Melas
Biographical information
Homeworld	Sarka[1]
Physical description
Species	Sarkan[1]
Gender	Male[1]
Height	1.7 meters[1]
Hair color	None
Eye color	Blue
Chronological and political information
Era(s)	Rebellion era

[Source]

Melas was a Sarkan exile who traveled from planet to planet. Unlike most Sarkans, he was short, with bright blue eyes and short claws.

Biography

Melas' exile was not due to his appearance—rather, it was due to his gregarious nature. Melas enjoyed the company of Humans and other non-Sarkans, and often ignored the complexities of Sarkan rituals when socializing with them. He was forced to leave Sarka because he violated the strict laws of Sarkan protocol on numerous occasions.

Melas greatly missed the natural beauty of his homeworld, but exile was not an insurmountable hardship. He managed to smuggle a fortune in precious metals and gems off Sarka before his exile. Melas traveled across the galaxy, sightseeing and meeting as many different alien species as possible. Naturally, he found himself in Chalmun's Cantina when he visited Tatooine. He was present in the Cantina on the fateful day Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker hired Han Solo.

Melas became fond of smoking an Esoomian gruu pipe during his exile, and was rarely seen without it.

Behind the scenes

The puppet used for Melas in the Special Edition release of A New Hope was the same as the one used for the Pacithhip trader Ketwol. By covering Ketwol's trunk and tusks with a red turban and using the back of Ketwol's head as Melas' face, a new creature was made.

Ketwol and Melas were both played by special effect artist Howie Weed.

Melas replaced Arleil Schous in the Mos Eisley Cantina scene.

Appearances

• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (post-1997 releases only)

Sources

• Star Wars Customizable Card Game – Special Edition Limited (Card: Melas) (First identified as Melas)
• Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook - Special Edition
• "Star Wars Q&A"—Star Wars Insider 71
• Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy (Picture only)
•  Melas in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link on Archive.org)

Notes and references