- "I'm sure Jabba's not paying enough for a bounty hunter of your expertise."
- ―Tyber Zann[src]
Bossk (meaning "Devours His Prey" in Dosh) was a Trandoshan bounty hunter and the pilot of the Hound's Tooth. He also held the title of Monarch of the Qotile system.[3] He was particularly unfond of Chewbacca and his Human partner Han Solo. He would face them several times, and would be one of the six bounty huntersDarth Vader hired to track down and capture the Millennium Falcon. Despite the fact that Bossk loved to hunt and skin Wookiees, he would unknowingly aid in the freeing of hundreds of Wookiee slaves on the island world of Lomabu III. He was also a frequent partner and foe of both Boba Fett and Zuckuss, both fellow bounty hunters. After being repeatedly beaten by Boba Fett, he would eventually boost his reputation as a bounty hunter by "defeating" Fett on Tatooine.
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Biography
[edit]The Beginning
Cruelty and often-uncalculating rages defined the bounty-hunting career of Bossk, born the son ofCradossk, leader of the Bounty Hunters Guild, onTrandosha. His very first act was to eat his unhatched siblings, something that made his father beam with pride. Being a Trandoshan, Bossk began his career by Wookiee hunting, typically considered suicidal if attempted by any other species. During this time, Bossk made a name for himself and began accepting bounties on non-Wookiees as well, becoming one ofthe galaxy's most feared bounty hunters.
Before being alowed to join the Bounty Hunters Guild, Bossk prowled the Kashyyyk system in a Sabaoth starfighter during the Clone Wars. Here he may have engaged in a dogfight with Jedi Master Bant Eerin and her apprentice during the Republic's hunt for the Confederate scientistBitt Panith.
Bossk once teamed up with Skorr in a hunt for an agent known as Kestrel. They caught up with her on Ord Mantell, but failed to capture their prey. Though he is a guild member, he did not enjoy teams, such as with the short, waddling Zuckuss.
Early in his career, Bossk had a run-in with Chewbacca and Han Solo that left him vengeful and angrier than even most other Trandoshans. The hunter and his partners had uncovered a Wookiee safe planet and caught the Wookiees, led by Chewbacca, just as they were settling in. Just before Bossk could capture the entire group, a bounteous gift for the scorekeeper indeed, Han Solo returned and destroyed Bossk's ship by landing the Millennium Falcon on it. The Trandoshan hunter was stranded and left to his own helpless rage. It is rumored that none of his partners survived his anger. After his first ship was destroyed, Bossk purchased the Hound's Tooth and continued his hunting but always kept a special place in his cold heart for his grudge against Chewbacca and Solo.
[edit]Under the Cartel and Consortium
Bossk then accepted a job by the Hutt Cartel to eliminate Tyber Zann after he deactivated thedroideka Mark IIs on Hypori, but Zann later hired him away from the Cartel with promises of triple Jabba's pay. He then assisted Tyber defending himself from the Hutt Cartel's landing forces. Bossk later assisted the Zann Consortium in several missions around the galaxy, up until Tyber came toCarida to meet Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn. Bossk then stole a Sith artifact from the Consortium and sold it to the Galactic Empire—although this was apparently all part of a plan concocted by Zann. Afterwards, Bossk presumably left the Consortium's service.
[edit]Taking Control of the Guild
As the direct heir of the Bounty Hunters Guild, Bossk had been plotting his father's demise for some time. The Guild was everything to the brutal hunter, and he refused to watch his father's senile claws destroy what was rightfully his. After enacting a brutally efficient plot to overthrow Cradossk and set himself up as leader, Bossk went on a bounty with Boba Fett, IG-88B, Zuckuss, and D'harhanwhere he narrowly avoided an assassination attempt by Zuckuss (who was working with Cradossk) by bribing the other hunter to his side. Bossk returned, to the surprise of his father, and violently slaughtered him, using his fathers own weapon, an ornamental dagger, and devoured him as the Guild complex erupted into a massive firefight. After this, however, the Guild had been split in half. Bossk was the leader of the Guild Reform Committee, which consisted mostly of younger hunters, and was fixed on destroying the True Guild, which he saw as old, lazy hunters.
[edit]Requirement with Fett
Against his better judgment, Bossk again worked with Boba Fett to track down the rogue stormtrooper Trhin Voss'on't. After nearly dying, Bossk managed to help Fett capture the defect Imperial only to double-cross the other hunter. Bossk reasoned that Voss'on't's bounty could help give the Committee the upper hand in the Bounty Hunter Wars, and would do it much better if he collected all of it. After disabling Slave I's internal defense systems, Bossk captured Fett on his own ship. Luckily for him, Fett had foreseen this complication and had already hired Zuckuss to back him up after gaining the bounty. Bossk was subdued, and then Zuckuss was also double-crossed. Boba Fett in the only escape pod blasted the two hunters out of Slave I. Angrily, Bossk threw a miniature thermal detonater into Fett's ship just before he was launched, which gave the pod enough time to escape.
[edit]The Hunt for the Millennium Falcon
Even though Han Solo and Chewbacca again slipped through his claws due to help from Luke Skywalker, Bossk was one of 6 hunters hired by LordVader to hunt down and capture Solo. The Trandoshan hunter took it as a point of honor and revenge to capture his wretched Wookiee enemy and his weak Human counterpart. He grudgingly teamed up with the amateur bounty hunter Tinian I'att and Chenlambec, believing they had inside information about Solo's whereabouts. They also offered information on a Wookiee intelligence network that, if hacked, could give information to Bossk that would allow him to track down and kill thousands of Wookiees. They travelled to Lomabu III in the Aida system. They were able to hack into the Hound's computer, trap Bossk in a meat locker, and take over the ship. Using the Nastah Pup they attacked an Imperial Wookiee prison, allowing countless Wookiees to rebel against their captors. They then used the Hound to transport the hundreds of Wookiee slaves and delivered them to the Rebellion. They then delivered Bossk to the Empire, who paid a bounty on him, for illegal Wookiee pelting, which was really a lie used by the pair of false bounty hunters to receive extra credits and get Bossk off of their hands. When given over, an Imperial planned to have Bossk skinned and made into a dress for his wife. Bossk somehow escaped from his prison and retrieved his ship, which Chenlambec the Wookiee had taken.
[edit]Murder of Hal Horn
In 3 ABY, Bossk somehow ran afoul of the Corellian Security Forces. The bounty hunter killed Hal Horn and the two men he was meeting, and was apprehended by Corran Horn shortly after. However, he was released from custody by CorSec's Imperial Liaison Officer, Kirtan Loor in exchange for taking a job for the Empire.
[edit]The final encounter with Fett
Quite some time later, after Boba Fett's "death", Bossk had another run-in with the hated hunter. He was forced to abandon the Hound's Tooth in a panic as a bomb calmly counted down the seconds remaining to detonation. Again, Bossk found himself in an escape pod because of Boba Fett and seethed silently to himself. Suddenly, a countdown began echoing in the escape pod. In a frenzy, Bossk tried to find the bomb, managing to discover just as the countdown reached zero... and nothing happened. It was then that the hunter realized that he had been scared off of his own ship, and he now knew that Fett hadn't in fact been killed by thesarlacc and was now using the Hound's Tooth as his own ship. Bossk landed on the surface ofTatooine, where he was stranded without any source of credits. Luckily for him, he had managed to steal an important piece of evidence from Slave I that led to another show down with Fett in the Mos Eisley Cantina. Bossk held his ground against the fearsome hunter, refusing to give the location of the evidence without money, even with Fett's blaster trained on his forehead. Boba Fett uttered the unthinkable words "You win" and transferred a large amount of credits into Bossk's account in exchange for the evidence. It is believed that Bossk used this money (not to mention the new respect he earned for defeating Boba Fett) to get back on his feet in the bounty-hunting world.
[edit]Retirement
Years after the Battle of Endor, Bossk retired from professional hunting. He later ran into Han Solo on a space station orbiting Ord Mantell during the Yuuzhan Vong War. When he heard of Chewbacca's death, Bossk rubbed it in Solo's face... and received a broken snout in return. The encounter elevated into a fight, and both Bossk and Solo were put into arrest cells. Solo was allowed to leave shortly before the invasion of the space station, but Bossk had to stay. It is said that a small pod went jetting out of the confinement cell area into space before the implosion of the space station.
Behind the scenes
Actor Alan Harris portrayed the role of Bossk in The Empire Strikes Back.
The mask used for Bossk was a repainted prop used for one of the Saurincharacters featured in Chalmun's Cantina in A New Hope[source?]
The leg bands strapped around each of Bossk's legs are flare pistol cartridges similar to those worn by the German Air Force during WWII. These flares were also worn by Rebel pilots.
In the video game Star Wars Galaxies, you can sometimes find Bossk inside Tatooine cantinas, where you are able to do quests on his behalf in order to gain rare items.
In the Xbox 360 version of the video game Star Wars: The Force UnleashedBossk is an achievement for killing 200 Wookiees in the games prologue level.
