The Star
Wars community is known for leaving nothing unexplained. Almost every
background alien has a very extensive backstory and sometimes characters that
are only glimpsed for mere seconds become fan favorites. Perhaps the character
that exemplifies this fact most pointedly is Willrow Hood. Allow me to explain.
In “The
Empire Strikes Back” many people are seen fleeing Cloud City after Lando orders
the evacuation. Yet one person stands out more than others- the guy carrying
what appears to be an Ice Cream Maker.
Some fans
(ones that make their own ice cream) probably noticed this odd extra during the
original run of “The Empire Strikes Back” or on the VHS release. The background
character became even more famous in 1997 when a card from the Collectible Card
Game identified him as Willrow Hood.
From that
point on, fame was really inevitable. A backstory was fleshed out through
StarWars.com, Star Wars Insider, and even “The Complete Encyclopedia”. The
"Ice Cream Maker" that Willrow carried out of Cloud City is now known
to be the city's main computer memory core. Willrow was taking it with him to
protect Bespin’s Rebellion contacts from falling into Imperial hands.
One would
think that with a sufficient backstory, fans would slowly forget about Hood and
move onto something else, but that is not what happened. The legend of Hood is
only growing stronger. In 2009 Hood received a Kenner Action figure despite
four years of rejection from the Hasbro design director. Included with the
Kenner figure is Willrow's Ice Cream Maker (I mean, Data Core).
Hood has
also recently appeared in the background of a Star Wars comic (Star Wars 22)
and in the mobile game: "Star Wars Uprising”.
Yet the love
for Willrow Hood is most visible at conventions. Not only are many fans
dressing up at Willrow Hood, but many conventions now have an event called “The
Running of the Hoods”. In this event fans dress in orange jumpsuits and jog
down corridors carrying Ice Cream Makers.
"Who Is?" Series
Who is Valance the Hunter?
Who is Jaxxon?
Who is Vuffi Raa?
Who is Doctor Aphra?
Who is Willrow Hood?
Who is Hondo Ohnaka?
Who is Agent Naare?
Who is Quinlan Vos?
Who is Asajj Ventress?
Who is Gerris Shrike?
Who is Saw Gerrera?
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