wampas ' violence and formidable claws and teeth . Indeed , hyperbole and rumors of the wampa ' s fearsomeness abounded . The planet Hoth was synonymous with the wampa — in the rare instances the planet was mentioned in conversation , it was common to hear the wampa mentioned in the same breath . Many held to the theory that wampas possessed at least rudimentary intelligence . Through extensive research into the records of other creatures appearing similar to the wampa , evidence had been found suggesting mass coordinated attacks made by the creatures . In some cases , these attacks laid waste to entire outposts of colonists on other worlds . This was later substantiated by the Rebels of Echo Base . Wampas were one of several " trophy " animals smuggled onto the planet Coruscant for the pleasure of its citizenry . As with their smuggled counterparts , these wampas were quickly discovered to be too dangerous to handle and were either released into the environment or escaped on their own , labeled from that point as " fugitive animals . " These renegade wampas instinctively migrated to Coruscant ' s cooler polar regions to eke out an existence . Wampas also existed on the Outer Rim ice world Rhen Var . As of 41 BBY , the Galactic Republic prohibited the transportation of wampas throughout the galaxy . The Jedi Master Tholme and his Padawan , Quinlan Vos , were assigned to track a felonious dealer of interdicted beasts to the planet Ryloth , where they suspected their target was connected to the Twi ' lek Clan Secura . Unbeknownst to the Jedi , the Hutt crime lord presiding over the slave trade on Ryloth held a captive wampa — one of the interdicted beasts — in the name of personal security , sold to it by Pol Secura . The wampa managed to break free of its restraints during the Jedi ' s visit , killing the Hutt and several others nearby . The young slave girl Aayla Secura was able to reach out telepathically through the Force to call to Vos for help during the confusion . He soon arrived at her side but found himself overmatched by the large beast after first naively trying to reason with it . On the brink of death within the wampa ' s grasp , Vos , with the assistance of the young Secura , called his lightsaber to his hand via the Force and put an end to the wampa ' s rampage . With Secura ' s sensitivity to the Force realized , she was taken to Coruscant to be trained as a Jedi . Around 32 BBY , the crime lord Gargonn the Hutt ran an enterprise shipping exotic beasts around the galaxy , operating the Circus Horrificus , a gruesome traveling show of alien monstrosities , out of the bowels of the moon Nar Shaddaa . Wampas listed among the many beasts included in Gargonn ' s animal smuggling ring . Cog Hive Seven . The space penitentiary known as Cog Hive Seven ran an extremely lucrative yet illicit gambling operation a decade and a half before the beginning of the Clone Wars . By forcibly pitting its inmates against each other in gladiatorial combat and betting on the matches using an elaborate algorithm to predetermine the winner of each bout , the prison made a fortune at the expense of the galactic gambling community . Cog Hive Seven eventually obtained a wampa from a couple of freelance bounty hunters , who delivered the creature to the prison from an abandoned spaceport in the Anoat system . Believing the wampa to have previously fought in illegal gladiatorial contests , the prison ' s administration planned to match the beast against its own inmates . The wampa was yet infected with a disease that greatly affected its physiology . In 33 BBY , Darth Maul , apprentice of the Dark Lord Darth Sidious , infiltrated Cog Hive Seven on a mission for his Master by masquerading as an inmate , though he was forbidden to call upon the power of the Force or reveal his true identity as a Sith Lord . Cog Hive Seven ' s algorithm soon matched Maul against the prison ' s wampa , a fight that Maul was calculated to lose , with the majority of offworld gambling combines betting that the odds were in the beast ' s favor . The wampa stood nearly three meters in height , with a battered physical appearance indicative of previous combat , including a filthy , blood - stained pelt that had been ripped away in spots along its chest and abdomen , and a cranial horn that had been partially snapped off . The fight began with the wampa slashing Maul twice with its claws . Maul retaliated but quickly came to the realization that there was indeed something profoundly wrong with the creature after driving his elbow into the wampa ' s skull with a force that should have broken its neck , to no effect . The disease that infected the wampa enabled it to continue fighting even after Maul shattered its skull with a subsequent head - butt , but Maul put an end to the match by driving his arms through the soft tissue of the wampa ' s torso and crushing its heart between his hands . Clone Wars . Wampas were occasionally found participating in illegal gladiatorial games on a number of Outer Rim worlds . Early during the Clone Wars , Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress faced a wampa , among other opponents , in the Cauldron , an infamous gladiatorial arena on the rocky planet of Rattatak . She hoped to persuade Count Dooku to accept her as his Sith apprentice by displaying her combat abilities . In similar fashion , the Jedi Master Luminara Unduli faced off against a wampa in gladiatorial style combat while in the Arena of Doom , a gladiator stadium owned by Mondo - Mod the Hutt , who had his wampa contestant shipped in directly from Hoth . Without using her lightsaber or Force abilities , Unduli defeated the beast by jumping , grabbing its horns , and flipping it . She attributed her victory to simple physics . For her victory over the wampa and subsequent opponents , Mondo - Mod revealed to her the location of a Separatist Droid Army factory on the planet Diorda . The Rodian Onaconda Farr , senator of the Doldur sector , possessed a wampa - skin rug during the Clone Wars . Farr kept the rug , comprising a stuffed head but bereft of appendages , within his retreat on the planet Rodia . Warm wampa - skin rugs of high quality immediately showed visitors to one ' s home that one was an individual of refined taste and class . On a tactical screen within a Republic ground base command center commanded by Anakin Skywalker at some point early during the Clone Wars , Aurebesh lettering described a sort of wampa attack taking place . Also present within the base ' s command center was a chest with the Aurebesh lettering " HOT - . " A Low Altitude Assault Transport / infantry with a picture of a snarling Wampa on the front saw service with Republic forces during this period , and it was given the nickname " Wampa Runner " . A sizable community of wampas lived on Asuin , a planet deep within Hutt Space besieged by fierce ice storms , during the Clone Wars . Jedi Generals Obi - Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker landed on Asuin during the war while pursuing valuable stolen data containing the location of the Confederacy of Independent Systems ' hypermatter generator s . Upon touching down on Asuin ' s surface in dropped speeders , Kenobi and Skywalker quickly fell under attack by a large group upwards of ten wampas . The Jedi escaped the beasts by leaping to the far side of a nearby ravine , leaving the wampas to push Skywalker ' s speeder into the deep chasm separating the two parties . Kenobi , specifically , recognized the creatures and referred to the wampas by species name . A particularly abrasive slicer used the handle " wampa1 " as his user identification while posting comments on a HoloNet message thread during the height of the Clone Wars . At some point during the Clone Wars , the Chevin slaver Phylus Mon kept a single male wampa named Ku - Kak as a personal bodyguard in addition to several other retainers . Mon discovered the wampa on a distant ice - covered world and selected the beast into his employ due to its unique ability to wield the Force . Ku - Kak ' s training under Mon included understanding and being able to respond to his master ' s commands in the Chevin language and also to identify and attack Jedi , for whom Mon held a strong dislike . The wampa identified Jedi by the fact that they carried lightsabers , and because he differentiated them from Mischa Vorfren , a male Anzati soldier also in Mon ' s employ who carried a lightsaber that Ku - Kak had collected as a trophy and given to him , and whom Ku - Kak considered an ally . To combat Jedi , Mon provided Ku - Kak with a Sith sword that he had picked up during his travels ; the wampa proved very adept at wielding the sword , which augmented his powers in the dark side of the Force . Additionally , Ku - Kak , like the other slaves under Mon ' s command , was outfitted with an explosive device in his heart programmed to detonate in the instance that Mon died and the Chevin ' s own heart stopped beating . Although this provided Mon ' s lieutenants with the motivation to fight for him , the wampa lacked full awareness of what had been implanted inside of him . Mon traveled with an entourage of enslaved creatures wherever he went — his so - called " zoo " — to which the wampa belonged . The wampa accompanied Mon during his attack of the Sith fortress on the planet Almas in the Cularin system , where the Chevin stole the darkstaff , a powerful Sith artifact , and during which multiple Jedi were killed . A team of Cularin heroes attempting to end the threat that Mon posed encountered Ku - Kak after infiltrating the throne room of Mon ' s starship , the " Animiasma " , within the Cularin system asteroid belt . During the Clone Wars , some clone troopers were known to dress up in special wampa suits for special occasions . For Halloween , some were known to have dressed in a purple fur wampa suit and for Life Day there was a simple white suit . Galactic Civil War and beyond . By 2 BBY , among other lethal creatures , including an acklay and a krayt dragon , the Imperial Captain Ozzik Sturn displayed the head of a wampa in a trophy room he maintained in his personal quarters on the planet Kashyyyk . Sturn , a big - game hunter , collected the heads of his prey during hunts . Six months after the Battle of Yavin , the Shi ' ido Senior Anthropologist Mammon Hoole shape - shifted into a wampa while he and his nephews , Zak Arranda and Tash Arranda , were attacked by a horde of zombies in the Crypt of the Ancients on the planet Necropolis . Hoole was able to manhandle the zombies in his transformed physicality . In 1 ABY , Darth Vader and a stormtrooper detail arrived at the Jedi Enclave on the planet Dantooine , where Vader discovered a clone of himself . While the two engaged in a Force duel , a similar clone of Hoole in the transformed shape of a wampa neutralized one of the stormtroopers . Circa early 3 ABY , Crazy Larry ' s Galactic Getaways , a travel agency , featured a still image of a wampa in its advertisement for a vacation to Hoth . The advertisement warned potential customers that interaction with the planet ' s native wildlife occurred at their own risk , citing the wampas ' history of attacking landing starships and other vehicles . While in pursuit of the bounty hunter Boba Fett late in 3 ABY , Dash Rendar encountered the Imperial - bioengineered cliff wampa in Smuggler ' s Canyon near the Cadavine Sector Fleet Imperial Enclave on the moon of Gall . Mara Jade encountered the swamp wampas of Dromund Kaas on a mission to that planet in 10 ABY . Wampas also held an element of cultural significance for many . The forces of the space pirate Gir Kybo Ren - Cha flew stolen TIE Fighters emblazoned with their trademark red wampa skull signet in the years prior to the Battle of Yavin . By 1 BBY , Holgurn , a Gamorrean messenger in the employment of Jabba the Hutt , was familiar enough with the creatures to compare the inexperienced Rodian bounty hunter Greedo to the inconspicuousness of a wampa , while an Imperial TIE / LN starfighter pilot went by the nickname " Wampa " during the Galactic Civil War for icy precision in battle . Also during the Galactic Civil War , wampa stuffed animal s offered denizens the soft and cuddly aspects of the creature without the danger of being mauled and eaten . In later years , Rogue Squadron Colonel Gavin Darklighter designated an enemy starship as " Wampa " during the Battle of Sernpidal in 26 ABY amidst the Yuuzhan Vong War . A Jedi Initiate training clan of the New Jedi Order — the Wampa Clan — was named after the Hoth creatures . The martial arts form Teräs Käsi consisted of two combat techniques named after the wampa — the Charging Wampa and the Slashing Wampa . The city of Pons Ora on the planet Abafar hosted a business known as Adopt - a - Wampa , though exactly how one could adopt one of these highly dangerous creatures , or why they would want to , was unclear . Behind the scenes . From concept to creation . The wampa ice creature was created for George Lucas ' s and first appeared in Donald F . Glut ' s of the film , just prior to its theatrical debut . The creature may have been based on the phenomenon of the " , " or the " Abominable Snowman , " a humanoid beast believed to live in the . Notes from early concept meetings suggest that the wampa , like the Yeti , may have supernatural powers as well . In early story discussions , the wampa was described as a fishlike beast capable of swimming through the snow , and the creatures were intended to be inside of the base where the Rebels were hiding , creating chaos when Vader is approaching to begin his attack on the base . In the winter of 1977 , Mark Hamill was in a serious car accident that left him in need of reconstructive facial surgery . Many believe that the wampa attack on Skywalker was included in the film to explain Hamill ' s residual scarring and slightly altered facial features . Some of the earliest production drawings of Echo Base ' s interior from May 1978 include call - outs indicating where a " Yuzzem " is to break through the ice walls of the base , as seen in " " . The concept of the Yuzzem creature was introduced into " Star Wars " canon in Alan Dean Foster ' s novel " Splinter of the Mind ' s Eye " , published on March 1 , 1978 , before the production drawings were created . This suggests that the creature that came to be known as the wampa was first referred to as a " Yuzzem , " until Foster adapted the name for his story . To create the wampa ' s roar , sounds effects artist Randy Thom recorded the noises made by an in the . Sound designer Ben Burtt and the film ' s sound team then recorded the cries of a at public oceanarium and mixed that on top of the elephant recording to produce the final effect . Production struggles . Originally the wampa was to be portrayed by actor Des Webb wearing a giant suit made of sheepskins on location in , where the Hoth scenes were shot . The costume , which required the actor to stand on stilts , proved too unwieldy , and it was too heavy and hot , causing Webb to suffer heat exhaustion . All of the shots of the life - size wampa were eventually cut from the film . Creature designer Phil Tippett later built a small wampa hand puppet , visible in a quick close - up as the creature attacks Luke Skywalker . For the " Special Edition " release of " The Empire Strikes Back " in 1997 , George Lucas decided to expand the wampa scenes . In order to do so , Industrial Light & Magic artist Howie Weed constructed a more mobile version of the costume , without the stilts , which he wore in the film . The new shots were filmed within a scaled - down replica of a cave to create the illusion that the wampa was much larger than a normal Human . Additional scenes . Wampas originally played a much more prominent role in early versions of " The Empire Strikes Back " . In the treatment and the first draft , wampas storm Echo Base shortly before the arrival of the Empire . In the original shooting script , a tauntaun was killed when a wampa stormed into Echo Base . Shots of a wampa breaking through one of the walls of the complex and attacking Rebel soldiers were filmed but ultimately dropped from the final version of the movie . In addition , the wall did not crumble properly and the shot was never successfully achieved . Final versions of the script depicted a mass - coordinated wampa attack on Echo Base . There were several scenes shot for the film that showed this incident , as well as a sequence involving C - 3PO tearing a warning sign off the door of a wampa pen , followed by a group of snowtroopers entering the pen only to be attacked by the wampas inside . However , these scenes were later deleted and did not make the final version of the film . Notable appearances . The " Marvel Star Wars " comic adaptation of " The Empire Strikes Back " , " " , released in October 1980 , was the first " Star Wars " source to discuss the deleted wampa scenes in an in - universe context , in which references are made to the fact that wampas are being held captive at Echo Base . The creature ' s on - screen ferocity made its appearance in " The Empire Strikes Back " a popular candidate for recreation in several video game s , including " The Empire Strikes Back " for the Nintendo Entertainment System , " " for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System , " " for Game Boy Advance , and " " . Other releases have sought to expound upon the wampas ' attack on Echo Base , depicting their captivity by the Rebels . The Nintendo 64 release of was the first visual representation outside of actual filmed footage to show the wampa pens . The game ' s designers were specially provided with images of deleted scenes of the wampa by Lucasfilm Ltd . The subsequent " Star Wars Trilogy Arcade " recreated the escape from Echo Base , in which the player must defeat wampas in an attempt to reach the " Millennium Falcon " . Video games and other appearances . The wampa has made appearances in several other video games . In the computer game " " , the wampa is one of many wild creatures that cannot be built or harvested for food , and who will attack any unit it comes near . In " " , a group of wampas battles a variant force of Rebel infantry outside of Echo Base on the planet Hoth and also on Rhen Var . Wampas can be encountered on Hoth in " " and the expansion " " . The game " Star Wars Galaxies " created a new scenario as part of the " Chapter 11 : The Battle of Echo Base " expansion module in which wampas , including the giant wampa Unkajo , inhabit a valley outside of Echo Base and must be defeated during the Battle of Hoth . " LEGO Star Wars II : The Original Trilogy " features an ice skating wampa , one of several humorous elements interjected into the game . It is possible to play as a wampa and a cliff wampa in the " Escape from Echo Base " and " Gall Spaceport " levels , respectively , in the video game " Star Wars : Shadows of the Empire " . " " provides a recipe for " Wampa Snow Cones . " The GBA game " " depicted Wampas as enemies within the Echo Base level during the Battle of Hoth , one in particular also singlehandedly attacking several Stormtroopers before focusing its attention on Luke . Inconsistencies . There remains a discrepancy between the nature of the shielded pens that held captive several wampas inside Echo Base , as well as the number of wampas caged . The West End Games sourcebook infers multiple such pens holding several wampas . The video game " Star Wars : Shadows of the Empire " confirms multiple pens and depicts the wampas as being held behind reinforced cages inside of the pens . However , the reference book " " , which offers an extensively detailed cross - section of the base , includes only one such wampa pen without interior cages . In this small illustration the wampas are seemingly left to roam free within the small pen , while in the close confines of one another . Non - canon . The wampa makes several non - canonical appearances . " The Great Golden C - 3PO Hunt " tells of the search for the rogue C - 3PO following the First Battle of Tatooine . During the hunt a group of four stormtroopers are eventually led to Hoth where an Imperial Army pilot in the cockpit of an All Terrain Scout Transport informs them he has seen a wampa , among other things , but no golden droid . The wampa makes three non - canonical appearances in the " Star Wars Tales " comic series . In the short story " Hunger Pains " , it is revealed that the wampa that attacked Skywalker did so because her children were hungry , while Chewbacca retrieves the bracelet of a dead girl from a wampa cave in " Ghosts of Hoth " . In " The Secret Tales of Luke ' s Hand ! " , Luke Skywalker ' s hand , severed in the duel with Darth Vader on Cloud City , returns to Hoth to discover the similarly severed arm of the wampa that was maimed by Skywalker . Just as Skywalker had done years before , his hand uses the Force to grab a nearby lightsaber and finishes off the wampa appendage . The comic " " retells of Skywalker ' s wampa attack and subsequent escape from the creature ' s cave ; however , he dies on the Hoth wastes before he can be rescued by Han Solo . The " Marvel Star Wars " comic " " describes how pilots Wedge Antilles and Wes Janson survived the Battle of Hoth , but were unable to escape and found themselves stranded on the ice planet for months . There , they fended off numerous wampa attacks . In the young reader novel " " , the reader can opt to let Skywalker die at the hands of the wampa and instead choose to return to Echo Base . In the video game " " , the Emperor ' s apprentice , Lord Starkiller , the dark side persona of Galen Marek , encounters many wampas throughout the subterranean ice caverns of Hoth while infiltrating the Rebels ' Echo Base during a non - canonical version of the Battle of Hoth . Within the ice caverns , the wampas impede Starkiller ' s approach by hurling giant balls of ice at him , as well as delivering powerful blows with their claws . Starkiller must also battle his way through several more wampas within the interior of Echo Base itself , where the creatures find themselves the targets of the base ' s defending Rebel troops as well . The climax of the Echo Base level features a lightsaber duel between Starkiller and Luke Skywalker . At one point during the duel , Skywalker , having fallen to the ground , uses the Force to break open the sealed door to one of the base ' s wampa pens , unleashing three of the creatures on Starkiller as a quick diversion . Starkiller must eliminate the freed wampas before pursuing Skywalker . Before finally catching up with Skywalker in Echo Base ' s main hangar , Starkiller is confronted by several more wampas whom he must dispatch , including another group who burst out of another of the base ' s holding pens . Skywalker encounters wampas as generic enemies on the ice planets of Thaldo , Neshtab , Etorasp , Lokondo , and a fifth unidentified world in the game " " . " Star Wars " ( 1987 game ) . In the Japanese game released in 1987 , a creature who looked like a Wampa possessed shapeshifting abilities , and briefly took the appearance of the Sith Lord Darth Vader . Luke confronted it when trying to rescue his allies on Hoth .