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"If you value that creature's life, you should tell it to never again do that in my presence." ―Darth Vader to Jabba regarding Crumb's manners [src]

Salacious B. Crumb was a Kowakian monkey-lizard who worked as a jester in the court of the crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure during the Galactic Civil War. Known for his shrill laughter, Crumb kept his master amused until his death during the rescue of Han Solo by members of the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

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Biography Edit

A male Kowakian monkey-lizard from the planet Kowak,[1] Salacious B. Crumb was known for his shrill, cackling[3] laughter and sophisticated sense of humor like his fellow monkey-lizards. Many individuals of his species served as favored pets among denizens of the underworld, retaining their apparently hilarious-sounding names, and Crumb was no exception,[6] becoming the unofficial[3] court jester of the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure. Crumb's association with Jabba began when the thief stowed away on the Hutt's starship, and was found and captured by the Twi'lek Bib Fortuna.[1] Jabba struck up a unique deal with the monkey-lizard: If Crumb could amuse Jabba at least once a day, he would be allowed to eat and drink as much as he pleased; if he failed, however, he would be slain. Crumb lived in this manner for over a dozen standard years,[2] and henceforth sat beside Jabba to mercilessly tease and imitate captives, amusing his master greatly with his mimicry and laughter.[1] Crumb even imitated visitors, courtiers, and even Jabba himself, and used his position on the Hutt's dais to steal morsels of food. Jabba's noxious pet was tolerated because of the amusement he brought Jabba, and because of his unwavering support for his master.[3]

Crumb was present at Jabba's side when the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader arrived in Jabba's Palace to negotiate with the Hutt,[7] and later accompanied his master aboard the sail barge Khetanna to celebrate with Vader. Crumb laughed uproariously as Jabba's gangsters fired at a herd of banthas, causing Vader to threaten the creature's life should he laugh again in his presence.[8]

Crumb was present when members of the Rebel Alliance came to rescue Han Solo from his boss' clutches. After Jabba took former Alderaan Princess Leia Organa as his slave and Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker killed his pet rancor Pateesa, he accompanied his boss and his guests on the Khetanna to the Great Pit of Carkoon, where Jabba planned to execute the Rebels along Solo.[5] When Skywalker managed to free himself and Leia cut off the lights of the barge, Jabba's guests, including Crumb, altered and ran in search of an exit from the barge while Organa seized the moment to choke Jabba to death with her chain. Following the Hutt's death, Crumb began to bite C-3PO, almost snatching one of his eyes, but R2-D2 went to the rescue of the droid and shocked Crumb, who turned away annoyed. Crumb was eventually killed when the Khetanna was destroyed by the Rebels, who escaped alive.[2]

Personality and traits Edit

"Salacious was a natural performer, and he was blessed with a panoply of physical features suitable for a crowd-pleasing clown: floppy ears, messy hair, wide-and-oh-so-hypnotic eyes, gangly limbs, clumsy movements, and an infectious cackle. But he didn't possess much of a brain between those outsize ears." ―Lugubrious Mote [src]

A Kowakian monkey-lizard with a distinctive shrill cackle, Salacious Crumb usually sat on Jabba's lap, where he frequently stole food and mimicked, as the palace's unofficial jester, Jabba's courtiers, visitors and sometimes even Jabba himself. In fact, Salacious was just tolerated because his antics amused the Hutt and because of his unwavering support of his master.[3]

Salacious was also known for his lack of respect, a trait which was demonstrated when the Sith Lord Darth Vader arrived to negotiate with the Hutt. Aboard Jabba's sail barge Khetanna, he laughed uprariously as the Hutt's gangsters fired at a herd of banthas. The Sith Lord threatened the jester's life should he laugh again in his presence.[8]

According to the mole-flea Lugubrious Mote, Salacious was not very intelligent. She described him as "dumber than a newborn rancor''.[9]

Behind the scenes Edit

Salacious B. Crumb was voiced by Mark Dodson and puppeted by puppeter Tim Rose, who also puppeted Admiral Gial Ackbar, in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. As seen in the 1985 documentary From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga, Rose actually gave Crumb a voice (other than Crumb's laughing as seen in Return of the Jedi), which he frequently used in conjunction with the puppet to joke around on set, but his voice was ultimately replaced with Dodson's. Salacious B. Crumb ended up being actor Anthony Daniels' favorite character of the series.[10]

The puppet for Salacious was created by Tony McVey. It's name was accidentally created by The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi puppeteer Phil Tippett. George Lucas had given them the task of deciding the character's name. While trying to decide on a name, Tippett and his crew went out to lunch. They had drunken "a few pitchers of beer", and on exit Tippett decided to bend down to tie his shoes. He said "Wait a minute, guys, while I tie my soolacious", slurring the word "Shoelaces". A crew member immediately recognized its potential. While George Lucas initially rejected the name for Jabba's jester, he changed it to Salacious and added the word "Crumb" for the character's surname as an homage to underground comic book artist Robert Crumb.[10]

According to Michael Carter, the actor who played Jabba's majordomo Bib Fortuna, in a TheForce.net interview, during the filming of Jedi, there were several scenes which involved Jess and Salacious B. Crumb, but these scenes, according to him, were cut from the final edit of the film.[11] However, some of these scenes appeared in the non-canonical "Lapti Nek": The Music Video from Jabba's Palace and in Warwick Davis' documentary Return of the Ewok.

Appearances Edit

Non-canon appearances Edit

Sources Edit

Notes and references Edit