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George "Show Don't Tell" Lucas

It doesn't bother me these names aren't mentioned because they're invariably unimportant. As audience viewers we don't need to know that Lobot had a name or even why he's got that funny-looking headpiece, he's a glorified extra if that.

What is baffling is the following some of these characters have. Chiefly Boba Fett. I've never got that - at least, when we confine him to his movie appearances. He's just some schmuck who stands around, says almost nothing, performs a single successful task (tracking the Falcon) and then after showing off some mildly cool toys in ROTJ is killed by accident by a blind man.

I think the cool toys and the fact he stood around in a cool looking costume probably did it, but even by Star Wars standards that's superficial. And anyway what about Bossk? He's a lizard bounty hunter. That's like Boba Fett plus Gorn. As a kid I found him cooler.

MeanJoePhaser said:
It's the baby-talk sounding names invented years after the original trilogy that annoy me, along with the backstory that usually has to tie in with something significant (why can't they just be drunks, nobodies and losers?).
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Oh yeah. Honestly, one gets a whole new respect for Lucas' ability to name things upon exposure to the expanded universe.

That and the 3 races of "Klatoonians" crap to explain some supposed mislabelling of Jabba's disposable henchmen.
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Yup. Or the Y'bith, the Bith who appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special but didn't put on the costume properly. They're a subspecies or something...

exodus said:
When do they mention Mon Mothma's name? I couldn't remember hearing it and I checked a script online...it's not in the dialogue that I can find. (same for Dodonna)
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If I remember correctly, they indroduce her by name before she makes her speech about the Bothan spies.
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Bingo. Stuff like 'Bothan spies' bothered me more, actually, because we have no idea what a Bothan is. It's just thrown out there (yes, I know the EU established Bothans were a species, but for all we knew it was the name of a spy ring, inhabitants of a given planet, whatever.)

Granted, throwing out terms and words that mean things to the characters but not us is typical of Star Wars, as is the EU's tendency to then build a whole mythology around it. Makes me have half a mind to look up gundark and nerf herder, but really I'd rather not.
 
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Most of those names I only know because I grew up playing with the toys with friends.
And yes, Boba Fett was the coolest one, rockets shot out of his back man.
Mrs. Wilson probably still has my C-3PO. :/
 
captcalhoun said:
some of the goofy names like 'prune face', 'yak face' et al were the make up department's names for them as they didn't know who the were.

some of the names are from the toys, some are from scipts or adaps - including the radio adaptations or the novelisations.

some of the names are from latter-day novels or comics or what have you.
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Some are just based on the names of the actors playing them like Achk Med-Beq and Dannl Faytonni.
 
Isn't Wicket mentioned by name in the two Ewoks TV movies with Wilford Brimley? Granted, it's not like Wicket can actually tell humans his name.
 
Stuff like 'Bothan spies' bothered me more, actually, because we have no idea what a Bothan is. It's just thrown out there (yes, I know the EU established Bothans were a species, but for all we knew it was the name of a spy ring, inhabitants of a given planet, whatever.)
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it was Manny Both-Hanz. Mon Mothma mispronounced.

[src]
 
Kegg said:
Bingo. Stuff like 'Bothan spies' bothered me more, actually, because we have no idea what a Bothan is. It's just thrown out there (yes, I know the EU established Bothans were a species, but for all we knew it was the name of a spy ring, inhabitants of a given planet, whatever.)
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Really? Because I had always assumed they were a species of some sort (or whatever, I had never really given it much thought), and never really had it confirmed until your post. Kinda interesting, I guess...

Either way, in some ways it's kind of cool they try to 'fill in the blanks' as it were, and try to give some sort of meaning to people and also try to explain away some (if they really are as such) inconsistencies.
 
I actually liked that most of the background people had names and stories tied to them, though that grew less impressive when they had to tie into the rebel alliance or the Empire directly, some people as someone else said are just people, sure they can have an adventure or two but they only bumped into Luke once in a bar by chance don't make more out of it than we need to.

Also as for stuff like not telling us who the Bothans are I liked that idea. To me natural conversation would not have them saying "Bothan spies, you know the guys from the planet Both, three eyes, smell funny." It's the EU that annoys me with having to explain everything.
 
I have a friend who works for Lucasfilm and he was responsible for naming a few things, I believe he renamed Prune Face after one of our friends Orren Marco, it became all one word I think, Orrenmarco.
Also, there's an article of some fake newspaper of the republic that was online just before Epsiode II came out and the fake reporter was called Harris Sanseon, which is a scrambled version of my name!

Wow, I just found out I've got my own tiny page on a Star Wars wiki!:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Harris_Sanseon
 
Kegg said:
Bingo. Stuff like 'Bothan spies' bothered me more, actually, because we have no idea what a Bothan is. It's just thrown out there (yes, I know the EU established Bothans were a species, but for all we knew it was the name of a spy ring, inhabitants of a given planet, whatever.)
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After ANH and seeing Vader choke to death the capt. of the Blockade Runner, then on to ESB and watching how the Empire harrassed and killed off anybody that stood in their way.(even their own men) What really did you need to know about the Bothans, other than they were just one more group of people being terrorized by the Empire and secretly helping the Rebellion?
 
I remember that it was 'fanon' that "Prune Face" was one of the Bothans back in the day. However, Timothy Zahn retconned the Bothans as being a completely different, goat-like race with a great deal of arrogance because of their role in the discovery of DS II (Despite the whole plan being orchestrated by Palpatine). One Bothan in particular, Borsk Fey'la, was one of the main characters of the post-ROTJ Expanded Universe novels and comics.
 
exodus said:
What really did you need to know about the Bothans, other than they were just one more group of people being terrorized by the Empire and secretly helping the Rebellion?
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What they were, obviously. But yeah, it's not essential data - you didn't even need to name the spies who got the data anyway, as we know later it was leaked by the Emperor and that's the plot point that matters.

Roger Wilco said:
I thought this thread would be about the tendency of Lucas-aliens to resemble human sexual organs.
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Well there is the alien with an ass for a mouth. The Walrus Man or Poonda Baba (baby talk indeed). Best known as the guy who got his arm cut off by Obi Wan in the Mos Eisley Cantina.

Beyond that you've stumped me.
 
Kegg said:
exodus said:
What really did you need to know about the Bothans, other than they were just one more group of people being terrorized by the Empire and secretly helping the Rebellion?
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What they were, obviously. But yeah, it's not essential data - you didn't even need to name the spies who got the data anyway, as we know later it was leaked by the Emperor and that's the plot point that matters.
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So what are you complaining for? :p
 
captcalhoun said:
Stuff like 'Bothan spies' bothered me more, actually, because we have no idea what a Bothan is. It's just thrown out there (yes, I know the EU established Bothans were a species, but for all we knew it was the name of a spy ring, inhabitants of a given planet, whatever.)
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it was Manny Both-Hanz. Mon Mothma mispronounced.

[src]
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That is one of the greatest Star Wars stories ever. It is my dream to adapt it into a fan film. :techman:
 
captcalhoun said:
Stuff like 'Bothan spies' bothered me more, actually, because we have no idea what a Bothan is. It's just thrown out there (yes, I know the EU established Bothans were a species, but for all we knew it was the name of a spy ring, inhabitants of a given planet, whatever.)
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it was Manny Both-Hanz. Mon Mothma mispronounced.

[src]
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^ This.
 
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