| Species All text from the official Star Wars Encyclopedia |
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| Jawa: Intelligent but smelly scavengers of the desert, these rodentlike creatures are natives of Tatooine. About a meter tall and constantly jabbering away in their own language, Jawas have a clan mentality. To protect themselves from the fierce double suns of their planet, they wear coarse, homespun cloaks with hoods; only their glowing eyes are visible. Jawas travel and live in bands, using giant, treaded vehicles known as sandcrawlers for mobility and shelter. The crawlers can hold up to 300 Jawas as well as the droids and other machinery that they scavenge, repair, and resell to Tatooine moisture farmers and others. They often find water by inserting long, thin hoses down the stems of the funnel flower and siphoning off the liquid there. The hubba gourd, a difficult-to-digest fruit, is their primary food; in Jawa language, hubba means "the staff of life." Jawa society is tightly knit, with large family units. There are forty-three different terms to describe relationships, and lineage and bloodlines are carefully recorded. Once each year before the storm season, Jawas make a trek to the great basin of the Dune Sea for a huge secret rendezvous that becomes a great swap meet where they exchange salvaged items. |
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| Mon Calamari: A two-legged amphibious species from a planet of the same name, these gentle beings became powerful allies of the Rebel Alliance after the Empire invaded their world. Forced into slave labor to help build the Imperial war machine, the Mon Calamari watch many of their cities crumble under the Empire's capricious destruction, intended to frighten all those who opposed the Emperor's New Order. But the peaceful Mon Calamari were turned into a formidable fighting force for the Alliance, and brought with them badly needed capital starships and the military leadership of Ackbar. |
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| Rancor: A fearsome beast, this carnivore stands about five meters tall, walkes on two legs, and has some of the characteristics of a reptile. A rancor has long arms that seem out of proportion, huge fangs, and long, sharp claws. One rancor, a gift to crime lord Jabba the Hutt on his birthday, was kept as a pet in a special pit in Jabba's desert palace on Tatooine. The rancor was both a source of entertainment and a way to get rid of employees and others who failed Jabba. Located under Jabba's court, the pit provided an excellent view of victims struggling to fend off the huge beast. Luke Skywalker was forced to kill the rancor when Jabba dropped him into the pit. Semisentient rancors are common on the planet of Dathomir, and they have been domesticated and used by the Witches of Dathomir as pack animals and personal mounts. Rancors are also found in the Ottethan system. |
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| Rodian: Beings with rough green skin, multifaceted eyes, and tapirlike snouts, they come from the planet Rodia. A ridge of spines top a Rodian's skull, and their long, flexible fingers end in suction cups. Rodians are primarily hunters (including bounty hunters) and fighters, though some clans, most notably the Tetsus, are peaceful. |
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| Ronto: A huge but gentle pack animal, it is used as a beast of burden by the Jawas on Tatooine. Rontos, witch average about 4.25 meters talkk are known for both their loyalty and their strength. They can carry hundreds of kilograms of equipment and are large enough to frighten off most attackers, including Tusken Raiders. They are also skittish and easily spooked, especially in more conjested areas. Rontos, which are saurian in appearance, are easy to train and are quite fond of their masters. They have superb sense of smell - they can pick up a krayt dragon a kilometer away - but because of their poor vision they are often startled by sudden movement. Rontos need plenty of water, but since their skin easily sheds excess heat, they are well suited to Tatooine's harsh desert environment. |