The life debt was a social institution found in many honor-bound cultures throughout the galaxy, including the Wookiees, Trandoshans, Gungans, Noghri, Talz, and Srrors'tok. To summarize, if a person's life was saved by another, the saved person was obligated to pledge their life to protecting and looking after their savior, even to the point of sacrificing their own life, if necessary.