Star Wars: The Tusken Raiders Explained

Even though Tusken Raiders show up in Star Wars from the very beginning and reappear throughout, they remain mysterious and poorly understood. Who are they? Where do they come from? What do they want? And what do fans and casual viewers alike need to know about them?

The Tusken Raiders appear first and most memorably in A New Hope. The Sand People are initially presented as fearsome savages, dangers to "civilized" people like Luke Skywalker and his family. They roam the desert, attacking and pillaging the unsuspecting. When Luke leaves the safety of his homestead to search the Jundland Wastes for his escaped droid, R2-D2, the Raiders quickly overpower the naive and unprepared young man, knocking him unconscious so they can ransack his land speeder. Luke is only saved when the mad hermit Ben Kenobi appears and scares away the Raiders by mimicking the call of the Krayt Dragon, a beast they fear. Despite his ability to scare them away, Ben also warns Luke:

"The Jundland Wastes are not to be traveled lightly."

Of course if Luke had died in this scene, he never would have blown up the Death Star, fought Darth Vader, become a Jedi Knight, and helped defeat the Empire. Perhaps the trilogy would have centered on Leia Organa, Luke's Force-sensitive sister, instead.

Watch the video for more on Star Wars - the Tusken Raiders explained.

#StarWars #TuskenRaiders #Mandalorian

An early attack | 0:00
Original intentions | 1:16
Tuskens and Banthas | 2:29
The Bantha bond | 3:47
A prequel's callback | 4:42
Pushing Anakin Skywalker | 5:26
Humanizing the Raiders | 6:30
Developing their culture | 7:40
More cultural studies | 8:51
Sign language | 9:45
Original action figures | 10:21

Read Full Article: https://www.looper.com/271399/the-tusken-raiders-of-star-wars-explained/