 | |
| Katuunko | |
| Continuity: | Star Wars |
| Notability: | Supporting character |
| Type: | King |
| Gender: | Male |
| Race: | Toydarian |
| Location: | Toydaria Rugosa |
| Status: | Deceased |
| Died: | 21 BBY |
| First: | Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Ambush |
| Actor: | Brian George |
Katuunko is a fictional character featured in the Star Wars multimedia franchise. He was active during the Clone Wars era and appeared in the first episode of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars computer generated animated series on Cartoon Network entitled "Ambush". The character was voiced by actor Brian George.
Biography[]
The Galactic Republic prepared to enter secret negotiations with the Royal Toydarian government to set up a supply base in their system. The negotiations were scheduled to take place on a remote neutral moon called Rugosa between Jedi Master Yoda and King Katuunko. In exchange for letting the Republic build a base in their system, the Toydarians would enjoy the protection of the Jedi.
Asajj Ventress, Dark Jedi and apprentice to Count Dooku, reached the moon of Rugosa ahead of the Jedi. She presented herself as a messenger to King Katuunko and activated a holoprojector. The image of Count Dooku addressed the Toydarian king, assuring him that the Confederacy of Independent Systems could offer him stronger protection than the Jedi. King Katuunko was incredulous, so Dooku issued a challenge. If Jedi Master Yoda could evade capture from his droid army, then Toydaria would agree to side with the Republic. However, if they succeeded in capturing him, then they would have to show willingness to side with the Separatists. Yoda contacted the king, alerting him that he had suffered a small delay getting to the surface. Upon hearing of Dooku's offer, he accepted the challenge.
Yoda and three clone troopers named Rys, Jek and Thire fought against a phalanx of B1 battle droids, B2 super battle droids and several droidekas and emerged victorious, suffering no casualties and only minimal injuries.
When the battle was over, Yoda and the clones met King Katuunko at the predetermined rendezvous point. Katuunko told Count Dooku that in lieu of Yoda's successful evasion of the Separatist forces, he was ruling in favor of siding with the Republic. Dooku was disappointed and stated that he may have better luck with Katuunko's successor. He then ordered Ventress to kill him. Asajj ignited her twin lightsabers and swung at the king's head, but Yoda appeared and stopped her blades with the Force. He then pulled the sabers from her hand and deactivated them off before returning them to her. "Strong you are with the Dark Side...", Yoda said, "but not that strong", and chuckled. Ventress then detonated an explosive from a high bluff. Yoda used the Force to stop the falling rock, but Ventress took advantage of the distraction and made her escape.
King Katuunko told Yoda that Toydaria would be honored to side with the Galactic Republic. Plans began to construct a supply base on Rugosa. [1]
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Katuunko was created by supervising director Dave Filoni and script writer Steven Melching based on concepts originally developed by franchise creator George Lucas.
- Dave Filoni and Steven Melching stated that they wanted to craft a Toydarian character that was different from Watto as seen in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and to give viewers a more accurate representation of what Toydarian culture is actually like. [2]
- Dave Filoni stated that King Katuunko is the first Toydarian seen in the franchise aside from Watto. This is actually incorrect. The first was Rozatta, who was a supporting character featured in the 2002 video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. [2]
- King Katuunko's large belly is symbolic of his station as a Toydarian. The size of a Toydarian's girth represents power and authority. [2]