How did Jabba get so big?

Butterbean569 · Post by **Butterbean569** » 2005-01-06 05:00am

In ANH (Special Edition), we see Jabba and Han talking next to the Falcon. Jabba's about as tall as Han, and seems to move around pretty well for being a slug. Of course in ROTJ, Jabba is a fat, worthless slimeball that looks much bigger than he does in ANH.

Why is this? My guess is that during ANH, Jabba hadn't "made it big" yet, while in ROTJ he was the biggest and baddest crime lord in the galaxy. Since he became such a rich and powerful crime lord, he spent his days in his palace eating and becoming fat. Are there any other ideas? Maybe Jabba hit a growth spurt?

Post by **Gandalf** » 2005-01-06 05:06am

I'd wager he's just been fairly sedentary in the ~4 year gap between AND and RoTJ. Plus it could be "middle age spread".

YurikoOtaku · Post by **YurikoOtaku** » 2005-01-06 05:53am

I guess that he IS the crime lord of Tatooine after all.And he is a Hutt.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2005-01-06 06:35am

Wasn't there a hint of some sort in the ROTJ novelisation that Jabba had allowed himself to become something of a freakish distortion?

It's been more than twenty years since I've read it, so forgive my hazy memory.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2005-01-06 07:38am

Frank Hipper wrote:Wasn't there a hint of some sort in the ROTJ novelisation that Jabba had allowed himself to become something of a freakish distortion?

It's been more than twenty years since I've read it, so forgive my hazy memory.

Yeah the novel claims many illnesses and just general bad health.

Course with the re-redo of SW. He now looks big and fat in ANH. So well...in the end...he just always was.

VT-16 · Post by **VT-16** » 2005-01-06 07:49am

Plus he sat on a throne-platform in Jedi, it was somewhat elevated. You notice that Bib Fortuna and C-3PO are not that small compared to him when they´re standing on the same platform.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2005-01-06 05:17pm

IIRC Hutts put on weight as a status symbol. I think it was in Darksaber where Leia and Han visit Durga and one of his underlings was a thin Hutt and ridiculed for his slenderness.

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2005-01-06 05:20pm

han solo trilogy states hutts go through several growth spurts.

Hardy · Post by **Hardy** » 2005-01-06 05:45pm

While I can't objectively compare sizes, TPM Jabba does appear to be much larger than ANH DVD Jabba, but about the same size as ROTJ Jabba. Is this a discrepancy in ILM work, an illusion, or did Jabba lose weight around ANH only to regain it in ROTJ?

Styphon · Post by **Styphon** » 2005-01-06 05:55pm

that's right, Jabba is the Oprah Winfrey of the Star Wars Galaxy... he's been on every diet around, but as soon as he goes off, he just puts the pounds back on!

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2005-01-06 07:06pm

perhaps Jabba had a ton o' money in the podracing business. after that shut down, he probably lost money, so he got thin. then he got into a more criminal empire type job, and the weight grew with the wealth.

Elfdart · Post by **Elfdart** » 2005-01-07 11:44pm

He ate at McDonald's every meal, every day. Check out Supersize Me.

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2005-01-08 03:53am

Maybe it had something to do with the hermaphrodite nature of the Hutts. Jabba could have been in female shape in ANH and in male shape in ROTJ. I remember reading that Gardulla, the former master of Anaking changed to a female during the Boonta Eve race to honour Jabba, that kept this way the larger male form.

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2005-01-08 04:52am

Maybe Jabba was pregnant in TPM? Hutts are Hermaprodites......

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2005-01-11 01:21pm

Twinkies

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2005-01-11 09:33pm

Maybe he was depending on the profits from that Spice shipment more than he let on, and had to cut back after Han dumped it so that he could run away like a little girl.