Let's Say A Proper Goodbye To Bib Fortuna, Lackey To Jabba The Hutt And Unlikely Offscreen Crime Lord

We all know who Bib Fortuna is thanks to his memorable appearance in Return of the Jedi. Like pretty much everything in the original trilogy, Bib Fortuna's design and performance left an unforgettable impression on viewers despite not having all that much screen time. It's a Star Wars speciality. Per Return of the Jedi, there isn't much depth to Bib Fortuna. He appears to be some kind of right-hand man to Jabba the Hutt. Luke Skywalker's ability to manipulate his mind indicates a weak brain. And, famously, he has a skin horn that wraps around his neck which you desperately wanted to grab through your television but, alas, cannot (yet... someday they may figure it out).Of course, such sparse details would not satiate Star Wars fans. We learned slightly more about Bib Fortuna when he appeared alongside Jabba in The Phantom Menace. He looked different, not just because he was decades younger but also because a different actor (Matthew Wood) played him. Regardless, it appeared Bib and Jabba's history together when back quite a while. With that, a whole backstory was invented for Bib. Essentially, he was born into a life of crime and competed by a figure named Bidlo Kwerve to be Jabba's number one servant (known officially as a majordomo). Bib offered the rancor, Pateesa, and got the job. Pateesa is the rancor we see in Jedi and Bidlo is the skull Luke throws at the door control that kills this rancor. So that's how all that turned out. It seems a bit sweaty to make every single thing we saw at Jabba's Palace obey one unified origin, but maybe it was Friday at the Star Wars Backstory office and people wanted to get out early.I always assumed Bib died along with everyone else on Jabba's barge, but we recently learned that was not the case when he instead died at the hands of a returned Boba Fett. Played once again by Matthew Wood, but made-up as too obese to recognize from two seconds of Phantom Menace screen time, Bib Fortuna had somehow taken over Jabba's organization in the gangster's mortal absence. It is this empire we will watch Boba Fett control in his upcoming show.We don't know how well Bib did as a mob boss. He survived it for five years, so perhaps he wasn't that bad. But the guy isn't all that smart. That's canon. And even if Luke didn't manipulate his mind with the Force, Bib's sycophantic servitude to Jabba did not make him a strong candidate for criminal leadership. It just goes to show you cannot judge a book by its cover. There was more to Bib Fortuna than any of us ever realized. And now he's dead. RIP to a real one.

Right now, not very. It remains to be seen how much we will learn about Bib Fortuna's criminal empire for the five years it existed. Perhaps he spearheaded several schemes that will have long-reaching effects on Tatooine or beyond. Maybe some true badasses we have not yet met were in his employ. Season 1 of The Book of Boba will probably fill us in. If I had to guess, however, I would not bet on a deeply impressive run. He just does not give off strong leadership vibes despite surviving for so long.