 | |
| Vedain | |
| Continuity: | Star Wars |
| Notability: | Antagonist |
| Type: | Scout |
| Gender: | Male |
| Race: | Kajain'sa'Nikto |
| Location: | Tatooine |
| Status: | Deceased |
| Died: | 4 ABY |
| First: | Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) |
| Actor: | Paul Weston |
Vedain is a fictional alien featured in the Star Wars multimedia franchise. Played by stuntman Paul Weston, he had a very minor role in the 1983 film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Biography[]
Vedain was a member of the Kajain'sa'Nikto race of the Nikto species of the planet Kintan. Like many of his breed, Vedain was a slave in service to the notorious underworld gangster Jabba the Hutt. Vedain worked out of Jabba's Palace on Tatooine where he served as a scout and desert skiff pilot.
Four years after the Battle of Yavin, Vedain was assigned to pilot the Bantha-II cargo skiff that was to take Jabba's prisoners Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Chewbacca to the Great Pit of Carkoon, where they were to be fed to the ever-hungry and tentacled Sarlacc. Just as the execution was to take place, Luke turned the tables on his captors, brandishing a lightsaber and setting his friends free. One of the skiff guards, Tamtel Skreej, was actually Luke's ally Lando Calrissian in disguise. Lando grappled with Vedain at the rear of the skiff until a shot from a cannon blaster from Jabba's luxury sail barge, the Khetanna, forced the skiff to lurch forward. Vedain fell from the deck onto the sloping sands and was one of the first individuals to be consumed by the Sarlacc. [1]
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Vedain was created by franchise developer George Lucas, director Richard Marquand and writer Lawrence Kasdan.
- Actor Paul Weston also played another Kajain'sa'Nikto character named Vizam, who appeared during the same scenes as Vedain.
- Vedain is but one of many nameless background characters to appear in Return of the Jedi. His name was provided on his own card in the Star Wars Customizable Card Game: Jabba's Palace Limited expansion pack.
- Vedain appeared as an unnamed Nikto in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi #2, which is the four-issue official adaptation of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, published by Marvel Comics.
- Vedain is one of only two of Jabba's henchmen from the Skirmish at Carkoon incident who were correctly represented in the Marvel Comics Star Wars: Return of the Jedi four-issue comic book adaptation (the other being Queequeg), though neither alien was identified by name. In the issue, a close-up of Vedain's face can be seen as he is grappling with Lando Calrissian.