The Lutrillian war veteran Solomahal was one of the few who paid attention to Tzizvvt's stories told in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina, and although he was not utterly convinced of the Brizzit's honesty, he was interested enough to inquire further. Impressed by Tzizvvt's collection, he agreed to help him search for his elusive treasure, even without up-front payment by the Brizzit.
Tzizvvt, a native of Jandoon, was a member of the Brizzit species. Despite the fact that Humans found distinguishing different Brizzits difficult, Tzizvvt was listed on the Imperial HoloNet as "Ilna", a fugitive from Imperial justice who had stolen valuable relics from Biitu and Roon. In an attempt to elude capture, he journeyed to Tatooine, where he hoped to find a pilot who would ferry him to safety.
Suspicious and fearful, Tzizvvt masqueraded as a xenoarchaeology professor, who sought an artifact known as The Eye of the Beyonder.
Tzizvvt and Atheloe.
Telling his story to those who would listen, he became a well known figure amongst the Mos Eisley locals, and "crazy old" Tzizvvt soon earned the derision of the city's spacefaring populace. He took up residence in Tatooine's antiquated sewers, and filled his quarters with the stolen treasures from Biitu and Roon. He also kept a particularly spectacular piece, purported to have come from Jandoon itself.
In 0 BBY, Tzivvt was present in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina when an elderly man entered the building with a younger man and a golden protocol droid. The younger man, farmboy Luke Skywalker, got into an argument with the Aqualish thug Ponda Baba, and the older Human, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, interjected and used his lightsaber to slice off one of the Aqualish's arms. Although the spectacle initially grabbed everyone's attention, most went back to their conversations after several moments. The crowd then collectively turned to witness Kenobi depart the cantina. Eventually, word of Tzizvvt's tales reached the ears of Solomahal, a veteran General of the Clone Wars. The Brizzit met the Lutrillian in the cantina, where Tzizvvt spun his requisite tale about "The Eye of the Beyonder." Solomahal was skeptical, and privately investigated the Brizzit's background. Despite his discovery of the Imperial warrant, he was still interested, and contacted Tzizvvt in his sewer residence. The Brizzit could not pay for Solomahal's services as a pilot up front, but the Lutrillian agreed to provide passage for him, in exchange for a cut of the treasures that would hypothetically be retrieved.
Adept at spinning a tale and covering his identity, Tzizvvt was able to successfully evade Imperial reprisal for a time leading up to the Battle of Yavin. He developed an identity for himself in the Mos Eisley community, and was regarded as nothing more than a storyteller who was liberal with the truth. Some even went so far as to label him "crazy." Nonetheless, he was eventually able to convince a pilot to aid him, even without the presentation of credits prior to service.
The Brizzit shown in Star Wars (1977) 2.
The character of Tzizvvt first appeared in 1977's Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, as an unnamed alien in the Cantina sequence. On the set of the film, the character was known as "Snail Head," and was supposed to have been given the proper name of "Illna." The character was largely edited out of the film following re-shoots, but still appears fleetingly in the final cut. A character of the same species appeared in the second issue of Marvel Comics' adaptation of A New Hope, Star Wars (1977) 2, published fifteen days prior to the film's release. Whether or not this is intended to be the character that would become Tzizvvt is unconfirmed. The intended "Illna" name was forgotten or ignored by Decipher, Inc. when they identified the character as "Tzizvvt" in the Star Wars Customizable Card Game.
A sketch of Tzizvvt was drawn by John Mollo.
Tzizvvt's backstory was established by Tim Veekhoven through Hyperspace's "What's The Story?" feature. The original entry had elaborated further on The Eye of the Beyonder, and had established "Illna" as the Brizzit homeworld, but these elements were either omitted or modified for the final entry. Veekhoven was inspired by the Indiana Jones films and the comic Star Wars 84 while writing Tzizvvt's backstory. Information from Veekhoven's entry was later used for the character's entry in 2008's The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.
A sheet of sketched designs for cantina characters by costume designer John Mollo included Tzizvvt under the title of "Fly", with annotations describing the character as having wide shoulders and a white belt and holster. "Stephen Culcutt" was also written as a suggestion of who might play the character, but was crossed through.
- The Art of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
- Star Wars Customizable Card Game — A New Hope Limited
- Star Wars Encyclopedia
- Star Wars: Behind the Magic
- "Best of Hyperspace" — Star Wars Insider 89
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia