Chewbacca
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Chewbacca (or Chewie) (c. 200 BBY - c. 25 ABY), a fictional character of the Star Wars universe, is a seven-and-a-half-foot (2.28 metres) tall Wookiee and co-pilot of Han Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon. Wise and sophisticated, he has a great deal of technological savvy. While Chewie is perfectly able to understand the galactic-standard language Basic, he is unable to speak it due to his species' vocal structure. He communicates in his own language, Shyriiwook, while Solo always speaks to Chewie in Basic. Chewbacca was played by actor Peter Mayhew in the Star Wars movies.
Before meeting Solo, Chewie was a major player in the Battle of Kashyyyk (as seen in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith), and he and Wookiee General Tarfful were responsible for Yoda's escape when Emperor Palpatine ordered the Clone Stormtroopers to turn on the Jedi (see Order 66).
Chewbacca undertook a Wookiee "life debt" to Han Solo due to Solo saving his life at some point before Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. From the time Solo saved his life, up to Chewbacca's death on the planet of Sernpidal, the two were nearly inseparable.
Initially, Princess Leia did not like Chewbacca, calling him a "walking carpet." But eventually she almost became as close a friend to Chewbacca as Han Solo. Chewbacca was very close to Han and Leia's children, becoming an uncle of sorts to the three children.
The 1978 television program The Star Wars Holiday Special introduces Chewbacca's family. His father is Attichitcuk (or Itchy for short), his wife is named Mallatobuck (Malla), and his son is Lumpawarrump (Lumpie). They live together on Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld, where Chewbacca visits them on Life Day with other major characters. His family also appears in some Star Wars books, most notably The Wookiee Storybook, the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy by Michael P. Kube-McDowell, and Rebel Dawn by A. C. Crispin. The latter also introduces other family members, including a sister named Kallabow and cousins named Dryanta and Jowdrrl.
In Vector Prime, the first in the New Jedi Order series of books, Chewbacca died after valiantly sacrificing his own life to save life of Han's son Anakin, when a Yuuzhan Vong weapon caused the moon of the planet Sernpidal he was standing on to crash into it. Chewbacca's friends were all emotionally crushed by this loss. Han Solo was the most affected, and for a time he sought refuge among alcohol and the stars. Han believed that it was his son Anakin's fault that Chewie had died. As a result a rift opened between Han and Anakin.
See also
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