8 More Star Wars Questions That Always Confused You

4. What Was That Thing In The Trash Compactor?

Star Wars Return of the Jedi Darth Vader Luke Skywalker
Disney

The trash compactor scene in A New Hope is legendary. It's home to the second ever "I've got a bad feeling about this", so how could it not be?

Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie aren't just fighting against the walls closing in on them - they also have to combat a strange tentacled creature lurking in the garbage water. This largely-unseen monster momentarily drags Luke under, before it is deterred by Han's blaster fire.

We know that it likes smelly water and doesn't like being shot at, but what actually was living in the Death Star's trash room?

Answer? A Dianoga.

Dianoga are large, squid-like creatures that are often eaten as a delicacy in the Star Wars universe. Perhaps as a result of this, they like to hide in dark, dingy places, away from other lifeforms.

The monster was originally meant to play a much larger part in the movie, but George Lucas eventually reduced its screen time to a few minutes. She also had a name, Omi, which makes it a whole lot sadder that she was killed when the Death Star blew up.

Poor Omi.

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Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.