Species:	Gand
	Sex:	Male
	Hair Color:	None
	Eye Color:	Unknown
	Height:	1.5 meters
	Homeworld:	Gand
	Political Affiliation:	Free-lance bounty hunter
	Weapons of Choice	Blaster pistol, vibroblade, stun grenades
	Vehicle of choice:	Mist Hunter
	First Appearance:	Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

The insectoid bounty hunter Zuckuss was one of his planet's most successful findsmen, but the elusive quarry assigned to him by Jabba the Hutt and Darth Vader still managed to slip from his grasp.

On the gaseous planet of Gand, the inhabitants had formed a series of pocket colonies, establishing a totalitarian monarchy. Like the Rodians, the Gand honored the tradition and skills of bounty hunting. Their hunters--called findsmen--were largely used to corral fugitive criminals and runaway slaves.

The findsmen were highly superstitious. Their sect worshipped the swirling mists that hid the planet, performing ancient rituals handed down through generations. In the gases, the findsmen believed they could divine signs and omens, leading them to their prey. Unfortunately for the hunters, the Empire insinuated itself into the Gand's slave trade, and Imperial technology mad obsolete the findsmen and their rituals.

Although many of the findsmen retired, a few of the younger ones left for the stars. One of those who left the planet was Zuckuss, a young Gand descended from a long and illustrious line of successful findsmen. He used elaborate and arcane rituals in his hunts, becoming a tireless tracker with an affinity for intuiting his quarry's moves; he was often called "the uncanny one."

Off planet, Zuckuss was forced to wear a special breathing apparatus that frotected him from harmful oxygen and provided supplemental gases necessary to his species. He adopted battle armor under his heavy cloak, and hung a computer and sensor array on straps around his neck. He dared any terrain or environment in pursuit of his prey.

Zuckuss was eventually hired by the Tatooine crime lord Jabba the Hutt. Although he worked solo on several missions, it was when Jabba paired him with brilliant rogue protocol droid, 4-LOM, that Zuckuss found the missing piece to his hunting procedure. Zuckuss's intuition and ability to outguess his opponents worked perfectly in combination with 4-LOM's analytical skills. For a time, they were two of Jabba's favorite hunters.

A year after the destruction of the Empire's first Death Star, Jabba sent 4-LOM and Zuckuss as "nonofficial emissaries" to Darth Vader's Super Star Destroyer Executor. The Dark Lord of the Sith had sent out a call for bounty hunters to find Han Solo and the Millenium Falcon. Zuckuss and 4-LOM saw that their competition would be fierce; the four other bounty hunters were Boba Fett, Dengar, IG-88, and Bossk.

Unfortunately for Zuckuss and 4-LOM, Boba Fett was the one who tracked the Falcon to the Bespin System. Fett recieved not only the bounty from Vader, but also the carbon-frozen body on Han Solo to deliver to Jabba the Hutt.

Zuckuss had lost one of the biggest quarries of his career, but that didn't concern him. There would be others, and he and 4-LOM would keep the tradition of the findsmen alive for many years to come.

Boba Fett's Lair © 1997 - 1999 Chris Coleman boushh@psu.edu

IMAGES and SOUNDS || SMITHSONIAN || FETT FILES || NEWS THE LINK PAGE || PREQUELS || THE SURVEY || RETURN HOME