Wampa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wampas are fictional predators in the Star Wars universe, resembling Yetis.
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[edit] Characteristics
Wampas live on the planet Hoth and are the planet's apex predator. 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 (similar to tauntauns; however, the two species are unrelated). 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 (and in the Shadows of the Empire video game, they often fight each other), but will sometimes join forces to hunt in packs in equally beneficial situations or to eliminate a common threat (such as human settlement). Mother Wampas are very protective of their young. Wampas do not hunt only when they are hungry. They prefer fresh meat, and they 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 nine years later when Luke returned to Hoth. The Wampa remembered him and his lightsaber. This encounter, however, resulted in Luke cutting the creature's arm, in a chance escape from the hands of the beast.[citation needed]
[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 and the Wampa, in turn, remembered him and his lightsaber due to their long memory spans. 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[citation needed]). 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. There was a scene where a wampa broke into the Echo Base and attempted to attack R2-D2, but was slain by Rebel soldiers. Some of these scenes appeared in Marvel Comics' adaptation of Empire, originally published in its long-running Star Wars series (currently reprinted by Dark Horse Comics in their Classic Star Wars collections).
The wampa sequences originally seen in Empire were shortened due to technical problems. Brief shots of a puppet were used instead to depict the creature attacking Luke. In the ice cave sequence, no shots placed the wampa in plain view, a technique intended to increase suspense (similar to that of the monstrous antagonists in Jaws and Alien). There are, however, shots of the wampa suit used in the original 1980 release, and Des Web is credited for playing the snow monster. The ice cave sequence was altered for the 1997 Special Edition. Shots of a fully visible actor -- in a suit and on a new set with brighter lighting, portraying the wampa stalking a newly awakened Luke -- were inserted into the original scene.
[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) which allows the user to play as a wampa. 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). Also in certain levels of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, one could play as a Wampa. They also make an appearance in the video game Jedi Academy.
In Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, wampas are encountered during the "Escape from Echo Base" level of the Empire Strikes Back mission. As in Shadows of the Empire, wampas require several blaster shots to be stopped, and the player must do so before the wampas come close enough to attack.
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.
[edit] External links
- Wampa in the Star Wars Databank
- Wampa on Wookieepedia, a Wikia wiki
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