Summa-verminoth

Summa-verminoth were a gigantic, space-faring species of legend that dwelled in the Akkadese Maelstrom around the planet Kessel. With numerous eyes and electrified tentacles that they used to ensnare prey, summa-verminoth were often misunderstood creatures. In 10 BBY, after the Raid on Kessel, Beckett's gang accidentally awakened a summa-verminoth in the Maelstrom, whilst aboard the Millennium Falcon. Han Solo, the ship's pilot at the time, endured a chase with the creature until he lured it into the Maw gravity well using the Falcon escape pod. The Maw's gravitational pull tore the skin from the summa-verminoth's skeleton before the creature was destroyed entirely.
==Biology and appearance==
Summa-verminoth were a massive, space-borne species that lived in the Akkadese Maelstrom, a cluster of matter that encompassed the planet Kessel. At 7,432 meters long, (4.618 miles) they sported multiple eyes and numerous large tentacles. A summa-verminoth's tentacles were armed with suckers and electrified stingers, which they used to trap preySolo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition audiobook and satiate their voracious appetite.
===Subspecies===
A subspecies of the summa-verminoth lived in the Red Honeycomb Zone in the Unknown Regions, which was a passage through the Galactic Barrier. In order to be able to hunt its own kind, this subspecies adapted to be able to perform a psychic attack. Sometime between 3 ABY and 4 ABY,Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) takes place between Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas places in 3 ABY and 4 ABY respectively. Darth Vader and Sith assassin Ochi of Bestoon encountered this subspecies while attempting to travel to the Sith planet Exegol.
==History==
Due to their size and appetite, the often misunderstood summa-verminoth were embedded in legends of what starship crews might have encountered within the Akkadese Maelstrom. In 10 BBY,Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide establishes that the events in Solo: A Star Wars Story occurring after the Mimban Campaign occur nine years after the formation of the Galactic Empire, which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates to 19 BBY. Therefore, the events of Solo after that point can be dated to 10 BBY. Han Solo and the rest of Beckett's gang unintentionally awakened a summa-verminoth near them Maw Cluster, while escaping Kessel in the Millennium Falcon. The individual had come to the Maw untold eons ago, drawn to it. The Maw entranced the creature and it eventually fell into a dream-like state out of longing.Solo: A Star Wars Story: A Junior Novel After awakening in hunger, the massive creature pursued the ship and its crew, until Solo flew the Falcon near the vicinity of the gravity well. He then ejected the Falcon's escape pod, which the creature chased instead, right into the gravity well. The summa-verminoth was caught by the well's pull and its skin was torn from its skeleton, before the rest of its body was consumed in turn.
==Behind the scenes==
The summa-verminoth first appeared in the 2018 Star Wars Anthology film Solo: A Star Wars Story. Nicknamed "Space-o-pus" by the film's crew, the summa-verminoth was not originally in the script, but was a late addition approved by director Ron Howard. The creature's death scene, in which its skin is ripped from its skull, was conceived by design supervisor James Clyne as a partial nod to the Indiana Jones franchise.
==Appearances==
*Solo: A Star Wars Story 
*Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition 
*Solo: A Star Wars Story Adaptation 5
* 
*Darth Vader (2020) 9
*Darth Vader (2020) 10
*Darth Vader (2020) 11
*Darth Vader (2020) 14 
*Darth Vader (2020) 15 
*Darth Vader (2020) 46
*Darth Vader (2020) 47
*Darth Vader (2020) 50
==Sources==
*Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide 
*
*
*Star Wars: How Not to Get Eaten by Ewoks and Other Galactic Survival Skills
*Star Wars: Creatures Big & Small
*Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition
*Star Wars: Book of Lists 
*
*
*
*Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1: Creatures of the Galaxy
*Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
*
==Notes and references==
==External links==
*
Category:Non-sentient species
Category:Space-borne creatures