#grozz

Chewbacca, like all the Wookies, is super strong. At least stronger than humans. But a lot of people seem to forget that compared to the other Wookies he's smaller and thinner. He's also more of a co-pilot and mechanic than a fighter.

Of course, there are many portrayals in movies, cartoons, and comics. That's why it's best to compare the same source.

Compare Chewie to Tarfful

Black Krrsantan is usually portrayed and drowned as bigger, stronger, and a better fighter or rather more ruthless which gives him an advantage. Chewie wins by the skin of his teeth and the plot armor.

And here is Grozz from the Hunters game.

Han, feed Chewie some calories, make him drop and give you 20!

Continued from Part 27.

The costume description for Grozz's High Republic Champion reads:

"Grozz would have made a great Jedi; he's extremely self-disciplined and honorable. The only problem would have been his love of gonkrock." -Zaina

Gonkrock is a musical genre introduced in Star Wars Hunters, and the type of music played by fellow Hunter, Rieve, in her band Corellia's Not Dead. Its name comes from the sound being amplified through GNK "Gonk" power droids.

The weapon wrap for this costume is the High Republic Branch. These are a pair of sturdy branches (maybe wroshyr branches from Kashyyyk?) decorated with the symbol of the Jedi Order.

The weapon description reads:

"Good thing Balada didn't give that furbag a lightsaber - imagine him barreling down on you swinging one of those!? He'd be TOO powerful." -Sentinel

The next Legendary costume for Grozz is Prematch Parader. This sees Grozz wearing a hooded jacket similar to what you might see a boxer wearing before his match. Aurebesh along the jacket's edge reads: HUNTERS OF THE OUTER RIM and CHAMPION.

On his back, it features his name in Aurebesh above a circular design.

The weapon wrap for this costume, Prematch Clubs, are large paddle-like clubs with turquoise embellishments. The symbol from the back of Grozz's jacket is also in the center.

The Ferrix Fighter is a reference to the Grapplers of Ferrix, the workers who dismantle starships in the first season of Andor. He wears the same helmet and overalls as Cassian Andor's friend Brasso. The game files refer to this costume as "Skilled Scrapper".

The description for this costume contains a quote from Diago, noting the reverence they have for the freedom fighters seen in the finale of the first season of Andor.

"Grozz told me about the scrap workers on Ferrix - their fight against the empire is a story close to his heart." -Diago

The weapon wrap for this costume, Ferrix Clubs, resemble the hammers wielded by the Time Grappler, who rang in the new day by smashing his hammers on an anvil atop a belltower on Rix Road. The hammers have the Aurebesh letter F, "Forn", for Ferrix stamped on them.

The quote from Zaina in the Ferrix Clubs' description directly references the Rix Road Riot in Andor:

"It doesn't take much to rise against oppressors - a simple worker's hammer will do. Or a thrown stone." -Zaina

Next up we have the Kessel Savior costume. In this costume, Grozz suits up as a Pyke sentinel, seen in Solo: A Star Wars Story, wearing the lead-lined work smock beneath a visored helmet. the game files name this costume "Kessel Liberator".

Around his neck, he wears the caretaker's code keys carried by the director of the Pyke Syndicate's operations on Kessel, Quay Tolsite.

Zaina's quote in the costume description references the primary export of Kessel: spice.

"Grozz's disguise might fool spice smugglers, but I'd recognize him an Arena-length away. I'd never tell him though - I do have a heart!" -Zaina

The weapon wrap for this costume, Saving Clubs, have a similar color and the same symbol as the arms on B8G-H0R from Solo, but the shape of the shoulders is greatly expanded. Aurebesh on the one club reads FREE.

The weapon wrap description references the Kessel Run:

"Wonder if Grozz ever made the Kessel Run. And how long it would've took him," -Imara Vex

First mentioned by Han Solo in A New Hope, we first got to see Han's Kessel Run play out on-screen in Solo.

The next Legendary costume for Grozz is Life Day Wookiee. This references the red robe worn by Chewbacca for the Wookiee holiday, Life Day, in 1978's infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, although Grozz's costume has a bit more embellishment.

The back of the robe features a large intricate tree design, better seen in the texture file.

The weapon wrap, Life Day Clubs, are very organic looking, with wooden tangles around some kind of green structure (maybe an egg?) along with sword hilts.

The next Legendary costume is Wookiee's Revenge. Grozz wears discarded remains of an Arakyd Industries Viper probe droid as armor, with the droid's large photoreceptors visible on his shoulders.

The weapon wrap, Vengeful Clubs, features more Viper probe droid parts fashioned into dangerous looking axe/clubs. The probe droid's many grasper arms can be seen at the bottom of each club.

The next costume for Grozz is Kashyyyk Champion. I'm not sure if this is a direct reference to anything, or just an embellished suit of Wookiee armor. The texture on his chest armor resembles the green material in the Life Day Clubs.

Zaina reveals in the costume description how highly regarded Grozz is on Kashyyyk:

"Grozz took me to visit his hometown and it's practically a shrine to him; there's even a museum there for his career as a pro-Huttballer." -Zaina

The Champion's Clubs are two large golden spiked balls, held in the palm of droid hands, with a ring of Aurebesh around them which reads HUNTERS, which Grozz wields like maces.

Next is another hooded robe for Grozz, the Pre-Match Robe. A palette swap of the Prematch Parader costume, it also has Aurebesh along its edge reading HUNTERS OF THE OUTER RIM and CHAMPION.

The weapon wrap, Pre-Match Clubs, is a palette swap of the very similarly named Prematch Clubs (without the hyphen), in green and purple accents.

The final costume for Grozz is Ferocious Fighter, which is a golden palette swap with the Ferrix Fighter costume.

And the last weapon wrap is Ferocious Hammers, a golden palette swap with the Ferrix Clubs. The game files refer to this set as "Ranked Recolor".

And that's all for Grozz! Next we will take a look at the Ugnaught Dizzy and his destroyer droid who compete as the Hunter team Slingshot!

Continued from Part 26.

Grozz's next Epic costume, Pirate Wookiee, is from the Skeleton Crew promotion, and features the Huttballer in a space pirate disguise. I don't think it directly references any of the pirates we've seen in the series. I do like his beard braids though!

The costume description includes Anakin and Din Djarin's favorite adjective:

"Grozz even makes piracy seem wizard! I'd be happy to call him my captain any day!" -Sprocket

The weapon wrap for this costume is the Pirate Clubs. Very rough and savage looking, these replace the KX droid parts with wooden clubs with axe blades tied to the tops. The tribal designs from Grozz's vest are also painted on the wood.

The name for this set in the game files is "Pirate Scum", which probably references the "Bounty hunters. We don't need their scum" line from The Empire Strikes Back.

Next up, we have the final Epic costume, Huttball Jacket. Another variant of Grozz's jacket costumes, this one features a larger Huttball logo on the back. The game files refer to it as "Arena Jacket Yellow".

This costume actually has two weapon wraps associated with it, the Ballgame Clubs and Scoring Clubs, which both share the "Arena Jacket Yellow" name in the game's files.

The Ballgame Clubs are probably meant to represent the actual clubs used by Huttball teams. They feature the same rendering of the ball used in the sport as in the logo seen throughout the game.

The Scoring Clubs are redocrated KX security droid arms in the yellow/red colors of Grozz's jacket with the Huttball logo replacing the Imperial cog.

And that's it for Grozz's Epic costumes! Next we'll look at his Legendary costumes, starting with Furious Warmonger. This has Grozz suited up in Wookiee battle armor, like we saw in Revenge of the Sith. The game files name this costume "Kashyyyk Warrior".

He's clad in helmet and armor resembling that worn by the Wookiee Army General Tarfful's, but with the emblem worn on his back instead.

It seems by Zaina's quote in the costume description that Grozz probably didn't participate in the battle itself:

"I don't think he ever was a general… but i'm definitely not going to ask him." -Zaina

The weapon wrap for this costume, Super Battle Clubs, are modeled on the arms of a B2 super battle droid, which the Wookiees fought against in the Battle of Kashyyyk in Revenge of the Sith.

The weapon wrap description reads:

"At least we can agree that we don't like Separatists." -Sentinel

This also ties in something from the Andor series, that those still clinging to the Separatist banner after the Clone Wars found themselves fighting against the Empire, like the Neo-Separatist Coalition led by Anto Kreegyr, portrayed on screen by Andor graphic designer Barry Gingell.

The next Legendary costume for Grozz is Mighty Huttballer. Here Grozz wears a full Huttball uniform, with his number (52) in Aurebesh numerals on his chest. The shoulder pads feature the Huttball logo on one and the team logo on the other.

Apparently Grozz had a pretty impressive career, as evidenced by Zaina's quote in the costume description:

"His win record is ridiculous… is Grozz the greatest Huttballer ever? See for yourself!" -Zaina

The weapon wrap for this costume is Huttballer Clubs. These are the arms of a B1 battle droid, including the electromagnetic joint couplings at the shoulders.

The weapon wrap described reinforces that these arms belonged to a B1 battle droid:

"B1 droids are flimsy, but they sure don't feel like it when they hit you in the face!" -Slingshot

The next Legendary costume is Shyyyo Defender. Another suit of armor, this one covers more of Grozz's body and features motifs resembling the shyyyo bird from Fallen Order.

You can see this in the helmet resembling the massive bird's armored head.

The center of the armor's breastplate also includes a stylized representation of the shyyyo bird.

The costume's weapon wrap is the DT Sentry Clubs, a pair of limbs from the Baktoid Combat Automata DT-series sentry droids used by the Empire.

While these don't have a direct connection to the shyyyo bird, they did appear fighting against Cal Kestis in the sequel to Fallen Order, 2023's Jedi: Survivor.

Grozz's next Legendary costume is High Republic Champion, which sees him dressed similar to Kelnacca from The Acolyte.

On his belt, he wears the symbol of the High Republic era, and his shorts and shoulders have patterns similar to the Ansata patterns worn on the robes of Madame Jocasta Nu from Attack of the Clones.

Continued from Part 25.

Moving on to the Epic tier of costumes and weapons, Grozz's Wyyyschokk Gladiator costume references the giant spiders native to Kashyyyk.

On the back of the costume, is the head of a wyyyschokk.

The wyyyschokk, by its other name "webweaver", was first mentioned in the 1980 novel Han Solo and the Lost Legacy.

I believe the webweaver was first pictured in the 2001 Star Wars Gamer #4 article, "Secrets of Kashyyyk", illustrated by Pablo Hidalgo. It had a different appearance in 2004's Ultimate Adversaries, illustrated by Chris Hawkes.

Wookieepedia states that the webweaver was first identified as a wyyyschokk in 2008's Complete Encyclopedia.

In canon works, the wyyyschokk first appeared in 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order video game where they are adversaries for the hero, Cal Kestis. There is even an albino variety that he fights on Kashyyyk.

Star Wars Hunters takes its inspiration from Jedi: Fallen Order, using the blue/yellow color scheme of the creature seen in that game.

There was also a wyyyschok sticker available in the game.

The costume description references the Wookiee native language:

(Grozz roars proudly in Shyriiwook)

The weapon wrap for this costume, Wyyyschokk Clubs, features more of the yellow on blue Wookiee styling, as well as some spikes and miniature green wyyyschokk heads.

The weapon wrap description reveals Grozz and Zaina's close friendship, along with Zaina's arachnophobia:

"Grozz knows I'm afraid of spiders and he won't stop chasing me around with this creepy thing. If he wasn't my best friend, I'd deck him!" -Zaina

The next Epic costume for Grozz is Cherry Champion. This sees him wearing a red jacket and white belt/bandolier. The jacket has some Aurebesh on the front reading "WRECK" and a KX security droid head on the back.

The KX head and arms are in the stereotypical skull and crossbones motif, which can be seen a little better in the texture file.

The costume description reads:

"Grozz just loves spicy food - the spicier the better! I'm not eating his leftovers - I value my stomach - unless it's chyntuck, of course." -Zaina

Chyntuck is an onion-like vegetable grown on Kashyyyk. It was first named in the 1998 novel Rebel Dawn as one of the foods at Chewbacca's wedding, and first pictured in the short-lived 2014 mobile game Star Wars: Assault Team.

The weapon wrap for this costume is called Cherry Clubs. These have two large axe-like spikes on each club, along with the KX droid head and Aurebesh "WRECK".

The game files call this costume "Arena Jacket Imperial".

Next up, we have the Shyyyo Champion costume. Grozz wears a green jacket, with a Huttball symbol on the front and a drawing of a shyyyo bird from Fallen Order on the back. The game files call this costume "Arena Jacket Green".

This particular drawing is also present as a sticker in the game, which coupled with the Huttball icon on front leads me to believe this might be the logo of another Huttball team (the Kashyyyk Shyyyos?).

The shyyyo itself is a massive bird native to the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk which first appeared in the video game Jedi: Fallen Order, where Cal Kestis hitched a ride on one during the Kashyyyk missions.

The weapon wrap, Shyyyo Clubs, feature the shyyyo logo along with a color scheme matching the jacket.

Strangely, in the weapon wrap description, Sprocket refers to the shyyyo in past tense:

"Shyyyo birds were great hunters - just like Grozz!" -Sprocket

Does this mean they've gone extinct?

The next Epic costume is Mylaya Mount. This costume's name references another Kashyyyk creature, the mylaya. Grozz wears a large green and gold poncho, with the large-eared mylaya painted on the back.

You can see the mylaya a little clearer on the texture file.

The mylaya first appeared in The Bad Batch Season 2, Episode 6 "Tribe". Native to the Wookiee homeworld, the mylaya was first designed for an unused story arc from The Clone Wars and was based on a sketch by Dave Filoni.

The costume description reads:

"Hard to believe, but mylayas are so big they can carry a Wookiee on their back - and more!" -Zaina

This costume's accompanying weapons wrap, Mylaya Clubs, also feature the creature's face drawn on them, along with downturned axe blades on either side.

The game files refer to this set as "Spirit of Mylaya Green".

The next Epic costume is Fierce Warrior. Grozz suits up in a vibrantly colored double-breasted robe with a pair of bandoliers carrying ammo. I'm not sure if this references anything directly or not.

The costume description doesn't offer any clues:

"I'm not sure what Grozz likes better at this point - Huttball or hunting!" -Slingshot

The Fierce Clubs weapon wrap share the vibrant purple and blue color scheme.

Continued from Part 24.

The weapon wrap that goes along with Grozz's Tangerine Wookiee is called Tangerine Clubs. The color scheme on these clubs reminds me of Sebulba's podracer from The Phantom Menace.

The next costume for Grozz is Frosty Wookiee. Each of the Hunters have a Hoth costume, and this is Grozz's. Most likely based on Chewbacca's snow-covered appearance in The Empire Strikes Back when tracking down the Imperial probe droid.

The weapon wrap for this costume, Frosty Clubs, are similarly frozen in appearance. The game files refer to this set simply as "Hoth".

Grozz's next Rare costume is Vermilion Champion. This adds some red and white styling to his bandoliers. The game files refer to this costume as "Red Warrior".

The weapon wrap for this costume, Vermilion Clubs, continue those designs from his bandoliers onto the clubs.

Next we have the Emerald Champion costume. This costume adds some Wookiee inspired designs to his bandoliers. The game files call this costume "Green Sage".

The Emerald Clubs weapon wrap also include Wookiee designs along with a deep green hue painted on the KX Clubs.

Next up is Grozz's Vanilla Champion costume. This adds some white and gold designs to his bandoliers in the same style as the Green Sage costume. Oddly, the costume selection image also includes pouches on his bandolier which don't appear in-game.

The weapon wrap, Vanilla Clubs, are a palette swap with the Emerald Clubs, using white and gold instead of shades of green.

The game files refer to this whole set as "White Sage".

The next Rare costume for Grozz is called Teal Champion. This sees him wearing teal bandoliers with cream and red highlights. Again, his bandoliers were covered with pouches in the selection image not present on his final model.

The weapon wrap for this costume is Teal Clubs. These carry a similar design to what you see on Grozz's bandoliers and belt. The game files refer to this set as "Teal Warrior".

Grozz's next Rare costume is Dusk Champion. Here he wears equipment decorated in dark blue, white, and reddish-orange. The game files refer to this costume as "Cold Dusk".

His weapon wrap, Dusk Clubs, are primarily reddish-orange with white line designs and dark blue wrappings.

Next up we have Cerulean Champion. This costume adds some unique light blue and white curved designs to Grozz's bandoliers and belt. The game files name this costume "Blue Stalker".

The Cerulean Clubs add these same designs to an overall cerulean blue paint job.

Grozz's next Rare costume is Forest Champion. This costume has a lively green, red, and yellow pattern across his bandoliers and belt. The game files call this costume "Forest Fighter".

The weapon wrap for this costume, Forest Clubs, have similar designs, and almost look to create a cyclopean skull with the Imperial cog as its eye.

Grozz's next costume is called Shadowlands Champion. The name refers to the deepest level of Kashyyyk's forests where all manner of dangerous creatures dwell. Grozz's costume here features a green tint to his fur.

The Shadowlands were briefly visited by Cal Kestis in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order where he had to brave creatures like the wyyyschokk and dangerous plant life like jaw plants and saavas.

The Shadowlands first appeared all the way back in 1979's The Wookiee Storybook as the "Nother World", one of its other names.

The weapon wrap for this costume is Shadowlands Clubs. These have that same mossy green covering as the costume. The game files refer to this set simply as "Swamp".

Grozz's final Rare costume is Azure Champion. Like previous costumes, it features new designs added to his bandoliers and belt, but also like a few others, the selection image has pouches not seen in the final game.

And the final Rare weapon wrap is the accompanying Azure Clubs. Simply a palette swap of the Dusk Clubs and Vermilion Clubs, just in orange and blue this time.

And that's all of Grozz's Rare costumes and weapons. Next we will look at the more interesting Epic skins.

Continued from Part 23.

The next Hunter is Grozz, the mighty Wookiee Huttball champion! His identifier in the game's code is "Cha006". His logo features the swirling designs found originally on Wookiee armor in Revenge of the Sith.

Grozz was a professional Huttball player who eventually left the sport to compete in the Hunters of the Outer Rim tournament. He fought with a pair of KX security droid arms as clubs, torn off of fellow Hunter, K-A0S.

His weapons, the KX Clubs, are the arms and shoulder joints of an Arakyd Industries KX-series security droid, first seen in the character of K-2SO in Rogue One. The arms seem to have a rigid piece of gold metal welded to them to keep them stiff.

The victim of this dismemberment is K-A0S, who would join the cast of Star Wars Hunters in its second season on August 1, 2024. Due to her missing arms, she replaced them with a pair of Grafted Twin Shields.

Grozz's banner features his personal insignia, which he wears on the buckle connecting his bandoliers. His insignia is also shown on a few avatars in the game.

There's also some graffiti seen in the Huttball arenas and training grounds featuring Grozz's side profile and insignia.

Grozz's player icon features him scowling, showing off his braided mustache.

His base costume, features a pair of bandoliers across his chest, harkening back to Chewbacca's famous bandolier, along with a shoulder pad carved with traditional Wookiee designs.

Grozz's Uncommon costumes feature palette swaps of his bandolier, belt, and shoulder pad, in Teal, Purple, Blue, Green, and Black.

Each Uncommon and Rare costume shares the same description,

"Kashyyyk's favorite Huttball star has come to dominate the arena." -Promotional pamphlet

As Grozz speaks the Wookiee language of Shyriiwook, his costume and weapon wrap descriptions consist of quotes from other Hunters (mostly Zaina).

The KX Clubs have five Uncommon weapon wraps, which all swap out the red striping on its shoulders with Teal, Purple, Blue, Green, and Black.

The Uncommon/Rare wrap descriptions all reveal the random way Grozz arrived with his signature weaponry:

"I don't know what happened. Grozz left for the buffet and the next thing I know a KX droid with no arms went flying across the room!" -Zaina

Let's take a look at Grozz's Rare set of costumes, starting with Obsidian Champion. This sees Grozz with black and gold accented equipment, and subtle dark streaks throughout his fur.

The weapon wrap for this costume, Obsidian Clubs, continues the black and gold color scheme, with some Wookiee designs scrawled on both shoulders.

Grozz's next Rare costume is Gilded Champion. This costume adds some gilded gold accents to Grozz's armor. The game files refer to this costume as "Tan".

The weapon wrap, Gilded Clubs add much more red to the color scheme to complement the gold.

The next Rare costume is Tangerine Wookiee. This costume adds orange and green accents to Grozz's equipment, and the game files refer to it as "Orange".

Battles! Bacta! Brawling! And grudges! Check out Sal's review of Star Wars Hunters: Battle for the Arena! #StarWarsHunters #StarWarsBooks

“You are a formidable fighter! May the Forces be around you!”J-3DI When Rieve comes to the arena to become a Hunter in the Vespaara arena, she will have to learn more than just fighting. A great Hunter must be cunning, analytical, and work effectively with their team. Rieve has always been a loner, but in the arena, she just might learn what it means to be a part of a team. Battles! Bacta!…

(Sorry LQ photo because they disabled screenshotting >[ )

LEFT IN THE DUST

Our insider has the ltest scoop on Aran Tal! Apparently Tal found a gift-wrapped box on the floor in his dressing room. Thinking it might be a trap, Aran decided the most prudent thing to do was to incinerate the present with a flamethrower until nothing was left but a pile of ash. Safety first.

Later it was revealed that the senders of the present were our lovable Wookiee Grozz and his partner in gifting, Zaina. The rebel war here explained that the gift in question was a hand made doll of Aran that Grozz had spent much of the last week crafting. Upon seeing the remains of the doll, Grozz said, through Zoina, that he wasn't mad, just disappointed.

Our insider also sald that even though it's rare to see our ineffable Kashyyyhian anything less than exuberant, this time they saw a single tear come from the corner of Grozz's eye once he saw what had become of the present. Aran to his credit did apologize and offered a single ash-encrusted bullon - the last remnant of the doll - back to Grozz, which he accepted, before walking back to his room and closing his door. The last thing our insider reported was they've never heard a Wookice whimpering before, and that they hope they never will again.

‣ The Arena