The unforgettable Legends character returns in LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy – Pieces of the Past, nearly 50 years after his first appearance in Star Wars comics.
“Who in the Holy Hutch are you?” This introduction in LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy – Pieces of the Past could only come from one character. “I’m not a bunny,” this humanoid, green rabbit says. “The name’s Jaxxon. You probably haven’t heard of me because I’m a real deep-cut….”
When Sig and Dev Greebling are transported into a mysterious, secret realm in the sequel series to LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy, premiering on Disney+ September 19, the brothers immediately encounter the one and only Jaxxon. The spunky, energetic character is himself a piece from the past, after a debut 48 years ago in some of the very first original stories told in Star Wars comics….
A legendary Lepi
As early as 1977, storytellers beyond creator George Lucas were already experimenting with new characters, worlds, and far-flung tales in the galaxy far, far away. The Marvel comics adaptation of Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) began its serialization before the release of the film that May. The movie story was complete within six issues. Writer Roy Thomas and artist Howard Chaykin had a relatively blank canvas to imagine the “continuing the saga begun in the film by George Lucas.”
By issue eight, published in November of 1977, Han Solo and Chewbacca had set off on their own after the Battle of Yavin. Visiting the planet of Aduba-3, a group of local farmers recruit the smugglers to help defend their humble village from attack by Cloud-Riders. Thomas and Chaykin were likely aware that Lucas had taken significant inspiration in creating Star Wars from Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. Issue eight of the Marvel series started a new trend of Star Wars stories modeled on Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954) – with more recent entries including the episodes “Bounty Hunters” from Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2010) and “Sanctuary” from The Mandalorian (2019).
Among the six “down-on-their-luck spacers” recruited by Han and Chewie are the Starkiller Kid, Don-Wan Kihotay, Amaiza (“den mother” of the Black Hole Gang) and a Lepi – which can only be described in Earth-parlance as a human-sized, green rabbit – known as Jaxxon, or “Jax for short, which I ain’t,” as he put it. In his introduction, the unassuming character easily overpowers a brutish alien who tries to cut in front of him to meet Solo.
“I ain’t no rodent,” Jaxxon assures his cohort in true wise-guy fashion. “I’m more what ya call yer basic lepus carinvorus[sic] a meat-eatin’, rocket-riding rabbit ta you, junior!” (Just don’t try to offer him space carrots.) Jaxxon is a formidable opponent with a fondness for landing powerful kicks, wielding two blasters, and exclaiming “Holy Hutch!” His starship is appropriately known as the Rabbit’s Foot.
Roy Thomas took his own inspiration from the classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated short subjects created by Warner Bros. in the mid-20th century. “The thing is, there’s definitely a spirit to the finished Star Wars movie,” Thomas wrote in the Marvel fanzine FOOM in 1978, “but there was also a certain spirit to the various scripts I saw for inspiration [in advance of the film’s release]. One of the characters in the bar [cantina] sequence, in fact, reminded me of Porky Pig — which sparked me to create the green rabbit.” The specific model for Jaxxon, of course, was Bugs Bunny.
It’s not easy being green.
Jaxxon appeared on two covers and in some five issues of the original Marvel comics series, which concluded in 1986. Loved by many and laughed at by others for his wacky personality and outlandish appearance, references to Jaxxon have emerged in various forms over the years, including the appearance of a Lepi skeleton (not specifically Jaxxon) as an Easter egg in the season five Clone Wars episode, “A Sunny Day in the Void.” For collectors, the character has been immortalized as a licensed statue from Gentle Giant and a Star Wars: The Black Series action figure from Hasbro.
Jaxxon has since reentered Star Wars storytelling in new comics. After appearing on a special variant cover to kick off the relaunch of the flagship Marvel Star Wars comic series in 2014, Jaxxon was back in the Star Wars Adventures Annual 2018 from IDW Publishing with the story, “The Lost Eggs of Livorno,” written by Jaxxon-superfan Cavan Scott and illustrated by Alain Mauricet. Jaxxon remains as cunning as ever as he outsmarts a companion turned double agent, only to discover that his mission to recover precious eggs for Princess Leia and the Rebellion was in fact a ploy by the Alliance to keep the Empire’s attention on the Lepi while none other than Han Solo saw the real mission through! It wouldn’t be Jaxxon’s last encounter with his rival smuggler.
“Fake it Till You Make It,” a prose story from 2020’s From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back — also written by Scott — places Jaxxon into the backstory of the original sequel film. The Lepi also picked up his full name: Jaxxon T. Tumperakki.
A return in brick form.
In recent years, Jaxxon has continued to appear in Star Wars stories, primarily comics, but his arrival in Pieces of the Past (voiced by comedian Ben Schwartz) marks his first true appearance in cinematic form. Having originated in the fun-filled, irreverent storylines of the classic Marvel comics, he’s a perfect fit for the equally playful LEGO Star Wars universe.
Discover Jaxxon’s latest adventure when LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy – Pieces of the Past arrives on Disney+ September 19, 2025.
