A life debt is a cultural phenomenon in which someone whose life is saved or spared by another becomes indebted or in some way connected to their savior. A life debt sometimes involves servitude, possibly until the indebted can return the favor. It may involve some spiritual or mystical connection between the two. Life debts are frequently used in fictional writing, often attributed to "deep magic."^{[citation needed]} In real life, the concept of life debts is found in some non-European cultures.

Life debts in fiction

• In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the Wookiee Chewbacca owes a life debt to Han Solo. Although it is not addressed in the movie, later Star Wars literature shows that life debts are an important part of the Wookiee culture.
• In Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon Jinn saves Jar Jar Binks from a trade federation troop carrier, after which Jar Jar follows the party. His life debt is later respected by his fellow Gungans and provides a convenient excuse for him to leave the Gungan city.
• In the Harry Potter series, Harry forbids Professor Lupin and Sirius from killing Peter Pettigrew. When Peter escapes, Dumbledore states Harry created a life debt, for which he may be glad later.
• In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Wookiee Zaalbar swears a life debt to the player in the sewers of Taris.
• In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, Wookiee bounty hunter Hanharr owes a life debt to Mira, who saved him after a trap he laid for her backfired on him. However due to his psychotic nature he felt that this made him weak, and he has twisted the life debt into something quite the opposite, believing that killing Mira will free him of his life debt.
• In the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Azeem (played by Morgan Freeman) swears a life debt to Robin (Kevin Costner), after Robin saves him from a death sentence during the Crusades, which he repays by saving his life at the end of the film.
• In Shrek 2, after a failed attack, Puss In Boots begged for mercy from Shrek and Donkey. He is spared and swears a life debt to Shrek to thank him.
• In I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Chuck owes Larry for saving his life in a fire, and Larry calls in that favor when civic red tape prevents him from naming his own two kids as his life insurance beneficiaries.
• In the Brady Bunch, Peter Brady saves Greg Brady's life after he nearly falls from a ladder and is forced into Peter's servitude until their parents put a stop to it.

This movie poster for Star Wars depicts many of the films important elements, such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters Star Wars, retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981 (see note at Title,) is the original (and in chronological... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... Chewbacca (or Chewie) is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. ... Han Solo is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. ... Star Wars is an epic science fantasy saga and fictional universe created by George Lucas during the late 1970s. ... Film poster for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 film by George Lucas starring Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and Jake Lloyd. ... Qui-Gon Jinn is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, portrayed by Liam Neeson in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. ... Jar Jar Binks (born c. ... Spoiler warning: // The Falleen are a scaled, cold-blooded, reptilian humanoid species with pigmentation that varies with mood, known to be as long lived as the Hutts (the Falleen have an average lifespan of 250 Standard Years) who inhabit and originate from the planet Falleen. ... Spoiler warning: // The Falleen are a scaled, cold-blooded, reptilian humanoid species with pigmentation that varies with mood, known to be as long lived as the Hutts (the Falleen have an average lifespan of 250 Standard Years) who inhabit and originate from the planet Falleen. ... This article is about the Harry Potter series of novels. ... Remus John Lupin, nicknamed Moony, is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. ... Sirius Black is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. ... Peter Pettigrew, often referred to by his nickname Wormtail, is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. ... Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) is an RPG video game originally for the Microsoft Xbox and later for PCs running Microsoft Windows. ... The following is a list of fictional characters from the Star Wars video games Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. ... A sewer is an artificial conduit or system of conduits used to remove sewage (human liquid waste) and to provide drainage. ... Taris is a planet in the fictional Star Wars universe. ... Hanharr is a Wookiee in the PC and Xbox game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, and can play different roles within the game, depending on the alignment of the player character. ... Mira is a bounty hunter in the fictional Star Wars universe, seen in the 2004 videogame Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. ... Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was a 1991 film directed by Kevin Reynolds. ... For the Dawsons Creek director, see Morgan J. Freeman. ... Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American film actor and director who has often produced his own films. ... This article is about historical Crusades . ... Shrek 2, which was released in the United States on May 19, 2004, is the 2004 sequel to the 2001 computer-animated DreamWorks Pictures film Shrek. ... Gustave Dor s 19th century engraving of le chat bott Puss in Boots is a European folktale collected by Charles Perrault in his Contes de ma m re lOye (Mother Goose Tales), and earlier in 1634, by Giambattista Basile as Gagliuso. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is an upcoming 2007 comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James. ... The Brady Bunch was a US television situation comedy, based around a large family. ... Peter Brady, played by Christopher Knight, was the middle son on the TV show The Brady Bunch. ... For other uses, see Ladder (disambiguation). ... Servitude may refer to: Service conscription employment Slavery indentured servitude ...

External links

• A editorial on life debts in Harry Potter
• A character page on Chewbacca, mentioning life debts