Tusken Raiders

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Tusken Raiders (Sand People) are fictional creatures in the Star Wars saga. They live on the planet of Tatooine. They attacked Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: A New Hope and killed Anakin Skywalker's mother in Attack of the Clones.

Background Information from the Expanded Universe

Fearsome desert savages inhabiting the rocky Jundland Wastes, Tusken Raiders are the foremost reason Tatooine colonists do not wander far from their isolated communities. Extremely territorial and xenophobic, Tusken Raiders will attack with very little provocation. They show no allegiance to even their native world-mates, as these nomads have attacked Jawa scouting parties on occasion. They have even gathered numbers large enough to attack the outskirts of smaller towns like Anchorhead. Covered from head-to-foot in tattered rags and robes, Tusken Raiders -- or Sand People as they are also known -- brandish a deadly bladed club known as a gaderffii. They also carry projectile rifles with which to shoot at passing vehicles. The male of the species tend to be the aggressors. Females can be distinguished by their elaborate jeweled masks with eyeslits and torso-covering sand-shrouds. Tusken children wear unisex cowls and simple cloaks. For transportation, Sand People have domesticated the hardy bantha-- a longhaired spiral-horned quadruped also found on Tatooine. These nomads purposely travel in single file, to conceal their numbers.

Except for their wedding night, Tuskens are forbidden to take off their protective clothing. Breaking this rule either means, depending on the tribe, banishment or death.

In the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, one of the side-quests requires that the player infiltrate a Sand People village. Upon doing so, an extremely long history of the Sand People is presented to the player. It is revealed that (will add later).

It is revealed in Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II that Tusken Raiders have settlements on planets other than Tatooine.

Tusken Characters from the Expanded Universe

The first major Tusken character was A'Sharad Hett, the son of the exiled Jedi hero Sharad Hett. Originally he was believed to be a half-breed, his mother having been a Tusken, but during the Clone Wars, A'Sharad revealed his true, human face in order to try and purge Anakin Skywalker of his hatred of the Sandpeople. Hett chose to keep secret the knowledge of Anakin's murder, hoping that the young Jedi would himself confess his crimes to the Council. Sadly, Anakin never did.

Later, in the New Jedi Order series, it was revealed that Jedi Knight Tahiri Veila was raised by the Tusken Raiders after they captured her in a raid.