Rotta the Hutt

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Homeworld:
  Tatooine

• Species:
  Hutt

• Gender:
  Male

• Size:
  .43 meters long

• Vehicle:
  sail barge

• Affiliation:
  Hutt Criminal Empire

• 

Rotta the Hutt, or Huttlet, is Jabba the Hutt's infant son as depicted in the theatrical Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie. A small, squirmy little creature with large, wet eyes, a wide mouth, and stunted little arms, Rotta gurgles and whines, but doesn't say much discernible... at least, to humanoid ears. The heir apparent to the Hutt empire, Rotta is barely old enough to slither before his conniving and power-hungry great-uncle, Ziro, already has him marked for death. Rotta's vocal performances were provided by David Acord, sound designer from Skywalker Sound for the movie and the series.

Strange Hutt Physiologies

In Expanded Universe guidebooks, Hutts have traditionally depicted as biologically hermaphroditic, so the answer to the commonly voiced question, "who is Rotta's mother?" is, in fact, Jabba as well. Hutts typically adopt male personas, except when pregnant, when they often (but not always) adopt a female demeanor instead. The Hutt life cycle is lengthy, with aged Hutts living many centuries. To a human's eyes, a Huttlet may seem the equivalent of a newborn infant or toddler, but at the time of the Clone Wars, Rotta was already 10 years old. This is because baby Hutts are cared for and tended for 50 human years before they are even considered adolescent.

Rotta the MacGuffin

In The Clone Wars feature film, Rotta is kidnapped by mysterious agents looking to secure Jabba the Hutt's loyalties during the interstellar conflict. Jabba's criminal empire holds control over the Outer Rim trade routes, beyond the borders of Republic control. Both the Republic and the Separatists are trying to curry favor with Jabba, and both offer promise of finding whoever it was who kidnapped young Rotta.

In truth, the Separatists backed the abduction. While Rotta was on a pleasure cruise aboard his father's sail barge, it was attacked by a squid-like Trident ship commanded by Asajj Ventress, though the details of this kidnapping would go unrevealed for some time. Jabba, incensed that someone would dare cross and betray him like this, dispatched his most fearsome bounty hunters to track down the assailants. These hunters would return as beheaded corpses, again secretly courtesy of Ventress.

Republic Clone Intelligence would eventually confirm that the child would be held in an abandoned B'omarr monastery on Teth, and Anakin Skywalker led a task force to recover the child. There, he tangled with Asajj but he and his new Padawan, Ahsoka, found Rotta. The little squishy alien was sick -- and pungent -- and Ahsoka found him cute, nicknaming him Stinky. He needed immediate attention, or else the Jedi risked losing him to fever. Aboard a stolen spice freighter, Anakin attempted to rush Rotta to Tatooine.

Meanwhile, the Separatists had manipulated a holographic recording of the rescue of Rotta to make it appear the Jedi were responsible for the crime. Jabba was prepared to sign a treaty with Count Dooku to ensure vengeance against the Jedi, but Skywalker and Ahsoka arrived in time to reveal the truth: the Separatists were behind the kidnapping, with the complicity of Jabba's uncle, Ziro, who stood poised to inherit control of the Hutt criminal empire with Rotta and Jabba out of the picture.

Jabba was grateful for the return of his beloved little "Punky Muffin," and in exchange signed a treaty with the Republic, allowing clone forces access to his hyperspace routes throughout the Outer Rim. This would allow the Republic to counter the Separatist efforts to mine major routes that cut of the Republic from their clone reinforcements.

Collecting Rotta

Probably the most eye-catching collectible made to depict Rotta was plush life-size Rotta made to fit within a usable soft clone trooper backpack. Made by Comic Images, the little Huttlet is about the same size he'd be in "real life," has a huggable plush body, and a velour-like finish to his skin.

Another noteworthy version of Rotta was included with the Ahsoka Tano action figure from Hasbro. Although tiny -- only about an inch long -- this itty bitty Hutt toy actually sported two points of articulation, as his arms are moveable.