- "I cannot abide those Jawas. Disgusting creatures."
- ―C-3PO
 | |
| Jawas | |
| Continuity: | Star Wars |
| Category: | Alien |
| Status: | Existing |
| Homeworld: | Tatooine |
| Stellar system: | Tatoo System |
| Galaxy: | Star Wars Galaxy |
| Body type: | Humanoid |
| Language: | Jawaese |
| Sub-groups: | Kkak Clan; Meeknu Clan; Nkik Clan |
| Representatives: | Datcha; Het Nkik; Jek Nkik |
| Enemies: | Tusken Raiders |
| 1st appearance: | Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) |
Jawas are an alien race featured in the Star Wars franchise. Characterized by their short stature, hidden faces, brown robes and indecipherable language, they are one of the more recognizable and popularly known alien races in the entire mythos. Jawas were first introduced in the 1977 film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, where they played a vital role in the early stages of the plot. They were briefly seen in the 1983 sequel Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi as revelers at Jabba's Palace. Two Jawas were also briefly seen in the first of the prequel films, 1999's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. In addition, they have been featured in numerous novels, comic books video games and parodies.
Description[]
Jawas are sentient, humanoid life forms native to the planet Tatooine. They are small in stature, rarely measuring more than a meter and a half in height. They are dressed head to toe in woven fabric and dark robes that provide them protection from the arid planet's twin suns. By trade, Jawas are scavengers, merchants and traders, wandering the plains of Tatooine in their massive Sandcrawler mobile fortresses in search of abandoned droids and discarded mechanical equipment that they can sell to human colonists. A furtive and inclusive race, they speak in a series of indecipherable chirps and whispers which is known as the Jawa Trade Language.
History[]
The exact origins of the Jawa are unclear, but it is generally accepted that they are indigenous to the planet Tatooine. It is believed that the Jawas are descended from an extinct race known as the Kumumgah that existed thousands of years ago. A conquering race known as the Rakata invaded Tatooine and absorbed it into its ever-growing Infinite Empire. The Kumumgah eventually rebelled against the Rakatan slavers and as consequence for their actions, the Rakata initiated an intense firebombing campaign against them. The power of their weapons was so intense that it nearly obliterated the entire planet, transmogrifying its verdant jungles into a barren sea of fused glass. Over the span of millennia, the glass topography dissolved, turning the planet into a desert wasteland. The Kumumgah eventually split into two distinctive species; the Ghorfa and the Jawas. While the Jawas remained a somewhat passive race, the Ghorfa were savage hunters. [1]
Though Jawas rarely shared in the social pastimes of humans, they occasionally made time to find a choice spot in which to watch the Boonta Eve podrace. In 32 BBY, two Jawas watched young Anakin Skywalker race for his freedom against his racing rival Sebulba. [2]
More than a decade later, several Jawas were found scavenging for parts outside of the Dune Sea palace fortress of Jabba the Hutt. They had a brief encounter with Clone War hero Anakin Skywalker and his new Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano. This took place during a time when the forces of Count Dooku had kidnapped Jabba's son, Rotta. [3]
In 3 BBY, a clan of Jawas was living amongst the junkyards of Raxus Prime, scavenging through the bowels of a giant star drive engine along with several GONK droids and a band of Rodians. The Dark Jedi Gavin Marek came to Raxus Prime on the hunt for a mad Jedi named Kazdan Paratus. He encountered several Jawas armed with flame throwers at this time. [4]
In 0 BBY, a nest of Jawas led by clan leader Datcha found two droids roaming the Jundland Wastes of Tatooine, R2-D2 and C-3PO. They captured the droids and fitted them with restraining bolts whereupon they were loaded up into the warehouse basin of their Sandcrawler. They journey to the Lars Moisture Farm out on the Great Chott Salt Flat to sell their wares and incurred Owen Lars' wrath when they attempted to sell him an R5-unit with a bad motivator. After a brief bit of haggling, they instead sold him C-3PO and R2-D2.
What the Jawas could never have suspected was that the Galactic Empire were searching for the droids because they possessed vital information relating to the Empire's supreme battle station, the Death Star. A squad of Imperial Stormtroopers were dispatched to Tatooine to retrieve the droids and learned that they had been sold by Jawas. The squad massacred the Jawas and made the scene look as if it were the handiwork of the murderous Sandpeople. C-3PO, R2-D2 and Owen's nephew Luke Skywalker, as well as the venerated Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi came upon the burned out husk of the Sandcrawler and found the area littered with dead Jawas. They gathered the corpses together and placed them onto a funeral pyre. [5]
Four years later, several Jawas were found habitating in and around Jabba's Palace on the Western Dune Sea. [6]
Parodies[]
- The 1987 Mel Brooks film spoof Spaceballs included a race of aliens known as Dinks, who were patterned after Jawas. The heroes of the film encountered the Dinks when their space Winnebago crash-landed on one of the moons of Vega. The Dinks brought them to their spiritual leader, Yogurt (played by Mel Brooks), who was a satirical version of the Star Wars character Yoda. One of the more memorable traits of the Dinks was that they only spoke one word - Dink. In the film, the Dinks march across the desert moon singing their rendition of the "Colonel Bogey March", a tune made famous in the 1957 British war drama The Bridge Over the River Kwai. Coincidentally, the film starred Sir Alec Guinness, who would later play the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy. The Dinks were also featured in the 2008 Spaceballs: The Animated Series. They received more screen time in the series than they did in the film and were the targets of the Spaceball soldiers "combing the desert" in search of Princess Vespa.
- Jawas make a brief apperance in the 2005 animated film Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story. In the movie, a group of Jawas are seen huddling around Stewie Griffin's car and the infant would-be demogogue is forced to shoo them away.
- A Jawa was featured in a Robot Chicken mini-sketch where he was sitting at a bar holding up a drink and shouting, "Martini!" This is a reference to the infamous Jawa exclamation "Utinni", which is first heard in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and spoken again in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The sketch was included in the Robot Chicken: Star Wars DVD compilation in 2007.
Appearances[]
- Be Still My Heart: The Bartender's Tale (Behind the scenes only)
- Star Wars 32
- When the Desert Wind Turns: The Stormtrooper's Tale