Skup

Skup
Biological classification
Designation	Sentient
Classification	Near-Human
Physical characteristics
Skin color	Color of dianoga cheese
Distinctions	Small, closely spaced eyes Brittle hair
Sociocultural characteristics
Homeworld	Sionia

"Do you think he'd teach me to be a bounty hunter, too?"
"I don't think the Skups were ever known to do much in the way of bounty hunting."

―The Skup Anky Fremp and the Rodian Greedo

The Skups, or Sionian Skups, were a near-Human species who differed from standard Humans due to their small, closely spaced eyes, delicate hair, and skin the color of dianoga cheese. Legend held that in ancient times, another species genetically altered the Skups to sell them to the Hutts, who dominated the region of space around the Skup homeworld, Sionia. The species exhibited a wide range of genetic features, and at least some Skups were referred to as biomorphs. The Skups were not known for their prowess as bounty hunters, although their thieves were renowned. Anky Fremp, a denizen of the moon Nar Shaddaa and a friend of the Rodian street urchin Greedo, was a Sionian Skup.

Biology and appearance

The Skup Anky Fremp had long fingers.

The Skups, also known as the Sionian Skups, were a species of sentient near-Humans who resembled mainline Humans in many respects. Members of the species had two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head, giving them a humanoid frame. The face featured a nose, a mouth with teeth and a tongue inside, and ears on each side of the head. Skups were capable of swallowing. Certain features distinguished them from Humans, however: They had beady, close-set eyes, brittle hair, and skin that matched the color of dianoga cheese. The Skups had at least one sex, male.

The Skup species showed a huge array of genetic traits, and at least some members of the species were called biomorphs. For instance, one Skup biomorph had legs that were disproportionately short for his frame, while his arms were long. He had four attenuated fingers per hand. His pointed nose protruded like a beak, and his teeth were small and peg-like. His hair grew long and straight from his scalp like the bristles of a brush.

Society and culture

"Wow. Will ya share it with me?"
"Yeah … I'll throw a few credits your way, Fremp. But most of it I'm going to use to buy me my own ship. Ninx has got a cute little Incom corsair he'll let me have for fourteen thousand. All she needs is new power couplings."
"That's nothing. We can steal the couplings!"

―Anky Fremp and Greedo discuss the prize from Greedo's first bounty

The Skups were slaves to the Hutts, the species that dominated the region of the galaxy where the Skup homeworld was located. The Skups were renowned for their deft thieves, some of whom became masters of the act of pilferage. In contrast, they were not known for their bounty hunters. At least some members of the species dressed to the standards of other humanoid species, wearing such items as hats, shirts, jackets, gloves, trousers, and shoes. Skups were capable of speaking Galactic Basic Standard. At least one Skup had a two-part name: Anky Fremp.

History

The Skups hailed from Sionia, a planet in Hutt Space. According to legend, a species with advanced genetic engineering technology tampered with the Skups and sold the entire species to the Hutts as slaves at some forgotten time in the galaxy's past.

Skups in the galaxy

The Skup Anky Fremp lived on Nar Shaddaa.

The Skup Anky Fremp lived on Nar Shaddaa, a moon of the planet Nal Hutta, where he worked for various criminal gangs. Circa 2 BBY, Fremp befriended the Rodian drifter Greedo, whom the Skup taught the skills of living on the street, such as how to steal items and fence them. The two worked as a team for two years.

In 0 BBY, Greedo struck a deal with two non-Human bounty hunters, Dyyz Nataz and Spurch "Warhog" Goa: In exchange for helping them capture some members of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, who were running guns on Nar Shaddaa's Level 88, Goa would teach Greedo the ins and outs of bounty hunting. Despite Fremp's requests to join the scheme, Greedo intended to use the association to move away from the small time and break association with the Skup. Greedo also intended to purchase his own starship, an Incom Corsair known as the Manka Hunter. At a shop on Nar Shaddaa, Greedo and Fremp were caught attempting to steal Dekk-6 power couplings for the vessel from the Human smuggler Han Solo, prompting Fremp to run away. The Skup was still living on Nar Shaddaa in 10 ABY.

Behind the scenes

The canon status of the association of the Skup Anky Fremp and the Rodian Greedo was rendered ambiguous by The Clone Wars television show.

A large-nosed humanoid drawn by artist Cam Kennedy appears in the comic book Dark Empire 3 as a background character. The comic was first published by Dark Horse Comics in April 1992. The character went unnamed until Tom Veitch's short story, "A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale," was published by Bantam Spectra in 1995 as part of Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina. The story alternates between referring to Fremp's species as "Siona Skups" and "Sionian Skups." In a webstrip based on Veitch's story, illustrated by Pablo Hidalgo, the large-nosed character from Dark Empire 3 was linked to the character Anky Fremp from the short story.

Other sources that have provided information on the species include the Star Wars Encyclopedia, written by Stephen J. Sansweet and published in 1998, and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, published in 2008. These sources have disagreed over the name of the Skups' homeworld; Star Wars Encyclopedia calls it Sionan, while The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia calls it Sionia. In 2009, The Essential Atlas, written by Daniel Wallace and Jason Fry, established the planet name as Sionia and provided additional information about the species and its association with the Hutts.

That much of the information about the Skup species comes from Fremp's appearance in "A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale" and its webcomic adaptation presents continuity issues. While that story purports to tell the background of the Rodian bounty hunter Greedo, a different character history was presented by Star Wars creator George Lucas in a deleted scene from 1999's Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and in 2010's "Sphere of Influence," an episode of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated television series. "Sphere of Influence" makes Greedo's street education in the years leading up to Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope improbable given that Greedo is shown as a luckless bounty hunter many years earlier during the Clone Wars. No source clarified Greedo's association with Anky Fremp—and, thus, the details about Fremp's own life on the moon.

Appearances

• "A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale" — Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina (First identified as Sionian Skup)
• A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale on Hyperspace (article) (content removed from StarWars.com and unavailable)
• Dark Empire 3 (First appearance)

Sources

• Star Wars Encyclopedia
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. I, III ("Fremp, Anky"; "Sionia")
• The Essential Atlas