Why is his weapon so different from almost everyone else's? Why does he talk like that
when he clearly understands different languages? Is Chewbacca his actual given name? We took
a deep dive into Star Wars lore to find what makes this Wookiee tick.
Wookiees can be found throughout the galaxy, but they originally hail from the forest planet
of planet Kashyyyk. Their trademark fur is known to repel water, which is good, because
Kashyyyk has a lot of swampy areas.
Wookies are only physically able to communicate in Shyriiwook, which is that majestic Wookiee
sound we all know and love.
But they can understand a variety of languages. And that comes as no surprise, because they
have a lot of time to study, since they live a ridiculously long time. In 2018's Solo,
Chewbacca says that he's 190 years old. That means in the later films, he'd be in his 230s!
As far as Chewie's real name goes, don't worry about it. You'd never be able to pronounce
it.
Chewie's family is featured in several books, but none of the films. So even though it may
or may not be canon, the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special was an infamous landmark in Star Wars
history, because it's the moment we meet Chewbacca's family for the first time.
The plat, strange as it is? Chewbacca's wife Malla, father Itchy, and son Lumpy, spend
the show anxiously waiting for Chewie and Han to return to Kashyyyk for Life Day. But
before they get back, Stormtroopers raid the family's treetop home. Lumpy scrambles to
lure the Stormtroopers away, succeeding with all but one. Finally when Han and Chewie show
up, Lumpy has to watch Han blast the final Stormtrooper right before his eyes.
If this Holiday Special plot sounds a little out-of-the-box, well, that's because it definitely
is. The takeaway, though, is that Chewie has a family! And he almost never mentions them.
He leaves his wife and son for years on end to have space adventures with a strange human.
Plus, his exploits make his family a target of the Empire. We can't imagine he has many
#1 dad mugs in his cabinets. So, why did he take off for so long?
There are a few species in the Star Wars universe that believe in the concept of a life debt,
and one of them is Wookiees. This is the reason many fans speculate why Chewbacca stuck around
with Han Solo for as long as he did even ignoring his own family to do so. In fact, Chewie's
life debt to Han is hinted at in the Legends book series, too. It's said that Chewbacca
owes Han his freedom, and therefore, his time and loyalty.
By the way - the other notable Star Wars species that believes in the concept of a life debt?
According to The Phantom Menace, it's the Gungans - the species of Jar Jar Binks.
So, when did this life debt start?
When a young Han Solo is captured and thrown into a pit to be fed to "The Beast" in Solo,
things look pretty bleak…until that carnivorous monster turns out to be none other than Chewbacca!
Yep, Han Solo was Chewbacca's breakfast, and Chewie's been following that uneaten meal
around for the majority of its life.
But how did Han avoid getting eaten? When confronted with the Wookiee, he was only able
to save himself by speaking Shyriiwook, Chewie's native language, and convincing him that they
could escape together. Since Chewie's compassion out-weighed his hunger, he risked trusting
Han and took off. Fortunately it all worked out. Just goes to show that sometimes you
should play with your food after all.
Like many characters in the Star Wars universe, Chewbacca has known galactic conflict for
pretty much all his life. Although he spent some of this time as a smuggler, Chewbacca
was front and center during the Battle of Kashyyyk, the Clone Wars, the Galactic Civil
War, and the First Order-Resistance War. He's also been imprisoned. And had to witness the
enslavement of his people. That can't be easy to cope with.
"Legends" refers to any official Star Wars book or backstory released before 2014. And
in one of them, 1999's The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime, Chewie actually dies! While
on a shipping mission, Chewbacca and Han discover that a moon is about to crash into the planet
they're on. While they succeed in saving thousands of lives in an evacuation attempt, tragedy
strikes as Chewbacca gets crushed by the moon while saving Han's son.
Han has such a hard time accepting Chewie's death, that he even considers his son partially
responsible and has a hard time forgiving him although the two do eventually reconcile.
It's a particularly jarring experience that many fans struggle with. Fortunately, it's
not considered canon, but you can go back and read the Legends books for even more details
about the whole story.
Dejarik is a holographic chess-like game, and notably one of Chewbacca's favorites.
In the films, we get to see just how poorly Chewbacca handles Dejarik setbacks and losses.
The first time the game appeared was in 1977's A New Hope, where we hear C-3PO's famous line.
"I suggest a new strategy, R2. Let the Wookiee win."
Han even jokes that Chewie will pull people's arms out if he loses!
"That's 'cause a droid don't pull people's arms out of their sockets when they lose.
Wookies are known to do that."
In both his game against R2-D2, and against Tobias Beckett in Solo, Chewbacca just can't
accept defeat. Instead, he wails and pounds his fists. He gets so upset with Beckett in
particular that even attempts to sweep holographic pieces off the board. And In 2019's The Rise
of Skywalker, Chewbacca can't handle being accused of cheating even as a joke.
Lightsabers are the signature weapon of Star Wars, so it can be hard to imagine our heroes
fighting with anything but. However, a few characters do break the mold. Chewbacca's
weapon for instance, is a bowcaster, which is basically a crossbow that shoots lasers.
Traditionally, a bowcaster is handcrafted by its Wookiee owner. So as such, they tend
to vary in their construction, although they do always seem to be some sort of crossbow.
Chewie's is particularly special though, improving upon previous designs by using elements from
stormtrooper weapons to create a more efficient version than its traditional counterparts.
But his tech skills don't end there.
We know Chewbacca is a solid navigator, pilot, and co-pilot, but he's also a highly-skilled
engineer. In the Legends timeline, Chewbacca began repairing vehicles as a child, and even
fashioned a transmitter out of random parts from a destroyed transport vessel in the Clone
Wars animated series. He seems to have at least a cursory knowledge of most of the machinery
we see onscreen. In 1980's The Empire Strikes Back, he repairs C-3PO with apparent ease.
We've seen him work on ships as well.
Chewie's truly a Jack of all trades.
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