Boba Fett became a cult-favorite character after his small cameo in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and now he appears to be passing that 'cult-favorite' status on to someone from his new streaming series, The Book of Boba Fett - Black Krrsantan.
We'll forgive you if you can't pronounce or spell the name Black Krrsantan just yet. And we'll even help you with that.
Black Krrsantan - 'BK' or 'Black K' for short in Star Wars canon - is a black-haired Wookiee that is striking - in his presence, and for just how different he is from the most famous Wookiee, Chewbacca. Black Krrsantan became known to the world at large in the second episode of The Book of Boba Fett, and has grown to become part of the streaming series' larger ensemble cast.
But who is he? Where did he come from? You might be uneasy asking those questions to him yourself if you were to meet up in a dark alley, so that's why we're stepping in to help.
Black Krrsantan's origins are intriguing on two different levels, including the story of why he was exiled from the Wookiee homeworld and how he ended up working for the Hutts. But even more interesting is how and where the character was created, because… you see… Black Krrsantan is an original Marvel Comics character.
And spurred seemingly by Black Krrsantan's live-action debut, Marvel Comics is rushing a collection to stores.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's tell you about Black Krrsantan.
Who is Black Krrsantan from Marvel comics?
The Wookiee bounty hunter Black Krrsantan debuted in 2015's Darth Vader #1 by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca, one of the first comic books from the renewed Marvel/Lucasfilm partnership after both companies were acquired by Disney. And a key thing here is that these Marvel Star Wars comics are all considered canon to the Star Wars continuity.
We (as in we comics readers) first met Black Krrsantan in the aforementioned Darth Vader comic book arc as he and Boba Fett, under the employ of Jabba the Hutt, were assigned to assist Darth Vader during a mission on Tatooine. Timeline-wise, this took place shortly after the destruction of the first Death Star (from the original Star Wars movie, A New Hope).
Here's an excerpt from Gillen's original script where he first described the character.
"Black Krrsantan looms beside him, this enormous Wookiee. Black, with streaks of white. His skull looks like it's shaved on one side, but as we look closer, we'll see it's burn damage that's healed and the hair is never growing back. When we look at his back, we'll see that his back fur has big scars on it where the fur is missing - was he whipped by some weapon? How was he mistreated? It's an immediate mystery. What's the story with this guy?"
Black Krrsantan assisted Darth Vader in tracking down a personal agent of the Emperor - an agent whose duties were being kept secret from Vader. Black K was successful in tracking this agent, named Cylo, but unsuccessful in extorting the information from him. He did, however, bring Cylo back to Darth Vader, who eventually extracted details of his secret mission via a torture droid.
Black Krrsantan was later hired out to another Marvel Star Wars character originating in comics - Doctor Aphra - a then-associate of Vader's. After an eventful side trip through a Son-tuulian fighting pit gladiatorial tournament where Black Krrsantan entered on a lark and won, BK (and several other bounty hunters) worked with Aphra on a heist against the Empire - all successfully without Vader or the Empire finding out about it.
Black Krrsantan then had a short but eventful run-in with Star Wars' other Wookiee Chewbacca when the bounty hunter was hired to kidnap Luke Skywalker while onboard the Millennium Falcon. Every Star Wars fans understand the advice, 'Let the Wookiee win,' but which one? In this case, it was Black Krrsantan thanks to some brass knuckles (yes there's brass knuckles in Star Wars), but he was eventually taken down by someone you'd never guess: C-3PO, who inadvertently bested the warrior Wookiee by electrocuting him when he tried to punch the protocol droid with said brass knuckles.
Black Krrsantan's next mission put him at a crossroads - he was again hired out to Darth Vader, but to hunt down Doctor Aphra for betraying the Empire. The Wookiee managed to find her, but ultimately sided with her instead of the Empire - revealed to be because Aphra owed him money, but there were hints at a deeper connection between the two.
Black Krrsantan became a regular part of Doctor Aphra's crew after that, but the two eventually had a falling out when he was hired to track her down again. At first, he took the job, but ultimately let her escape - but it ended with the two parting ways after that.
Over the course of Marvel's Star Wars comics, it's later revealed that Black Krrsantan was born on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk but was eventually exiled by his people for working with a group of notorious crime bosses named the Xonti Brothers who had a proclivity for using slaves - something Wookiees look down on given own tragic past as slaves of the Empire.
Black Krrsantan worked with the Xonti Brothers in their fighting pits, becoming a willing gladiator in these barbaric fights - to the point of winning the top championship for the organization.
One of Black Krrsantan's facial scars was eventually revealed to have been caused by a run-in with Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber. While under the employ of Jabba the Hutt before the events of A New Hope, the warrior Wookiee battled the Jedi hermit when he tried to stop a water tax Jabba was imposing on Tatooine.
That epic clash, and some of Black Krrsantan's other major comic adventures, are being collected in a new oversized one-shot called Star Wars Tales: Black Krrsantan #1. The one-shot will include Star Wars (2015)'s #14, #15, and #20, as well as Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Annual #1.
Black Krrsantan in The Book of Boba Fett
Black Krrsantan's next appearance is in live-action in Disney Plus' The Book of Boba Fett. Following the death of Jabba the Hutt in the opening chapters of Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi, Black Krrsantan falls in with another group of Huttese gangsters - a brother-and-sister duo called the Twins. He came with them to Tatooine in hopes of taking the reigns of Jabba's empire, only to discover Boba Fett (who, remember now, has worked with Black K in the past in Marvel's in-continuity comic books) had already taken Jabba's seat of power - literally.
First appearing in episode 2, Black Krrsantan shared some knowing glances with the fellow mercenary but didn't actually come to blows with him until later.
In episode 3, Black Krssantan is sent to kill Boba Fett. While ultimately unsuccessful, the attempt was some gripping television as the battle went up and down Jabba's former palace and included the live-action re-appearance of those brass knuckles we mentioned before.
Following Boba Fett's victory, Fett presented Black Krrsantan - in chains - back to the Twins, but the Huttese siblings gave him back to Boba Fett as a peace offering. Boba Fett, showing a bit of the same compassion he has for the Gamorrean guards in episode 1, gives the dark-haired Wookiee his freedom. Black Krrsantan isn't one to say 'thank you' (in any language) but instead gives Boba Fett one last glance before running away.
Things come full circle for Black Krrsantan and Boba Fett in episode 4, as the Warrior Wookiee and Boba Fett are reunited in the Mos Espa cantina. Black K rips someone's arm off, but it's not Boba's; instead, Fett ends up hiring his former co-worker-then-enemy to join his growing business, and he's later seen again as a member of the crew in the fifth episode.
Co-creator Kieron Gillen's comic book script introducing the characters reads, "It's an immediate mystery. What's the story with this guy?" And many Star Wars fans who are first meeting the character on The Book of Boba Fett are probably thinking the same thing. Perhaps we'll all get more answers in upcoming episodes or another Star Wars streaming series, movie, or even comic book soon.
Bu how do you pronounce 'Black Krrsantan'?
So maybe the most obvious question we all have (including the people making the show) is… how the heck do you pronounce 'Black Krrsantan'? When he first debuts on The Book of Boba Fett, his name goes unspoken, leading the character's co-creator Kieron Gillen to tweet that he says it as "K-rur! San-tan."
In episode 3, Fennec Shand helps us out and says it aloud, siding with Gillen.
But Gillen also revealed a humous anecdote…
What was Black Krrsantan's original name?
Gillen later tweeted that in the early stages of creating Black Krrsantan for Marvel Comics' Darth Vader series, he originally used the name 'Newbacca' - as in a new version of Chewbacca. That was just a temporary name, and never made it to print - and internally at Marvel's Star Wars office, the editors called Black Krrsantan 'Santy' for short.
But take our advice, don't call Black Krrsantan either to his face.
Interested in the comics side of Star Wars? Check out our recommended best Star Wars comics.
