Thanks to an obsessive fanbase that craves cataloging every inch of movies, everyone in Star Wars galaxy has their story. Today, we would like to take time to honorBidloKwerve, a man who has helped defeat the Empire using his head. Well, by Luke using his head.
You have never thought about it as much, it is on screen for 4 seconds of this 136-minute-long Return of the Jedi but the skull that Luke Skywalker tosses to kill Jabba’sRancor is the most important items in the Star Wars saga. The skull saves Luke’s life and ensures the downfall of Galactic Empire and survival of Jedi Order. It had an owner, BidloKwerve, a man with a storied past.
Bidlo Kwerve existed as a character for a while before connection between him and the iconic skull was made. Created for background purposes in old West End Games Star Wars roleplaying game sourcebooks, Bidlo was a Corellian smuggler in the employ of Jabba. Kwerve jostled with pirates and rogues in the Hutt’s retinue and sought greater power and when he was not arguing with Han Solo, he was a rival of Bib Fortuna.
Kwerve, who has appeared in Dark Horse comics to trading card games, bore witness to a few moments of Star Wars backstory in Expanded Universe. He accepted Han Solo’s call when he contacted Jabba to let him know that he had to dump his spice to flee Imperials. Kwerve introduced Jabba to Rancor, a gift to Jabba he had acquired with the grudging help of Bib Fortuna.
But in a twist of fate, Kwerve was Rancor’s victim. Jabba had offered Kwerve and Fortuna choices between being Majordomo and a “greater honor,” and when Kwerve accepted the latter,Jabba had revealed that the honor was being fed to his pet. 2 years after Kwerve’s fate was had been revealed in Tales from Jabba’s Palace, in 1998 Decipher’s Star Wars customizable card game made first connection between Kwerve and skull seen in Return of the Jedi.
You may think Kwerve is another forgotten excess of Expanded Universe, like Hoar or Willrow Hood. But he is canonized in Disney’s new Star Wars universe, thanks to a mention in Star Wars: Complete Locations in 2016; it identified the skull sitting in Rancor Pit belonging to Bidlo.
Not bad for a skull that’s shown for all of four seconds.
