Wampa

Wampas are fictional predators in the "Star Wars" universe, resembling Yetis.

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, although the two species are unrelated). The wampa's feet resemble an elephant's or a polar bear's, in that they do not protrude from the legs and are rather massive. They have 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, 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 adhesive (by freezing) until they are ready to eat. It is also revealed that Wampas have limited intelligence and long-lasting memories.

Appearances in film and television

During the events of "", Count Dooku tested Asajj Ventress' skill in the force by pitting her against various alien creatures, a Wampa among them.

In "", 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, and having cut himself loose, cuts the wampa's arm off and escapes. According to the expanded universe, Luke returned to Hoth nine years later and encountered the very same Wampa whose arm he had severed. 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 movieFact|date=June 2007). The sticker can be seen off to one side of the screen when Han Solo, Princess Leia, and C-3PO try to escape.

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.

Appearances in video games

Wampas have had appeared in several video games. The first appearance was in the NES version of ', in which the player fights them in the first part of the Hoth level. ' 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 ' 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 ', 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 "", wampas are one of the environmental hazards the player must deal with while playing a land battle on Hoth.

In "", wampas throw giant snowballs in the Hoth map.

Wampas also make an appearance in the game "". 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 "", 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.

External links

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