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Pyke Syndicate
In General
- Ambiguously Human: The Pyke Sentinels on Kessel in Solo wear armor and helmets that could be worn by almost any humanoid species, making it unclear if they are members of the Pyke species (accounting for live-action design changes suggested by Quay Tolsite) or if the Syndicate employs other species in roles besides smugglers or mercenaries. Given that overseeing the spice mines would be an enviable position if not for the fact that Kessel's atmosphere is harmful to Pykes (Quay Tolsite is one of those exceptions brave enough to go down there), it may be more practical to employ other species. (The protective gear has more to do with the fact they are constantly working around a substance that is harmful to any species with prolonged exposure.)
- Big Bad: Collectively for The Book of Boba Fett, being Fett's main rivals for control of Jabba's territories, and making it personal by slaughtering the Tusken tribe he had joined.
- Depending on the Artist: How the Pyke species is designed depends on the medium they are portrayed in. In animated or illustrated works, they are depicted as tall, thin and having small, somewhat human-like faces with noses on disproportionately larger heads, long three-fingered hands and two-toed feet. Live-action works give them more human-like builds and hands (feet are unknown due to being covered) to accommodate for being played by live-actors, but also give them noseless fish-like faces that proportionally match their skulls.
- Disproportionate Retribution: If you cross the Pykes in any fashion, not only will they make you die a painful death, but they'll also go after your family and known friends to send the message.
- The Dreaded: The Pykes have a feared reputation rivaling that of the Hutts and for good reason. They control the spice trade monopoly and are willing to get their hands dirty to maintain it. Crossing them is essentially signing a death sentence for you, your family and other associates.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: While the majority of their associates and their leadership are Pykes, they are willing to employ members of various species as smugglers and employ species such as Toongs and Trandoshans as spice workers.
- Fantastic Drug: Kessel spice is this. Some of their leaders also happen to be addicted to it.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: In The Book of Boba Fett, they appear to be heavily inspired by the Cartel. Their primary business is narcotics, they are moving in on a desert world that vaguely resembles the southern US, and they are partnered with the space equivalent of a biker gang. Their tactics are also very similar, best shown in Episode 6, where to blow up the cantina to send a message to Boba.
- The Greys: The Pyke species is shown in The Clone Wars to be tall and slender in comparison to the average humanoid, have skin tones that range from grey to green, have pupil-less, almond-shaped eyes, and have large, elongated heads with relatively small faces. As a result, members of other species initially find them unnerving and take getting used to. Solo and The Book of Boba Fett depicted them with more humanlike builds to accommodate for being played by live actors, but still have roughly the same design for their heads, with the later showing they have slightly bigger fish-like faces (which is based on concept art from the former).
- Hero Killer: They orchestrated the death of Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas.
- Irony: The Pykes are a key player in the spice trade and some of their leaders are spice addicts, but the atmosphere of Kessel, a world where spice is heavily abundant and they have a monopoly on, is so incredibly lethal to Pyke physiology that most would rather not be stationed there. This may be why they employ non-Pykes as smugglers and spice processors (as the processing may remove the Pyke-unfriendly allergen).
- Malevolent Masked Men: Some Pykes (usually henchmen) wear metallic masks that cover up their relatively small faces on their large heads. Some of their leaders wear more elaborate masks. The Sentinels on Kessel wear protective gear that make it difficult to tell what species they are.
- Moving the Goalposts: If they feel like they can get away with it, the Pykes will alter their deals to save themselves money. In The Book of Boba Fett, they promise to pay the Tuskens protection money in one episode, only to then blow it off in the next episode by saying they paid the Kintan Striders protection money and thus will not pay extra for the Tuskens. Then it turns out they didn't pay Kintan Striders either. They instead massacre the Tusken tribe and pin the blame on the Kintan Striders, hoping that Boba Fett will wipe them out and thus remove all parties that would otherwise demand protection money from the Pykes.
- No Honor Among Thieves: They do not have a code of honor, even with their allies. At the drop of a hat, they will abandon them to their doom, often citing the loss of profits as their official reason. This is what ultimately screws over the crime families of Mos Espa when they break their neutrality pact with Boba to side with the Pykes. With the Pykes fleeing from Tatooine, the crime families are left with no protection from Boba's wrath in the form of a master assassin.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: They came off as one of the lesser crime families in their debut in The Clone Wars, at least due to the fact they didn't even try to resist Maul's takeover and outright came to join him. Their later appearances in "The Lost One" (which revealed that they were the ones who assassinated Sifo-Dyas), Solo, Season 7 of The Clone Wars, and especially The Book of Boba Fett where they are the main antagonists, proves that they are still a powerful group in their own right.
- N.G.O. Superpower: They are one of most influential groups of spice dealers in the galaxy, having a lot of armed thugs and control over the spice mines of Kessel. Once the Empire rose to power, they got along well enough that even though the Pykes are a crime syndicate, the Empire was willing to lend aid when they got word of a slave rebellion in the mines.
- Only in It for the Money: The only reasons they join the Shadow Collective are that it was an opportunity for profit, and they didn't want to get on Darth Maul's bad side after he strong-armed the Black Sun syndicate into joining, thinking he'd be coming to recruit them eventually. The Pykes (alongside Black Sun) only desert once it's become apparent that Maul has made some very powerful enemies from both the Republic and the Separatists and it's not worth getting paid for.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: They use slaves in the mines of Kessel and mistreat them accordingly.
- Small Role, Big Impact: They are not seen or mentioned in any of the prequel trilogy films and were merely hired thugs for their part, but by carrying out the assassination of Sifo-Dyas, Count Dooku was able to worm his way into the development of the Grand Army of the Republic, thus enabling the fall of the Jedi Order and the rise of the Galactic Empire.
- Suddenly Voiced: Inverted in Solo. Introduced in The Clone Wars, the Pykes all spoke Basic like almost every other alien character in the show (including those that previously didn't in the films). In Solo, the Pykes are only seen speaking their own language. In The Book of Boba Fett, they are able to converse in Basic.
- We Have Reserves: Their armed forces are so big that they could take over Mos Espa with only half of their forces deployed. It certainly makes up for the pitiful poor marksmanship these Pyke soldiers have.
- Zerg Rush: A big reason why the Pykes are greatly feared across the galaxy is that they always come in huge numbers, often in waves. While they may seem to be pushovers as individuals, they can overwhelm even the most skilled Mandalorians with sheer numbers.
Leadership
Lom Pyke
Lom Pyke
Species: Pyke
Homeworld: Oba Diah
Voiced by: Matt Lanter
Appearances: The Clone Wars
"Underworld's a small community. I have no desire to oppose you. We come to join you."
A leader of the Pyke Syndicate during the Clone Wars and the broker of the syndicate's alliance with Darth Maul's Shadow Collective. Ten years before the war, the Pykes under his leadership were paid by a man named Tyranus to kill Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas.
- Affably Evil: When Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi introduce themselves to him on Oba Diah, he offers them some drinks. When Anakin pressures him into telling him everything he knows about Sifo-Dyas, he immediately confirms that he has what they are looking for after he realizes they aren't buying his Implausible Deniability and they figure out the pieces of the puzzle about what really happened to Valorum's aide, Silman.
- Ascended Extra: He was one of the crime syndicate leaders recruited by Darth Maul during the Shadow Collective arc before playing a major (and final) role in "The Lost One".
- Asshole Victim: He may have been willing to team up with Anakin and Obi-Wan to take down Count Dooku and died in the process, but in addition to being leader of a drug cartel, he also previously worked with Dooku to kill Sifo-Dyas, held a former Chancellor's aide hostage for a decade and tried to use said aide as leverage for a pardon for the murder.
- A Dog Named "Dog": An unusual example in that Pyke is also his surname, making it a non-Funny Animal version of Species Surname as well. The Databank and the episodes he appears (as well as the credits) simply call him Lom, possibly to avoid cases of this trope.
- Enemy Mine: He and the Pyke Syndicate form one with Anakin and Obi-Wan in an attempt to eliminate Count Dooku. Not that it did them any good.
- Functional Addict: As indicated from the stains on his lips and fingertips, he's apparently a spice addict and is introduced to Anakin and Obi-Wan while smoking the substance. However, this addiction doesn't seem to affect his efficiency in the Pykes' operations.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Count Dooku kills him this way.
- Implausible Deniability: He initially tries to deny knowing anything about what happened with Sifo-Dyas, but his denial falls flat in the face of all the evidence the Jedi have gathered, testimony from former Chancellor Valorum and casually wearing Silman's necklace in front of his audience. He immediately confesses once it's apparent he can't hide it anymore.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: He and the Pyke Syndicate got off scot-free for the assassination of Sifo-Dyas for twelve years. When Anakin and Obi-Wan come to Oba Diah investigating Sifo-Dyas' death, he tries to extend his warranty by handing over a now-insane Silman (who they were holding as leverage in case they were found out) in exchange for forgetting their involvement in Sifo-Dyas' death. However, Tyranus, the man who paid them to kill Sifo-Dyas, comes to Oba Diah shortly after and kills Lom in the process of tying up some loose ends with the Sith plot.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Unlike the other crime syndicates, who Darth Maul recruited by force for the Shadow Collective, the Pyke Syndicate came right to them after hearing about what they did to Black Sun and joined them without resistance, expressing no desire to oppose Maul. Similarly, once he realized the Jedi knew the Pykes were involved in Sifo-Dyas' death, he stopped feigning ignorance on the matter and told them everything he knew.
- Mr. Exposition: He provides some of the truth on how Sifo-Dyas really died. May fall into Unreliable Expositor territory as well, since he's clearly high on spice during the exposition.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He was rightfully suspicious of Tyranus in him hiring the Pykes to kill Sifo-Dyas. As such, he kept Silman's unexpected survival a secret from Tyranus and held him as a potential leverage for more than ten years in case the Republic or Jedi Order found out about their involvement. Unfortunately, this didn't stop Tyranus from stopping by Oba Diah after he was alerted to the Jedi coming across some loose ends.
- Spanner in the Works: By name-calling Tyranus during his lightsaber duel with Anakin and Obi-Wan, he indirectly revealed to the Jedi Order that Count Dooku and Tyranus are the same person, and by extension, let the Jedi know that the Sith were behind the creation of the clone army and lead Yoda to eventually discover the secrets to immortality and pass on his knowledge to future generations. In other words, the Sith plot was derailed partially as a result of a drug lord recognizing Dooku.
- Would Hurt a Child: During the staged criminal attack on Mandalore, some of his thugs can be seen attempting to threaten Mandalorian children before Death Watch "comes to the rescue".
Marg Krim
Marg Krim
Species: Pyke
Homeworld: Oba Diah
Voiced by: Stephen Stanton
Appearances: The Clone Wars | Dark Disciple
"Did you honestly think you'd get away with fooling a Pyke?"
One of the Pyke Syndicate's leaders in the wake of Lom's death. However, he gets into a feud with the Black Sun when he refuses a merger between their syndicates, leading to Black Sun kidnapping his family to use as a bargaining chip. In response, he hires the bounty hunters, Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos to rescue them.
- 0% Approval Rating: The reason he hires bounty hunters to rescue his family from Mustafar is that he doesn't trust his own men to do the job, as most of them were in favor of the Black Sun merger and think he's a weak leader in general (which, given how weak-willed he is, isn't unwarranted).
- Arc Villain: He's the main antagonist of Ahsoka's Journey arc in Season 7, though still subservient to The Man Behind the Man, Maul.
- Cool Mask: He wears a metallic mask similar to the other Pyke enforcers, but his looks like the rays of a sun or the plumes of a bird. He uses it to hide his emotions from outside contractors.
- Did Not Think This Through: His family is successfully rescued, but didn't think of his bounty hunters running into complications during the rescue, Ziton Moj noticing that his hostages were liberated and being left alive. And it's public knowledge that the Pyke Syndicate operates on Oba Diah.
- Drowning My Sorrows: When contracting Ventress and Vos for the rescue of his family, he seems to be drugging himself with spice to cope with the stress of having his family kidnapped and his inability to keep his men in check.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He may be a drug lord, but he loves his wife, son and daughter very much and is willing to save their lives while trying to preserve the integrity and image of his crime syndicate.
- Irony: In Dark Disciple, he hires bounty hunters to rescue his family from Black Sun because he thinks his underlings would rather him be removed from power. In the Ahsoka's Journey arc, he distrusts anyone who isn't a Pyke.
- Properly Paranoid: He openly states his distrust for non-Pyke contractors, making sure they actually deliver on their job. His distrust is validated when the Martez sisters show up without the spice shipment they were promised and they try to pull a fast one on him.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Vos and Ventress successfully bring his family back to Oba Diah, but as soon as the hunters are ready to jump into hyperspace with their payment, a fleet of Black Sun ships jumps into the system to presumably kill Krim's family in retaliation.
- Token Good Teammate: He's still a crime boss and is willing to get his hands dirty to maintain the Syndicate's reputation, but aside from his family, he is the only Pyke character so far to be portrayed in a remotely sympathetic light.
- Uncertain Doom: His family was most likely executed in front of him in Dark Disciple when Black Sun arrived at Oba Diah with a fleet of ships. However, when he reappears in the Ahsoka's Journey arc, he acts fairly normal, and nothing has otherwise been said about his family's fate.
- Weak-Willed: He falls prey to a Jedi Mind Trick when paying Ahsoka and the Martez sisters. Fortunately for him, he has Fife to back him up.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He's nowhere to be seen in Son of Dathomir, with his majordomo Fife being the main Pyke representative in that comic. It's possible that, before the series was Uncancelled, the Ahsoka's Journey arc was originally supposed to take place before Dark Disciple (Son of Dathomir would have taken place halfway between the novel) and that Krim would have either died or stepped down afterward, with Fife being his successor.
- Would Hurt a Child: Despite being a father himself, he's not only willing to torture three teenagers for information on lost spice, he also states that he's willing to have them killed slowly to make an example.
Tatooine Leader
Tatooine Leader
Species: Pyke
Homeworld: Oba Diah
Portrayed by: Jaime Alexander
Voiced by: Phil Lamarr
Appearances: The Book of Boba Fett
The leader of the Pyke Syndicate on Tatooine, overseeing the Syndicate's spice running on Tatooine and gradual takeover of the planet.
- Arc Villain: As the local Pyke boss, he's the closest thing to a central Big Bad the first season has, with Cad Bane serving as a more dangerous and personal antagonist for Boba, but subordinate to the boss.
- Evil Is Petty: Sort of a Fatal Flaw he has, given how every act of spite he commits backfires on him in one way or another.
- Fantastic Racism: He doesn't see the Tuskens to be civilized, intelligent beings despite the fact they managed to take down his spice train and show him mercy. And thus, he orders the massacre of the Tusken tribe to avoid the humiliation of paying protection money to people he deemed to be lesser beings.
- Hate Sink: He is the most despicable and loathsome villain in the first season of The Book of Boba Fett. While Boba's other enemies are either badass mercenaries, honorable crime lords, or just hapless puppets for the Pykes, the Pyke boss is depicted as a dishonorable deal backstabber who cheats and lies his way out of paying money to outside parties. What eventually solidifies his status is the revelation that he ordered the massacre of the Tuskens, then framed the Kintan Striders just to get rid of further competition. And he gloats about it to Cad Bane, who is amazed by his sheer ruthlessness
- In the Back: Fennec stabs him in the back while he thought she was still outside.
- Karmic Death: A ruthless deal backstabber responsible for ordering the Tusken massacre, he gets end up getting stabbed in the back by Fennec under the order of Boba Fett, who used to live with those Tuskens.
- Kick the Dog: Not only did he refuse to pay Tuskens protection money despite promising Boba that he would, he also lied to Boba that he already paid a Nikto speeder bike gang protection money... then secretly ordered the Pykes to wipe out the Tuskens and pin the blame said-Nikto speeder bike gang just to spite Boba and have him wipe any potential group demanding protection money.
- Non-Action Big Bad: He doesn't take part in any of the fighting. He doesn't even pull a weapon until his very final scene.
- No Name Given: He's unnamed in the series, only credited as "Pyke leader".
- Pragmatic Villainy: He claims that this is why he had the Tuskens massacred; to "protect the Pykes margins", but it quite naturally falls flat, since the act was extremely petty.
- Post-Final Boss: Once Cad Bane is killed by Boba, the Leader, alongside the Mayor and the other gang leaders, are little more than loose ends that Fennec Shand quickly ties up after the battle is said and done.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: After half his forces are wiped out by Boba's forces, the boss decides to cut his losses and abandon Tatooine, concluding that the planet isn't worth the trouble they're experiencing. Fennec kills him before he can escape.
- Stupid Evil:
- Arranging the Tusken tribe to be killed eventually painted a large target on his back once Boba found out, while going back on every deal made with his allies would've eventually cost him loyalty points even if Fennec didn't kill him and the other crime bosses.
- Additionally, his attempt at keeping Freetown out of the upcoming gang war backfired when Bane's attempt at assassinating Cobb Vanth rallied the townspeople into taking up arms against the Pykes.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Despite having his life spared by the Tuskens, he refuses to pay protection money to them and instead orders the Pykes to massacre the tribe and then blame it on the Kintan Striders just so he doesn't have to pay them as well.
Lieutenants
Fife
Fife
Species: Pyke
Voiced by: Dee Bradley Baker
The majordomo to Marg Krim and Maul's contact between the Shadow Collective and the syndicate after Lom's death.
- Cool Mask: He's normally been seen with a non-uniform mask for a Pyke lackey, indicating his role as Krim's majordomo. However, he is seen without his mask in Son of Dathomir #2.
- The Consigliere: Marg Krim may be weak-minded enough to be affected by a Jedi Mind Trick, but Fife is not, which makes it harder to take advantage of Krim when he's around. This also makes him a valued advisor to Krim, as he seems to be the only one in the Syndicate that is willing to tell Krim when he thinks he's made a bad decision.
- Dragon-in-Chief: Downplayed. Despite being Krim's second-in-command, he is not as weak-minded as his boss. When Ahsoka is able to mind trick Krim into handing her and the Martez sisters their payment before showing them the spice (which they jettisoned), Fife makes sure they actually delivered. When he realizes they didn't, he immediately has them locked down. With that said, there's nothing indicating that Fife is taking advantage of Krim, and Krim is quite capable of coming up with brilliant plans himself (such as pretending to order the Martez sisters' execution to draw out Ahsoka), and Fife will go along with him when those plans sound good. Fife is mainly around to cover for Krim's weaknesses, and Krim seems to welcome his input all the same.
- Only Sane Man: He shares this role with Ziton Moj in Son of Dathomir, both of who realize Maul is in over his head by choosing to butt heads with the Separatists and nearly getting them all killed on Ord Mantell, in contrast to the Undying Loyalty of the Mandalorian Super Commandos and the Nightbrothers. Both choose to abandon their positions when they are overwhelmed by the Separatists on different fronts. During the Ahsoka's Journey arc, Fife is the only Pyke to notice how odd it is for Krim to just let the Martez sisters have their payment without showing the spice they were promised, leading him to take charge when Krim is influenced by a Jedi Mind Trick. When Ahsoka volunteers to stay behind as a prisoner, he quickly points out to Krim that this is a trick, and also makes a note of how Maul is subtly trying to undermine the Pykes' power and pit them and the other syndicates in the Shadow Collective against one another. That said, Krim is aware of this, but he also knows that directly questioning Maul is probably not a good idea and has to try to get some good results for him.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He and the rest of the Pyke forces desert Maul in Son of Dathomir #4 rather than stay and fight overwhelming Separatist droid armies for an unprofitable cause. However, the Syndicate seems to be working with Maul again by the Ahsoka's Journey arc, but aren't exactly on good terms (as he is pitting several syndicates in the Shadow Collective against one another).
Quay Tolsite
Quay Tolsite
Species: Pyke
Homeworld: Oba Diah
Portrayed by: Dee Tails
Appearances: Solo
A sinister capo of the Pyke Syndicate who oversees the syndicate's operations on Kessel.
- Asshole Victim: He is killed by Qi'ra giving him a taste of her Teräs Käsi skills (presumably damaging his life-support) in the process of a coaxium heist. Any pity for him is lost when you consider that he is both an immoral drug dealer and a slave driver.
- Bad Boss: Described in the Visual Guide as caring more for profit and willing to turn a blind eye to the suffering of the mine workers, whether it be through simple cruelty or negligence in the mines.
- Continuity Nod: The first Pyke seen on-screen since The Clone Wars. The fact that he works on the spice mines of Kessel also references the fact established in Clone Wars that Pykes are spice traders.
- Eye Lights Out: Non-robot example. When Qi'ra kills him, the eye-lights on his helmet go out.
- The Faceless: We never get to see what Tolsite looks like underneath his helmet. Justified as he's operating on a planet with an atmosphere too lethal for Pykes to naturally survive in, so taking it off would be a death sentence. The closest we get to seeing his face is his concept art in The Art of Solo.
- Kryptonite-Proof Suit: Pykes are capable of safely breathing oxygen, but Kessel's corrosive atmosphere triggers allergic reactions in Pykes, and as such, few of them are willing to have a position in the spice mines. Being one of those few Pykes, Tolsite wears a life-support suit, and he dies immediately when Qi'ra damages it through use of Teräs Käsi.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Pykes are normally depicted as scrawny, to the point of almost looking like The Greys. A result of live-action design adjustments, Quay's build is more human-like compared to the Pykes shown in The Clone Wars, his neck doesn't seem to be as long, he has hands with five-fingers instead of three, and his head isn't quite as bulbous. Concept art of the character unmasked
in The Art of Solo and the Visual Guide stating his helmet is designed to mimic his skull suggests his head structure is almost exactly like the Pykes in The Clone Wars except for being noseless and having a more fish-like mouth. These design aspects (including the concept art) would be carried over to later live-action Pykes such as those in The Book of Boba Fett. - The Unintelligible: He speaks only in what is presumably the Pyke language on-screen, with L3-37 translating everything he says.
Others
Kessel Operations Droids
Kessel Operations Droids
Appearances: Solo
A team of droids who work in the control hub of the Pyke Syndicate's mining operations on Kessel.
- Cyber Cyclops: Have this look, with the exposed gray metal serving as the "face" and the single hole serving as the "eye".
Scorpenek droid
Scorpenek Annihilator Droid
Appearances: The Book of Boba Fett
A heavy-duty combat droid used by the Pyke Syndicate to remove Boba Fett's operation on Tatooine.
- Canon Immigrant: Scorpeneks showed up in a few Legends reference books, such as The Essential Guide for Warfare before appearing in The Book of Boba Fett.
- Cyber Cyclops: The closest thing they have to a "face" is a giant, glowing sensor in the middle of their bodies. It is, of course, red.
- Mighty Glacier: The larger cousin of the Droidekas, Scorpeneks don't curl up into balls to get around. They just slowly walk after their target. But their shields are designed for anti-tank warfare, allowing them to shrug off pretty much everything Fett and the people of Mos Espa have, and shoot through most cover.
- Schrödinger's Canon: It is currently unknown if they were used by the Separatist Alliance like they were in Legends. Despite their clear-cut similarities to the Droideka, it's also unknown if they were manufactured by the Colicoid Creation Nest.
- Spider Tank: Four-legged droids with two quad-barrel blasters for arms.
- There's No Kill like Overkill: A single Scorpenek alone would be more than enough to deal with Boba Fett. The Pykes send two.
