Star Wars fans were first introduced to the Rancor in the film of Return of the Jedi. We all remember when Luke dropped into the pit in Jabba’s throne room, what he faced there, and how he dealt with the situation. An unforgettable moment. Clearly, this should have been Rancor Spotting #1, but such is not the case in this blog. Sorry.
Here is how Mr. Kahn sets the scene in the book.
In the pit below, Luke picked himself up off the floor. He found he was now in a large cavelike dungeon, the walls formed of craggy boulders pocked with lightless crevices. The half-chewed bones on countless animals were strewn over the floor, smelling of decayed flesh and twisted fear.
Twenty-five feet above him, in the ceiling, he saw the iron grating through which Jabba’s repugnant courtiers peered.
The guard beside him suddenly began to scream uncontrollably, as a door in the side of the cave slowly rumbled open. With infinite calm, Luke surveyed his surroundings, as he removed his long robe down to his Jedi tunic, to give him more freedom of movement. He backed quickly to the wall and crouched there, watching.
Out of the side passage emerged the giant Rancor. The size of an elephant, it was somehow reptilian, somehow as unformed as a nightmare. Its huge screeching mouth was asymmetrical in its head, its fangs and claws set all out of proportion. It was clearly a mutant, and wild as all unreason.
As we all know, Luke’s battle with the Rancor continues from this point and ends several pages later with the Rancor keeper weeping openly. Truly a classic moment in the Star Wars saga.
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