Post by Red on Feb 4, 2007 16:09:40 GMT -5
The Hutts were a species of rotund gastropods with stubby arms, wide cavernous mouths and huge eyes, who controlled a large space empire in Hutt Space. The species was said to originally hail from the planet Varl, but no planet by that name appeared on any Imperial star charts. Their adopted homeworld was Nal Hutta.
Full-grown adult Hutts were obese creatures, boasting a total body-weight of as much as a metric ton. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they were often semi-sedentary, spending their days lounging lazily, and traveling on repulsorlift sleds or palanquins borne by teams of slaves. Most of their bulk rested in their bulging belly and thick, slug-like tail, adding to their impression of bloated corruption. In Hutt society, obesity was equated with power and status, while thin Hutts were derided as weak and unworthy.
In fact, a Hutt's thick, fatty hide hid a powerful musculature, allowing them to move with surprising speed on the single muscular "foot" formed by the base of their tail and belly. Their thick, sweaty skin and the heavy layer of fat beneath it served an evolutionary role, maintaining their body temperature. In fact, a Hutt's hide is sufficiently thick to take several blaster shots before vitals can be reached, permitting the Hutt ample time to pulverize would-be assassins who come unprepared to deal with such a fleshy obstacle. They are also proof against many otherwise lethal chemicals.
The Hutts were also largely immune to Force mind tricks because they were not weak-minded, with most of them being instead calculating and intelligent. They had the ability to see ultraviolet light and other frequencies not used by the Human eye. Often, wealthy Hutts lit their palaces in those spectrums of light, giving intruders, or at least those without similar abilities or compensating equipment, a false sense of stealth.
Hutts lacked a conventional bony skeleton, but had an inner armature known as a mantle, which helped to support their arms and head. They could seal their nostrils and hold their breath for significant lengths of time, and they were omnivorous, capable of distending their jaws to accommodate vast mouthfuls, swallowing food down with a powerful tongue and a specialized shredding organ deep inside their throat, compared by some sources to a mollusk’s radula. Along with terms such as "gastropod", "mantle" and "foot", this choice of terminology seems to suggest a slug-like biology, but it should be noted that much of the current information on Hutts originates in Obo Rin's Catalog of Intelligent Life in the Galaxy, an inaccuracy-laden and perhaps mendaciously speciesist work of Imperial propaganda.
Perhaps most remarkably of all, Hutts could even regenerate body-parts when injured. Some time prior to 31 BBY, a Hutt known as Gargonn lost half his head, including an eye and apparently a sizeable part of his brain, when he was savaged by a wandrella, yet it was anticipated that he would regenerate the injured tissue completely after a century or so. It is not known if the regeneration of his brain had any effect on his mind or personality.
As a side note, this ability is possibly responsible for the fact that, upon his death in 4 ABY, Jabba the Hutt possessed two fingers and a thumb rather than the usual three. It is unknown if this is actually a side effect of the Hutt aging process, which is just as feasible.
Hutts were hermaphroditic, usually being regarded as 'male'; if a Hutt was identified as a female in Basic, it usually indicated that it was gestating an offspring. There is some scant evidence that Hutts had further gender roles amongst themselves, but it is not clear exactly how these were defined. Also, although it appears that all Hutts possessed male and female reproductive organs, it is not clear whether two biological parents were necessary.
Fetal Hutts spent their first 50 years of existence in the pouch of their mother, and had no sentient mind at that stage. Upon emerging, the intellectual level of a young Hutt was around that of a ten-year-old Human. Newborn Hutts, also known as Huttlets, would stay close to their mothers for decades, returning to their pouches when they were tired, lonely or scared. Other Hutts were sometimes known to kill them in fear of future competition. Young Hutts were not considered important or accountable for their actions until they were 130 years into their average life-span of well over a millennium—making Jabba's rise to power at the incredibly young age of 80 all the more impressive.
The Hutt Empire was powerful in its own right, comprising a large area of space on the Outer Rim, and Huttese, the native language of the Hutts, was widely spoken by subjugated races. But many ambitious Hutts moved to worlds outside Hutt Space to become overlords in organized crime within the Old Republic, Galactic Empire and New Republic. All Hutts had a given name, which was supported by their clan name and surname (such as Jabba Desilijic Tiure and Borga Besadii Diori). However, few outside Hutt society were aware of various Hutts' proper names and commonly replaced the clan and surname with "the Hutt", as in "Jabba the Hutt" or "Gardulla the Hutt," although it is doubtful the Hutts minded. Hutts were furthermore divided into castes, including H'unns.
Hutt skin color varied, for Jabba the Hutt had green, oily skin. Durga the Hutt had orange, and Borvo the Hutt had blue. Throughout the years, Hutts have been known for having quite different skin colors from one another.