Zhug brothers

Zhug brothers
General information
Leader(s)	Azanti Zhug Dezanti Zhug
Headquarters	Duro (cast out) Nar Shaddaa (adopted)
Historical information
Date founded	Sometime before 3951 BBY
Other information
Affiliation	Bounty Hunters' Guild

«There are the Zhug "brothers," of course – cast from Duros for attempting to wipe out a rival family of politically-set Duros. There are hundreds of their kind, not grouped by blood but by their cause, who claim they are a new family. They seek to raise enough credits to seize Duros for their own.»

―Vossk, to Meetra Surik

The Zhug brothers were a group of Duros bounty hunters led by Azanti and Dezanti Zhug, consisting of hundreds of individuals bound together by their shared cause—taking control the planet Duro. This "family," as they considered themselves, was cast out from the Duro after committing violent acts against a politically-connected rival family. After settling on the moon Nar Shaddaa, the Zhug brothers started earning credits by collecting bounties. They plotted to eventually take over their former homeworld of Duro.

During the Dark Wars in 3951 BBY, when local Exchange crime lord G0-T0 placed a bounty on the former Jedi Knight Meetra Surik—known as the Jedi Exile—the Zhug brothers were eager to pursue the Jedi, a task that was eventually devastating to them. When Surik and her companions arrived on Nar Shaddaa, G0-T0 instructed the bounty hunters not to touch her while she was on the moon. After the Exile was trapped and imprisoned by G0-T0's forces, the hunters considered the truce finished and began their hunt for her. Three of the Zhug brothers, including their leader Azanti Zhug, pursued Surik's companions on the landing pad of their freighter, the Ebon Hawk, and all three Zhugs were killed during an exchange of fire. Soon after, eight Zhug brothers attacked the Jedi in the Visionary, where G0-T0 had brought her, with a similar outcome. Eventually, another Zhug leader, Dezanti Zhug, followed Surik to Onderon's moon, Dxun, where they fought for the last time, leading to the death of the three Zhug brothers there.

History

"Which one do you want?"
"I'll take the stupid one, who decided to threaten us rather than shoot us when he had the chance."

―Atton Rand and Bao-Dur, upon being confronted by three Zhug brothers

The landing pad on Nar Shaddaa where Azanti Zhug met his end

The Zhug brothers were Duros bounty hunters cast out from the planet Duro after attempting to eliminate a rival, politically-connected ruling family around the time of the Jedi Civil War. Led by Azanti and Dezanti Zhug, the Zhugs numbered in the hundreds, grouped not by blood but by their shared cause, considering themselves to be a new "family." Eventually settling on Nar Shaddaa—the Nal Hutta moon commonly known as the "Smuggler's Moon"—they began hunting for prey in the slums of the ecumenopolis, seeking to collect enough credits to seize Duro for their own.

Near the end of the Dark Wars, G0-T0, the local Exchange crime lord on Nar Shaddaa, set a large bounty on Jedi, and the Zhug brothers were eager to collect this hefty sum. In 3951 BBY, the former Jedi Knight Meetra Surik—known as the Jedi Exile—arrived on the "Smuggler's Moon," and soon after met former bounty hunter and Bounty Hunters' Guild leader Vossk. He warned the Exile of the bounty hunters on the moon trying to collect the bounty on her head, with the Zhugs being among the most prominent. Meanwhile, G0-T0 had invited all bounty hunters on the moon to his yacht, the Visionary, where he clearly expressed that the Jedi Exile was not to be harmed while she was on Nar Shaddaa. When they heard of this restriction, the Zhug brothers' representatives loudly proclaimed G0-T0 as being mad for not allowing them to hunt her when she was so close.

Eventually Surik went to meet with Visquis, a Quarren who acted as the head of G0-T0's operations on the moon, in order to discuss the bounty; however, she was taken prisoner instead. The bounty hunters considered this to be the end of the truce, and when G0-T0 brought the now imprisoned Surik to the Visionary, three of the Zhug brothers pursued the Jedi Exile's companions—the Zabrak Bao-Dur; the former Jedi Master Kreia; the Ebon Hawk's pilot, Atton Rand; and the Echani handmaiden Brianna—at the landing pad of their freighter, the Ebon Hawk. Instead of ambushing them, the Zhug brothers decided to issue ultimatums and threats, which Surik's companions considered unwise. The three hunters, including leader Azanti Zhug, were dispatched in the following short, decisive exchange of fire, but none of Surik's comrades were killed. After the fight, two of Jedi Exile's companions infiltrated the Visionary in an attempt to rescue her. After the Exile's companions reached her, eight of the Zhugs boarded the crime lord's ship and attempted to kill the trio, but once again failed.

Dezanti Zhug and two other brothers next to their wrecked ship before their fatal encounter with Meetra Surik.

The Zhug brothers' final encounter with the Surik took place on the Onderonian moon of Dxun, where the Zhugs pursued her after she left Nar Shaddaa. Arriving in the Japrael system, they encountered an Onderonian blockade above the planet, and as they tried to approach the spaceport of Iziz, the capital city of planet Onderon, they were stopped in space by the planet's fleet. Soon after the arrival of Surik and the Zhug brothers, the ships in the blockade opened fire, and both the Heraklon-class transport ship of the Zhug brothers and the Jedi Exile's Ebon Hawk were forced to land after taking damage from the separatist forces in the opening space battle of the Onderon Civil War. After crash-landing their ship, two surviving Zhug brothers led by Dezanti Zhug confronted Surik in the jungles of the moon. They attempted to claim the Exile's bounty, stating that they would not fail to fulfill their part of the deal like Azanti and the other "brothers" had before. However, the trio was similarly defeated in a short and intense fight.

Organization

«I am Dezanti Zhug. You have heard of the Zhug family, yes? We are bounty hunters. Very effective, very famous.»

―Dezanti Zhug, to Meetra Surik

The Zhug brothers consisted of hundreds of Duros who considered themselves a "family" sharing a like cause of seizing their former homeworld Duro. Unlike their rivals on Duro, they were not politically connected, and the Zhug brothers' violent acts resulted in the Zhugs being cast out from the planet. The Zhug brothers considered themselves famous and powerful bounty hunters. In particular, their leaders, Azanti and Dezanti Zhug, assured Surik of their importance. The leaders also considered themselves good at making deals, and they despised deal-breaking.

Members

Azanti Zhug

The Zhug brothers counted in the hundreds, all being members of the Duros species. In 3951 BBY, there were at least two leaders, Azanti and Dezanti Zhug, representing the whole organization. Both ended up as casualties of their hunt for the bounty on the Jedi Exile.

Azanti Zhug

Azanti Zhug was an arrogant leader of the Zhug brothers. Showing little or no respect for other bounty hunters, he considered himself and the other Zhugs as being very important and dangerous. During Meetra Surik's stay on Nar Shaddaa in 3951 BBY, he eagerly awaited the chance to collect the bounty on her head. Azanti Zhug eventually met his end leading the Zhug brothers' first attack against Surik and her companions on Nar Shaddaa.

Dezanti Zhug

Dezanti Zhug

Dezanti was another leader of the Zhug brothers. Showing a similar arrogant attitude and disrespect towards the other hunters as Azanti, Dezanti Zhug claimed to be even more dangerous than Azanti and the other Zhug brothers. While other Zhug brothers chose not to wait and instead attacked Meetra Surik and her companions without him in Nar Shaddaa, Dezanti waited for his chance, and died in a fight with Surik after pursuing her to Dxun in the same year.

Behind the scenes

"I guess whatever price is on his head is enough to wake them up. Problem is, there's hundreds of them - just like the Zhug 'brothers.'"

―The Jedi Exile's companions making reference between attacking Gands and the Zhugs

The Zhug brothers were one of the minor villains in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, a video game released by Obsidian Entertainment at the end of 2004. In the game, the player controlling the Jedi Exile is allowed to visit several planets after leaving Telos IV. This article assumes that the Jedi Exile visits Nar Shaddaa as the first planet, as presented in Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords: Prima Official Game Guide.

In the cut content of the game, numerous Zhug brothers were to attack the Jedi Exile's companions on the Nar Shaddaa Docks before the companions had to fight their way through a nest of Gand bounty hunters during their attempt to save her from Visquis and G0-T0.

Message to Spacers 9, an article written by Patrick Stutzman and released in 2007 as an online supplement for Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars RPG, contained details of the events that led to the Zhug brothers crash-landing on Dxun, and the details and history of the ship model they used, revealing it to be the Heraklon-class transport ship.

Appearances

• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (First appearance)

Sources

• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords: Prima Official Game Guide
• "Message to Spacers 9" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link)

Notes and references

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