George Lucas loves funny sidekicks, from C3P0 to the Ewoks and Salacious B. Crumb to the Porg. And Star Wars fans always hate them.
I think it’s fair to say that no character is more hated in the entire galaxy far away than the Gungan with the pseudo-Caribbean accent Jar Jar Binks (voiced by Ahmed Best and later Phil LaMarr, aka BJ Hughes in the Clone Wars animated series).
So, let’s dive deep into Lake Paonga on Naboo and enjoy some of the best and most funny Jar Jar Binks quotes.
1. “I spake!”
From: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).
This quote is from when Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) first encounters Jar Jar on Naboo.
Qui-Gon saves Jar Jar’s life, and now Jar Jar sees himself as Qui-Gon Jinn’s “humble servant,” as the gods have demanded.
The whole exchange between Qui-Gon Jinn and Jar Jar is hilarious, and I think the “I spake!” line pretty much sums up our perception of Jar Jar’s character and intelligence.
2. “Ex-squeeze-me, but de mostest safest place would be Gunga City. Is where I grew up. ‘Tis a hidden city.”
From: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).
Jar Jar reveals to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) that a hidden city on Naboo is called Gunga City.
The quote gives us a glimpse into Jar Jar’s backstory and naivete (unless you believe it’s part of his evil Sith master plan, of course).
The full dialogue shows that Jar Jar was expelled from Gungan city and establishes the initial bond between the Jedi and the Gungans.
3. “So… good bein home!”
From: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).
Jar Jar not only enters the secret underwater Gunga City from which he has been banished. He also brings Kenobi and Qui-Gon, whom he just met.
That doesn’t stop him from declaring that it’s good to be back again, even though the murmur from all the other Gungans is pretty obvious.
A guard patrol led by Captain Tarpals quickly stops the trio.
4. “Senators, Dellow Felagates.”
From: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002).
This funny mispronunciation is part of the infamous Star Wars Episode II scene, Attack of the Clones, in which Jar Jar successfully advocates that Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) should be given emergency powers.
This is the green light needed to start the Clone Wars and the reign of Darth Sidious and the Empire.
The full quote is:
Jar Jar Binks: It’s-a clear desa separatists made a pact wesa desa Federation du Trade. Senators, fellow felagates. In response to this direct threat to the Republic, mesa propose that the senate give immediately emergency powers to the supreme chancellor.
5. “Wesa got a grand army. That’s why you no liking us mesa tinks.”
From: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).
On Coruscant (the ecumenopolis planet of the Senate), Jar Jar Binks is in conversation with the handmaiden Sabé (Keira Knightley), who poses as Queen Padmé Amidala Naberrie (Natalie Portman).
Jar Jar still thinks Sabé is Queen Amidala and reveals that the Gungans are warriors and have a grand army.
6. “How Wude!”
From: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).
Jar Jar says this multiple times. However, this particular case from The Phantom Menace is very fitting because it depicts the harsh reality of slaves’ lives on Tatooine.
Jar Jar has traveled to Mos Espa on Tatooine with Que-Gon Jinn and Padmé where they encounter a young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), his mother Shmi Skywalker Lars (Pernilla August), and his father, the *cough* midi-clorians.
7. “Gungans no liken outsiders, so don’t spect a warm welcome.”
From: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).
After Jar Jar has agreed to take Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn to underwater Gungan city, he leads them to Lake Paonga on Naboo but warns them that they shouldn’t expect a warm welcome.
8. “Mesa day startin pretty okee-day witda brisky morning munchen. Then BOOM! Gettin very scared and grabbin dat Jedi and POW! Mesa here! Mesa gettin’ very very scared!”
From: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).
Jar Jar meets Padmé, aka Queen Amidala in disguise, for the first time and tells her how exactly he ended up with Qui-Gon on a spaceship.
This meeting marks the beginning of the friendship between the Gungan and the Royal House of Naboo.
9. “When in trouble, Gungans go to sacred place. Mesa show you.”
From: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn travel back to Naboo with Anakin and Queen Amidala after the queen grows frustrated with the corruption in the Senate and the lack of help against the Trade Federation.
Amidala has decided to ask for help from the Gungans instead, although the two nations have not been on friendly terms for many years.
Jar Jar travels to Gungan City only to discover it has been fled, and Kenobi fears the worst. But Jar Jar reveals that the Gungans have another secret hideout they flee to.
9. “Mesa cause mabbe one, two-y little bitty axadentes, huh? Yud say boom de gasser, den crashin der bosses heyblibber, den banished.”
From: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).
In this funny scene, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Jar Jar have been granted a submarine (after a little mind trick from Qui-Gon, of course) and will take a shortcut through Naboo’s planet core to Theed, the capital city of the Naboo people.
Jar Jar isn’t thrilled about the whole situation.
10. “Ohh, maxi big da Force.”
From: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).
Also, check out the best Star Wars quotes about the force.
Still traveling in their submarine, Qui-Gon, Kenobi, and Jar Jar have barely survived scary encounters with some of the huge deep sea creatures living in Lake Paonga on Naboo.
Qui-Gon decides to take a safer route through some deep underwater tunnels, leaving Jar Jar confused.
11. “Shesa happy. Happier den mesa seein her in a longo time.”
From: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002).
In one of his few appearances in SW Ep. II, Jar Jar sees Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin again for the first time in ten years. It’s when they traveled to Coruscant to meet Senator Padme (yes, she’s become a Senator of Naboo now).
It’s an important scene. It reveals that Anakin doesn’t respect his master’s authority and shows that he gets angry when his love for Padmé isn’t reflected. Even though Jar Jar assures him she’s happy, it still isn’t enough for Anakin.
If you’re going with the Darth Binks theory, you could say that Jar Jar puts gasoline on the fire to enrage Anakin further and drive him toward the dark side. He’s saying that Padmé is happy without Anakin.
12. “Dissen berry berry bad. Oh! Icky icky goo.”
From: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).
Padme, Qui-Gon, and Jar Jar travel to Mos Elba, where they meet Anakin and his mom.
Qui-Gon tells Padmé what they can expect to meet in such a spaceport, which isn’t nice. Jar Jar gets scared and immediately steps into a big dung pile one of the local creatures has left on the ground.
This is a typical example of George Lucas breaking an ominous scene with a gag.
13. “Mesa just sharing my Gungan art ‘wit yousa.”
From: Star Wars: The Clone Wars – “Supply Lines” (S3E3) (2010)
When the planet Ryloth is under siege, the Jedi council sends Senator Bail Organa and Representative Binks of Naboo to Toydaria to convince King Katuunko to send help to Ryloth.
However, Senator Lott Dod from the Trade Federation wants to prevent this.
In this scene, Jar Jar distracts Lott with a suspicious set of table-setting skills and creates a Gungan conceptual work of art from plates and cups. While doing this, Organa loads his ship with supplies to help Ryloth.
14. “Meesa eyeball stuck in da sleeve”
From: Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Bombad Jedi (S1E8) (2008)
Padmé discovers her old friend, senator Onaconda Farr has betrayed her and allied his planet with the Separatists. Onaconda captures Padmé and promises to deliver her to Nute Gunray, In exchange for resources for his people.
To help Padmé, Jar Jar Binks disguises himself as a Jedi, but wearing a Jedi robe isn’t without problems when you’re not used to it. Especially not if you have eyes like a snail.
Final Thoughts
As with all things Star Wars, even the most hated characters tend to transform into nostalgic memories as time passes. They become part of our pop culture, so much so that fans create theories about their life and destiny.
Thus, even a much-hated character like Jar-Jar Binks now lives on in our collective memory, with fan theories ranging between him becoming both a Sith and a Jedi.
I tend to imagine that he chose the path of the dark side. After all, he is the embodiment of chaos. And he has those vicious yellow Sith eyes like Lord Darth Maul, Anakin Skywalker (aka Darth Vader), and Chancellor Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious) also do.
Plus, let’s not forget that Binks persuaded the Senate to give emergency powers to Palpatine after all and allowed for the birth of the Empire! All Sith theories aside, I thought revisiting famous quotes from the prequels’ most despised fictional character would be fun.
I hope you enjoyed these as much as I enjoyed seeing that crazy Gungan again.
Maybe you’ll enjoy these funny (almost intelligible) quotes from Minions.