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The sarlacc (plural sarlacci) is a fictional creature in George Lucas's science fiction saga ''Star Wars''. It first appeared in the film ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983) as a multi-tentacled alien beast whose immense, gaping maw is lined with several rows of sharp teeth. The sarlacc in the film inhabits the Great Pit of Carkoon, a hollow in the sand of the desert planet Tatooine. This creature is one of the largest of several sarlacci scattered across the ''Star Wars'' galaxy.〔Sarlacc, Expanded Universe, in the (Star Wars Databank ); last accessed July 10, 2006.〕 In the original ''Return of the Jedi'', the sarlacc is simply a barbed hole in the desert sand which characters fall into and are consumed; some are pulled into the sarlacc's mouth by its tentacles. In the 1997 Special Edition of the film, computer-generated tentacles and a beak emerge from the opened mouth. Besides ''Return of the Jedi'', the creature and others like it are featured in ''Star Wars'' literature. Like other aspects of ''Star Wars'', the sarlacc became a part of popular culture. The creature was incorporated into the merchandising campaign that accompanied the release of ''Return of the Jedi''. It is the subject of analysis and humor in works of literature unassociated with ''Star Wars''.〔Peter Biskind, ''Gods And Monsters: Movers, Shakers, and Other Casualties of the Hollywood Machine'' (New York: Nation Books, 2004), p. 129, ISBN 1-56025-545-5.〕〔Stefan Demetriou, ''How to Disappear Completely'' (Oxford, Eng.: Reverb, 2005), p. 166, ISBN 1-905315-06-6.〕 == Depiction == The sarlacc first appeared in the 1983 film ''Return of the Jedi'', wherein Jabba the Hutt attempts to drop Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) into the creature's mouth; but Luke frees himself and the others with the aid of Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), while Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) strangles Jabba. According to the Star Wars Databank, the sarlacci inhabit remote, inhospitable locations in the galaxy, but defies taxonomic classification, in so far as most texts claim that the sarlacc is an arthropod (as in ''The Essential Guide to Alien Species'' and ''The Wildlife of Star Wars''), while its anchored root system and spore-based method of reproduction suggest a plant origin.〔 A sarlacc reproduces by releasing spores through outer space, which arrive on a planet or asteroid, and there excavate a pit to capture prey.〔"Sarlacci spores", Stephen J. Sansweet, ''Star Wars Encyclopedia'' (New York: Del Rey, 1998), p. 258, ISBN 0-345-40227-8.〕 Steve Sansweet's ''Star Wars Encyclopedia'' describes the sarlacc as an "omnivorous, multi-tentacled creature with needle-sharp teeth and a large beak".〔"Sarlacc", ''Star Wars Encyclopedia'', p. 258.〕 The sarlacc rests at the base of a giant pit where the entirety of its body is buried except for the gaping mouth, which may reach three meters (10 feet) in diameter.〔Sarlacc, The Movies, in the (Star Wars Databank ); last accessed July 10, 2006.〕 Astrophysicist and science fiction author Jeanne Cavelos compares the sarlacc to the antlion.〔Jeanne Cavelos, ''The Science of Star Wars: An Astrophysicist's Independent Examination of Space Travel, Aliens, Planets, and Robots as Portrayed in the ''Star Wars'' Films and Books''(New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999), p. 71, ISBN 0-312-20958-4.〕 Because most sarlacci inhabit isolated environments and rely on prey to stumble into their pit, they rarely feed; wherefore, the digestive system dissolves prey into nutrients over a period of several thousand years.〔Sarlacc, The Movies, Star Wars Databank.〕 If no living prey is available, a sarlacc relies on its root system to absorb nutrients. One sarlacc located on an airless moon feeds on cometary material rich in oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen.〔J. D. Montgomery, "A Barve Like That: The Tale of Boba Fett", in ''Tales from Jabba's Palace'', ed. Kevin J. Anderson (paperback; New York: Bantam Spectra, 1996), p. 364, ISBN 0-553-56815-9.〕 The sarlacc's stomach is lined with vessels that attach themselves to a swallowed victim and maws for quick digestion or breaking apart large prey, whereof the maws close when exposed to bright lights. The stomach also contains neurotoxins, which induce hallucinations in prey which "suggest that the sarlacc somehow absorbs the intelligence of all its victims, who live on in disembodied torment".〔 A sarlacc can communicate with its victims through this stolen consciousness:〔 In one ''Star Wars'' short story, an unnamed Jedi explains that "sarlacci do interesting things with messenger RNA: over the course of millennia, they can attain a sort of group consciousness, built out of the remains of people they've digested. I talked to such a sarlacc, once a few decades ago".〔 In the anthology ''Tales From Jabba's Palace'' (1995), edited by Kevin J. Anderson, Dan'l Danehy Oakes's story "Shaara and the Sarlacc: The Skiff Guard's Tale" is told by one of Jabba the Hutt's soldiers, who tells Boba Fett that his sister Shaara and her Imperial stormtrooper captors were thrown into the pit, whereupon the sarlacc swallowed the stormtroopers, but expelled Shaara, for reasons unknown.〔Dan'l Danehy-Oakes, "Shaara and the Sarlacc: The Skiff Guard's Tale," ''Tales from Jabba's Palace'', p. 345.〕 In the short story "A Barve Like That: The Tale of Boba Fett", by Daniel Keys Moran under the pseudonym of J. D. Montgomery, Boba Fett struggles to free himself from the belly of the sarlacc. As Fett is digested, the creature converses with him mentally in the voice of an alien named Susejo, eaten by the sarlacc four thousand years earlier. Having caused his jet pack to explode, Fett uses a concussion grenade to blast himself free.〔Montgomery, "A Barve Like That," pp. 355-356, ''italics'' in the original.〕 Years later, Fett is recognized by the sarlacc upon approach.〔 In the non-canonical Dark Horse comic book "Fortune, Fate, and the Natural History of the Sarlacc", written by Mark Schultz and illustrated by Kellie Strom, the sarlacc seen in ''Return of the Jedi'' is the offspring of an older sarlacc on Tatooine. Shortly after the execution of an unknown alien named Grubbat Fhilch, the sarlacc releases a spore that attaches to an Imperial stormtrooper's dewback. The stormtroopers hire a group of Jawa scavengers to clean the dew backs, whereof one jawa acquires the spore. The young sarlacc escapes from the jar only to be swallowed by a spider-like creature, which it consumes from within, and later forms the Great Pit of Carkoon.〔Mark Schultz, "Fortune, Fate, and the Natural History of the Sarlacc," illustrated by Kellie Strom, in ''Star Wars Tales'' 6 (Dark Horse Comics, 2000).〕 Sarlacci have made minor appearances in ''Star Wars'' video games such as ''Super Star Wars'' (1992),'' Shadows of the Empire'' (1996), ''Star Wars: Demolition'' (2000), ''Star Wars: Bounty Hunter'' (2002), ''Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike'' (2003), and ''Star Wars: Battlefront'' (2004). The MMORPG ''Star Wars Galaxies'' (2003) shows one of the smaller sarlacci in the ''Star Wars'' galaxy on the remote planet Dathomir. It has also made an appearance in ''Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy'', ''Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga'', ''Star Wars: Empire at War'' and ''Star Wars: The Force Unleashed'' (2008), where a sarlacc much larger than the one on Tatooine is first an ally of a Jedi Knight, and later used as a base for the Empire (even building structures inside the creature itself). A duel is fought beside the sarlacc in this game between Starkiller and Shaak Ti, until Ti falls backwards into the sarlacc's open mouth. In ''Super Star Wars'', the "Sarlacc Pit Monster" acts as a boss early into the game. It is depicted as a large, worm-like creature with tentacles, and shoots rocks at Luke. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sarlacc」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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