Ratts Tyerell Ratts Tyerell was an Aleena Podracer pilot who flew a massive Podracer during the Boonta Eve Classic Podrace which took place during the Invasion of Naboo . Tyerell had a drive to beat the reigning champion , the Dug Sebulba . During the race , Tyerell flew into the Laguna Caves , where his accelerator jammed . Unable to control his Podracer , the little Aleena could only throw his arms into the air and scream as he fatally collided with a stalactite . His family was reportedly seen mourning after the race ' s conclusion . Biography . A male Aleena from the planet of Aleen , the diminutive Ratts Tyerell took on the role of a professional Podracer pilot , making up for his small stature with a Podracer with large , oversized engine s . Utilizing a team of Aleena mechanics , Tyerell toured alongside his family . Tyerell ' s profession earned him immense popularity on his homeworld , and was sometimes considered to be Aleen ' s most famous native . A small toy based off of Tyerell ' s Podracer was also produced at some point . Tyerell eventually headed to the Outer Rim planet of Tatooine to participate in the world ' s largest annual Podrace , the Boonta Eve Classic . The race was concurrent with an invasion on the neighboring planet of Naboo . Only a little while before the race , Tyerell ' s wife gave birth to a third child , a fact that eventually found its way to the race commentators Fode and Beed . Tyerell ' s main goal for the Boonta was to beat its reigning champion , the Dug Sebulba , a vicious individual who was known to cheat . On the morning of the Boonta , Tyerell ' s Aleena crew saddled the parts of his racer onto a group of Eopie which carried the vehicle to the starting grid of the race , located at the Mos Espa Grand Arena . Tyerell ' s pod was positioned on the front row , located in between Sebulba ' s pod and the outside pole position starter , Mawhonic . As the pilots continued their preparations for the race , Fode and Beed conducted the opening ceremonies , introducing Tyerell at some point as well announcing his newborn baby . Once the introductions had finished , Fode and Beed welcomed the race ' s host , Jabba the Hutt , who announced the official start of the race . With the Hutt ' s go ahead , Tyerell and his competition were off . Tyerell was off to a good start , but eventually fell to the middle of the pack , despite his good starting position . Heading into a section of the course that sped through the Laguna Caves , Tyerell ' s accelerator jammed while he distracted himself with another pilot . Speeding toward a group of stalactites , Tyerell was powerless to swerve out of the way due to his broken controls . Tyerell screamed frantically as he sped to his fate . The race was ultimately won by a human named Anakin Skywalker . After his demise , Tyerell ' s family was reportedly seen grieving after the race ' s end . In fact , the little scrapper ' s death became an emotional event for the entire planet of Aleen , who had lost what was perhaps their most well known resident . Personality and traits . Ratts Tyerell was a small individual , but made up for his size with a massive Podracer . Having a bit of a flair for theatrics , when his name was announced by Fode and Beed , Tyerell turned to the crowd with an expressive roar . Later during the race , when Tyerell realized he had no hope in swerving out of the obstacles before him , he panicked and screamed before his fatal crash . Tyerell , an Aleena , was the shortest of the Boonta contestants , standing at only . 79 meters . Tyerell had black eye s and blue and white skin . Skills and abilities . While Tyerell ' s size may have meant that he could alleviated some of the weight from his Podracer , it probably wouldn ' t have mattered with his massive Podracer . Still , Tyerell performed well in enough races to gain significance on his homeworld and receive wide mourning in the wake of of his death . In addition , he was popular enough to have had a small replica of his Podracer produced as a toy , one of which was owned by one of his children . However , as concentrated as he was , the Aleena was distracted moments before his death , although since it was his accelerator that malfunctioned , his fate was out of his hands . Equipment . Tyerell flew a massive Podracer with a spacious cockpit and two large engines . Although the engines didn ' t have a lot of color added to them , the front ends of the behemoths were bright blue with a red trim . A similar color scheme adorned his cockpit . When racing , Tyerell wore goggles which protected his large eyes , along with some other clothes . Behind the scenes . Ratts Tyerell was created for the 1999 film . During pre - production , artist Terryl Whitlatch laid some of the foundation work for Tyerell ' s character , creating artwork for the character which established his look , uniform , skeletal structure , and color scheme . In his earliest published incarnation , dated July 16 1996 , he was labeled simply as " Pod Racer - Long Head , " and was later nicknamed " Amphibian . " Sketches dated May 27 , 1997 finally bore the name " Ratts Tyerell . " Tyerell later appeared in some Expanded Universe material , although due to his death his overall list of appearances was short . Most notably , all three of his children were named in later sources , which expanded on Tyerell ' s after death legacy . However , all of these later appearances are now considered to be a part of the Star Wars Legends continuity , and no longer part of the official canon .