Gank / Legends Ganks , also known as Gank Killers , were a bloodthirsty , bipedal sentient species . Members of the species usually wore high - tech battle armor from head to foot , so to most non - Ganks their physical appearance remained unknown . Under the armor Ganks were hairy and powerful , with yellow , squarish faces and beady eyes . They sported cybernetic implants that allowed them to communicate with one another silently . Ganks were rarely seen alone , as they moved around in packs and worked together to accomplish their aims . They relished opportunities for violent mayhem and massacring others , a joy that only embellished their reputation as bloodthirsty killers . Among the many mysteries surrounding the Ganks was the name of their true homeworld , since most members of the species resided on the Hutt - controlled industrial moon known as Nar Shaddaa . There they often were found working for Hutts — acting as mercenaries , bounty hunters , bodyguards , and assassins . They were infamous throughout the galaxy for their role in the Gank Massacres , when they were hired by Neimoidian traders to protect them from the ravages of the Porporite species , who were intent on gaining access to ryll spice . The Ganks wiped out the Porporites and then mounted a full - scale campaign of conquest against neighboring groups until stopped by the Jedi and the Galactic Republic . Biology and appearance . The Ganks were a sentient humanoid species of fur - covered carnivores . The typical member of the species had a face that was squared - off and yellow in color , the expression trapped in a perpetual snarl that non - Ganks found unattractive . Small , mean - looking eyes peered from above the maw , and ears facilitated the sense of hearing . The head sat atop a thick neck , which emerged from between broad , strong shoulders . These capped two thickset , powerful arms , which terminated in hands with five fingers each . In contrast , their legs were relatively short ; over all , the average member of the species stood 1 . 6 meters tall . Their heavy build afforded Ganks great strength , yet they were also spry runners . They augmented their bodies with cybernetics , making them a species of cyborgs . These implants allowed Ganks to engage in silent communication with their fellows . Society and culture . Among members of other species , precious little was known about Gank culture well into the days of the New Republic . The exception was that the Ganks were fabled for their violent and ruthless nature ; even the slightest perceived insult was enough to throw a Gank into a violent rage of retaliation . Outsiders similarly knew little of the organization of Gank society , or whether they had any central rulers at all . What was well known was that the Ganks were a war - loving and regimented species , whose members enjoyed occupations that allowed them to fight and shed blood , such as that of assassin , bodyguard , bounty hunter , and mercenary . They were in particular demand by the Hutts , who had enough Ganks on retainer to constitute a small army . Their warlike ways and physical strength ranked the Ganks among the galaxy ' s most redoubtable fighters . The species had no compunctions about premeditated murder , which lent them the nickname " Gank Killers . " Ganks rarely left any flesh exposed , so few non - Ganks had any idea what they truly looked like . They wore mechanized battle armor into combat . A typical suit consisted of cobbled - together pieces , such as a prolate spheroid - shaped helmet with small holes at the front and two thin poles emerging from each side . Other elements included pauldrons , a chestplate , a belt , a loincloth , pants , a holster , knee and elbow pads , gloves , knee - high boots , and small sheaths tied around the wrist to accommodate combat knives . From their necks some Ganks hung a variety of objects , including old teeth . They otherwise had access to technology on par with the rest of galactic society , such as vibroblades . Ganks rarely traveled alone ; they preferred to work in packs to achieve their goals . Although their society was divided into clans , they worked mostly in small groups of between two and five . Indeed , they worked so well together that sentientologist s hypothesized that Ganks possessed at least basic telepathic abilities that allowed them to remain in constant communication with one another . However , no scientist was ever able to spend enough time in close proximity to a group of Ganks to prove or even provide evidence for the theory . Ganks tended to kill any outsiders who approached them — including nosy anthropologists . An exception was the Senior Anthropologist and Shi ' ido shape - shifter Mammon Hoole , who used his species ' natural shape - shifting ability to infiltrate a pack of Ganks long enough to determine that they communicated through cybernetic implants , thus granting them an edge over other possible bodyguard candidates for the wealthy Hutts of Nar Shaddaa , a moon of the Hutt homeworld , Nal Hutta . Ganks communicated verbally as well ; some spoke Galactic Basic Standard . They also communicated through gestures and sounds , such as laughing when amused , shrieking when frightened , grunting when in pain , and screaming when injured severely . A terrified Gank betrayed itself through the eyes . History . Early history . The Ganks ' original homeworld was unknown to outsiders . However , at some point in their history , members of the species voyaged to Nar Shaddaa , which , over time , became their adopted home . There they took to working for the Hutts as assassins , bodyguards , bounty hunters , guards , and mercenaries . Their lust for blood , their affinity for working together as an effective team , and their ability to communicate with each other through mechanized means made Ganks prized assets of many a Hutt gangster , so Ganks were frequently seen on the moon as part of Hutt entourages . The Ganks became infamous for their violent ways during the Gank Massacres , which erupted in 4800 BBY . At the time , Neimoidian merchants discovered ryll spice on the planet Ryloth and cornered the market in its distribution . The monopoly agitated the Porporite species , for whom ryll was highly addictive , sending them into homicidal rages upon its consumption . Neighboring factions , including the Neimoidians themselves , hired the Ganks for protection from the Porporites and to eliminate the threat they posed . The Gank clans committed genocide on the spice - addicted species , completely wiping them out . Encouraged by their success , the Ganks then embarked on a full scale war against the Galactic Republic . Their uprising was put down in 4775 BBY by the Jedi and their Republic allies after Supreme Chancellor Vocatara sent a force of juggernaut war droid s and the Rocket - Jumper Elite Advance Unit to stop them . The Neimoidians ' use of Gank mercenaries rather than bounty hunters also constituted the first significant challenge to the dominance of the Bounty Hunters ' Guild . In response , some guild members took a page from the Ganks and worked for whomever paid the most , eventually fracturing the guild as more hard - line members quit in disgust . As early as 3999 BBY , the species had come to be known as " Gank Killers " due to their penchant for killing other sentients without remorse . During the Cold War , a period of unrest between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic , the word " gank " was used as an insult in general galactic parlance . The species remained closely associated with the Hutts , although one group of Gank mercenaries moved into Imperial territory and geared up to pillage Empire - aligned planets . When the Sith Empire spotted them , they dispatched an operative to negotiate with the Ganks and persuade them to leave peacefully , thus avoiding hostilities between the Empire and the Hutts . The name " Gank Killer " remained current into the Clone Wars , when the Besalisk restauranteur Dexter Jettster punned that the slider s he sold at his diner on the planet Coruscant had " no additives or Gank fillers . " By the latter years of the Galactic Republic , most Ganks lived in the lowest levels of Nar Shaddaa . According to a legend that arose during the period and remained popular among Jedi Padawans , a group of fourteen Ganks once confronted the Korun Jedi Master Mace Windu , surrounding him with blasters drawn . Windu simply placed his hand on his lightsaber , looked each Gank in the eye , and said , " It ' s your decision . " They dropped their weapons and turned themselves in to their would - be opponent . Some Jedi thought the tale apocryphal , but it became an integral part of Windu ' s mystique among the members of his order . Galactic Civil War . After the rise of the Galactic Empire , Ganks remained an active threat in the galaxy . In one instance in 19 BBY , the Sullustan journalist Den Dhur accidentally bumped into a group of three Ganks on the streets of Coruscant while stumbling home drunk from a bar . One backhanded him and knocked him over , while another pulled a vibroknife on the Sullustan ' s prone body in the gutter . Just before the Gank could cut him , the droid I - 5YQ came to Dhur ' s aid . Upon hearing the droid ' s threat , the Ganks silently agreed to flee . During the Galactic Civil War , Ganks operated on several planets beyond Hutt Space . For instance , the Rodian bounty hunter Greedo noted Ganks in the Mos Eisley Cantina on the planet Tatooine when he visited that watering hole with Spurch Goa and Dyyz Nataz in 0 BBY . That same year , the Human siblings Tash and Zak Arranda ran afoul of Ganks and their employer , Smada the Hutt , on the planet D ' vouran . In an effort to pressure the Arandas ' caretaker , Mammon Hoole , to assassinate a target for him , Smada had a Gank thug assault Tash in the Don ' t Go Inn to underscore his message that Hoole must work for him . The timely intervention of the Human smuggler Han Solo , the Force - sensitive Luke Skywalker , and their companions convinced the Gank to release the girl and Smada to flee . Unperturbed , Smada used his Gank minions to accost the Aranda children again and again , eventually joining five Ganks on his hoversled to kill Zak and kidnap Tash , thus blackmailing Hoole into accepting Smada ' s offer of employment . Hoole arrived with twenty - four local villagers and convinced Smada to flee with his entourage . Smada continued his quest and sent a Gank assassin to shadow the children , who led the stalker to an abandoned laboratory , where they were accompanied by a local man named Kevreb Bebo , whom the Gank shot . The children fled , but Zak was captured and imprisoned in Smada ' s stronghold under guard by six Ganks . When Tash came to negotiate her brother ' s release , Smada and his Gank bodyguards were forced to take cover when they heard a krayt dragon roar — actually a trick by the droid DV - 9 , who came to the Arandas ' rescue with the children ' s skimboard . The Ganks opened fire , but the children possessed a shield generator shaped like a pendant that protected them from blasterfire . Seeing his Ganks unable to leap high enough to seize the children , Smada shot the board itself , and the children disappeared . Smada and six Ganks located the quarry outside , where the Hutt ordered one Gank to capture the children . Instead , the Gank disappeared . The same fate befell the next Gank , who was swallowed up by the earth itself . The remaining five Ganks clambered aboard Smada ' s hoversled to avoid similar deaths , but the Hutt whipped all but one off with his tail , and the ground swallowed them up . The Enzeen villager Chood appeared and explained that D ' vouran itself was consuming the Ganks . When the Enzeen attacked , the remaining Gank leapt off the sled and ran for the forest . The planet ate the Gank . Two Ganks were hired by the Human Dominic Raynor to kill fellow Human gambler Lando Calrissian and his cyborg assistant , Lobot , less than two months after Calrissian became the Baron Administrator of Cloud City on the planet Bespin in 1 ABY . In 2 ABY , a Gank bounty hunter was hired by a Human counterpart named Thune to capture the Corellian smuggler Kaj Nedmak . The Gank loaded the prisoner in the back of a Y - wing starfighter and flew it to a rendezvous with Thune , who had captured the Human smugglers Celia Durasha and Treytis Prash and stolen their ship , the " Faceted " . As Thune brought Durasha out to meet the Gank , Nedmak attempted to escape , but the Gank overpowered him , bringing him to the " Faceted " on Thune ' s order . However , as the Gank ascended the gangway , Nedmak fell to his knees and tripped the Gank , who fell down the ramp . In the confusion , Durasha and Nedmak overwhelmed Thune and took her captive . Nonetheless , the Gank bounty hunter recovered , shot Durasha ' s hand , and ordered the two to release Thune . Durasha then retrieved her blaster and shot and killed the Gank . Prior to the Battle of Hoth , Jabba the Hutt had Gank Killers in his employ . He sent some of them after Han Solo when the smuggler failed to pay back a debt he owed the crime lord . Solo cited the Ganks chasing him as one reason why he had to abandon the Alliance to Restore the Republic to settle up with Jabba in 3 ABY . Jabba enlisted Gank Killers to capture the police partners Spurch Goa and Thaffe , as well as Dyyz Nataz , a smuggler traveling with them while the investigators pursued a counterfeit ring . Unbeknownst to them , Jabba had set the ring up specifically to entrap the investigators , who had annoyed him with their frequent arrests of his associates . The Ganks captured the trio , brought them onto an ore hauler , and tortured Goa and Thaffe for hours to gain intelligence for their employer . The pair refused to divulge any sensitive information , however , so the Ganks instead decided to kill the police officers . They ordered the partners to play sabacc against one another to determine who would die first . Thaffe lost on purpose , prompting the Ganks to shoot him . Goa went berserk and escaped , and Nataz freed himself in the ensuing chaos . The prisoners overpowered and killed the Ganks and then used the ship to make their escape . New Republic period and beyond . The Ganks maintained their mystique well after the rise of the New Republic due to their penchant for killing any researcher foolish enough to attempt to study them up close . One exception was the shape - shifting Shi ' ido Senior Anthropologist Mammon Hoole , who managed to infiltrate a group of Gank Killers by changing his form to resemble theirs . Hoole had infringed on a Hutt ' s good graces , and the Hutt sent a group of Ganks after the scientist . Hoole turned a corner and assumed the form of his pursuers . When the group realized they had lost their target , they stopped to decide their next move . Hoole heard nothing , leading him to realize that the Ganks were able to maintain communication with one another through cybernetic implants . When they realized Hoole was an imposter , he transformed into a Rishii avian and flew away . Hoole later included an entry on the Ganks in his book " The Essential Guide to Alien Species " , in which he recounted his discovery . Also in Hoole ' s book was a breakthrough in understanding Gank biology made by another researcher , Doctor Hira Deboota of the Coruscant State Coroner ' s office . During the regime of the New Republic , Deboota noticed after performing an autopsy on a member of the cybernetic Yaka species that the Yaka ' s implants were similar to those of the Ganks , albeit slightly more advanced . Deboota hypothesized that Gank circuitry was a prototype for the final implementation of the devices used in the Yakas , a species whose cybernetic heritage came when the Arkanian species experimented on them . On a trip to Nar Shaddaa in 10 ABY , a group of Ganks teamed up with the Mandalorian bounty hunter Boba Fett to capture Han Solo and his family . Later that year , a group of Ganks working for the Hutts confronted Solo ; his wife , Leia Organa Solo ; and his former partner Salla Zend in Nar Shaddaa ' s Corellian Sector while the trio of Humans attempted to find a starship to take them to the Emperor ' s throneworld of Byss and to find the ancient Jedi Vima - Da - Boda . When the Ganks located the Solos , they demanded that the Humans surrender to the Hutts . Organa Solo unholstered her blaster and shot the pair of Ganks . When three more rushed to the scene , the Solos called their Wookiee partner , Chewbacca , to help . A rival gang of bounty hunters , also searching for the Solos , arrived and attacked the Gank Killers . In the fighting , the Ganks and bounty hunters wiped one another out , and their quarry escaped . During the Yuuzhan Vong War , in 28 ABY , at least two Ganks joined the group of Yuuzhan Vong sympathizers known as the Peace Brigade . When a group of Jedi Knights reached the planet Ylesia and a battle broke out , the Ganks locked themselves in a bunker used by the Ylesian Senate . The Jedi Jaina Solo and Lowbacca infiltrated the bunker , and the Ganks opened fire . Lowbacca then bashed their heads together , ending the threat they posed . Behind the scenes . The Ganks date to the second draft of the script for , revised by George Lucas from the first draft by Leigh Brackett on April 1 , 1978 . In it , Han Solo tells Leia Organa that he must leave the Rebel Alliance ' s base on the ice planet Hoth to pay off Jabba the Hutt . Organa protests , but Solo replies that if he fails to pay Jabba the money he owes him , " there will be just too many [ bounty hunters ] to stop … Remotes , Gank killers , even Bell Cambos . " The line was altered before shooting in 1979 , and the reference to Gank killers removed . Nevertheless , in his 1980 of the film , writer Donald F . Glut included a variant of the line , as did Archie Goodwin in his 1980 , thus preserving the reference . Solo ' s quote was repeated in " The Empire Strikes Back Official Poster Monthly 5 " , also published that year . Exactly what a " Gank killer " was remained unaddressed until issues and of the comic book series " Dark Empire " were published by Dark Horse Comics in 1991 and 1992 , respectively . The comics , written by Tom Veitch and illustrated by Cam Kennedy , feature Hutt background characters with armored retainers . Although the comics never explicitly refer to these as Ganks , Bill Slavicsek ' s 1994 second edition and 2000 third edition of " A Guide to the Star Wars Universe " make such an identification . The species ' background was expanded upon by Michael Allen Horne in 1993 ' s " Dark Empire Sourcebook " and by Ann Margaret Lewis in 2001 ' s " The Essential Guide to Alien Species " . The latter source includes an image of the species by R . K . Post . Ganks have since played minor roles in several " Star Wars " novels and stories , including John Whitman ' s " " ( 1997 ) , Walter Jon Williams ' " " ( 2002 ) , and Michael Reaves ' " " ( 2008 ) . Many sources , such as 1994 ' s second edition of " A Guide to the Star Wars Universe " , are unclear as to whether the terms " Gank " and " Gank Killer " refer to the same thing , or whether the Gank Killers were a subset of the Gank species as a whole . However , 2000 ' s third edition update to that book , also by Slavicsek , clarifies that the terms both refer to the species as a whole . The species is also mentioned in sourcebooks such as the " Star Wars Encyclopedia " , " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " , and the codex of the 2011 video game " " .