Greedo

This article is about the bounty hunter killed by Han Solo in the Mos Eisley Cantina.
You may be looking for his father, Greedo the Elder.

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«Going somewhere, Solo?»

―Greedo, to Han Solo —

Listen (file info)^[11]

Greedo, son of Greedo the Elder, was a male Rodian bounty hunter. He lived in Mos Espa alongside the young Anakin Skywalker and W. Wald circa 32 BBY. Although his father had been an esteemed hunter, and the chief rival of Navik the Red, the younger Greedo had little of his father's prowess and was easily killed by Han Solo in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina on Tatooine.

Biography[]

Early life[]

"Why did you never tell Pqweeduk and me about the ships ... and about our people?"

―Greedo, following a discussion with his mother, Neela, about their violent past^[8]

Greedo was born on Rodia within the ranks of the persecuted Tetsu Clan. His father, Greedo the Elder, was a well-known bounty hunter whose successes made his family very wealthy. A rival, Navik the Red, leader of the powerful Chattza Clan, targeted the Tetsus, brutally murdering the elder Greedo and taking their wealth. His pregnant wife, Neela, took her son and father's namesake, along with around two hundred Tetsu Rodians, and fled the planet. Settling on a remote jungle planet U-Tendik,^[12] the refugees began to rebuild their lives. A pact was made between the clan elders to never tell the children of their violent past.^[8]^[13]

Greedo and his younger brother Pqweeduk spent over ten years on that planet. It was the only life he knew; the tall Tendril trees, the water, and the endless days of play. The clan elders were careful to keep details of their past hidden, though Greedo often overheard such discussions. The terminology used was unfamiliar to him, as the isolation of refugee life did not expose him to otherwise commonplace things such as the starships and bounty hunters. His imagination would have continued to run wild until the day when he discovered clues to another life beyond the jungle.^[8]^[13]

As a teenager, Greedo led his brother Pqweeduk deep into the jungle, away from their small village and to a hidden cavern. Within the cavern were three large silver ships, sitting silently in the darkness. A sense of familiarity was stirred, though Greedo could not attach a memory to it. However, it was enough for him to want to know more. That night after his brother had gone to sleep, Greedo asked his mother about the hidden ships.

Neela was hesitant at first to divulge such information, lamenting that "Nok loves the past too much," but she gave in, seeing that her son was not about to let his discovery go. Greedo was told only the details his mother felt were relevant to that discussion, including the Rodian Clan Wars and the murder of his father.^[8]^[13]

GreedoTheElderTPM — Greedo on Tatooine in his youth

A month and a day passed when the Tetsu Clan was finally tracked down by Navik the Red. In a flurry of activity, Navik's Chattza warriors descended on the hapless population, killing a number and dispersing the rest. Greedo, Pqweeduk, and Neela barely escaped the carnage and fled into the dense jungle, regrouping with Neela's brothers, Nok and Teeku. Nok explained why he had been visiting the ships, as he was maintaining them in preparation in the event that the clan would need to be evacuated. That day had arrived. The panic-stricken Tetsu Rodians hurried to board the three ships as their pursuers tracked them through the jungle. One of the ships was destroyed before it could close its hatch.

Greedo's family and the surviving twenty Tetsus that came with them, however, escaped in the Radion, making the pre-programmed jump to Nar Shaddaa, where they hoped to be lost among the myriad of freighter and shuttle traffic that flocked around the heavily-populated moon. There Greedo was exposed to the commonplace aspects of the galaxy, learning the ins and outs of the black market, thanks to the teachings of his friend Anky Fremp, a Skup biomorph. They had been a team for years, stripping Hutt floaters of parts and selling the hardware to the highest bidder. Greedo's social development had grown, becoming familiar with the things that used to be foreign to him.^[8]^[13]

Moving to Tatooine[]

PapanoidaIonNabbed SoI — Greedo and friends subdue Notluwiski Papanoida and Ion Papanoida.

Eventually, the family ended up moving to Tatooine,^[7] During Greedo's time on Tatooine, Greedo was noted for his temper. He accused young Anakin Skywalker of cheating in the Boonta Eve Classic, resulting in a scuffle that Qui-Gon Jinn had to break up. His friend W. Wald warned him that if he continued his violent ways, he would eventually come to a bad end.^[14]^[15] Greedo eventually became a thug and turned to petty crime, spending much of the time in Jabba's Palace handging and playing games of chance with other big name wannabees.^[7]

During the Clone Wars, Greedo still resided on Tatooine. At some time during the war, he traveled to Coruscant and kidnapped Baron Notluwiski Papanoida's daughters, Che Amanwe and Chi Eekway, with the help of another mercenary. The chairman of Pantora and his son Ion tracked the Rodian bounty hunter to Jabba's Palace and forced him to help them retrieve Che Amanwe from Mos Eisley. When they arrived at the cantina where Che Amanwe was held, Greedo turned on the Pantorans, causing the patrons at the cantina to fire upon them while the Rodian slipped out of the area.^[10]

Imperial Period[]

Swk greedo — Greedo in the Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina.

At some point after the end of the Clone Wars Greedo moved again to Nar Shaddaa. He still retained a level of naivete, all too eager to sell out the Rebels to the Empire in order to make a quick profit. Life on Nar Shaddaa fueled Greedo's fascination with bounty hunters. He idolized them and wished to become one. Greedo saved the lives of two bounty hunters, Spurch "Warhog" Goa and his partner Dyyz Nataz, when they were attacked by the cyborg Gorm, becoming the only being ever known to have actually hit the towering droid. In return, the pair of hunters cut Greedo in on a bounty for killing a rogue Imperial spice inspector. As a thank-you, Greedo told them about a Rebel enclave in Level 88. With the Imperial reward Greedo intended to buy his own ship, The Manka Hunter, but was tricked out of most of his share by Warhog. Greedo tried to lessen the price by stealing some power couplings from another ship. Unfortunately, those couplings were for the Millennium Falcon, and an angry Chewbacca caught him in the act. As restitution, Han Solo took Greedo's rancor-skin jacket in exchange for the pair of burnt-out couplings just taken off the Falcon. Greedo threatened revenge. Goa taught Greedo to be a bounty hunter and Greedo thought he would become a great one, learning from a "master." Soon enough, though, he started to regret his decision when the Imperials attacked the Rebels in Level 88. Greedo, Dyyz, and Goa escaped in Goa's ship, the Nova Viper, just as Level 88 exploded, Greedo's whole family with it.^[8]^[13]

The Yavin Vassilika and death[]

«That's the idea. I've been looking forward to this for a long time.»

―Greedo's last words^[3]

Greedo-SWIANH — Greedo's last moments before being shot by Han Solo

Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, Greedo rented a small ship and tagged along on the hunt for the Yavin Vassilika. He hob-nobbed with the galaxy's greatest hunters, though he himself was profoundly out of his element. Nevertheless, he had gotten a taste of the trade.^[16] Upon his return to Tatooine, Greedo continued working with Jabba the Hutt, securing a contract on Han Solo, with Goa also being involved in the contract. Greedo had encountered Solo twice, demanding payment, but was humiliated both times. He eventually met up with Solo again in a Mos Eisley cantina where Greedo demanded Jabba's cut. Solo, not having that amount of money just yet, was forced to find another solution. Solo prepared his blaster under the table they were sitting at and shot the inexperienced bounty hunter from below. Greedo himself had managed to pull off a shot less than a second before, but missed entirely. Solo then stood up, threw a coin to the bartender, apologizing for the mess, and left the cantina for Docking Bay 94.^[3] Although Greedo's death was on Solo's hands, it was actually Greedo's "mentor," Warhog Goa who should be credited with his demise. Goa had tricked an over-matched Greedo into going against Solo after receiving a payoff from two Rodian bounty hunters who were tracking the young novice. Goa, alongside the Rodian bounty hunters, also bore witness to Greedo's death.^[8]^[13]

After Greedo's death, Wuher and his new droid companion, C2-R4, claimed the bounty hunter's body and ground it up into a powerful liqueur. All that remained of Greedo afterward was his head, which Wuher (having taken a dislike to Greedo while he was still alive) impaled on a spike.^[17]

Personality and traits[]

"Greedo was as delusional as Bossk."

―Dengar, in response to the late Greedo's anecdotes on The Bounty Hunter Code^[18]

Bounty hunters attend the funeral for Greedo

Greedo's social ineptitude led many, including his uncle Avaro Sookcool, to perceive him as "not very bright."^[19]^[20] By the time of the Clone Wars he had gotten a feel for what being a bounty hunter would be like and modeled his reactions as such. This change was even more evident when Greedo pursued the bounty on Dionisio.^[21] He knew where to go for information and how to complete a mission, giving him a boost of confidence for when he took the contract on Solo.^[21] His excitability was reduced and his complaining was almost non-existent. However, Greedo was still making amateur mistakes, such as allowing Nok Derrick to get the drop on him in a dark alley.^[21] Some maintained that he was not entirely vigilant to his surroundings, nervous, easily spooked, over-confident and he often complained.^[16]^[8]

Behind the scenes[]

Portrayal[]

GreedoUnmasked — Maria De Aragon on the set as Greedo.

Paul Blake played Greedo in the shots that feature both Greedo and Han Solo in the same frame. For Greedo's close-ups, a new articulated head was built for pickups at the end of the shoot, and Maria De Aragon was enlisted to play the Rodian. Greedo's language was actually Quechua, a native language of South America. During pickups, Greedo's costume vest changes significantly, as do his hands. In the original shoot, Greedo has long, suction-cup tipped fingers, and in pickups, he has swollen knuckles and shorter fingers. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series he was voiced by Tom Kenny.

Continuity[]

Both Greedo's backstory and the circumstances of his death have been subject to a number of retcons over the years. The most famous involves the question of who shot first, for in the original 1977 release of the film, as well as the script, Greedo did not shoot at Han at all. In the 1997 re-release of the film, Greedo gets a badly-aimed shot at Solo before Solo kills him. George Lucas has said that this change is to enhance Solo's overall heroism, and to not portray him as a cold-blooded killer. This was a controversial decision and in the 2004 version the two shots are almost simultaneous, with Greedo shooting first.

The short story A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale presents Greedo's famous line as "Oota goota, Solo?" whereas the Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide and the Star Wars PocketModel TCG establish the spelling as "Koona t'chuta, Solo?". The latter sources are more current. Throughout A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale, it is implied that Greedo's spoken language is Rodese, not Huttese, and he does not even seem to understand the language of the Hutts. This is contradicted by later official sources that verify Greedo is speaking Huttese.

Greedos demise — The canonical death of Greedo

Greedo's backstory was established in A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale short story, published in the Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina in 1995 and later adapted into a webstrip of the same name. In a deleted scene from The Phantom Menace, included on the 2001 DVD release, a character named Greedo appears fighting in the street with a young Anakin Skywalker. After the fight is broken up by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, Greedo is warned by fellow Rodian W. Wald that some day his actions will get him shot. Despite George Lucas' insistance that this was the same Greedo from A New Hope, the scene was felt to be in conflict with established Expanded Universe history and a retcon was put in place explaining that the Rodian who fought with Anakin was, in fact, Greedo the Elder—Greedo's father. However, in 2010 the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode Sphere of Influence feaured Greedo as an adult on Tatooine during the Clone Wars and firmly established him to be same character as seen in both Episode IV and Episode I.^[22] For some time the canonicity of A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale remained unclear, for example the description of its events was removed from Greedo's Databank entry. In 2013 however, a StarWars.com blog article The Not-So Magnificent Seven explicitly referenced those events, tying them up with Greedo's appearance in The Clone Wars, reestablishing its canonical status. Despite of that, the dating of events given in A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale contradicts the current canonical version. According to the short story, Greedo was only born around 17 BBY and all of his childhood was spend during the reign of Galactic Empire. Any references to those events by dating remain incompatible with the current version of Greedo being a child by 32 BBY and an adolescent by the time of the Clone Wars.

The Rodian thugs seen in Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II were based on Greedo. All of them are alike and are dressed the same way as Greedo. Also, on the back of the box, it calls all Rodians "Greedo." In the sequel to the above game Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, all the Rodians are also dressed similarly to Greedo; though a few are slightly different in what they wear. As a nod to the original character, the multiplayer gives the Rodian's BOT name as 'Beedo'.

Greedo's height has varied between various sources. His height is 1.65 meters in The Official Star Wars Fact File, The Essential Guide to Characters and The New Essential Guide to Characters, whereas the Rodian's Databank entry gives a height of 1.8 meters. To add to further confusion, Greedo's Clone Cards entry says that he is 1.74 meters tall, and his data in Star Wars: Head-to-Head Tag Teams provides a height of 1.73 meters. This article uses the latter source as it is the most current.