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In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, there is a very well known scene at Mos Eisley Cantina of the brief confrontation between Obi-Wan Kenobi, Dr. Cornelius Evazan and Ponda Baba where the noble Jedi master, after his diplomatic skills failed, didn't use the Force but drew his ancient laser weapon and chopped off the Walrus Man's limb.

After chaos was over, a mess had been created.

From A New Hope novelization, there were:

...scraping of mugs and pitchers and other drinking devices on tabletops. The bartender and several assistants appeared to drag the unsightly corpses out of the room, while the mutilated human vanished wordlessly into the crowd.

Typically, in aforementioned events, bar or cantina etiquette expects patrons to utter an apology or flip some coins to the owner of the establishment (the bartender, in this case) for the mess or collateral damage done, as Han Solo did later on, but Kenobi never did any of that.

It is understood that Kenobi wanted to make to the other pirates that he and Luke were not figures to mess with, but why Kenobi didn't pay a single credit for his mess?

UPDATE: By the way, there is a recent cantina scene in The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm, where Black Krrsantan attacks a group of Trandoshans causing havoc and destruction that considerable runs up his bar tab as a result of his destructive and messy assault, and even though the owner of the place, Garsa Fwip, offers him to forget his debt if he stops the fight and let the fine patrons get back to their fun, the infamous Wookiee bounty hunter, curiously,...

tore the arm off of one of his Trandoshan victims

..., pay his tab and left the cantina.

Still image from Star Wars A New Hope

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    Han probably made a mess of the table (at least in the only true version of the scene) and the seat Greedo was sitting on; Obi-Wan just dumped some crap on a floor that's probably seen worse. Han was paying for the damage, not merely the inconvenience of disposing of the body.
    – DavidW
    Jan 21, 2022 at 21:15
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    It was the other guy who had to pay for the damage. It cost an arm and a leg.
    – Pete
    Jan 21, 2022 at 22:23
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    In a seedy joint like this, it's just business as usual.
    – Spencer
    Jan 21, 2022 at 22:57
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    @Spencer has it right. Mos Eisley is a wretched hive of scum and villainy, this stuff happens all the time. (As you say, Han shoots someone like 5 minutes later.) Plus Obi-wan didn’t start the fight, and he tried to placate the person who did peacefully first. He had nothing to apologise for.
    – Paul D. Waite
    Jan 21, 2022 at 23:12
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    Is this etiquette rule documented somewhere? I feel I've been unintentionally rude to many bars in hindsight.
    – lucasbachmann
    Jan 22, 2022 at 3:41

3 Answers 3

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The largest reason would be the one they mentioned in their meeting with Han: they were strapped for cash (transcript)

BEN: Only passengers. Myself, the boy, two droids, and no questions asked.

HAN: What is it? Some kind of local trouble?

BEN: Let's just say we'd like to avoid any Imperial entanglements.

HAN: Well, that's the trick, isn't it? And it's going to cost you something extra. Ten thousand in advance.

LUKE: Ten thousand? We could almost buy our own ship for that!

HAN: But who's going to fly it, kid! You?

LUKE: You bet I could. I'm not such a bad pilot myself! We don't have to sit here and listen...

BEN: We haven't that much with us. But we could pay you two thousand now, plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan.

HAN: Seventeen, huh!

There's also the tiny fact that both were (ostensibly) leaving Tatooine for good

BEN: You'll have to sell your speeder.

LUKE: That's okay. I'm never coming back to this planet again.

Han, on the other hand, would almost certainly return. Making people he would see again angry at him wouldn't be good for business. And then there's the fact that Obi-Wan might have done the barkeeper a favor by offing them

HUMAN: Don't insult us. You just watch yourself. We're wanted men. I have the death sentence in twelve systems.

Considering they started a fight just because they didn't like Luke, they probably weren't good for business.

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Wuher (the Bartender) recognised Ben as a Jedi and, as a result of his past dealings with them, was disinclined to approach him.

I don’t much know what happened here today. I know I kicked a couple of dirty droids out, because you can’t trust dirty droids. I know that there was a nasty character here who told me his name was Roofoo and that his friend was Sawkee, but he was really someone named Evazan, and his friend was Ponda Baba. I know they messed with the wrong farmboy, because that farmboy had a friend: a hermit who up until now was just that, just a hermit. But I think he was more than a hermit. I think he was a Jedi of old. I thought they were dead and gone, the Jedi. They once saved my life, those Jedi, saved me from a whole battalion of dirty droids. So I’m inclined to give this one a pass. And you should, too.

From a Certain Point of View: We Don't Serve Their Kind Here

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Personally, the guy was wanted on how many planets? Easy cash to turn in for his death. I would be quick to clean up the mess and cash in.

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    As far as I'm aware, there's no good indication that this is what anyone in the bar is thinking. Can you offer evidence to support this statement?
    – Valorum
    Jan 23, 2022 at 15:31

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