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Click here for Wookieepedia's article on the Canon version of this subject.  This article covers the Legends version of this subject. 
This article is about the physical location. You may be looking for its sarlacc occupant's consciousness.
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"You will, therefore, be taken to the Dune Sea and cast into the Pit of Carkoon, the nesting place of the all powerful Sarlacc."
C-3PO's translation of Jabba the Hutt's words to Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Chewbacca[2]

The Great Pit of Carkoon, also called the Mouth of Sarlacc by Zorba Desilijic Tiure, was located within the Northern Dune Sea on the planet Tatooine. The large depression in the sand was the home of a rapacious, if slow-eating, adult sarlacc. Its consciousness was merged to that of its ancient victim, Susejo.

Its proximity to Jabba's Palace, paired with the torturous death provided by the sarlacc, made it an ideal spot for executions to be carried out for Jabba the Hutt's pleasure.

It was the place of the Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon, and the subsequent death of Jabba.

History[]

"Jabba takes his sail barge to the Great Pit of Carkoon to feed his enemies to the Sarlacc."
Malakili, to a spacer[3]
Carkoon pit

Luke Skywalker looks down into the maw of the sarlacc.

The sarlacc had resided in the Pit of Carkoon for around four thousand years by the time of the Galactic Civil War. A Choi named Susejo, who had fallen into the sarlacc by 3996 BBY, would eventually merge his personality with the beast as it remained stationary for millennia. At some point, the gang leader Alkhara had managed to cut a road from his headquarters to the Pit of Carkoon before it was taken over by Jabba the Hutt in the year 516 BBY. Due to the pit being close to his palace, Jabba would begin using it as a means to execute people for his amusement over the course of many years.

After the Battle of Yavin, the constant presence of Jabba's sail barge at the Great Pit of Carkoon had scared off the sarlacc's natural preys.[3] In 1 ABY,[4] Jabba's beast master Malakili hired a spacer to kill Jundland eopies in order to collect their livers to feed the sarlacc.[3]

In 4 ABY, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca attempted to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt. After their capture, Jabba took his Rebel prisoners to the pit, to be digested over years by the sarlacc. The prisoners, however, overcame their guards, with the help of R2-D2 and Lando Calrissian. While Luke, Han, Lando and Chewbacca fought on their Skiff and managed to knock Boba Fett into the pit, Leia used the chains she was bound in to strangle Jabba. Luke subsequently destroyed Jabba's sail barge and escaped with the Rebels and the two droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.[2]

Soon after that battle, Kuat of Kuat, the leader of Kuat Drive Yards, arranged a bombing run of the area around the Great Pit of Carkoon to ensure the death of the Boba Fett.[5]

Behind the scenes[]

Filming the Great Pit of Carkoon for Return of the Jedi took place in the Yuma Desert in Arizona in April 1982. The sound of the sarlacc was created from sounds of alligator hisses, as well as the sounds of some of the Jedi crew's stomachs after eating pizza.[6]

The Great Pit of Carkoon was originally supposed to be called the "Sloth Pit," but this was changed prior to the release of the script.[7]

The 1997 Special Edition of Return of the Jedi added several tentacles and an extension with a beak-like tongue to the sarlacc.

While the original Return of the Jedi showed Boba Fett falling in the pit and then disappearing from view, leaving some freedom to Expanded Universe authors to retcon his escape, the Special Edition CGI beak-maw actually is shown to swallow Fett. However, this makes little difference, as the beak-tongue's insides are the same as those of the pit in general.

The pit was set to be located in a Rakatan temple on Tatooine, and guarding the Tatooine Star Map in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. However, the sarlacc was replaced by a Krayt dragon, and the Rakatan Temple by the Krayt dragon's cave full of ancient Rakatan artifacts.[source?]

The Pit of Carkoon appeared in the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts,[8] prior to its closure on December 15, 2011.[9] However, the game incorrectly identified the pit's location as the Western Dune Sea.[8]

Appearances[]

Non-canon appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy
  2. 2.0 2.1 Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 SWG logo sm Star Wars Galaxies: Starter Kit — Legacy Quest: "Shock Rods" on Tatooine
  4. According to its opening crawl, Star Wars Galaxies was set sometime after Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. The only precise time indication in the game was given by the character Ruwan Tokai, who referenced the destruction of the Death Star at the Battle of Yavin as occurring one year earlier, placing the game sometime around 1 ABY. Later, multiple elements confirmed the placement of the game storyline in 1 ABY. First, The Essential Reader's Companion established that the tie-in novel Star Wars Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine took place in 1 ABY. Furthermore, the game expansion Star Wars Galaxies: Rage of the Wookiees was set during the Blockade of Kashyyyk, one year after the Battle of Yavin according to The Star Wars Holiday Special. Additionally, the main scenario of The Nightsister's Revenge from the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game was set over a year before the Battle of Hoth (3 ABY), so around 1.5 ABY. Finally, the reference book Strongholds of Resistance placed the events of Star Wars Galaxies's Chapter 9: "The Fury of Exar Kun" one year after the Battle of Yavin. Of note, Galaxies's Chapter 11: "The Battle of Echo Base" introduced the Battle of Hoth in the game. However, the developers were quite clear that this was only intended to be a completely isolated "Star Wars Moment" without any effect on continuity for the rest of the game.
  5. The Mandalorian Armor
  6. StarWars Drawing from the Present: Familiar Creatures in a Galaxy Far, Far Away on StarWars.com (backup link)
  7. SWInsider "The Ultimate Return of the Jedi Insider's Guide" — Star Wars Insider 67
  8. 8.0 8.1 Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided
  9. Gal-icon IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT STAR WARS GALAXIES™ on the official Star Wars Galaxies website (content now obsolete; backup link)

External links[]

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