Chewbacca

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This article is about a fictional character. For other uses, see Chewbacca (disambiguation).

Chewbacca
Star Wars character
First appearanceStar Wars (1977)
Created byGeorge Lucas
Portrayed by
In-universe information
SpeciesWookiee[1]
GenderMale
OccupationCo-pilot and first mate on Millennium Falcon
AffiliationGalactic Republic
Rebel Alliance
New Republic
Resistance
SpouseMallatobuck (wife) [2]
Children
  • Lumpawaroo (son) [3]
HomeworldKashyyyk[4]
Born200 BBY [5]

Chewbacca (/tʃuːˈbɑːkə/ choo-BAH-kə), nicknamed "Chewie", is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He is a Wookiee—a tall, hairy, highly intelligent species originating from the fictional planet Kashyyyk.[6][7] He first appeared in the original film trilogy as the loyal friend of the smuggler Han Solo. He was also the co-pilot of Han's starship, the Millennium Falcon.[1][8] Chewbacca is portrayed by Peter Mayhew in five films. In The Force Awakens, Mayhew shares the role with Joonas Suotamo, who took over the portrayal for subsequent films. Chewbacca has also appeared in television series, books, comics, and video games.

Profile[edit]

Chewbacca was born in the year 200 BBY on the planet Kashyyyk.[9][1] He is 7.5 feet (2.3 m) tall, and he typically wears only a bandolier and a tool pouch.[1][10] He carries a bowcaster, a traditional Wookiee weapon, and he speaks the Wookiee language Shyriiwook.[11][12]

During the Clone Wars, Chewbacca was captured and hunted for sport, but managed to escape with his fellow captive Ahsoka Tano. During one of the final battles of the Wars, he fought alongside Republic forces against Separatist droids. After the Wars, he was separated from his family and tribe, and became a fugitive. Betrayed by a bounty hunter, Chewbacca was imprisoned by the Empire. He escaped with a young Imperial deserter named Han Solo, an encounter that marked the beginning of a long friendship. After a series of perilous adventures, the two embarked on a career in the smuggling trade aboard Han's ship, the Millenium Falcon.[1]

While on Tatooine, Chewbacca and Han were hired to transport Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker to Alderaan. When they reached their destination, they found that the planet had been obliterated by the Empire’s Death Star space station. After being captured by the station's tractor beam, the group infiltrated the station and rescued Princess Leia from captivity. Later, Chewbacca and Han helped Luke destroy the Death Star.[1]

Chewbacca and Han planned to leave the Rebellion to pay off a debt to the crime lord Jabba the Hutt, but were drawn back into the war when the Empire assaulted the Rebel base. Chewbacca, Han and Leia sought refuge in Cloud City with Han's friend Lando Calrissian, unaware that Lando had unwillingly betrayed them to the Empire. Darth Vader froze Han in carbonite and gave him to the bounty hunter Boba Fett, who planned to sell him to Jabba.[1]

Chewbacca arrived at Jabba's palace in the custody of a bounty hunter, who was actually Leia in disguise. She liberated Han from the carbonite, but was quickly captured by Jabba, who tried to feed the group of friends to a sarlacc. They escaped, however, and rejoined the Rebels. Chewbacca then accompanied Han and Leia to the forest moon of Endor to deactivate the shield generator for the second Death Star. After the mission succeeded and Rebel pilots destroyed the space station, Chewbacca joined his friends in celebration. Later, the Wookiee played a key role in liberating Kashyyyk from Imperial forces.[1]

Chewbacca returned to his family for a time, but rejoined Han in the smugglig trade after Han and Leia’s relationship foundered. When the galaxy was again engulfed by war, Chewbacca and Han recovered the Falcon—which they had lost—and helped the Resistance fight against the First Order. During a Rebel assault on Starkiller Base, Han was killed by his son, Kylo Ren. After helping to destroy the base, Chewbacca accompanied Rey to the planet Ahch-To, where she received a limited amount of training from Luke, who had been living in exile. When the Resistance began preparing for a climactic fight on Exegol, Chewbacca and Lando recruited ordinary galactic citizens to the cause. Their makeshift fleet helped the Resistance defeat the First Order and its Sith allies.[1]

Creation[edit]

George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars franchise, invented many fictional characters while writing the original 1977 Star Wars film (which was later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope).[13] Chewbacca was inspired by his dog, an Alaskan Malamute named Indiana. She would sit in the passenger seat of his car while he was driving, and he referred to her as his "co-pilot".[14][15] Chewbacca's name was derived from the Russian word sobaka (собака), which means "dog".[16][17] In France, the character's name was changed in the original French-language release of A New Hope. He was called Chiktabba, and his nickname was Chico.[18]

Portrayals[edit]

Chewbacca is portrayed by Peter Mayhew in the original Star Wars trilogy, the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), and Revenge of the Sith (2005), the final film of the prequel trilogy.[19][8] Mayhew was cast primarily for his height of 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m).[20] He shares the Chewbacca role with his body double, Joonas Suotamo, in The Force Awakens (2015), the first film of the sequel trilogy.[21] Following Mayhew's retirement in 2017, Suotamo took over the role, appearing in The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019), the second and third films of the sequel trilogy, respectively.[22] Suotamo also played Chewbacca in the standalone film Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).[23] The Chewbacca costume used in the original trilogy and the Star Wars Holiday Special was made from yak hair, rabbit hair and mohair.[16] For The Force Awakens, multiple Chewbacca suits were crafted from yak hair, Lycra and a small amount of mohair.[24] Chewbacca's voice was created by Ben Burtt, the sound designer for the original trilogy.[25] He generated the Wookiee's vocalizations by mixing together recordings of four bears, a badger, a lion, a seal, and a walrus.[26]

Appearances in the official canon[edit]

Films[edit]

Title Year
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope [c] 1977 [27]
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back 1980
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi 1983
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith 2005
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens 2015
Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi 2017
Solo: A Star Wars Story 2018
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker 2019

Other[edit]

Title Type Year
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Season 3) Television series [d] 2010 [27]
Star Wars Forces of Destiny (Season 1) Web series [e] 2017
Star Wars Forces of Destiny (Season 2) Web series [f] 2018
Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo and Chewbacca Adventure Novel 2015
The Mighty Chewbacca in the Forest of Fear Novel 2018
Chewbacca Comic 2015
Life Day Comic 2021
Han Solo and Chewbacca Comic 2022
Star Wars Battlefront II Video game 2017

Appearances outside the official canon[edit]

Novels[edit]

Title Year
Han Solo at Stars' End 1979
Han Solo's Revenge 1979
Han Solo and the Lost Legacy 1980
Heirs of the Force 1995
Before the Storm 1996
Shield of Lies 1996
Tyrant's Test 1997
The Hutt Gambit 1997
Rebel Dawn 1998
Vector Prime 1999
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader 2005

Video games[edit]

Chewbacca is a playable character in the listed games.

Title Year
Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi 1997
Lego Star Wars: The Video Game 2005
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy 2006
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars 2011
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens 2016
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga 2022
Star Wars Battlefront II 2005
Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron 2007
Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron 2009
Star Wars Battlefront [g] 2015

Other[edit]

Title Type Year
Star Wars Holiday Special Television special 1978
The Wookiee Storybook Children's book 1979
Star Wars: Chewbacca Comic 2001

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Episodes III–VII, Holiday Special
  2. ^ Episodes VII–IX, Solo: A Star Wars Story
  3. ^ Originally titled Star Wars.
  4. ^ Chewbacca appears in episode 22.
  5. ^ Chewbacca appears in episodes 5 and 10.
  6. ^ Chewbacca appears in episodes 6 and 12.
  7. ^ Chewbacca is playable only through downloadable content.[28]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Chewbacca". StarWars.com. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  2. ^ Morrison, Matt (May 14, 2018). "Exclusive: Here's Who That Other Wookiee Is in Solo: A Star Wars Story". ScreenRant. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  3. ^ Gallagher, Brian (February 21, 2017). "Chewbacca's Son in The Star Wars Holiday Special Is Officially Canon". MovieWeb. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  4. ^ "Chewbacca". StarWars.com. Retrieved April 7, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ Hunt, James (October 29, 2020). "Star Wars: How Old Chewbacca Is In Each Movie". ScreenRant. Retrieved April 7, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ Hidalgo & Sansweet 2008c, p. 333.
  7. ^ "Kashyyyk". StarWars.com. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Richwine, Lisa; Gorman, Steve (May 2, 2019). "Peter Mayhew, actor who played Chewbacca in 'Star Wars' movies, dies". Reuters. Archived from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  9. ^ Hunt, James (October 29, 2020). "Star Wars: How Old Chewbacca Is In Each Movie". ScreenRant. Retrieved April 7, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Hidalgo & Sansweet 2008a, p. 122.
  11. ^ "Bowcaster". StarWars.com. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  12. ^ Romano, Nick (May 10, 2018). "Alden Ehrenreich had to learn Wookiee for 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  13. ^ The Characters of Star Wars (DVD). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 2004. Star Wars Original Trilogy DVD Box Set: Bonus Materials.
  14. ^ Anderton, Ethan (December 2, 2021). "The Unexpected Inspiration Behind Chewbacca". Slashfilm. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  15. ^ Rinzler 2008, p. 35.
  16. ^ a b Hutchinson, Sean (May 2, 2019). "15 Things You Might Not Know About Chewbacca". Mental Floss. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  17. ^ Boucher, Geoff; Petski, Denise (May 2, 2019). "Peter Mayhew Dies: 'Star Wars' Chewbacca Actor Was 74". Deadline. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  18. ^ "Z6PO? How the French originally translated the names of Star Wars characters". The Local France. May 4, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  19. ^ "Star Wars: Holiday Special". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  20. ^ "Peter Mayhew – Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on May 9, 2006. Retrieved October 3, 2006.
  21. ^ Shanley, Patrick (February 21, 2017). "'Star Wars': New Chewbacca Actor Honors Peter Mayhew After Taking on the Role". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  22. ^ Liptak, Andrew (May 2, 2019). "Peter Mayhew, the actor who brought Chewbacca to life, has died". The Verge. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  23. ^ Breznican, Anthony (May 3, 2019). "Watch new Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo explain Peter Mayhew's influence". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  24. ^ Rosenstein, Jenna (November 12, 2015). "Star Wars: Chewbacca's Hair Routine in The Force Awakens Is Actually Pretty Glam". Allure. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  25. ^ Wilson, Mark (April 17, 2015). "How Ben Burtt Designed the Sounds of Star Wars". Fast Company. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  26. ^ Madrigal, Alexis C. (August 7, 2014). "The Incredible Story of How Chewbacca Got a Voice". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on November 5, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  27. ^ a b Dinsdale, Ryan (May 4, 2023). "The Star Wars Canon: The Definitive Guide". IGN. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  28. ^ Krupa, Daniel (July 16, 2016). "Star Wars Celebration 2016: Chewbacca and Bossk Confirmed for Battlefront". ign.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2016.

Works Cited[edit]

  • Hidalgo, Pablo; Sansweet, Stephen (2008a). The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia. Vol. I (First ed.). New York: Del Rey. ISBN 9780345477637.
  • Hidalgo, Pablo; Sansweet, Stephen (2008c). The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia. Vol. III (First ed.). New York: Del Rey. ISBN 9780345477637.
  • Rinzler, J.W. (2008). The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film (2008 ed.). Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-192499-7.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chewbacca.
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