Jabba's rancor

Jabba's rancor was a rancor Jabba Desilijic Tiure kept beneath a trapdoor in his chamber. He was fond of dropping people into the rancor's pit and watching them be eaten. It was cared for by Malakili.

Biography
The rancor was being transported from the Tarsunt system by Grizzid for a Bothan merchant named Grendu, when it broke out, killing Grizzid and his crew, and causing the ship to crash on Tatooine. A Jawa Sandcrawler captain named Tteel Kkak discovered the wreckage and informed Jabba's servants Bib Fortuna and Bidlo Kwerve. They presented it to Jabba as a birthday present. Fortuna was rewarded by being made Jabba's Majordomo, while Kwerve was fed to the rancor.

Malakili was bought from the Circus Horrificus in order to care for the rancor. He became very emotionally attached to it. While he took the rancor for a walk in the desert, it saved him from a small gang of Sand people. Jabba enjoyed pitting the rancor against other exotic monsters for his amusement. It always won, but was seriously wounded by three Caridan combat arachnids. When Malakili discovered that Jabba planned to pit the rancor against a krayt dragon, which would surely kill it, he made plans to betray Jabba to Lady Valarian and escape Tatooine with the rancor.

Jabba frequently used his rancor as an amusing form of execution. Oola the Twi'lek dancing girl was dropped in for resisting Jabba. Later, Jabba used it against Luke Skywalker, accidentally dropping a Gamorrean guard named Jubnuk in as well. The rancor ate Jubnuk, but Skywalker tricked him and crushed him under a heavy portcullis, piercing and crushing it's skull, killing it.

Jubnuk was later cut out of the rancor's stomach, still alive due to the lucky talisman he found inside the stomach.

Later, Luke stated that he had another reason for killing him, other than defending himself. The rancor was so abused and mistreated that rehabilitation for him would have been impossible, and Luke believed that it would be best to put the poor creature out of his misery.

Even two decades after the fact, Luke expressed that it was an unfortunate shame that he had to kill the rancor. He felt that as a species, they were such fine creatures.