Who Is Constable Zuvio And Was He In 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'?

Constable Zuvio was one of of the initial Star Wars: the Force Awakens characters introduced by the Hasbro toy line, Disney even released an official image of the alien creature in Empire Magazine, yet no one can seem to find him in the final cut of the film. He remains one of the mysteries listed on many Force Awakens question lists.

Does Zuvio appear on screen at some point? Was Zuvio's role completely cut? What was the character originally supposed to do in the film? What do we know about him and how does he fit into the canon of the Star Wars universe?

We explore all of these questions, after the jump.

We first found out about Constable Zuvio when his action figure was released by Hasbro as part of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens toy line. The back of the card describes the character as "a vigilant law officer on a mostly lawless world, the tough and humorless Constable Zuvio keeps order in a frontier trading post."

The StarWars.com databank gives us a little bit more information about the Constable Zuvio:

What's an honorable Kyuzo like Constable Zuvio doing on a lawless planet like Jakku? The tough, taciturn Zuvio is the leader of Niima Outpost's small militia, and keeps a wary yellow eye out for cheats, thieves and others bent on trouble. He is often found guarding Niima's landing field, glowering at any local who strays too close to a visitor's starship.

The entry also mentions he is 1.6 meters in height and uses a blaster as his main weapon, although its also clear he carries a staff.

The Visual Dictionary has a section on Jakku's Nima Outpost which features some more information about the Constable. The book says that he provides "a semblance of law and order in Nima Outpost" and that he is the leader of "a local militia that includes two of his fellow Kyuzo warriors. It also notes that Zuvio has a "Strong sense of justice and cannot be bribed." His headgear is a traditional Kyuzo war helmet (of course), his face is wrapped to prevent sunburn, and his armor is made from salvaged metal.

Among all the toys and merchandise, Zuvio even got his own book titled High Noon on Jakku, which was released as part of the Journey to the Force Awakens series of publications. The book was published on December 1st 2015, and is essentially a classic western short story by Landry Q. Walker. The official plot description reads: "A renegade droid causes problems for Constable Zuvio on Jakku."

When a banking ship is attacked the stage is set for a showdown between Zuvio and a gang of droids suspected of the robbery.

The book mostly serves to give Jakku some flavor and it also reveals a bit about the character, as well as the fact that his two deputies are actually his cousins. But the story is mostly a stand alone tale unconnected to The Force Awakens.

While the character appears in physical books like the Visual dictionary, he does not appear in the official novelization for the film (which has only been released digitally thus far) even though that book features quite a few extended and deleted scenes from the movie. Its curious that many of those moments remained in the book, yet Zuvio was cut completely.

Some people believe Constable Zuvio appears during Rey's vision, but Lucasfilm story group member Pablo Hidalgo has confirmed that the person on screen during that moment is a human character, and not Zuvio. We assume that character, who appears during the massacre at Luke Skywalker's new Jedi Academy, could be a Jedi padawan.

Some other fans think they have spotted Zuvio in the background under the tend in the scene where Rey is taking down the two guys who try to steal BB-8 (although Hidalgo is skeptical). Behind the scenes features have shown he was on set as Rey and Finn are running through the market place on Jakku. One thing for sure is that he doesn't appear in the final film in any meaningful capacity.

But because products like the toy line and books were developed before Star Wars: The Force Awakens was finished editing, some things ended up in the merchandising that never made it into the movie. The fact that Zuvio is featured in so many of the products might suggest he was a late cut from the film.

The scene in which Contable Zuvio was to appear in the film would have taken place right after the thugs attack Rey in an attempt to abduct BB-8. From what I've heard, local peacekeeper Constable Zuvio "steps in to break up the tussle." After settling the issue with the Constable, Rey heads back to her dwelling, "keenly aware that the dastardly Unkar would like nothing better than to get his hands on her new droid." From what gleam, the moment with the thugs plays out differently in the film as originally Finn (FN-2187) had not yet escaped from the First Order at that point. BB-8 recognizing Finn originally happened the next day.

If this is true, the final edit in the film is very cleverly edited.  I don't have a second source on this info, so I'm not sure if this is exactly how it all went down. But that is your answer for now.

And if you liked this story, also check out my piece on Sarco Plank, the other character that was prominently featured in the merchandising of this film but isn't really in the final movie.