The Hutts were a sentientspecies of large gastropods with short arms, wide cavernous mouths and huge eyes, who controlled a large space empire in Hutt Space. The species was said to originally hail from the planetVarl, but no planet by that name appeared on any Imperial star charts. Their adopted homeworld was Nal Hutta. Members of this species were often stereotyped as crime lords.

In appearance, a Hutt was an immense slug-like creature that had a thick body with a long muscular tail with small arms located on the upper body. The large body had a bulbous head at the top. Hutts’ appendages allowed them to manipulate their environment to a limited degree. The entire base of their body served as a creeping slow foot, enabling them to slither across their environment in a manner similar to that of a slug, though some Hutts grew so large that they became immobile. They had no skeleton but instead had an internal mantle which supported and shaped their head. Young Hutts tended to have a uniform light tan skin and lacked greenish pigmentation on their spine that went down their tail as they aged. A Hutt’s skin was perhaps its greatest defense as the epidermis was able to resist all but the most corrosive of chemical substances. Furthermore oil and mucus sweat made a Hutt difficult to grasp as its body was slippery to hold. Should anyone manage to grab hold of the body or manage to puncture the skin, heavy layers of blubber and muscle protected the vital organs from harm. In addition, the slimy coating of sweat and mucus protected them from either chemical burns or heat. Hutts were resistant to many poisons and diseases and seldom fell ill. It was also claimed that the species was indigestible with creatures such as the sarlacc facing indigestion from swallowing a Hutt. As a result, such creatures forcibly expelled their kind instead of eating them which was a trait that saved some Hutts from death. Their body odor was noted for being strong enough to upset a sensitive human stomach.

Their bulbous heads had two enormous reptilian eyes that were sometimes compared to those of a feline and protruded from the surface of their face. As members of their kind grew fatter, these eyes tend to be hidden beneath folds of leathery skin though younger Hutts lacked this feature and thus had slightly more protruding eyes compared to their older kin. Blinking their eyes and passing the nictitating membrane in slow deliberation was considered the equivalent of raising a sarcastic eyebrow. Beneath their wide nostrils and upturned nose was a broad lipless mouth that spread from one earhole to the other. Similar to serpents, to which they were compared, accommodating their appetite, Hutts were able to open their jaws to miraculous widths that allowed them to devour almost anything and were even able to consume a grown humanoid. A specialized radula located deep within their throats allowed them to shred food in preparation for digestion. Although not common, Hutts were able to be Force-sensitive. They had the ability to see ultraviolet light that was invisible to Humans and most alien species. Often, wealthy Hutts lit their palaces in these spectra of light, giving intruders, or at least those without similar abilities or compensating equipment, a false sense of stealth.