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Bantha

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Sources

Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land,Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine,Star Wars Helmet Collection 11, "Dawn Dininger: Full Time Fabricator, Part Time Rodian" —Star Wars Insider 216,Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1: Creatures of the Galaxy

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Bantha

Biological classification

Designation

Non-sentient^[1]

Classification

Mammal^[2]

Subspecies

Physical characteristics

Average height

2.5meters^[2](8ft)^[3]

Average mass

4,000kilograms^[4]

Hair color

Brown^[2]
Black^[5]

Sociocultural characteristics

"Watch out kid, this thing handles like a drunken bantha."

―Han Solo, as he piloted anAT-AT^[9]

Banthas were aspecies of large,hairy mammals with sharp, spiraling horns. They inhabited thedesert planet Tatooine, though they were bred on many worlds throughoutthe galaxy. They were social herd animals, and were often domesticated, and used prominently, byTusken Raiders as mounts and companionship—though they never killed them for their food or hide. However, banthas were utilized by many other species for products such asbantha steak,butter, clothes, or furniture.

Biology and appearance[]

"Whoa. You're huge. And cute?"

―Kay Vess, about banthas^[10]

Banthas were large, thick-furred mammals native to Tatooine.

Banthas were large, quadrupedalmammals^[2] that averaged in height 2^[6] to 2.5meters. An adult's average weight was 4,000kilograms,^[4] and they had extensive shaggyfur, which wasbrown or black in color. Bothfemales and males of thespecies had a pair of spiraling horns that extruded from theirskull and grew at a knob ayear.^[11] For this reason, the age of banthas could be inferred from how curly their horns were.^[5] Banthas possessed a widemouth, bright, inquisitiveeyes,^[6] and a large tail which dragged on the ground as they walked. They had wide, flat feet with four digits.^[12] Female banthas producedblue milk.^[13]

Behavior[]

"What's the matter, Dolo? Why so sad?"

―Obi-Wan Kenobi^[14]

All banthas were peaceful^[6]omnivores^[7]^[8] and lived in herds.^[2] However, they were able to consume meat, such as when the formerbounty hunter Boba Fett fed the cooked remains of ascurrier tohis bantha.^[8] Bantha calves were skittish but could be calmed with song.^[15] Banthas and Tusken Raiders shared a great affinity for each other, to the extent that it was almost impossible to discuss one species without bringing up the other, in large part because of the respect and trust that developed between an individual Tusken and their individual bantha steed.^[16]

History[]

"Like a bantha."

―Boba Fett, teaching Tusken Raiders how to ride a speeder bike^[17]

Banthas were easily domesticated, and were bred on many worlds throughoutthe galaxy.^[6] They were widely used as mounts. Theirmilk, which was distinctivelyblue, was drunk plain as well as being used inyogurt,ice cream, andbutter. Their meat was used for driedjerky,steak, andburgers, and their dung was used as afuel.Bantha-blood fizz was a sparkling drink made from purified banthablood. Bantha hide could be mashed with grains to makeArdees, also known as Jawa juice. Their hide was also tanned and turned into clothes or furniture.^[4] Young banthas were known as calves.^[18]

TheTusken Raiders ofTatooine tamed and domesticated banthas, and they shared a close, almost mystical bond. Every boy had a male bantha and every girl had a female one. When Sand Peoplemarried, their banthas also mated, and, should its riderdie, their bantha usually perished shortly after. If a bantha died before its rider, its remains were placed in a large graveyard, which was treated with great respect by Tuskens and other banthas. Tuskens never harmed or ate banthas,^[4] though they rode the creatures into battle,^[19] and fed them tokrayt dragons, in order to protect their settlements and make the dragons sleep longer.^[20] Tusken raiders were known to ride their banthas in single file to leave few tracks in order to conceal their numbers.^[4] Sand People were also known to occasionally bathe banthas,^[5] and usingGaderffii sticks to brush their teeth.^[20] InTusken, theB'Thazoshe Bridge was named after banthas; "B'Thazoshe"translated to "bantha horn turned to stone" inBasic.^[21]

TheKadas'sa'Nikto mechanic Neeku Vozo came from a long line ofbantha herders.^[22]

The bantha shared its name with thefoodstuff bantha-butter pancake.^[23]

Banthas in the galaxy[]

«That Azumel is like a bantha in an antiquities shop!»

―Dok-Ondar^[24]

A common sight on Tatooine, banthas could be found wild, wandering the vast expanse of the Tatooine desert,^[25] or domesticated, under the ownership of Tuskens^[12] or in cities such asMos Espa.^[26] They shared their name with thewhite banthas ofNelvaan.^[4]

Banthas were the subject of several slang phrases and insults. "Bantha fodder" (or "bantha poodoo" inHuttese^[26]) was a phrase used as the equivalent of "worthless"; a person or thing deemed to have no value beyond something for a bantha to graze on, because of bantha food's unpleasant smell.^[4] "Not give two bantha ticks" (about something) meant to not care in the slightest (about something or someone),^[27] "Son of a bantha" was an insult,^[28] and "Awild bantha chase" meant a futile errand.^[29]

In20 BBY,^[30] anLAAT/i gunship featured customized nose art of a flying bantha dropping a pair of bombs.^[31] During the same year,^[30] therebels ofOnderon owned a hunter cart with a bantha skull.^[32]

During theImperial Era,Obi-Wan Kenobi befriended a herd of banthas. Two were namedDolo andNara, respectively.^[14]

By5 ABY,^[33]Malakili, a formerbeastmaster forJabba theHutt, wore a lucky braid of banthateeth and fur.^[34] Later in the same year,^[35] formerslave Cobb Vanth had enlisted the help of a group of Tusken Raiders to drive a criminal syndicate called theRed Key Raiders away from Tatooine. The Tuskens rode into battle atop banthas. One such bantha was particularly large. The animal had an eye scarred over, fur matted with filth, and wounds with open bones and rusted gears.^[19]

By9 ABY,^[36]Boba Fett rode abantha to multiple locations in theDune Sea. Shortly before he attempted torecover hisship, Fett set the bantha free.^[8]

Later in that year, aleviathan krayt dragon devoured a bantha nearMos Pelgo. In order to handle the animal, Cobb Vanth made a deal with theMandalorian Din Djarin, wherein Djarin would aid Vanth in killing the krayt in exchange for the lawman'sset ofMandalorian armor. The pair later sought help from a group of Tusken Raiders. Having studied the dragon's digestive cycle for generations, the Tusken Raiders attempted make the dragon sleep longer, by feeding a bantha to it, but the animal devoured a Tusken instead.^[20]

Being out of ideas how to handle the dragon, the group joined forces with villagers from Mos Pelgo, and toghether they formulated a plan to kill the dragon, which involved coaxing it from its den toward a set of buried explosives, which were meant to destroy it from the underside. The plan ultimately failed, and Djarin was forced to improvise an alternative, making use of explosives that were strapped to a bantha, allowing himself and the bantha to be swallowed whole by the dragon. Using hisjetpack to escape from the dragon's mouth, Djarin activated the explosives, finally killing the dragon, and the bantha in it.^[20]

Behind the scenes[]

For A New Hope, all banthas were portrayed by Asian Elephant Mardji in a costume. — ForA New Hope, all banthas were portrayed by Asian Elephant Mardji in a costume.

The word 'bantha' or at least other words resembling the term, first appeared inThe Star Wars: Rough Draft, where aSith Lord was called—or had the call sign—"Banta Four."The Star Wars: First Draft, written in early1974, introduced "Banta One" as a Rebel fighter during the attack on the Death Star. Banthas as a creature were first mentioned in the third draft of the film:Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars, dated August 1975, as "monstrous banthas" ridden by a group of savage desert nomads called the Tusken Raiders. Their attack on Luke after he spotted the beasts of burden, as happens inStar Wars: Episode IVA New Hope, was also included. Early concept art fromRalph McQuarrie imagined banthas to be played by horses, so the earliest imaginations of banthas are considerably smaller.^[37]

For banthas' first canon appearance inA New Hope, they were played byMardji, a 22-year-old femaleAsian elephant. It took six crew members to make Mardji a costume that would fit her and that she would tolerate. The costume's base was a howdah, or elephant saddle, with added palm fronds to create the shaggy coat of a bantha. They then added a special head mask that was molded from chicken wire and then sprayed with foam to give it the correct shape. The dangling hairs on the underside of the bantha's mouth were made from horse hair and flexible home ventilation tubing was the base for the curving horns. While the weight of the mask for the costume was cause for concern, it was actually the shaggy tail that was made from wood and covered with thick thistles that took some getting used to for Mardji. Despite her training, Mardji's trunk would occasionally pop out of her costume, but the cast and crew, including George Lucas, liked Mardji too much to get impatient. To get the shot of the two banthas that Luke spots, they used an effect called optical compositing. The moan-like sounds that the banthas make were bear noises slowed down by sound designerBen Burtt. They were given to him by documentary producer George Casey.^[37]

A bantha as depicted in The Clone Wars animated series — A bantha as depicted inThe Clone Wars animated series

The bantha tied up outside theChalmun's Spaceport Cantina exteriors filmed inAjim, Djerba,Tunisia onApril 2–3,1976 was an over-sized prop for two crew members with rudimentary controls for movement. As he was wont to do,Mark Hamill asked and received permission from the prop crew to climb inside it with a small flashlight. The head was moved up and down with a crowbar handle held in both hands, and a way to swish the tail about. The interior surface was papier-mâché, including a complete newspaper review reportedly titled "David Bowie live in Paris" oriented sideways, which Hamill ended up reading in its entirety.^[38]

For banthas' later appearances in the1997 Star Wars Special Edition,Star Wars: Episode IThe Phantom Menace, andStar Wars: Episode IIAttack of the Clones, they were entirely computer-generated.^[37] Based on how colored milk emerges in the real world,Star Wars Insider contributorMelissa T. Miller hypothesized that female Banthas produced blue milk because of their diet, theorizing that fields of blue wildflowers existed on Tatooine. Alternatively, Miller supposed that something in the refining process of blue milk could be responsible for the color.^[13]