A bounty hunter whose dreams far exceeded his grasp, the greenskinned, foul-smelling Greedo managed to rack up more enemies than friends during his short life. But his last mistake was trying to collect the bounty on Corellian smuggler Han Solo.
Greedo wasn't very bright, but he wanted to be a hunter in the worst way. He succeeded. Greedo was a Rodian, from the planet Rodia in the Tyrius star system. The Rodians consider bounty hunting an honored profession and a fabulous sport, and prizes are awarded to the hunter with the most captures or kills. The only dishonorable thing for a Rodian hunter to do is 'padding' a catch-driving up a bounty by allowing the prey to commit more crimes, even after they had been located. The Rodian Council of Justice frowned on such activities.
In a more violent time on Rodia, Greedo's bounty-hunter father was murdered and his riches seized. His pregnant wife, Neela, took three-year-old Greedo and left the planet with her older brothers, Nok and Teeku. Other members of the more peaceful Rodian clan, known as the Tetsus, came as well, and the refugees fled in three large silver spaceships. They relocated to a jungle world and began life anew.
When he was fifteen years old, Greedo and his younger brother, Pqweeduk, discovered the trio of spaceships hidden in a mountain cavern. He asked his mother about them, and she told him of his violent heritage. A month and a day later, the same Rodian who had slaughtered Greedo's father finally tracked the Tetsus down. The invaders began mowing down the settlers. The two brothers ran to the caves, along with their mother, two uncles, and twenty other clan members. They escaped in two of the ships; the third was destroyed. Nok piloted the Rodian through hyperspace to the moon of Nor Shaddaa, where the survivors made their new lives in the Corellian sector.
Greedo grew to be an adult, working with his brother in the bustling districts of Level 88. He had become streetwise, learning petty thievery and black-market tactics. One day, Greedo witnessed two bounty hunters, Spurch 'Warhog' Goa and Dyyz Nataz, killing a rogue Imperial spice inspector. When the two hunters were attacked by a towering cyborg named Gorm, Greedo managed to save their lives by killing Gorm. When the deadly duo cut the Rodian in on the bounty, he decided to help them, tipping them off to a cluster of Rebels hiding in another part of Level 88.
With the Imperial reward, Greedo planned to buy an lncom Corsair ship from the mechanic Shug Ninx, He planned to call it the Mankc Hunter. Every bounty hunter needed a great ship, he had decided. While he was inspecting his ship-to-be, Greedo couldn't resist stealing a pair of new Dekk-6 power couplings. Unfortunately for him, he was caught by the huge Wookiee known as Chewbacca; the Dekks were for the Millennium Falcon. When Han Solo took his rancor-skin jacket as restitution, Greedo threatened him, Greedo become Warhog Goa's apprentice, learning the bounty-hunting trade from a 'master.'
He was soon to learn the error of his ways. When the Imperials attacked the Rebels on Level 88, the fighting was intense. Greedo barely escaped with Goo and Dyzz in their ship, the Novo Viper, before an entire quarter of the Corellian sector exploded in a flash. Greedo realized with a heavy heart that his family was dead, and he was responsible. The trio of hunters fled to Tatooine, where Goa and Greedo hooked up with Jabba the Hutt. The obese crime lord was fond of Rodian hunters: they were ruthless, they worked cheaply, and they made great rancor snacks if they fell out of his favor. Working for Jabba would be a perfect way for Greedo to increase his status and his power as a bounty hunter.
When Jabba awarded Greedo the exclusive bounty contract on Han Solo's head, the Rodian saw the galaxy opening to him; the Corellian was a heady prize. Greedo waited for Solo in Chalmun's Cantina. As the Rodian steeled himself, there was a disturbance at the bar, an old man using a lightsaber had attacked an Aqualish and an ugly humanoid. When Chewbacca escorted the old man and a fresh-faced farm boy back to Solo's table, Greedo grew more nervous. Two stormtroopers walked through the bar, and as they left, Greedo noticed that Solo and Chewbacca were alone. Then Chewbacca got up and left. Marching up to Solo, blaster drawn, the Rodian demanded the credits Han owed Jabba. If he could get the credits out of Solo, then kill the smuggler, Greedo could be paid twice for the one bounty!
Sure of himself, the Rodian kept his blaster trained on Solo, who seemed remarkably unafraid. The Corellion's smug attitude angered Greedo, but before he could threaten Solo further, the spacer shot a blaster from under the table, killing Greedo instantly.
It was then that Wuher the bartender got a fiendishly clever idea. He recovered Greedo's body and took it below, where he and his new droid, C2-R4, used the Rodian's flesh and blood in their still. The resulting liqueur was the most powerful phenomenal drink Wuher had ever tasted. The bartender was sure that Jabba the Hutt would pay handsomely for the drink. If he could have withstood the intense flavor, Wuher would have hoisted a second drink to salute Greedo, the greatest tasting Rodian bounty hunter of all time.