Life debt

The life debt was a social institution found in many honor-bound cultures throughout the galaxy, including the Wookiees, Trandoshans, Gungans, Noghri, Talz, and Srrors'tok. To summarize, if a person's life was saved by another, the saved person was obligated to pledge their life to protecting and looking after their savior, even to the point of sacrificing their own life, if necessary. Similiar concept, called Us-hrok, existed between Yuuzhan Vong (this was a display that showed eternal gratitude and loyalty to another for something they had done, and meant that the Yuuzhan Vong in question would fight to the death on that person's behalf).

The particularities of this bond, and the overall strength of the institution, varied from culture to culture. Among the Gungans, the bond was fairly loose, while among the Wookiees, the life debt was an extraordinarily solemn matter. Some unscrupulous recipients of a life debt would take advantage of their position by enslaving and otherwise mistreating the unfortunate person sworn to their service.

In Wookiee culture, this tradition is believed to have started when a young Wookiee named Urothko was nearly killed in the Shadowlands, only to be rescued by an elder called Stalpaac. After being saved, Urothko pledged his life to Staalpac. The story was soon spread to other villages and tribes, thus creating the tradition.

Text and facts from the “Life debt/Legends” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.