[7][8] He first appears in the original Star Wars film[d] as the loyal friend of the smuggler Han Solo.

[1][9] Chewbacca is portrayed by Peter Mayhew in the original film trilogy, the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), and Revenge of the Sith (2005).

[19] For The Force Awakens, multiple Chewbacca suits were crafted from yak hair, Lycra and a small amount of mohair.

[f] In his 1997 review of the Special Edition re-release of The Empire Strikes Back, the film critic Roger Ebert declared that of all the characters, Chewbacca gave the worst performance.

He wrote: "This character was thrown into the first film as window dressing, was never thought through, and as a result has been saddled with one facial expression and one mournful yelp.

[29] In Star Wars, Chewbacca and Han Solo are smugglers who accept a charter to transport Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to the planet Alderaan aboard their ship, the Millennium Falcon.

When they find the planet obliterated by the Death Star, Chewbacca and Han help their passengers rescue Princess Leia and take her to the Rebel base on Yavin 4.

[30] Chewbacca and Han are planning to leave the Rebellion to pay off a debt to Jabba the Hutt, but are drawn back into the war when the Empire assaults the Rebel base.

[32] At the beginning of Return of the Jedi (1983), Chewbacca infiltrates Jabba's palace by pretending to be the prisoner of a bounty hunter, who is actually Leia in disguise.

In Revenge of the Sith (2005), Chewbacca and his fellow Wookiee Tarfful fight in the Clone Wars when Kashyyyk is invaded by the Separatist Alliance.

In the film, which is set thirty years after Return of the Jedi, Chewbacca and Han find the Millennium Falcon, which had been stolen from them.

The Wookiee then sets off explosives that allow Poe Dameron and other X-wing pilots to destroy Starkiller Base, the First Order's superweapon.

She accidentally destroys the ship with Force lightning, and believes she has killed Chewbacca, who in reality was on a different transport.

Suotamo portrays Chewbacca in the 2018 standalone film Solo: A Star Wars Story, which details the Wookiee's first meeting with Han.

They join the crew of the thief Tobias Beckett, and make several attempts to steal coaxium for the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate.

In the season 3 finale of the television series The Clone Wars, Chewbacca is captured by Trandoshan hunters, but is freed by Ahsoka Tano and agrees to help her and two younglings escape.

The 1978 television program Star Wars Holiday Special introduces Chewbacca's family, including his wife Mallatobuck, his son Lumpawarrump, and his father Attichitcuk, who is the chief of the Kaapauku Tribe.

The program features a story in which Chewbacca and Han travel to Kashyyyk to celebrate Life Day, while trying to prevent Darth Vader from spoiling the holiday.

When the Empire enslaves most of Kashyyyk's population to build the Death Star, Chewbacca escapes with a group of smugglers who are friendly to the Jedi.

While serving as a lieutenant in the Imperial Navy, Han finds Chewbacca unconscious aboard a slave ship.

[56] In Vector Prime, Chewbacca sacrifices his life to save Han's son Anakin from a collision between the planet Sernpidal and one of its moons.

Vector Prime was followed by the comic series Star Wars: Chewbacca, in which C-3PO and R2-D2 travel the galaxy collecting stories of beings who knew or met the Wookiee.