Wampa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wampas are fictional predators in the Star Wars universe, resembling Yetis or the extinct giant ground sloth.
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[edit] Characteristics
Wampas live on the planet Hoth. Wampas' hands have five fingers, each with one large claw. They also have a horn protruding from either side of their heads that curves and points forward. The wampa's feet resemble an elephant's, in that they don't protrude from the legs and are rather massive. They have a mouth of sharp teeth and attack with a vicious slash using their massive claws. The wampa's main prey is the tauntaun.
Wampas are mainly solitary hunters, but will sometimes hunt in packs in equally beneficial situations or to eliminate a common threat. Mother Wampas are very protective of their young, like bears. Wampas do not hunt when they are hungry, but prefer fresh meat. They will often suspend live prey from the ceiling of their lair using their own saliva to act as a sort of glue (by freezing) until they are ready to eat. It is also revealed that Wampas have limited intelligence and long-lasting memories. The same Wampa that captured Luke in Empire Strikes Back encountered the young Jedi 9 years later when Luke returned to Hoth and the Wampa remembered him and his lightsaber.
[edit] Appearances in film and television
During the events of Star Wars: Clone Wars, Count Dooku tested Asajj Ventress' skill in the force by pitting her against various alien creatures, a Wampa was among these creatures.
In Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker is captured by a Wampa and trapped in a cave, suspended upside down by his feet, which are frozen to the ceiling. Luke uses the Force to retrieve his lightsaber, half-buried in the snow. After cutting himself loose, Luke cuts the wampa's arm off and escapes. According to the expanded universe, 9 years after his encounter with the Wampa, Luke returned to Hoth and encountered the very same Wampa whose arm he had severed. This time, Luke managed to slay the Wampa with his lightsaber.
The Rebellion's base of operations on Hoth, Echo Base, held several wampas in cages (as seen in Shadows of the Empire). The dead tauntaun that is seen in Echo Base during Empire was most likely killed by a Wampa. Doors to the Wampa cage rooms had a bright orange warning sticker. Although it was cut from the movie, C-3PO tore off one such sticker when the Rebels were trying to escape the besieged base to trick the pursuing Imperial troopers into entering one of the rooms (this shot is seen in one trailer for the movie). The sticker can be seen off to one side of the screen when Han Solo, Princess Leia, and C-3PO try to escape.
[edit] Behind the scenes
Several other Wampa sequences were planned for Empire, but they were ultimately cut. In one such scene, the beeping of astromech droids attracted wampas.
The wampa sequences originally seen in Empire were trimmed down due to problems with the wampa suit. Instead, a few quick shots of a puppet were used to attack Luke, and the sequence in the ice cave was done so that the wampa was not seen, adding to its menace (similar to that of the shark in Jaws). There are, however, one or two shots of the wampa suit in the original 1980 edition, and Des Web is credited for playing the snow monster. The 1997 Special Edition put in new footage of the wampa to complete the sequence.
[edit] Appearances in video games
Wampas have had appeared in several video games. The first appearance was in the NES version of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, in which the player fights them in the first part of the Hoth level. Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back also features these beasts in the early Hoth interior and exterior levels. These Wampas are able to jump and freeze the player with their breath. In addition, one of the early bosses in the game is a giant wampa. They are also featured in the Nintendo 64 game Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire in Echo Base and in a canyon on the moon of Gall. In this game, a cheat mode is accessible through the player setting their name to "_Wampa__Stompa" (the cheat being case-sensitive and the underscores representing actual spaces). In this game, they are notorious for their slow movement and strong durability against standard laser blaster shots (many are required to kill one, but this is solely dependent on the preset difficulty). These aspects helped make some younger gamers find them frightening. They also make an appearance in the video game Jedi Academy.
In Star Wars: Empire at War, wampas are one of the environmental hazards the player must deal with while playing a land battle on Hoth.
In Star Wars: Demolition, wampas throw giant snowballs in the Hoth map.
Wampas also make an appearance in the game Star Wars: Battlefront II. In the Hunt mode on the planet Hoth, the player is given the option to play as either the rampant wampas or as a member of the Rebellion. All wampas have listed for their equipment is "claws." On January 31, 2006, LucasArts introduced downloadable content for the game via Xbox Live; the included "Rhen Var: Harbor" map also allows gamers to play Hunt with or against wampas.
Most recently, a wampa appeared in LEGO Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy, during the opening cutscene for Episode V, Chapter 1, portraying the events in the actual movie with a comedic twist; when Luke severs the wampa's arm, it drops to the ground and the wampa, instead of roaring, falls silent and stares at it in disbelief.
