Jabba the Hutt's Palace

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Homeworld:
  Tatooine

• Affiliation:
  Criminal

• 

From the Movies

A single, winding dirt-swept road curves up into the crook of a rocky canyon, leading to a lone structure in the desert wastes beyond the Dune Sea of Tatooine. Here stood the palace of Jabba the Hutt, an immense curving building of sandblasted metal and pitted stone.

Visitors to the gangster's stronghold were faced with a large, featureless gate. A perimeter droid, little more than an electronic eyeball with a gruff voice box, questioned newcomers before admitting them into the dank recesses of the remote castle.

A huge corridor led to the criminal bustle of Jabba's den. In his throne room, Jabba reclined upon a large dais, keeping a sickly eye on the motley horde assembled around him. His every depraved whim was satisfied -- his hunger sated by snacking on live gorgs, his lasciviousness by the performance of his favored dancing girls.

Jabba's bloodlust was slaked by a secret concealed beneath his throne room. With the press of a button and an angry shout of "boska!" Jabba would activate a trap door, sending an unsuspecting victim tumbling into a cavern below. In this bone-strewn cave lurked the rancor, a fearsome and vicious predator bred for combat and ferocity.

In a corner alcove, Jabba kept a number of trophies. Aside from the taxedermic heads of exotic wildlife, this is where Jabba displayed the carbonite-frozen form of Han Solo, following the Corellian's capture by Boba Fett.

Shortly before the Battle of Endor, Luke Skywalker infiltrated the palace of Jabba the Hutt. He simply strolled in, unarmed, using his Jedi talents to bypass guards and servants, and presented the Hutt with an ultimatum -- free his captive friends or die. It would seem Luke's bid failed miserably, for his attempt resulted in his capture.

But it was all part of Luke's plan. With the rancor dead by Skywalker's hand, Jabba plotted to have the Jedi killed by his second-favorite form of execution -- by feeding him to the Sarlacc. Jabba, aboard his stately sail barge, led an execution party into the desert. Skywalker achieved his objective of bringing all his friends outside the palace. In the heart of Dune Sea, Skywalker triggered his escape plan, which culminated in the death of Jabba the Hutt, and the collapse of the gangster's criminal empire.

From the Expanded Universe

The expansive palace structure is very old, predating the original colonization of Tatooine by centuries. The original palace was actually a small monastery built by the mysterious B'omarr monks. A few vestiges of the original structure remain today, including the canopied gates. The non-confrontational B'omarr let vagrants and travelers settle in their monastery. The palace eventually was rebuilt and expanded with each new tenant. The first usurper, Alkhara the great bandit, used the palace as a stronghold against the Sand People. Alkhara added the first network of dungeons and tunnels now occupied by the remnants of the B'omarr.

When Jabba took over the palace following the arrest of his father, he had his architect Derren Flet refurbish it to the Hutt's standards. Flet's failure to provide adequate prison space prompted his untimely demise. The hub of the palace was Jabba's throne room, and below the main palace structure were countless dungeons where the Hutt's enemies died slow, painful deaths. Jabba had access to a fully maintained repulsorpool hangar, along with stables for his beasts of burden.

A network of scanners provided an accurate sensor umbrella 10 kilometers in all directions from the palace, locating any visitors long before they could be a threat. If the visitors looked hostile, a contingent of Gamorrean guards was sent to intercept. Otherwise, the visitor was allowed to proceed but was carefully monitored.

After Jabba's death, his treacherous underlings attempted to carve apart the carcass of his criminal empire. The palace became a battleground for continued fighting among would-be crime lords. When they came to realize that much of Jabba's wealth and power resided off-world, the fighting subsided. The B'omarr monks reclaimed most of the palace, capturing and "converting" several of Jabba's cronies.

The palace was largely forgotten as the galaxy turned itself inside out transforming from Empire to New Republic. A few well-meaning but hopelessly thick-headed investors attempted to transform the palace into a retirement home for aged aliens, only to discover it overrun by vermin and strange bodiless monks.

Behind the Scenes

The evolution of Jabba's palace covered numerous styles throughout the various iterations. At one point, it was a deep underground cavern; at another, it was a tall mountain-top citadel. On film, the palace was realized as a matte painting with composited foreground elements.

Jabba's throne room occupied the entirety of Stage 8 at EMI-Elstree in England. The set was built almost two meters above the ground to allow puppeteers to operate the various creatures from beneath the floor. The throne room scenes required a crew of 90, including nine mime artists, 42 extras, 19 puppeteers and several make-up artists.