Warning! Spoilers for Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters#5 ahead!
Throughout the Star Wars films, Jabba the Hutt is pretty much all fans get to see of the infamous Hutts, but recent comics reveal that there was a whole council of the slimy mob bosses before their buff Hutt cousin got them all killed. Bokku the Hutt breaks the standard mold with his muscular build and aggressive personality. Unfortunately for him and the rest of the Hutt Council, his hubris has deadly consequences.
The Hutt Council rules over their vast cartel for hundreds of years before the War of the Bounty Hunters, the Marvel Comics Star Wars crossover set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Comprised of a dozen or so Hutts, all more or less resembling Jabba, they each rule their territories with a squishy, gross, iron fist. However, they continually cooperate and coordinate for maximum effectiveness. Jabba generally asserts himself as the unofficial leader of the Hutts, and most of them have no problem with this. At an auction for the frozen carbonite body of Han Solo, Jabba is determined to make a statement by acquiring the specimen. He wins the auction with a bid of one million credits. But when Darth Vader storms in to take Solo for himself, Jabba and the other Hutts see the bigger picture and concede to the Empire. Bokku, however, apparently has too much Hutt pride to let the Empire disgrace his cartel.
In a fit of anger, and with the help of his Crimson Dawn connections, Bokku the Hutt orders an attack on an Imperial Star Destroyer in War of the Bounty Hunters #5 by Charles Soule, Luke Ross and David Messina. The rest of the Hutt Council, excluding Jabba, allows the attack to take place. The assault is ineffective, and Vader is dispatched by the Emperor to kill Bokku and the entire council (minus Jabba). While this massacre is perhaps a tragedy to some, it truly highlights why Jabba is so powerful. Although portrayed as a physically helpless, disgusting sack of alien goo in the films, there is a reason he is a galactic criminal kingpin. Seeing the bigger picture, Jabba refuses to participate in Bokku’s shenanigans, concedes a minor victory to the empire, and allows Bokku to seal his own fate. In the end, Jabba ends up with the power of the entire Hutt Council, a positive relationship with the Empire, and as a bonus, he gets Solo by the end of the Bounty Hunter War.
![Jabba’s Buff Cousin Got All of the Hutts Killed](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Bokku-Hutts-killed.jpeg)
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, connections and vision get someone a lot further than physical prowess. If strength were the main factor, the Wookiees would have become cartel emperors long before the Hutts. This also explains why Jabba takes over half the galaxy, and Bokku gets himself killed. While physically more impressive, Bokku lacks the tact to recognize a good deal when he sees one. Jabba, clever and ruthless, gains power over all of the Hutts’ resources. As Vader leaves with Solo, and Bokku objects, the wiser Hutt tells him, “The relationship of the Hutts to the Empire is more valuable than any prize. Even Solo.” Jabba calmly leaves, as Bokku rants and raves to the rest of the council about the Empire’s disrespect. This mistake costs him his life.
Although Bokku’s six-pack is fun to see in comics and is a great source of memes, his character simply can’t survive the dog-eat-dog world of an Imperial galaxy. A victim of his pride, the jacked slug will be missed by fans, if not by his cousin Jabba. Even though his life is cut short, with any luck, future comics will give more backstory to Bokku!