Watto / Legends Watto was a male Toydarian junk dealer / Human trafficker , who owned a shop in Mos Espa , Tatooine . In his youth , he served as a soldier in the Ossiki Confederacy Army on his homeworld of Toydaria , but later left after sustaining permanently damaging injuries . Making his way to Tatooine , he fell in with the Jawa natives of the planet , and learned how to trade from them . Once he felt he had learned all he could , he abandoned the Jawas , and set up Watto ' s Shop in Mos Espa . He became one of Tatooine ' s many slave owners , and made a lucrative business for himself . Eventually , he came into possession of a young slave , Anakin Skywalker , who proved to be a gifted mechanic , and an invaluable asset to the running of the store . Soon enough , Watto discovered that the boy had an affinity for podracing . Watto would often bet on the podraces , and was an avid fan , so he had Anakin race for him in several tournaments . Although the boy never won , he was clearly gifted . During one particular race , Anakin destroyed Watto ' s own podracer , which incurred the Toydarian ' s wrath . Shortly thereafter , a stranger to Mos Espa , Qui - Gon Jinn , claimed that he had his own podracer , and that he wanted Anakin to fly it in the Boonta Eve Classic . Watto conceded to the deal , but decided to bet against Anakin , instead investing in the Dug Sebulba . Jinn took the bet , wagering his ship against Anakin ' s freedom . Ultimately , Anakin won the race , and Watto was left with very little . His business declined , and he eventually had to sell Anakin ' s mother , Shmi Skywalker . Watto stayed in business until the Galactic Civil War , when he handed over ownership of his shop to his assistant , W . Wald . Biography . Soldier . Watto was a Toydarian who grew up on his species ' homeworld of Toydaria . While Watto was still a youth , Toydaria suffered one of its frequent famines . During the famines , certain groups of Toydarians would seize upon the opportunity to strike at their neighbors , and wage war . Watto joined one such group : the Ossiki Confederacy Army . Soldiers such as Watto in the Ossiki Confederacy Army would utilize chemical warfare to poison and render useless the food stocks of their rivals . When the drought ended , the war followed suit . Watto survived , but his left tusk was broken , and one of his legs was rendered lame . With nothing left to fight for , Watto mustered out and left Toydaria . Coming to Tatooine . Watto later came to the world of Tatooine , and at first he spent time with the native Jawas , listening to their stories and legends of scrap finds in the desert , as well as sales techniques . He also learned the secrets of Tatooine ' s hidden economy . To sustain himself on his new world of residence , he had to eat concentrated foods and imported egg - seed s . When he had learned all he could from the Jawas , he either abandoned or reported his friends among them . The Toydarian eventually set up a junk shop in Mos Espa , borrowing money to pay for the building . To help him tend the shop and his stock , the Toydarian acquired several slaves , among them Amee . After making his first successful deal , Watto added a bell shaped dome to the apex of the shop ' s dome to serve as a comfortable perch , a homage to the muck nests of Toydaria . He also purchased a Toydarian clan bell , which would normally be in the possession of a noble family , and hung it above his perch . Although he insisted that his shop was a parts dealership , almost everyone dismissed it as a junk shop . In his stock , the Toydarian possessed both items of extreme value and quality , and scraps that not even the local Jawas would take . Watto would utilize his droids and slaves in a variety of roles , having them repair items , or fetch certain pieces of merchandise for customers . To guard his junkyard at the rear of the shop , he modified two agricultural droids to serve as security . Like the Jawas , the Toydarian preferred to do business with offworlders , rather than seasoned locals , as they were easier to con out of their hard - earned money . To boost his stock , Watto purchased a military surplus lot from crime lord Dreddon . Among Watto ' s staff was an R1 - series astromech droid , which assisted with the shopkeeping . He also possessed a datapad , on which he would maintain his accounting records . Watto rarely used an inventory , however , as he had a great memory for what stock he did and did not have . Also in Watto ' s arsenal were several loaded chance cubes , which he would use to swindle others in games of chance . As a diversion , Watto owned a shisha , which would , for him , replicate the climate of Toydaria . Another of Watto ' s personal effects was his swagger stick . Although he had left family behind on Toydaria , he cut off contact with them , as he feared that they would try and exploit his newfound success . Within a standard year , he had earned enough to pay off his debts . Despite his initial success , however , he was not satisfied , and was convinced that either his slaves were lazy , or Jawas were sneaking into his yard and stealing merchandise . In time , he began betting on the podraces with Gardulla the Elder . Watto was a great fan of the sport , and would often service the pods of the various pilots . He had his own seating box at the Mos Espa Grand Arena , which he shared with several non - Human friends and acquaintances . Podracing was such a lure for Watto , that it was what kept him on Tatooine . He began accumulating all manner of memorabilia from the races , including the Grand Trophy from a tournament on Ando Prime . He dedicated an entire wall of his nest to storing and displaying his collected trophies and trinkets . In time , he became particularly adept at retrieving his money from those who owed him . One day , while visiting the Gardulla , Watto noticed a young boy , aged approximately three years old , repairing a portable vaporator in Gardulla ' s courtyard . The Toydarian pointed out to the boy that he was installing the water pump unit the wrong way , but the child claimed that he had modified it to make it work better , and he demonstrated the improvement . Watto was impressed , but he did not linger , as he owed money to Gardulla following the most recent podrace . Meeting the Hutt in the entrance of her residence , Watto noted that there would be another podrace the next day , and he had an idea as to what the wager would be : ownership of the talented boy , Anakin Skywalker , and his mother , Shmi . Gardulla lost the bet , and within two days , Watto owned both slaves . He provided his slaves with their own hovel on Slave Quarters Row , which the Skywalkers appreciated greatly . To ensured that his slaves did not try to escape , Watto had an explosive chip installed in each of them , that would detonate should they make any attempt to free themselves . Watto made a habit of scolding his slaves — so much so that it became a daily part of their lives . Anakin in particular was exceedingly valuable to Watto for his considerable mechanical talent , although Watto boasted that he had taught him about the machinery himself . Nevertheless , he did beat the boy repeatedly , even when Anakin was only four years old . The boy , however , would take the beatings without so much as a sound . In time , Anakin became Watto ' s favorite slave . As the years passed , Watto ' s Shop thrived , and the Toydarian even gave Shmi an aeromagnifier , with which she could clean computer memory devices and earn some money for herself . With Anakin ' s help , Watto made a business out of fixing droids . When Sebulba blasted a DUM - series pit droid because it was not moving quick enough , Watto repaired it . At the time , he was also repairing an explorer droid and a protocol droid scavenged by Jawas ; Watto noticed that Anakin was especially skilled at fixing the latter type . He also acquired a number of GNK power droid s to power up machinery in the shop , as well as some welding droids and ASP droids to help him in simple tasks . At one point , Watto discarded a pair of 620C racing engine s that were too burned out for and proper use , but Anakin took a particular interest in them nonetheless . One day , Watto heard that there had been a substantial crash involving a space frigate , and two sandskimmers . The parts from the vehicles were to be sold off in Anchorhead , and the Toydarian was eager to bid for them . However , he would have to make a day - long journey to Anchorhead in order to do so , and that meant closing the shop — not an attractive prospect for the Toydarian in any circumstance . He decided that he would make the journey to Anchorhead and close the shop , but he refused to give his slaves a day off , and so he gave Anakin a long list of chores to complete , which would take the boy the entire day to complete . Wagers , podracing , and Anakin . Watto eventually fell into Jabba Desilijic Tiure ' s debt , and was unable to pay it off . At some stage , the Toydarian purchased a lightsaber from a peddler . Shortly afterwards , two of Anakin ' s friends , W . Wald and a sentient feline started snooping around the shop , prompting Watto to chase them off . He then departed to see Jabba before that day ' s podraces began . Anakin was left behind to tend to the shop . Jabba , however , threatened to take away Watto ' s shop if he did not pay off the debt . On his way back to the shop , Watto realized that the only way he would raise enough money would be to bet against Sebulba in the upcoming race — not an attractive prospect for the Toydarian , as Sebulba never lost a race . When he arrived at the shop , Wald and the feline had returned , forcing him to chase them off again . As he watched the race later that day , Watto was mortified when Sebulba pulled into the lead , but , fortunately for the Toydarian , the Dug ' s podracer inexplicably disentegrated , causing him to lose the race . With his winnings , Watto was able to pay off all debts , but his joy was short - lived , as he found Wald and the feline once again snooping around his shop . Once more , the Toydarian chased them off . Wald was later credited with some derogatory graffiti on Mos Espa Way that attacked Watto ' s handling of currency and his odor . Watto would continue to attend the podraces with Jabba , however , and made the acquaintance of one of the crime lord ' s slaves , Diva Shaliqua . When Watto learned that Sebulba was bringing something new into Mos Espa , he sent Anakin to investigate . The boy discovered that it was the Dug ' s new Plug - F " Mammoth " . During this time , Watto ' s Shop became a popular outlet for podracers , who were able to buy all kinds of upgrades for their vehicles in between the various races . When a customer was not able to buy a new part for their podracer , Watto would take them out back to his junkyard , and would sell them used parts . The Toydarian also sold DUM - series pit droids to the customers . One of his frequent customers was the podracer Mawhonic , who would frequently purchase spare parts for his GPE - 3130 . When Watto began having trouble with womp rats in his junkyard , he set snares for them . The Toydarian would never check the snares , however , instead opting to let the rats starve and die . Watto had known that Anakin was adept at piloting speeders , as Gardulla had informed him . What the Toydarian did not expect was the boy ' s affinity for podracing . One day , while enjoying a drink at a local cantina , Watto watched on as Anakin approached him , carrying a datapad he was to deliver . A bar brawl broke out at that moment , but the boy was able to navigate through it without sustaining so much as a scratch . Although Shmi objected , Watto introduced Anakin to podracing the next day . Further evidence of the boy ' s skill when Watto caught him testing a newly refurbished pod by flying it around the junkyard . The Toydarian was furious , but could not deny that the boy had skill . Since Watto was still addicted to gambling on the podracing , he saw an opportunity to generate a little more revenue for himself , and so he began sponsoring Anakin as a podracer . Watto bought a pod for himself , and had the boy repair and test it , although he earned the wrath of Shmi , who was appalled to see her child getting involved in such a dangerous and turbulent sport . Although Anakin was not particularly successful in his racing , Watto would con others into thinking that his slave would win . To keep up the charade , the Toydarian would make small bets on Anakin , but would secretly make his proper bets on Sebulba . In 32 BBY , Watto entered him in one of the many races , allowing the young Human to pilot the Toydarian ' s own vehicle . To Watto ' s horror , Anakin was sidelined by Sebulba in the race , and the pod was severely damaged . Following the race , Watto lambasted the child , lamenting the cost it would take to repair the damage . Anakin protested , claiming that Sebulba had cheated , but the Toydarian simply suggested that his slave should cheat more often , in order to adequately compete . In a fit of rage , Watto suggested that he should find a new driver , and Shmi agreed . The Toydarian then had Anakin begin work on repairing the pod immediately . Despite his harshness , Watto had begun to take a liking to Anakin , placing more trust in him than most other Humans . One day , Skywalker was tasked with repairing a DUM - series pit droid . He had almost finished the task when Watto , not satisfied with the amount of time Skywalker had spent fixing it , decided to try and finish the repairs himself . However , he accidentally hit the pit droid ' s high - output power source , activating the droid , which began to run amok in the shop and ultimately ran away to the streets of Mos Espa . Watto and Anakin followed the droid to the marketplace , and later , to the Mos Espa Arena , where a test drive before the Boonta Eve Classic was underway . The droid ran into the hangar and crashed into Sebulba ' s pod , damaging it ; the angry Dug threatened that Watto would pay for the damage . The chase continued in the Arena itself ; the amused spectators began to make bets on who would capture the droid , Skywalker or Watto . Eventually , Skywalker climbed on the edge of the arena and jumped onto the droid , hitting its nose and deactivating it . When they were returning to the shop with the deactivated pit droid , Watto commended Anakin on his quick - thinking . A week after Skywalker ' s participation in the race , Watto dispatched Anakin to the Dune Sea in a speeder . Out there , he was to make contact with the Jawa traders , to purchase some droids . Anakin was skilled at bartering , making him a suitable candidate for the task . To trade with , the Toydarian gave Anakin a series of rare engine and guidance system parts . Watto also ordered the boy to buy a float sled , or , if he could not obtain one , have the droids march back to Mos Espa . The boy later returned with the droids , safely , but much later than expected . Watto was livid , but eased back on his lambasting of the boy when he noticed the quality of the droids purchased . The next day , Watto began preparing for Boonta ' s Eve , when the Jawas came into Mos Espa . Watto , hoping to get replacement parts for his podracer , dispatched Anakin to meet with the Jawas from Mochot Steep . The boy was unable to retrieve the parts , however , and Watto scolded him , ordering him to clean the junkyard bins . The young Human protested , insisting that he had already done so that day , but the Toydarian cared little , ordering him to do as he was told . Outlanders . Later that day , two Humans — Qui - Gon Jinn and Padmé Naberrie , a Gungan , Jar Jar Binks , and a droid , R2 - D2 , entered Watto ' s Shop . Qui - Gon immediately requested parts for a J - type 327 Nubian craft , and , since Watto was familiar with the Nubian make , he was all too happy to oblige . Summoning Anakin to watch over the shop , the Toydarian took Jinn out back to peruse the junkyard . Jinn needed a T - 14 hyperdrive generator , one of which Watto had in stock , but advised the Human to purchase a new ship instead — a far cheaper prospect , by the Toydarian ' s reckoning . When Watto inquired as to how Jinn planned to pay for the T - 14 , the Human announced that he had 20 , 000 credits . The currency , however , was worthless on Tatooine , as the effort it would take to convert it to local currency would be more than it was worth , and so Watto demanded more suitable payment . Jinn insisted that his credits " would " be suitable , and simultaneously waved his hand in front of Watto . The Toydarian disagreed , and so Jinn repeated the gesture and the statement . Watto , realizing what was going on , inquired as to whether or not Jinn was a Jedi . He received no reply , but the Toydarian saw fit to inform his prospective customer that his species could not be affected by the Jedi mind trick . Watto was unmovable on the subject of payment , and , realizing his predicament , Jinn decided to depart . Weary , Watto commented about Jinn derisively to Anakin , who didn ' t share his sentiments . The day ' s work all but done , the Toydarian ordered Anakin to clean the racks before going home . Later that day , Anakin returned to the shop , and informed Watto that Jinn was going to sponsor him to race in the Boonta Eve Classic . Shortly afterwards , Jinn himself entered , and claimed that he would use his ship , the Nubian , as an entry fee . When Watto inquired as to what Anakin would be piloting in the race , Jinn informed him that he had acquired a podracer of his own in a game of chance . Satisfied , the Toydarian agreed to lend Anakin to Jinn for the race , and they would split the winnings 50 / 50 . Jinn baulked at the suggestion , however , instead suggesting that Watto would keep the prize money if Anakin won , minus the parts needed to repair the Nubian ship , whereas if the boy were to lose , the Toydarian would be given the ship . Deciding quickly , Watto agreed to Jinn ' s proposal . Boonta Eve Podrace , 32 BBY . Watto , however , chose to bet not on his own slave , but on Sebulba , who had a far better track record . The next morning , Watto met with Jinn in the podracer hangar just near the Mos Espa Grand Arena . When the Toydarian announced that he was betting on Sebulba , he was surprised when Jinn claimed that he would take up the bet , hoping to wager his pod against Anakin and Shmi . Watto objected , as the value of no podracer was equal to that of two slaves . Pressing on , Jinn suggested that Anakin alone be wagered . The Toydarian was hesitant , and so he produced his chance cube , letting red denote Shmi , and blue denote Anakin . He rolled the cube , but , to Watto ' s surprise and anger , it landed on blue . Frustrated , he departed Jinn ' s company , confident that Anakin would not win the race anyway . Watto then went to spectate from a box with Weazel and Graxol Kelvyyn . When the race started , Anakin ' s podracer stalled , much to the Toydarian ' s mirth . He was eventually able to get off the starting line though , and join the race . Weazel found it peculiar that Watto would bet against his own slave , but the Toydarian explained that the odds were clearly in Sebulba ' s favor . Kelvyyn , impressed with Anakin , decided to bet ten wupiupi on the boy . Watto was amused , and raised the stakes to twenty wupiupi , which the Anx agreed to . Weazel decided that he would bet against Sebulba as well . When Sebulba finished the first lap in record time , Watto decided he would make a new bet with Kelvyyn — ten wupiupi on Sebulba setting a new record for the overall race . This time Kelvyyn upped the ante , bringing the bet to fifteen wupiupi . Anakin eventually moved up to sixth place — the Anx began to gloat , but Watto was sure that his slave would advance no further . When the third lap began , Sebulba was still in the lead , but he was followed closely by Anakin , to Watto ' s shock and surprise . Even more shocking to the Toydarian was Sebulba ' s crash towards the end of the final lap , allowing Anakin to take the lead and win the race . Watto paid out what was owed to Kelvyyn and Weazel , before Jinn entered the box . The Toydarian accused the Jedi of fraud , but Jinn suggested that Watto , being a gambler , should have been prepared for loss . The Jedi then asked Watto to bring the hyperdrive parts to main podracer hangar , and then promised to come by the shop afterwards to take custody of the boy . The Toydarian baulked , and told the Jedi that he couldn ' t take Anakin , as the bet had not been fair . Jinn , un - fazed , threatened to take the matter up with the Hutts , and Watto realized he was defeated . He resignedly agreed to transfer custody of Anakin , but as soon as Jinn was gone , he began plotting vengeance against the Jedi . Almost immediately afterwards , Watto was approached by Gardulla , who congratulated the Toydarian on having his podracer win . The Hutt then offered to buy Anakin back from Watto at a price of 50 , 000 peggats . Claiming the need to have time to think about such a transaction , Watto bade Gardulla goodbye , and immediately began plotting to get Anakin back . Before he left the arena , he spied one of Jabba ' s thugs . Approaching the thug , Watto offered him with a freelance job — to " convince " Jinn to leave Anakin behind on Tatooine . The thug accepted the deal . Watto also enlisted the services of an Abyssin , Vomac , in cornering Jinn , but he was unsuccessful . Bringing the hyperdrive parts to the hangar , Watto met with Jinn again , and inquired as to whether or not Anakin would be staying on Tatooine . Jinn responded by claiming that it was the boy ' s choice , and the Toydarian capitalized on the claim , suggesting that the boy and his mother should not be separated . The Jedi retorted by asking Watto once more to free Shmi . Realizing that Jinn was trying to trick him , the Toydarian demanded that the Jedi bring the eopies and sleds used to carry the hyperdrive be returned to his shop . As he left the hangar , Watto met with Jabba ' s thug in an alleyway , and the Toydarian reminded his employee of his job . Satisfied that Jinn would be dealt with , Watto returned to his shop . Later , Sebulba entered , hoping to purchase new engines to replace the ones lost in that day ' s race . The Toydarian , however , was aghast when Jinn strode through the door to his shop , unharmed . The Jedi used one of his mind tricks to dismiss Sebulba , and then demanded that the Toydarian retrieve and deactivate the transmitter that would allow Anakin to leave Tatooine . Watto went to his safe to retrieve the device , but the safe also contained a blaster . Jinn , however , implied that he had already dispatched Watto ' s hired thugs , and that he was " in no mood for games . " Taking the hint , the Toydarian retrieved the transmitter , and deactivated it . As he was doing so , Jinn warned Watto to not harm Shmi in any way , shape or form . As Jinn left the shop , he sold Anakin ' s podracer to Sebulba , much to the Toydarian ' s dismay . Jinn later returned with Anakin to have the transmitter permanently deactivated , although Watto was unable to surgically remove the chip embedded in the boy himself . While the Toydarian continued to complain about his situation , the Jedi and the now - former slave departed his shop . Decline . Watto took a considerable time to move on from his loss to Jinn . He had neglected to collect his weighted chance cube from the floor of the podracer hangar , and would ask each customer who ventured into his shop if they had seen it . The Toydarian then took to flying through the streets of Mos Espa , on a search for the cube . The loss had not only affected him emotionally — it had severely damaged him financially , and had left his business in jeopardy . Without Anakin to help , the Toydarian found it difficult to turn a profit on his new stock , and he found the pit droids he had enlisted to replace the boy unsatisfactory . As a result , he would often have to repair and tinker with items himself , although he was no mechanic . The news that Watto had been bested by an outlander quickly spread throughout Mos Espa , and the citizens began to believe that they could exploit the Toydarian . In no time at all , Watto was owed a considerable amount of money that he had no way of collecting . Despite his financial setbacks , he purchased parts of the properties adjacent to his , in order to enlarge his premises . Some time after Anakin had left , Shmi purchased a journal for herself with the money from her aeromagnifier work . When Watto caught her recording an entry while she was supposed to be working in the shop , he ordered her to resume her previous work , lest he sell the journal itself . Several days later , Watto made a trip to Mos Eisley , where he learned that Jinn had been killed in a battle on Naboo . Returning to his shop , Watto told Shmi of the development , and lamented Anakin ' s departure , suggesting that the boy would have been better off staying on Tatooine . Shmi spent 100 credits sending a message to the Jedi Council on Coruscant , a total to which Watto contributed 10 % . Shmi was inquiring as to what had happened to Anakin in the wake of the battle on Naboo , but she received no reply , to Watto ' s chagrin and outrage . The Toydarian grew increasingly melancholy in the wake of Anakin ' s departure , and Shmi began to suspect that he missed Anakin ' s presence . Shmi too had become increasingly depressed in the absence of her son , and , fearing that she would try to escape and would kill herself in the process , Watto secretly deactivated her transmitter chip . At some point after Anakin ' s departure , Watto enlisted the services of the droid Z - P70 , nicknamed " Zeppo , " to help him run the shop . Later , a spacer collided with an asteroid near Tatooine and crash - landed on the planet . Looking for parts to repair his ship , the spacer came to Watto . The individual , however , did not possess the money needed to buy the parts , and so Watto told Zeppo to inform him of the ways to earn the necessary sum . Using Zeppo ' s advices , the spacer gambled against Jabba the Hutt , Sebulba , Teemto Pagalies and Ratts Tyerell in a variety of games and was able to earn the money . He then bought the parts from Watto , repaired his ship , and left the planet . When a Kadas ' sa ' Nikto , Vorkeesk , killed someone that owed Watto money , the Toydarian posted a bounty on his head , 3000 credits alive , 1500 dead . Watto also placed a bounty on the Jawa Biktha — 100 credits alive , 50 dead — who stole one of his pit droids . Both bounties were claimed by the bounty hunter Jango Fett . Watto later pitted himself against the bounty hunter Vilmarh Grahrk in a game of sabacc — a game that the Toydarian lost . Instead of paying his debt to Grahrk , Watto offered the Devaronian any item from his shop of the same value , within reason . Touring Watto ' s junkyard , the Devaronian pointed out a trio of faulty pit droids , and suggested that he take those , but Watto warned him that they were faulty . Grahrk was not convinced , however , and he believed that Watto was deliberately trying to keep him from taking them . As a result , the Devaronian selected the droids as his payment , to Watto ' s feigned displeasure . Once Grahrk had left , the Toydarian afforded himself a moment of amusement , as he had been unable to sell the droids up to that point . He then had Shmi take the droids to the bounty hunter ' s ship , the " Inferno " . Around this time , Watto counted the smuggler Havor among his customers , to whom the Toydarian sold a faulty shield generator . The Toydarian grew to be less harsh on Shmi than he had before , although he continued to feel the effects of losing Anakin . He became embittered , and blamed his bad luck on everyone but himself . When he learned that his slave had been visited by a Falleen from Coruscant , he sent Shmi out to purchase some nectarot . While doing so , Watto had her purchase some expensive Pallie wine from Naduarr , for them to share . Assuming that Shmi had received news about Anakin , he inquired as to whether he had won any podraces , but his slave informed him that Anakin was being trained as a Jedi , and that the Jedi did not allow podracing . At some stage , Shmi obtained a set of protocol droid plating from Watto for the droid Anakin had made years ago — C - 3PO . Some time later , a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars entered Watto ' s Shop , requesting booster coils for a V - 24 landspeeder . Lars knew Watto ' s reputation , and made it clear that he did not want to be swindled by the Toydarian . Feigning ignorance , Watto claimed that the parts would be expensive , if he had any of them in stock . Shmi piped up and claimed that she had just cleaned a whole stack of them that morning , and so Lars purchased a pair . Watto was less than pleased with the development , but he decided not to reprimand Shmi , instead opting to have her clean the memory chips of a used navicomputer . Lars later returned , looking for fifty vaporator condensers , but Watto was still upset about the booster coils , and so the moisture farmer left , displeased . Following Lars ' visits , Shmi ' s mood became more favorable , and she acquitted herself in her tasks well , and without question . Lars later returned to the shop again , this time hoping to trade ownership of Shmi for a landspeeder . Watto thought that the trade was insulting to Shmi , and refused . Over several months , Lars made repeated attempts to purchase Shmi from Watto , all unsuccessful . It got to such a stage that the moisture farmer was offering far more than Shmi herself was worth , and Watto reacted by keeping Shmi closer to him . He would even close the shop on some days and take her with him to bid on wrecks . The Toydarian even took her on two tours , one to Mos Eisley , and another to the pinnacles of the Rock Palace . He also showed Shmi several moisture farms , and explained to her how hard life was living on one of them . Eventually , Shmi requested that Watto sell her to Lars for a reasonable price , but the Toydarian wouldn ' t allow it , and forbade her from seeing him ever again . Not long afterwards , a well dressed young man came to Watto ' s Shop , and wanted to know if the Toydarian had in stock a Needle ship . Watto did , and prepared to show the young man the merchandise . He had Shmi prepare drinks as he took the young patron out to inspect the ship . The man wanted to take the ship for a test flight , but Watto informed him that it was impossible , as it did not have its Tobal lens . The young man was dissatisfied , as the ship was worthless , and he prepared to leave . Shmi then approached Watto , and mentioned that she had seen a Tobal lens in the possession of Lars . The Toydarian quickly left to meet with Lars , hoping to negotiate for the lens . All Lars wanted in exchange was Shmi , who was worth far less than the lens itself . Watto offered him both Shmi and a quarter interest in the ship itself , which Lars accepted . The Toydarian revealed that he had already deactivated her transmitter , before opening the box in which Lars had kept the lens . The powerful Tobal lens blinded Watto , but the effect was not permanent . Following Shmi ' s departure , Watto no longer retained any slaves . Watto later heard that Lars freed and married Shmi . He took on Anakin ' s childhood friend , Wald , as an assistant , and later visited the Lars homestead to offer Lars himself discounts on his merchandise . There , he saw that the well dressed young man who wanted the needle ship was in fact Owen Lars , Cliegg ' s son . Several years passed , and Watto found himself again servicing the vehicles of several podracers , such as Shrivel Braittrand , Kraid Nemmeso , and Tzidik Wrantojo . One day in 22 BBY , while Watto was sitting outside his shop , he was approached by a tall young man , who was accompanied by a young woman . The man picked up the broken head of a pit droid and began tinkering with it , and the Toydarian realized that the newcomer was a Jedi . Immediately worried , Watto reacted by denying that he had done anything wrong at all , but the man was not interested , and instead stated in Huttese that he was looking for Shmi Skywalker . Watto began to realize that the man was in fact his old slave , Anakin , but he was unsure until the man replaced the pit droid ' s head , now repaired . Now sure that the man before him was Anakin , Watto asked if the Jedi could help him collect debts , but Anakin shrugged him off , asking again about where his mother was . Watto told his former slave about Lars , and then looked into his records , directing Anakin towards the moisture farmer ' s homestead . When he had given Anakin the records , the Toydarian requested that the young Jedi stay for a while at his shop , but the man simply departed without a word . Despite Anakin ' s attitude , seeing his former slave had reminded Watto of his earlier , happier days . Wars and retirement . The Clone Wars broke out not long afterwards , and one year into the conflict Anakin returned to Mos Espa , this time in the service of the Galactic Republic . He had been searching for the informant Raala Ponchar , who apparently had information pertaining to the Confederacy of Independent Systems ' new cortosis battle droids . Anakin was referred onto Watto by the citizens of Mos Espa , and the Toydarian in turn had learned that Ponchar was working for a man named Bellek near the local moisture farms . Upon gathering the information from Watto , Anakin departed once more . Over nineteen years later , in 0 ABY , Watto was occasionally summoned to a newly - built Imperial Garrison Base on Tatooine to do business , often from being pressured by the Galactic Empire into doing so . . About a year later , by 1 ABY , Watto was approached by some spacers who had been tasked with re - assembling an R2 - series astromech droid . The Toydarian agreed to help them , but first he wanted them to retrieve some speeder parts that had never been paid for . The people who had taken the parts were to be killed , as well . Once the spacers had completed their task , Watto began aiding them in recovering the droid . He had sold the main casing to a man named Peggin Dulin , and so the spacers set off to retrieve that first . Once they returned , Watto dispatched them to get the legs , which had been sold to a woman named Syndil Na ' Marr . Before the spacers reached Na ' Marr , however , she contacted Watto and informed him that an Imperial officer had taken the legs away from her already . Acting quickly , the Toydarian had a landspeeder sent out to Na ' Marr ' s location for the convenience of the spacers . Sure enough , the spacers returned to Watto ' s Shop with the legs . They were now in need of a motivator , and the Toydarian knew exactly where they could find one : a Human had attempted to run the Boonta Eve podrace track several years after its closure , believing that his droid ' s navigational skills would be able to guide him . They were not , and the Human crashed and died . Watto had initially sold the droid ' s motivator to a Twi ' lek podracer named An ' Kwee , and so the Toydarian sent the spacers out once more to investigate . They returned successfully with the motivator , and extra salvage from the crashed pod . A second motivator part was needed , however , so Watto continued his long string of missions for the spacers . He dispatched them to retrieve a booster controller from a speeder belonging to a being named Pah , which they were able to complete successfully . The next part required was a diagnostic controller , one of which Watto believed could be found in a nearby squill cave . The spacers returned victorious , the diagnostic controller in their possession . The last piece required , the head , was located at the Jabba ' s Palace , and so the spacers made that their new destination . After some time , they returned with the head , and Watto finally helped the spacers re - assemble the droid . During Life Day in 3 ABY , the stormtrooper TK - 555 called in a favor he was owed by Watto and had the Toydarian give a Single Trooper Aerial Platform to a spacer . Some time later , Wald took over the establishment , and re - named the shop " Wald ' s Parts . " Personality and traits . When he was in a particularly foul mood , Watto would hurl abuse at his slaves , and would get them to repeat tasks , even if they were redundant . He would also threaten his slaves with beatings . Despite this , Watto was considered to be a comparatively fair master in Mos Espa , and was neither particularly violent nor cruel . He despised insolence though , and would react to displays of it with rage . Anakin , in time , became Watto ' s favorite slave , and the Toydarian even allowed Shmi to earn money for herself with a small home business . When Anakin left , Watto decided to treat Shmi better than he had before , and would often grant her reprieves from her duties as a slave . Watto understood that he was not a popular figure in Mos Espa — popularity itself mattered little to him . As a result , Watto was unapologetically abrasive . He had been a bitter individual ever since his youth . Another side effect of his total lack of vanity was his tendency to not maintain his appearance , as he left his face unshaven . Watto also loathed to display any semblance of loyalty , affection or gratitude — he deftly sold out or abandoned the Jawas that had helped him adapt to Tatooine as soon as he had learned all he could from them , and the fact that he denies even to himself that he cares for and is even fond of the Skywalker family , treating them alone with warmth and kindness in spite of his greedy and self - centered nature . One of the Toydarian ' s favorite pastimes was complaining . He would often shift blame , and fully believed that each one of his complaints about any given subject was justified . Watto was plagued by nightmares , in which two heavy weights prevented him from flying up to the top of the heap . The two weights were labelled " other people ' s incompetence , " and " my own rotten luck . " He refused to accept responsibility for any of his own setbacks , instead using his slaves and the native Jawas as scapegoats . He was shrewd , and only bet when he was sure of the outcome . He also aspired to become the next Jabba . When Watto lost Anakin to Qui - Gon Jinn , he refused to accept the outcome , and sunk into depression . He was also ridiculed throughout the community for having let an outlander get the better of him . Behind the scenes . Watto was originally conceived for George Lucas ' 1999 film , . Originally , the design of Watto was more avian in nature , featuring plumage and a beak . Later incarnations of the Toydarian featured tentacles , and a cigar . When artist Terryl Whitlatch began designing the character , she began with an ugly , " cherub - like " design . George Lucas suggested that he be given webbed , duck - like feet . Eventually , the basis for Watto ' s face was derived from an early concept painting of a Neimoidian by Doug Chiang , particularly the hooked trunk and the crooked teeth . As the character spoke frequently , animator Rob Coleman found lip - syncing the character ' s lines with Secome ' s delivery of the dialog to be difficult . To overcome the problem , Coleman had part of Watto ' s teeth chipped away , so the character could speak out the side of his mouth , making the syncing process much easier . The sound of his wings flapping is a looped recording of sound designer Ben Burtt opening and closing an umbrella . The character was also alluded to in the two video games : In " " , the character of Reti mentions that a Toydarian on Tatooine would love to acquire the wreckage from a recent space battle . In " " , the character of Roz mentions a " poor sap , " who " Lost everything in a podrace last season . " In the short comic " Old Wounds " , published in the " " collection , Watto is shown to have been beheaded by a resurrected Darth Maul , who is searching for Obi - Wan Kenobi . This conflicts with several elements of established canon , such as Watto ' s survival into " Star Wars Galaxies " , and is non - canon . Watto was played by voice - actor Andrew Secombe , who also played the character on set , to give animators a reference for lighting and eye - line . Secombe adopted an Italian accent for the role . Secombe reprised the role for , and the games " " , " " , " " , as well as the adaptation of " Star Wars Episode I : The Phantom Menace " . In the video game , Secombe also provided the voice of other Toydarians on the moon of Nar Shaddaa .