Baba Jabba the Hutt is grabbing the attention of Star Wars fans as a potential rival to the cute character known as Baby Yoda.
While The Mandalorian made the latter of these characters famous thanks to millions of people checking out the Disney+ series, the other one is a fan-made sensation.
However, it’s raising eyebrows in terms of the battle for the ultimate cute factor.
Fan-made Baby Jabba the Hutt arrives online
While Star Wars Phantom Menace introduced us to a younger version of Anakin Skywalker and the wacky Jar Jar Binks, Disney+’s The Mandalorian introduced Baby Yoda.
The character was an instant hit from the first moment it arrived on screen at the end of the first episode. It continued to captivate fans everywhere as a bond formed between the baby and the Mandalorian bounty hunter.
It led to plenty of memes, and an outcry for Baby Yoda merchandise, based on a character referred to on the show as The Child.
On Monday, Baby Jabba the Hutt became a thing as an image surfaced of a fanmade version of the crime lord first seen in Return of the Jedi. Check out the cute character below in all of its pre-bad guy glory.
Baby Jabba ? pic.twitter.com/q2qhjpcx29
— originpc (@ORIGINPC) January 20, 2020
In Star Wars lore, Jabba the Hutt would go on to become a crime lord who Han Solo became indebted to after killing Greedo in Star Wars IV: A New Hope.
Since Han never paid what he owed, Jabba enlisted the bounty hunter Boba Fett to capture him, freeze him in carbonite, and deliver him to his palace on Tatooine.
The first official movie appearance of Jabba came in 1983’s Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi. He was later added into a version of Star Wars IV to give further insight into his story with Han Solo.
Additionally, Jabba appeared in Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace for a scene involving a high stakes race.
Twitter reacts to Baby Jabba, defends Baby Yoda
The term Baby Jabba quickly become one of the top trends on Twitter due to the newfound character going viral.
It also brought about interesting reactions from the Twittersphere, with some gushing over the character and others dismissing it as no competition for the cute Baby Yoda.
Baby Yoda has a friend!!! Omg. I wanna Squeeze him!! Feast your eyes on BABY JABBA! ?☺️
The artist is on instagram:
@ leovitiart pic.twitter.com/KCAGK9Qpid— Alexander Polinsky (@Alex_Polinsky) January 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/StarTrekkinJedi/status/1219348552687726593
Baby Jabba looks like pic.twitter.com/GHmVEPqIGv
— Boba Chett Baseball Hunter (@heyfling) January 20, 2020
Several fans on Twitter were quick to point out that a Baby Jabba has already appeared before. A Baby Hutt appeared on the animated series The Clone Wars, as shown in the image below.
Y’all on about “Baby Jabba” like an actua baby Hutt doesn’t exist.
Fan art can make anything cute but THIS IS WHAT BABY HUTTS ACTUALLY ARE. pic.twitter.com/MuOqkIVBjH
— ChaoticTimelord (@ChaoticTimelord) January 20, 2020
Based on the chronological order of events, Jabba was killed off by Prince Leia early on in Return of the Jedi. The Mandalorian takes place after the movie, meaning Jabba is long gone.
However, Baby Yoda isn’t actually the Yoda from the films either based on the previous films.
There haven’t been any plans mentioned for The Mandalorian Season 2 to include a Baby Jabba character either.
Then again, nobody knew Baby Yoda was coming or was ready for the cuteness overload the character introduced to screens everywhere.