Checklist: 20 Terrifying Star Wars Moments

Until the 1995 anthology Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina came out from Bantam Books, the most threatening thing about this somewhat goofy looking humanoid that stood at the bar in Episode IV was second-hand smoke. He had no formal name, and most fans simply referred to him as "the smoker." His makeup was minimal -- some extra putty around the nose to make him look alien. He'd be forgettable were it not for the short story that told his tale.

Turns out, he is Dannik Jerriko, a centuries-old vampire who uses jagged proboscii concealed in his cheek-pouches to drain the life from unsuspecting victims. The sympathetic first person tale describes his hunger for soup, the cocktail of mucus, brain, and blood that are slurped out by those squirming suckers he inserts into his victim's nostrils. As told in Jennifer Roberson's short story, "Soup's On: The Pipe Smoker's Tale":

In cheek pockets, proboscii quiver. For an instant, only an instant, they extrude a millimeter, overcome by the heady aroma detectable only to Anzati; the others, despite races and genders, are in all ways unaware. But nothing is earned without anticipation; it is a fillip wholly invigorating, and worth the self-denial.

Accordingly, proboscii withdraw, if resentfully, coiling back into the pockets beside my nostrils. I brush a film of sand from my sleeves, tug the jacket into place, and walk down the four steps into the belly of the bar.

Soup here is plentiful.

Patience will be rewarded.

The short story is really more an exercise in atmosphere than a chronicle of events; not much happens. Dannik eyes the bar, and savors the aroma of "soup" coming from such Force and luck-blessed beings as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, but as seen in the movie, he pretty much bides his time. It's not until the next anthology, Tales from Jabba's Palace, that we see him hunt, in Roberson's "Out of the Closet: The Assassin's Tale".

From these tales on, the Anzati would become the perfect nightmare species, earning the appropriately disgusting moniker of "snot vampire" for their nasal feeding habits.