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With the character of Chewbacca we get a good counterpoint to the amputation motif in the Star Wars films. As a fearsome and powerful Wookiee, he is capable of inflicting amputation with the brute force of physical strength. Our expectations are subverted however.

When Han warns C-3PO that 'A droid doesn't tear you limb from limb when he loses', we have only recently met Chewbacca and his character is not fully formed in our minds. We discover in fact that this is largely bravado on the part of Han, and as we get to know Chewbacca, his character and behaviour directly contradict Han's appraisal of him. Chewbacca is actually a fixer and a mender rather than a destructive influence.

It is later Chewbacca who takes care of C-3PO, reassembling his limbs and carrying him out of Bespin on his back. Despite his fearsome reputation Chewie is always fixing things rather than breaking them apart. He serves as an illustrative counterpoint to those who chop off limbs and he functions as a positive example when examined under the lens of the amputation motif in the Star Wars films.

Whilst the supposedly good characters (Anakin, Kenobi, Windu, Yoda) are going around slicing people up with their lightsabers, Chewbacca by and large keeps control of his strength and he re-assembles rather than dis-assembles, and mends rather than breaks things. It's little wonder that Yoda is shown as having a friendship with Chewie in The Revenge of the Sith since in the midst of destruction and devastation Chewbacca patiently sets about fixing what others tear apart.

It is also of note that Chewbacca's passivity is discernable in the number of times that he allows his friends to use him as the foil in a distraction, deception or diversion. This happens once in all the three films of the Original Trilogy, firstly when Chewie is cuffed and passed off as a prisoner to enable the heroes to get in to the detention block, secondly when he provides the distraction so that Han can blast the Imperial Probe Droid in The Empire Strikes Back and thirdly he is again passed off as a prisoner to allow Leia passage into Jabba's Palace in The Return of the Jedi.

There is actually a deleted scene from The Force Awakens in which Chewie does indeed tear off someone's limb (that of Unkar Plutt). I think that Abrams was wise to delete this scene otherwise the movie would really have skewed everything we had learnt about Chewbacca from previous movies. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th9swupZerg

Unfortunately, Abrams choice to delete this scene has now been rendered rather superfluous with the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story in which Chewbacca does actually rip off a guard's arms in the dungeon on Kessell; the joke being that the guard's uniform would have fitted Han had Chewie not dismembered him. I'm not sure how far this scene undermines the representation of Chewbacca in chronologically later films but in these the possibility of him ripping off someone's limbs has more to do with Han's bravado in A New Hope rather than Chewbacca's actual temperament in all the subsequent Star Wars films in which he appears. Ron Howard's choice to include this scene goes against the grain of what we have learnt about Chewbacca. I suppose in some ways Chewie's rage is more proportionate here than it would have been elsewhere since it is more raw and intense in the context of his own recent enslavement and that of his species. This isn't Chewie ripping someone's arms off because he lost a game of chess or even because the subject of his anger was an Imperial enemy or Hutt henchman, but he is instead venting his rage at an immediate oppressor of his people.

Other Articles on the Amputation Motif in the Star Wars Films

1) C-3PO and the Amputation Motif in the Star Wars Films

2) The Amputation Motif in The Cantina Scene, The Geonosian Hangar Duel and Anakin's Final Duel

4) General Grievous and the Amputation Motif in the Star Wars Films

Other Star Wars Amputations

Jango Fett: The decapitation of Jango Fett by Mace Windu

Mace Windu: Mace Windu loses his forearm in the duel in Palpatine's chambers.

Battle Droids : The battle droids are almost continually being chopped up by light sabres. These droids don’t seem quite sentient. They are very basic, not very intelligent and don’t seem to fulfil the criteria for sentient life forms. They can be chopped up by the Jedi with impunity.

Count Dooku: Dooku loses both his hands and his head in the final duel with Anakin

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All Star Wars action figures, vehicles, collectibles and Star Wars toys shown on this website are the 3.75 inch scale and from my own private Star Wars collection unless otherwise stated. Where possible original vintage accessories have been used but in some instances I have placed Kenner Star Wars figures with either reproduction weapons and accessories or for Hasbro figures close approximations have been used. This is mostly the case for modern Star Wars lightsabers where the correct item can be very difficult to identify on some ocassions. Vintage Star Wars action figures are shown with their original weapon or accessory when I have them. When a vintage Kenner action figure is shown with an accessory which is not original I have tried to point this out where possible.

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