Garindan

Garindan, a male Kubaz, was one of the most effective and enigmatic information brokers operating in the Outer Rim during the final years of the Galactic Republic and the early Galactic Empire. On Tatooine, where heat scorched the sands and trust was as scarce as water, Garindan thrived in the shadows—his face always obscured by a dark hood, filtration snout, and wraparound goggles that shielded his light-sensitive eyes from the twin suns.

Though his origins remained a mystery to most, rumors swirled throughout Mos Eisley and beyond. Some believed he was immensely wealthy, his fortune accumulated from selling high-value intelligence to the highest bidder. In truth, Garindan lived modestly and worked not for wealth or power, but for his distant family, whom he loved deeply and missed bitterly. His deployment to Tatooine, a planet he considered uncultured, hostile, and intellectually barren, was a bitter exile he endured only for their sake.

Garindan's information was valuable—and dangerous. Jabba the Hutt used his services with caution, knowing the Kubaz could dig too deeply into matters best left buried. Likewise, Imperial officials, bounty hunters, and crime lords sought him out for leads they could not afford to miss. He carried a Model 434 blaster pistol, favored by mercenaries, not to seek confrontation—but to survive it.

As a Kubaz, Garindan possessed sensory abilities far beyond most species. His elongated snout allowed him to detect pheromones, analyze body language, and pick up subtle vocal cues over long distances. He could sense tension in a room before anyone spoke, smell weapons under robes, and read a being’s emotional state through posture and chemical traces. These talents, paired with a fluent command of Galactic Basic and his native Kubazian, made him nearly impossible to deceive.

Around 0 BBY, Garindan frequented Chalmun’s Cantina, where he quietly observed the seedy undercurrents of Mos Eisley life. He witnessed a shootout between Rff Huff and Purong, cataloging names, motives, and allegiances without ever being noticed.

Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, Garindan was contracted by the local Imperial prefect to locate two fugitive droids—C-3PO and R2-D2—believed to be carrying sensitive Rebel data. After spotting them with Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, he tailed them to Docking Bay 94 and summoned a squad of stormtroopers. The trap failed due to the intervention—and eventual betrayal—of trooper Davin Felth, who turned his weapon on his own commander, allowing the fugitives to escape.

Garindan later met with the Ketton spy Derrida, in a meeting observed by the son of Meyser Kayson, who reported the event to the Rebel Alliance. The Alliance, having captured Garindan at some point, interrogated him for the location of his cousin Udin. Though evasive, Garindan would later betray others when paid to do so—even leading Darth Vader to discover that Luke Skywalker had sold a landspeeder in Mos Eisley, helping to confirm the identity of the Death Star’s future destroyer.

Following the destruction of the Death Star, Garindan traveled to Hoth on the trail of rumors that a Jedi was being hunted by mercenaries. Hired by pirates to track this Force-sensitive, Garindan turned on his employers—killing them—and delivered the information to the Jedi Hunters instead, believing them more likely to pay and less likely to endanger his kin.

Despite his cold efficiency, Garindan was not without personal complexity. He belonged to a respected Kubaz clan and had a wife, children, and grandchildren he held dear. He despised Tatooine not merely for its cruelty, but for its cultureless sprawl and the disdain he faced from its predominantly Human population. Humans viewed him as a sneering spy; in return, Garindan saw them as arrogant and self-important, convinced of their dominance in a galaxy far more diverse than they could comprehend.

His name, Garindan, held different meanings in five languages: “Blessed One,” “Burnt Wood,” “Dust from a Windstorm,” “Ugly,” and even “Toast”—each translation as contradictory as the man himself.

Appearance: Garindan is a male Kubaz, a species known for its elongated snouts and sensitive facial features. His most distinctive characteristic is his long, tubular snout, which protrudes prominently from his face and is covered in ridged, textured skin. His eyes are concealed behind large, round black goggles, which are necessary to protect his sensitive vision from harsh sunlight—particularly on arid worlds like Tatooine.

Garindan typically wears a dark, full-body outfit, consisting of a fitted black or charcoal-gray tunic with matching trousers and high boots. Over this, he dons a flowing black or dark gray cloak or cape with a deep hood that casts his face into shadow, further obscuring his identity. The cloak fastens around his neck and drapes down over his arms and torso. A wide utility belt wraps around his waist, sometimes equipped with pouches or holsters.