 | |
| Sandcrawler | |
| Continuity: | Star Wars |
| Type: | Land vehicle |
| Manufacturer: | Czerka Corporation Corellian Mining Corporation Tagge Company |
| Crew: | 50 Jawas |
| Passengers: | 300 Jawas |
| Length: | 36.8 meters [1] |
| Width: | 20 meters |
| Complement: | None |
| 1st appearance: | Star Wars (1977) |
A Sandcrawler is a fictional land utility vehicle featured in the Star Wars film franchise. Also known as a Jawa Sandcrawler, they were first seen in the original 1977 film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
History[]
Sandcrawlers were immense treadwell transport machines originally designed for the purposes of hauling ore across rough terrain. Some 4,200 years prior to the Battle of Yavin, human settlers colonized Tatooine and established the mining outpost known as Anchorhead. Companies such as the Czerka Corporation attempted to develop facilities at Anchorhead, but often abandoned the planet due to the high cost of transporting heavy machinery and the poor quality of the ore they had found. It was not uncommon for such companies to leave a great deal of equipment behind. Scavenger races like the Ghorfa and the Jawas would often salvage abandoned equipment for a variety of uses. In fact, it was the presence of these early settlers that provoked societal change in the Ghorfan culture, prompting them to evolve into the modern day Tusken Raiders. The Jawas, more timid and meek than their Ghorfan brethren, also possessed greater mechanical aptitude and were able to repurpose old equipment for their personal needs such as the Sandcrawler mining squad vehicles.
In 0 BBY, a clan of Jawas were traveling across the Dune Sea when they came upon two seemingly abandoned droids, C-3PO and R2-D2. They captured the droids and brought them inside the immense cargo basin of the Sandcrawler, which had since been used for housing merchandise and any mechanical cast-offs the scavengers would come across. The Jawas journeyed across the Dune Sea to the Great Chott Salt Flat where they set up shop outside the Lars moisture farm. The owner of the farm, Owen Lars, purchased the droids and the Jawas went on their way.
A few nights later, a squad of Imperial Stormtroopers known as Zeta Squadron tracked the droids down and learned that they had been sold by the Jawas. They found the Sandcrawler and slaughtered all of the Jawas present. The troopers then fired random blaster shots, pitting the side of the Sandcrawler to make it look as if the massacre had been committed by Tusken Raiders. [2]
On the planet Arvala-7 in the year 9 ABY, the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin encountered some Jawas who had stolen some parts off of his ship, the Razor Crest. Din countered by scaling the side of a Sandcrawler , killing one of the Jawas in the process. Ascending a service ladder, he climbed onto the chassis of the vehicle, and the Sandcrawler's pilot attempted to scrape him off by maneuvering the vehicle through a tight canyon. Din managed to get atop the hull of the vehicle, but the Jawas continued to fight back by throwing various objects at him. Avoiding the debris, Din faced off against more Jawas on the top of the vehicle who fired at him with their ion blasters. Although his beskar armor was capable of deflecting the shots, the concussive force did succeed in knocking him off the vehicle. [3]
Around 35 ABY, several Jawas attended a Sandcrawler as it traipsed its way across the desert of Tatooine. This occurred around the time that Rey first arrived on Tatooine and took the surname "Skywalker". [4]
Notes & Trivia[]
- The Sandcrawler featured in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is a Corellian Mining Corporation Digger Crawler.
- While George Lucas was filming on location in Tunisia, the Libyan government became worried about a massive military vehicle parked near the Libyan border. Consequently, the Tunisian government, receiving threats of military mobilization, politely asked Lucas to move his Jawa Sandcrawler farther away from the border. [5]