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From A New Hope:

Chewbacca: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrgh!
C-3PO: He made a fair move. Screaming about it can't help you.
Han Solo: Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookiee.
C-3PO: But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid.
Han Solo: That's 'cause droids don't pull people's arms out of their sockets when they lose. Wookiees are known to do that.
Chewbacca: Grrf.
C-3PO: I see your point, sir. I suggest a new strategy, R2: let the Wookiee win.

While Han was probably joking, it raises the question; was Han basing this on personal experience? Had he ever seen Chewbacca rip anyone's arms off?

Chewbacca ripping out the arms of a stormtrooper

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  • 6
    I was going to say, if you play Lego Star Wars as the Chewbacca character, he rips pretty much everyone's arms off.
    – Wad Cheber
    Sep 27, 2015 at 0:05
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    I love how happy he looks when he rips people's arms off.
    – Wad Cheber
    Dec 1, 2015 at 1:49
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    It's interesting how people read Han's statement as the arms being torn completely off. Threat of a mere shoulder dislocation would be enough of a deterrent for me to throw the game.
    – Kyle Jones
    Dec 1, 2015 at 21:36

4 Answers 4

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In Legends: Yes

Wookieepedia says:

  • Ssoh (From Star Wars: Chewbacca)

    Ssoh became the only Trandoshan to live after a hand-to-hand battle with Chewbacca after the enraged Wookiee ripped his arms and his legs out of their sockets

    Angry Chewie

  • An unfortunate droid enter image description here (From The Art of Star Wars Galaxy: Volume Two)

    Chewbacca angrily pulls a droid's arm out of its socket over a holoboard game.

And then, of course, in the Lego Games...

enter image description here

But in canon

The canon section only makes reference to the excerpt from A New Hope cited in the question. Hence, it's reasonable to assume that Chewbacca probably has pulled out someone's arms before in canon, it's just we haven't seen it!

On a side note...

The Wookieepedia page on Wookiees explains that:

Wookiees also had the justified reputation of ripping the arms of their enemies out of their sockets, which was known to occur in instances of losing a game. That state of racial rage served as the basis of the deal-slang expression "wookinate", which referred to the rendering harmless an enemy using excessive force—obviously referring to the great physical strength that provided the essence of Wookiee combat

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    It's only a flesh wound!
    – Rogue Jedi
    Sep 27, 2015 at 0:34
  • Wait, is the droid image from Star Wars: Chewbacca or from the art book?
    – Rogue Jedi
    Sep 27, 2015 at 0:39
  • @RogueJedi sorry for that confusion; I've reformatted it to make it more clear :D
    – Often Right
    Sep 27, 2015 at 0:41
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    I was ahem "acquiring" the comic to answer this, so I figured I may as well improve your answer with what I found
    – Jason Baker
    Sep 27, 2015 at 0:47
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    For the record, I think this answer should remain the accepted one, due to its thoroughness and attention to detail, despite the fact that my answer cites new canon which makes the answer indisputably yes :-)
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Jan 13, 2016 at 12:01
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Yes, he has (sorta).

In the latest edition of the Marvel Star Wars comics (considered a full part of the Star Wars canon) Chewie does indeed rip a droid's arm off. He then proceeds to use the ragged end to beat the unfortunate former owner to death.

You may wish to note that this is set after after ANH and that Han was actually not present at the time of the assault.

enter image description here

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In a deleted scene from The Force Awakens (2015) the character Unkar Plutt gets his arm ripped off by Chewbacca after he confronts and threatens Rey in Maz Kanata’s castle. Unkar harasses Chewbacca by poking him in the arm—right where he was wounded—and Chewbacca responds in kind by ripping Unkar’s arm off. This scene is supposedly a part of the deleted scenes on the Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D Blu-Ray that was released on November 15, 2016.

Just note that I’m not too clear on whether a deleted scene like this is considered “canon” but I guess that is hinged on whether Unkar Plutt shows up with both arms intact in a future film.

Unkar Plutt pokes Chewbacca in his wounded arm.

Currently active YouTube video can be found here. It can also be seen on Imgur right here.

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    It's just a flesh wound...
    – Machavity
    Jan 17, 2017 at 3:11
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    I wish they'd left that in.
    – Tim
    Jan 17, 2017 at 3:13
  • Not canon, but still funny.
    – Valorum
    Jan 17, 2017 at 7:36
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The release of new canon necessitates a new answer to this question.

Yes, in canon too.

In Alan Dean Foster's novelisation of Star Wars: the Force Awakens, Chewbacca rips off Unkar Plutt's arm:

Grabbing the thrusting arm, a roaring Chewbacca twisted and ripped it off at the shoulder, throwing the dismembered limb clear across the room. Looking down at himself, Plutt let out a scream of agony

Although this didn't appear in the released film, rumour has it that it was filmed in a scene which has since been deleted.

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    @Valorum I didn't say they were ... but novelisations are, right? I'm not sure why this answer merited a downvote.
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Jan 17, 2017 at 13:57
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    @Valorum "The novelisations are only canon where they agree with the final cut of the movie" - really? From here, it still seems to be unclear whether novelisations count as canon whenever they don't contradict the film or only when they directly parrot the film. Does that mean all answers which are based on novelisations alone are worth downvoting?
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Jan 17, 2017 at 14:25
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    @Valorum Does the arm-ripping-off thing disagree with what happened on-screen? The newer (and undownvoted) answer from Jake Gould suggests that later films may confirm that this did happen off-screen, if Plutt shows up again with only one arm. If so, then surely this is a case where the novelisation is "elaborat[ing] on things that happened off screen".
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Jan 17, 2017 at 14:50
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    @Valorum I have rewatched the movie, and can confirm it's definitely possible chewie ripped somebody's arm off, specifically between the first test/firing of Starkiller base (where everybody runs out to see) and when Maz leads Han and co. to the lightsaber.
    – user57650
    Jan 17, 2017 at 16:50
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    It's stated earlier in the movie when they first meet Maz that chewie is working on the ship, I assume he runs outside to look at the pretty explosions in the sky and then follows han and co. back inside. At any point from there on until they leave the castle again, he could have ripped the arm off. I don't know exactly when the novel says that happened however.
    – user57650
    Jan 17, 2017 at 16:51

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