Life debt / Legends The life debt was a social institution found in many honor - bound cultures throughout the galaxy , including the Wookiees , Trandoshans , Gungans , Noghri , Talz , and Srrors ' tok . To summarize , if a person ' s life was saved by another , the saved person was obligated to pledge their life to protecting and looking after their savior , even to the point of sacrificing their own life , if necessary . The particularities of this bond , and the overall strength of the institution , varied from culture to culture . Among the Gungans , the bond was fairly loose , while among the Wookiees , the life debt was an extraordinarily solemn matter . Some unscrupulous recipients of a life debt would take advantage of their position by enslaving and otherwise mistreating the unfortunate person sworn to their service . In Wookiee culture , this tradition is believed to have started when a young Wookiee named Urothko was nearly killed in the Shadowlands , only to be rescued by an elder called Stalpaac . After being saved , Urothko pledged his life to Staalpac . The story was soon spread to other villages and tribes , thus creating the tradition . Known life debts . The Trandoshan Slyssk declared Marn Hierogryph his ghrakhowsk after Gryph faked saving the Trandoshan ' s life with help from Zayne Carrick . The Wookiee Zaalbar swore a life debt to Revan after his rescue from Gamorrean slavers on Taris , continuing his servitude up to at least the Battle of the Star Forge . Another Wookiee , the slaver and bounty hunter Hanharr , believed he owed a life debt to Mira after she defeated him in combat , but spared his life . Hanharr was insulted and enraged both by the mercy she showed and by her refusal to accept his service . Thus , Hanharr was willing to arrange for Mira to be killed to erase his debt . After being defeated but not killed by Mira a second time , his life was saved by Kreia . This new life debt allowed Hanharr to attempt to kill Mira under Kreia ' s orders . Jar Jar Binks ' s life debt to Qui - Gon Jinn began when the Jedi Master saved his life during the Trade Federation ' s invasion of Naboo . Binks then served as a guide for Qui - Gon Jinn and Obi - Wan Kenobi up until Qui - Gon Jinn ' s death . The entire Noghri species owed a life debt to , at first , Darth Vader , and later his daughter Leia , when Darth Vader went to Honoghr after the planet was devastated during the Clone Wars . When it was found that Vader had tricked them , several years after his death at Endor and while they were under the control of Grand Admiral Thrawn , they pledged their allegiance to Leia . Chewbacca ' s life debt to Han Solo began after Solo , then an officer in the Imperial Navy , saved the Wookiee from slavery . Chewbacca ' s debt to Solo later expanded to include his wife Leia Organa Solo , his children Jacen , Jaina , and Anakin , and his brother - in - law Luke Skywalker . However , the Wookiee life debt seemed unique , in that not even the debt could erase Chewbacca ' s obligation to return to Kashyyyk on Life Day . Also , his life debt was not nullified by death as is with many others . After Chewbacca ' s death , the life debt was carried on by Chewbacca ' s son Lumpawarrump and his nephew Lowbacca .