Star Wars Costume Spotlight: Tusken Raiders (Sand People)

Star Wars Costume Spotlight: Tusken Raiders (Sand People)

Today’s costume spotlight are the inhabitants of Tatooine—the Tusken Raiders (also referred to as the Sand People).

If you recall the Tusken Raiders are primitive creatures who can be hostile to local settlers of Tatooine. In episode I, a scene showed several Tusken Raiders camping out on the Canyon Dune Turn during a Pod race. 

In episode II, another group of Tusken Raiders were killed by Anakin Skywalker because they had imprisoned and tortured his mother Shmi. In episode IV Luke was attack by a Tusken Raider while he and C-3PO where looking for R2-D2.

When that Tusken Raider and his friends where about to take Luke’s speeder apart, Obi-Wan managed to scare them off by doing an imitation of a deadly predator called Krayt Dragon.

Side note: Tusken Raiders use Bantha’s for tansportation and they always ride single file to hid their numbers. Plus, once easily started, they often return in greater numbers.

Here’s the full costumes of a male Tusken Raider (right) and a Female Tusken Raider (left). The male Tusken Raider’s masks have high angle lenses to protect their eyes and scope out any intruders, and a leather-wrapped mouth to filter out the harsh air. The female’s mask looks more like a knight’s visor:

 

In this close up you can see that the top of the weapon is rusted and so is the lenses on the mask. On the sleeve of the robe, there’s a dirt stain:

 

In this close up, there’s a bit of a stain next to the mask. The metal of the bronze mask looks like a lizard’s skin.

 

These costumes kind of capture the Tusken Raiders’s reptile-like appearance.