C-3PO: "You will therefore be taken to the Dune Sea and cast into the Pit of Carkoon, the nesting place of the all-powerful Sarlacc." Han Solo: "Doesn't sound so bad." C-3PO: "In its belly, you will find a new definition of pain and suffering, as you are slowly digested over a thousand years." Chewbacca: "Aaarrrr!" Han Solo: "On second thought, let's pass on that, huh?" ―C-3PO, translating for Jabba the Hutt, delivers a death sentence to Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca.
Sarlaccs are dangerous, carnivorous creatures, as well as one of Jabba the Hutt's favorite pets, that inhabited the Great Pit of Carkoon in the Dune Sea of Tatoonie. It shared common ancestry with other species, including the rathtar, blixus, and vixus.
There was some debate among xenobiologists as to whether the creature was an animal or an unusual carnivorous plant.