Papanoida, Baron

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Homeworld:
  Pantora

• Species:
  Pantoran

• Gender:
  Male

• 

From the Movies

An influential personage in Coruscant affairs, Baron Papanoida has contacts throughout the galaxy of varying credibility providing him with intelligence in the Clone Wars. He often passes this information to highly placed contacts in the Senate or the Jedi Council, leaving the recipients to gauge the veracity of his reports. During the hunt for General Grievous, Papanoida's intelligence reports indicated that Utapau was not a haven for the Separatists. Papanoida has not commented on whether or not this was faulty data or a deliberate omission, which only adds to his shifty reputation.

From the Expanded Universe

For as many people who know of Baron Papanoida, scant few know any tangible details about his past or motives. Once a humble playwright, a series of incendiary hits that captured the imagination of the planet funded what would become an entertainment empire. This position elevated Papanoida to become an influential guild baron, during which time he took great care to keep his past and personal life shielded from the public view. How exactly he cultivated an information network remains a mystery, but rampant rumors claim that it rivals that of the Bothans.

What Papanoida did not keep secret was his love of performance art, and his disdain of Chancellor Palpatine's policies. Papanoida was often seen at the finest auditoriums and holo-entertainment venues on Coruscant, including the Galaxies Opera House Theater. And though Papanoida was an outspoken critic of Palpatine, he refused to commit himself to more overt political actions against the Chancellor. He instead funneled information to Senators of conscience, like young Chi Eekway. Such discretion allowed him to retain his standing as the Empire rose to power.

Behind the Scenes

Despite years of prodding from those in the Star Wars crew, Writer/Director George Lucas long refused to have a cameo appearance in his space fantasy saga. It wasn't until the final months of production on Episode III that he changed his mind. At the insistence of his daughter, Katie Lucas, who played the Senator Chi Eekway in the movie, Lucas went in front of cameras to play the role of the blue-skinned Baron Papanoida. Wearing a costume first designed by Sang Jun Lee and constructed by Trisha Biggar and her crew, Lucas shot in front of greenscreen to be composited into footage originally shot at Shepperton studios. Though he first considered the name Baron Notluwiski as his character's name, he later settled on Baron Papanoida. For a time, the name was spoken in Episode III by Mace Windu, ("We have had contact with Baron Papanoida, and he said no one was there.") but the oblique reference was edited out.