Disney has been hiding their very own “Most Interesting Man in the World” right under guest noses…
The Disney pantheon is full of extraordinary characters—men and women who have accomplished feats far beyond the measure of the typical tale: people like Elsa the conflicted queen, the warrior Mulan, the enigmatic Captain Jack Sparrow, the thief-turned-hero Flynn Rider, and even the steamboat captain who started it all, Mickey Mouse.
The character I’m referring to has largely flown under the radar compared to these better-known counterparts. Over the course of his many adventures, he proved a prince amongst paupers, a dedicated student of wit, honor, and flexible moral fiber. He bested legends, tamed beasts, liberated worlds, loved dangerously, stood toe to toe with the deadliest of villains, and turned the tides of wars.
Despite these accolades, you’ve probably never heard of Hondo Ohnaka—the shadiest pirate in the Star Wars saga.
Image: Disney
We touched on Hondo’s colorful history before in our cheat sheet to Star Wars lore surrounding Galaxy’s Edge. He first appeared as a frequent foil to Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Clone Wars cartoon series, and every time you thought the galaxy was done with him, Hondo kept floating back up from the muddy depths to entangle himself in galactic affairs, each time with more preposterous effect. Not only has Hondo somehow proved essentially unkillable by the top Sith, Jedi, and bounty hunters in Star Wars history, but for a character who should have been written off as a passing comic relief, he’s developed into a sort of Bill Brasky of the Star Wars Universe surrounded by stories so outlandish, you can’t help but take notice.
Why should a Disney parks fan care?
With the landing of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Hondo Ohnaka miraculously claimed a starring role in the hit attraction, Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run. Indeed, you can thank Hondo for somehow swindling Chewbacca into letting your touristy-butter-fingers handle the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, and Disney even made him the subject of one of their most advanced audio-animatronics to date for the ride’s pre-show.
Is Hondo Ohnaka Disney’s own Most-Interesting-Man-in-the-Universe? Perhaps. Here’s why…
1. He bested Obi-Wan Kenobi, Count Dooku, and Anakin Skywalker—three times in the same day
Image: Lucasfilm
Hondo first came onto the scene of galactic events as the leader of the Ohnaka Gang, a notorious band of Weequay pirates. The Sith Lord Count Dooku once crashed his ship smack in the middle of the gang’s territory while fleeing pursuit from Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hondo found Dooku and initially offered to provide him passage to a planet of his choosing. Within mere hours, Hondo had the Sith cleverly disarmed through a theft perpetrated by his pet Kowakian Monkey Lizard and claimed him as a prisoner. Hondo spared no time contacting the Republic to demand a ransom of one million credits in spice.
This move was only the first in a very long series of complex maneuvers and double-crosses that sealed why Ohnaka was one of the galaxy’s most infamous pirate lords. The Jedi sent Obi-Wan and Anakin to Hondo’s stronghold on Florrum to verify Dooku’s identity. Hondo drugged both of the Jedi and captured them as well, tripling his hostage count. Kenobi, Skywalker, and Dooku attempted escape three different times but ended up repeatedly foiled by Hondo and his gang. Hondo’s ransom gambit actually would have succeeded had one of his pirates not attempted to steal the spice for himself, leading to a confrontation between the Republic forces and the Ohnaka Gang.
Ultimately, a fluke accident on the part of Jar Jar Binks— the Star Wars equivalent of Deus Ex Machina– knocked out the power in Hondo’s base allowing the Jedi and Count Dooku to escape. When the Jedi finally captured Hondo, Obi-Wan ultimately decided to spare him, beginning a long and complicated relationship that would play out for years to come. Indeed, even through myriad shenanigans and attempted betrayals, Hondo would long refer to Obi-Wan as his good friend, “KENOBI!”.
2. He earned one of the most prestigious film homages in the Star Wars canon
Video: Footage by Lucasfilm, YouTube User: Voca Productions
Most people don’t realize that Star Wars isn’t completely an original story concept. When George Lucas wrote the original film, he was strongly influenced by the works of Akira Kurosawa, especially the film, The Hidden Fortress.
Clone Wars took a cue from this and did a special episode called “Bounty Hunters” based on Kurosawa’s most famous film, The Seven Samurai—the story of a band of samurai who are hired by starving farmers to rescue them from cruel bandits (if this sounds like the plot of The Magnificent Seven, it’s because that film was inspired by Kurosawa as well). In the Clone Wars version, the villagers were replaced by spice farmers on planet Felucia, the samurai by Jedi and rag-tag bounty hunters… oh, and the bandits were, of course, replaced by Hondo and his reprobate pirates.
Hondo wasn’t exactly a man of scruples in his early years, and he proved a formidable foe to Skywalker, Kenobi, Ashoka Tano, and the bounty hunters during the incident. The Jedi and hunters managed to train the beleaguered farmers just enough to withstand an assault by the Ohnaka Gang, but the cost ended up being very high for the Felucians and their protectors. Hondo nearly succeeded in obliterating the village with his favorite tank until he was forced to engage Anakin Skywalker in single combat. Which leads us to another interesting point…
3. He’s stood toe-to-toe with some of the toughest characters in Star Wars history
Video: Footage by Lucasfilm, YouTube User: Harleen Quinzel
Hondo actually was able to hold his own in an electrostaff-verses-lightsaber duel with Anakin Skywalker— Darth Vader himself. In the end, Anakin prevailed by literally kicking Hondo off a cliff. Hondo clung to the ledge like a spider, convinced the still-honorable Anakin to pull him up, then double-crossed Anakin immediately by trying to shove him into the firing path of a turret. Skywalker survived, but Hondo escaped once more.
Even more-so than Anakin, Hondo repeatedly ran afoul of Obi-Wan Kenobi—to the point it’s difficult to keep track of how many times the two switched back and forth between being enemies or being allied. The relationship became such a common trope, that during one notable battle with the Empire’s nastiest, Hondo bolstered his men’s courage by declaring of their foes, “How tough can they be?! They’re running from KENOBI!”.
By the way, it just so happens that the foes in question were Darth Maul and his hulking brother, Savage Opress. This is the caliber of dangerous Hondo regularly tangled with. Hondo somehow repeatedly survived encounters with the toughest foes the galaxy had to offer, from bounty hunters to Count Dooku to General Grievous.
4. He’s had some seriously complicated relationship with the most dangerous scum in the galaxy
Image: Lucasfilm
Hondo has had some… interesting relationships with the galaxy’s deadliest dirtbags. The most notable example of this is that he somehow managed to romance infamous bounty hunter, Aurra Sing—one of the cruelest characters in the entire Clone Wars series. After reuniting with Aurra, Hondo partnered with Bossk and a young Boba Fett to try to kill Mace Windu. Windu survived, but this incident ironically ended with Hondo ultimately taking possession of one of the most infamous ships in Star Wars history—Boba Fett’s Slave I. Hondo may have even had some influence on Fett’s concept of honor.
The quiet years before the Galactic Civil War are where we see Hondo’s Galaxy’s Edge ties start to form. During this time, he met and was hired by Dok Ondar (the infamous proprietor of Dok Ondar’s Den of Antiquities which you can visit at the Black Spire Outpost) on Batuu to steal a Kyber Crystal statue from under the nose of the Guardians of the Whills– specifically Chirrut Imwe (the enigmatic Force user we meet in the film Rogue One). This plot actually succeeded.
Hondo even dipped a toe into the world of bounty hunting himself by teaming up with the assassin droid IG-88 to capture Crimson Dawn lieutenant, Qi’ra (who we met in the film Solo: A Star Wars Story). This was one of Hondo’s less successful ventures as Qi’ra ultimately outmaneuvered Hondo and IG-88, convincing them to turn on each other, after which she captured them both and claimed bounties on their heads.
5. He might be the galaxy’s only double-double agent
Image: Disney
Even the most enigmatic Weequay in the galaxy can’t win ‘em all, and things took a bit of a sour turn for Hondo during the years of the Galactic Civil War. The Empire dismantled his pirate gang, leaving him to live the life of a crazy old swindler alone.
He bobbed back into galactic affairs when he stumbled across rebel freedom fighter, Ezra Bridger (in the show Star Wars Rebels), during a convoluted attempt to steal some power generators. As usual, Hondo attempted to double-cross Bridger and his clients, and he nearly escaped with the coveted loot, but he was ultimately foiled by Bridger and the crew of the starship Ghost. From that point on, Hondo came to view Ezra as something of a protégé (no matter how much the latter protested).
It’s difficult business to keep track of Hondo’s movements during this time because he became what can only be described as a double-double agent. You just couldn’t tell whose side he was actually on. He repeatedly inserted himself into both Rebel and Imperial affairs, switching allegiances quicker than most people can switch socks.
In one incident, he alerted both the Rebellion and the Empire about the survival of a group of Lasat refugees—claiming that he only did so because he knew the rebels would ultimately save the day. When he was captured by Imperial intelligence, Hondo wasted no time betraying the location of the rebels, only to then surreptitiously warn them of the Empire’s plans. He aided the rebels again in their ultimate escape from the Imperials, but then immediately turned around again to help the Empire hunt the crew of the Ghost down. Just when it seemed the Empire had the Ghost in their clutches, Hondo somehow convinced the Empire to give up the chase entirely.
This circus of back-and-forth switches continued repeatedly throughout Hondo’s history during this time. Ultimately, it seemed like his sympathies were ultimately leaning towards favoring the Rebellion. Fascinatingly, he also managed to refound his crew during this stage—only instead of recruiting a duplicitous band of Weequays, his new crew was made up entirely of liberated Ugnaught slaves (those little pig-head guys who toss C-3PO’s head around in The Empire Strikes Back). Hondo referred to them as his “short, fragrant family”.
6. He may also have proven instrumental in liberating an entire planet
Image: Lucasfilm
Hondo always had something of a soft spot for the young, and this sentiment especially developed towards Ezra Bridger. Despite his repeated side-switching, Hondo ultimately maintained a sense of honor and agreed to aid Ezra in the liberation of his homeworld, Lothal, from the Empire.
Initially, it looked like Hondo would surely drift back to his double crossing ways, but he ultimately proved key in the Battle of Lothal. He conceived a dangerous (and appropriately batty) ploy that allowed the Ghost to slip past the planet’s Imperial blockade, then stuck with the rebels through a multi-stage harrowing operation to reclaim Lothal. While the cost ended up being great for the crew of the Ghost, the operation succeeded, and Imperial rule never again returned to Ezra’s homeworld. Hondo had finally picked a side.
7. He somehow swindled his way into control of the Millennium Falcon
Image: Disney
Hondo drifted back into obscurity until the time of the war between the First Order and the Resistance (the era surrounding the films The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi). This is where his connection to Walt Disney World and Disneyland becomes more concrete. At some point, Hondo began a new venture on the planet Batuu—Ohnaka Transport Solutions, a “perfectly legitimate” shipping company. Hondo quickly cemented something of a reputation in the outpost with his connections to Dok Ondar and his tales of outwitting Jedi.
When the Resistance established a presence in the outpost, Hondo formed a partnership with his old-time contact, Chewbacca. By the time we reach Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, Hondo has turned Ohnaka Shipping Solutions into a fully operational import-export business. While it seems that Chewie and Hondo’s relationship is amicable, the sense you get on Smuggler’s Run is that Chewie wasn’t entirely prepared for Hondo to start hiring every rag-tag drifter on Batuu (aka we butter-fingered tourists) to fly the Falcon on smuggling jobs with tenuous ties to the Resistance.
Hondo’s presence ultimately gives Smuggler’s Run a really fun sense of personality, and he holds nothing back coercing you into flying the ship then simultaneously trolling you if you don’t do a good job (both in crewing the Falcon and even in jobs within the Star Wars Datapad app). Smuggler’s Run isn’t the end of Hondo’s exploits, however.
8. He wrote a book of legendary wisdom
Image: Disney
Apparently, there is a such thing as The Book of Hondo in the Star Wars universe.
Never one to stay idle, Hondo at some point found time to pen an entire archive of his particular brand of wisdom: tidbits like “stealing” an opportunity instead of waiting for one. The book ultimately became an influential work in the fringe underworld, even inspiring the infamous pirate, The Crimson Corsair.
We can only assume some of Hondo’s other greatest lines were included in the Book of Hondo, like “Speak softly and drive a big tank”, or “Insolence? We are pirates! We don’t even know what that means!”, or even better, “As my sweet mother always said, ‘Son, if one hostage is good, two are better. And three, well, that’s good business!’”
9. He took the personal honor of welcoming the first guests into Galaxy’s Edge
Video: YouTube, Attractions Magazine
Who know what other absurd adventures Hondo will have in Star Wars tales to come, but he did claim a singular honor when the time came for the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Hondo made a live action appearance (not as an animatronic, mind you) and took the personal role of welcoming the first guests into the Black Spire Outpost. While this version of Hondo has only appeared thus far at media events, the footage of the appearance is pure magic, and we can be sure that Hondo has a permanent place in Galaxy’s Edge infamy now. Disney’s own “Most Interesting Man in the Universe” likely won’t be flying quite as far under the radar as he used to be…
Is Hondo Ohnaka Disney’s most insane character ever? Maybe. Maybe not. We can definitely say his complicated tale has certainly made the Star Wars saga even more interesting, and we’re happy to see his particularly brand of eccentric brought to life at Disney parks.
