Throughout the years, many Star Wars action figures have gone through name changes. But none have caused as much confusion as two particular characters that debuted in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back — 4-LOM and Zuckuss.
Let’s take a look back at the infamous confusion that still resonates with Star Wars fans today, and offer some definitive answers as to how, why, and where this identity crisis began.
Before we get into these two bounty hunters and the confusion they caused, let’s talk a little bit about why character names happen.
Why Name Changes in the Star Wars Toy Line Happen
We’ve seen many name changes in the Star Wars universe. Back in the day, when the original line of Star Wars action figures debuted, we had some rather interesting character/figure names appear. Certain characters who appeared briefly in the background of scenes from the original Star Wars Trilogy got their own action figure, despite not being a major part of the narrative. They were never even referred to by name onscreen. These characters were basically background. However, they captured the imaginations of many fans of the film. So Kenner, the company behind the Star Wars toy line, decided to populate the action figure line with ones that stood out.
Kenner then needed to assign character names to them. Because the characters were never mentioned by name in the screenplay, Kenner had to assign names for the card. For some reason, they decided to be a little too on-the-nose while naming these characters.
Snaggletooth
Walrus Man
Hammerhead
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Prune Face
Yak Face
Years after the Star Wars Original Trilogy movies were done, the Expanded Universe (EU) found within roleplaying games (RPGs), novels, and comics began to give these background characters detailed storylines and histories. When that started to happen, the writers had to come up with more personable character names. The original Kenner names were purely visual reference names while the EU names had to offer some more character depth.
Snaggletooth became Zutton
Walrus Man became Ponda Babba
Hammerhead became Momaw Nadon
Prune Face became Orrimaarko
Yak Face became Saelt-Marae
When the Power of the Force line of Star Wars action figures came out (named after 1985’s Power of the Force line and referred to by collectors as Power of the Force II or POTF2), the names were changed or added to reflect the character backgrounds.
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These are understanding examples of character name changes. However, 4-LOM and Zuckuss have a different history.
Who Are 4-LOM and Zuckuss?
Before we dive into the name-switching saga, here’s a brief character history for each.
4-LOM and Zuckuss are bounty hunters who made their first appearance in the 1980 sequel, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
They were only onscreen briefly as Darth Vader addressed the bounty hunters tasked with hunting down the Millennium Falcon.
Now, if you look at the above pictures of these characters, you could probably assign the proper name to them.
4-LOM is clearly a droid name because every droid in the Star Wars universe has both letters and numbers within them.
So the bounty hunter on the left is clearly 4-LOM — and his partner in crime on the right is Zuckuss. I mean, he even looks like a Zuckuss.
Well, according to Kenner, the names aren’t as obvious as they seem.
The 4-LOM/Zuckuss Name Switch: How Did It Happen?
It wasn’t just a printing error on the cards. Kenner and its marketing team embraced these names after they were assigned.
Oddly enough, the first identity crisis for Zuckuss started in the fourth draft of the script for The Empire Strikes Back. He was referred to as Tuckuss in the script (as well as in the novel adaptation). But that’s neither here nor there.
By the point of the release of these two figures, for all any Star Wars fan knew, 4-LOM was the insectoid-looking one while Zuckuss was the droid-looking one.
It’s easy to understand how fans, even after they saw the names on the figure card, would confuse the two. They both have insectoid faces. However, there’s no escaping the fact that one of them looks more like a droid than the other. In fact, the character design of that droid-looking bounty hunter was taken from a C-3PO Protocol Droid body design. It’s basically C-3PO’s body painted black.
Here’s where the identity crisis between the two characters really began.
Jump forward to 1989. While the Star Wars Original Trilogy movies were completed and released, with the final one having debuted six years prior to 1989, the Expanded Universe was most prevalent in the successful West End Games role-playing game. It was basically the Star Wars version of Dungeons & Dragons. West End Games released a third Galaxy Guide that primarily covered The Empire Strikes Back.
The RPG books delve into the history of nearly every notable Star Wars character. And for those who didn’t have any detailed history, West End Games was tasked with working directly with Lucasfilm to build out the universe through the characters.
The RPG company pointed out that 4-LOM sounded more like a droid name. And the previously named Zuckuss had a droid body (They also stated that Zuckuss was a better character name than Tuckuss).
So, in the RPG book, 4-LOM became the droid-looking bounty hunter…
…while Zuckuss was named for the more organic-looking bounty hunter.
But wait, that’s just the beginning of it. By that point, only RPG players noticed the change. The 4-LOM/ZUCKUSS identity crisis didn’t really begin until the 1990s.
POTF2 4-LOM and Zuckuss Figure Cards Cause a Disturbance in the Fan Force
Jump forward six more years. The 20th Anniversary of Star Wars is fast approaching. It’s 1995. Hasbro and Kenner release a new line of Star Wars figures to build up a new generation of fans in anticipation of the upcoming special editions of the films in 1997, as well as the in-development Star Wars prequel trilogy George Lucas was working on.
4-LOM and Zuckuss are part of the POTF2 line of new figures. However, they don’t retain their original names from the original line. Instead, Hasbro and Kenner roled with the changes West End Games made for the Star Wars RPG.
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Die-hard Star Wars fans were confused. And this is where the confusion and identity crisis of the characters began. But it didn’t stop there.
Hasbro and Kenner Has a Little Fun with 4-LOM and Zuckuss
So pandemonium within the hardcore Star Wars fanbase ensues after the figures are renamed in the 1990s POTF2 line. Mandela effects make us all question which figure in named 4-LOM and Zuckus. Fans begin to question themselves and their friends.
And then what happens?
Well, in 2010, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, Hasbro and Kenner release a tribute double pack of characters. With their tongue clearly in cheek, they swamp the names again, going back to the original names during the original release of the figures.
Ten years later, they released six-inch versions of the characters, once again with the originally-assigned names.
Retro-Collection versions of the characters also reverted back to the original names.
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If we’ve left you confused, it’s actually pretty simple. The one that looks like a droid has a name that sounds like a droid’s name (4-LOM), while the one that doesn’t look like a droid (and more like a walking insect) is named Zuckuss.
It’s important to note that none of these figures are mislabeled. Most collectors know that mislabeled cards add more value in the secondary market. However, that’s not the case with 4-LOM and Zuckuss.
Their original versions were labeled the same throughout the run of the original line.
The POTF2 versions of from the 1990s line were following new Expanded Universe designations from the Star Wars RPG book.
The later anniversary and retro editions of the figures were “mislabeled” on purpose as a tongue in cheek nod to the original figures.