A female wampa resided in the ice cave on her native world Hoth in which Luke Skywalker was taken to after being attacked whilst mounted atop a tauntaun by amale wampa. When Skywalker awoke, he was dangling from the ceiling of the cave. Attempting to gain his bearings, Luke surveyed the cave and noticed the wampa was eating the remains of a tauntaun. Luke used the Force to pull his lightsaber from the ice and cut himself free, and escaped with a facial scar and bruises. In the process, the wampa lost her arm when Skywalker used his weapon to fend it off.
The wampa later became head of a band of other wampas, organizing them into a group capable of attacking the hunters who arrived on the world. They even devised how to stealthily break into Echo Base. When Skywalker returned to Hoth in 12 ABY with Callista Ming, the wampa recognized him, and tried to kill him again. The wampa was slain by Luke in the battle.
The wampa came to be known as "One-Arm."
The wampa who lost her arm to Luke Skywalker around the time of the Battle of Hoth came to be known as "One-Arm"
While it is often believed that the wampa that attacked Luke when he was riding his tauntaun is the same wampa in the ice cave, it is not. The book Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy labels the events before and during the Battle of Hoth and clearly describes both a male and female wampa.
In Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, when One-Arm loses her arm, the severed limb appears to be too short to account for her whole arm, which she is shown missing in the very next shot.
The wampa was portrayed in The Empire Strikes Back by Industrial Light & Magic employee Howie Weed.
- LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
- LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
- "Hunger Pains" — Star Wars Tales 20
- "The Secret Tales of Luke's Hand!" — Star Wars Tales 8
- The Empire Strikes Back Coloring Book (1982)
- Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back
- Star Wars Customizable Card Game — Special Edition Limited
- The Essential Guide to Alien Species
- The Official Star Wars Fact File13
- Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy
- Star Wars: Complete Locations
- Star Wars: Mysteries of the Jedi
- Star Wars Character Encyclopedia
- Star Wars: Force Collection
- Star Wars: Force Collection
- Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded