Sarlacc

The **sarlacc** was a dangerous, plant-like, carnivorous creature. It lived to be tens of thousands of years old, and reproduced by spores. Sarlaccs shared common ancestry with other species, most notably the rathtar, blixus and vixus. One such creature inhabited the Great Pit of Carkoon in the Dune Sea of Tatooine. It tortured the famous bounty hunter Boba Fett, who eventually managed to escape. While Jabba the Hutt claimed it as a pet, it arrived on Tatooine of its own accord. Another sarlacc could be found on Felucia. A third sarlacc was known to dwell in the pit on the planet Aargonar's moon Aargonar 3. Yet another, less famous sarlacc dwelled on Tatooine right next to some Ancient Ruins.

## Characteristics

The sarlacc was a large, omnivorous invertebrate with long tentacles that rimmed its mouth. They reproduced by spores, known as "sarlacci," that traveled through space until they found another suitable planet to inhabit. After implanting itself into the ground, the sarlacci grew downward like a plant, forming a pit. The mouth and tentacles were the most visible parts of the sarlacc. The rest of the sarlacc's massive anatomical features were buried up to one hundred meters deep in the ground. This guaranteed protection of the sarlacc's vital organs and made it invulnerable to most forms of serious damage. The teeth of the sarlacc surrounded its beak-like tongue and plant-like tentacles in tiers. Its teeth were also slightly slanted inward ensuring its prey would remain trapped. While its lightning-fast tentacles are used to snatch up its prey, such as Eopies, they were not its primary means of capturing a meal. The sarlacc discharged odors and scents that lured herbivores and scavengers close enough for it to use its tentacles. Sarlaccs had a very odd body shape. The sarlacc's mouth was the only part of the body visible, usually. Most of its body was covered in rigid plates. It had eight appendages beneath the ground used for stability or for reburial if the sarlacc became partially exposed. The body of the sarlacc ended in three roots used for moisture absorption.

Despite their size, the sarlacc did not need to eat very much at a time. They were almost entirely immobile, which means they had to be able to survive for prolonged periods without food. As a result, they also digested their food very slowly. It was even said that sarlaccs could be telepathic and could gain consciousness from the creatures they ate by assimilating their thoughts and memories during digestion.

There was some debate among xenobiologists as to whether the creature was an animal or an unusual carnivorous plant, though most found the creature far too dangerous to merit an extended study of the question. The sarlacc shared a common ancestor with the rathtar, blixus, and vixus, and all possessed a large maw, tentacles, and a voracious appetite. Each was native to different worlds and had adapted differently to become a great hunter in its specific environment, with the sarlacc becoming the largest and least mobile of its relatives.

Sarlaccs were fairly durable, with one surviving internal damage caused by Boba Fett tearing and burning his way out of its stomach in 9 ABY. This specimen would survive for a brief time before being killed by Fennec Shand with a seismic charge dropped from *Slave I*.

A predator to the sarlacc was the krayt dragon. According to Tusken Raiders, krayt dragons could eat sarlaccs alive, then burrowed in the cavity left behind, only coming out when hungry or provoked.

While studying a holographic recording recovered from Boba Fett's helmet camera, Senior Anthropologist Mammon Hoole discovered an unsettling revelation: the beast apparently possessed the ability to telepathically torture its prey. In this recording, Fett appeared to be reacting to stimuli that did not exist, suggesting that sarlacc were capable not only of communication, but apparently of malevolence, feeding off the fears of their prisoners. This led Hoole to classify the sarlacc as a semi-sentient creature. It was also believed that the consciousnesses of the sarlacc's victims joined to create a huge network of awareness. The victims were able to communicate with one another through this ghoulish network. As the sarlacc absorbed the thoughts of its victims, it would become more and more intelligent, to the point where a sarlacc could almost predict what its victims would do in its stomachs to try and escape, or predict when it was hunting them.

A mysterious and unique incident occurred with the Tatooine Sarlacc and a girl called Shaara. While she fell into the Great Pit of Carkoon, she was thrown back out before any attempt was made to digest her, unlike the stormtroopers that had given her chase. There were no clear reasons why the sarlacc had spared her.

The sarlacc of Tatooine identified itself closely with one of its first victims, a Choi named Susejo. Oddly enough, Susejo and the beast had seemingly merged in consciousness to the point where Susejo could control the actions of the sarlacc.

The fibrous vessels in the stomachs connected prey together. The digestive fluids and the sarlacc's blood traveled through the vessels and into the victims, which were connected in the manner of an electrical current, bringing the victim's minds, thoughts, bodies, and spirits together, keeping them at one with the sarlacc's body, brain, and soul.

Having long admired the patience of the sarlacc, the Jedi Order named a form of lightsaber combat, Shii-Cho, after the beast.

## History

After Luke Skywalker killed Jabba's rancor as part of his rescue of Leia Organa, Han Solo and Chewbacca, Jabba became outraged and ordered that they all be fed to the sarlacc. Luke described this as being the last mistake that he would ever make, but Jabba was unimpressed and had the group escorted out. Upon arrival at the Great Pit of Carkoon, Skywalker, using his recently developed skills as a Jedi Knight, rescued the group, and led to a number of Jabba's guards becoming victims of the sarlacc instead. The bounty hunter Boba Fett was also knocked into the mouth of the sarlacc by Han Solo. Unable to move quickly, the creature was wounded when Jabba's sail barge, *Khetanna*, exploded. However, sometime after the battle, Fett was able to escape the sarlacc and continue his work as a bounty hunter.

Five years later, in 9 ABY, Fett returned to Tatooine and ended up falling into the sarlacc's belly once again during a fight against an unknown force. Sometime after, he awoke within the creature's stomach. Suffocating to its gases, he noticed the remains of a stormtrooper and attached the armor's oxygen tube to his own helmet. Regaining his breath, Fett punched through the sarlacc's stomach and burned his way out using his armor's flamethrower, exhaustingly digging his way up to the surface.

Sometime after this, Fett, while donning a different set of armor, returned to the Great Pit to taunt the sarlacc as well as Susejo, whose consciousness had been absorbed into the creature. While Boba was in the sarlacc for the first time in 4 ABY, he had some conversations with Susejo. Boba promised to destroy both the sarlacc and Susejo someday as now he had fallen victim to the sarlacc three times in his life. Ultimately, Fett's promise was later made when Fennec Shand dropped a seismic charge from *Slave I* into the sarlacc's maw, killing it in the process.

## Known locations

* Felucia
	+ Ancient Abyss
	+ Unidentified sarlacc
* Aargonar (Also present on Aargonar 3)
* Chad
* Taanab
* Darvannis
* Dathomir
* Duroon
* Pasaana
* Socorro
	+ Sarlacc's Peak
	+ Socorro sarlacc
* Tatooine
	+ Great Pit of Carkoon
	+ Tusken Canyon
	+ The Rumbles
	+ Ancient Tatooine Ruins
	+ Abandoned sarlacc pit

* Vodran

* I'vorcia Prime