Lucasfilm has created countless alien species over the years for Star Wars.
Here’s the story of how 25 of those species evolved over time.
And in the new animated series,Rebels, the alien Zeb is one of the most important characters.
In most cases, the memorable creatures fromStar Warsbegan as rough sketches and simple phrases.
Tauntauns were snow lizards.
The two-mouthed Ithorian was known as Hammerhead, a nickname that entered official material.
Several designs were recycled or re-imagined asStar Warsgrew, showing Lucas proclivities and style along with the franchise style.
Many aliens inStar Warshave tentacles and horns, or both in the case of the Chagrians.
Others, like the Mon Calamari, are based on real animals.
Hokey they may be, but the fishy heads are part of the charm.
This list references both canon and Legends stories, and counts only sentient species capable of higher intelligence.
Not animals like the rancor…although theyre cool, too.
Besides their appearance, these little creatures have an equally foggy in-universe origin.
Its also suggested that the Jawas could be rodent-like and devolved humans.
Of course, when it comes to the Jawas, the juries still out.
In that draft, they had red eyes and drove landspeeders in that draft.
Sound designer extraordinaire created the Sand Peoples distinctive howl from the brays of a donkey.
RinzlersThe Making of Star Wars.
A bandoleer was part of the early designs and made the character look more technologically advanced.
Lucas would spend a little time every day changing Chewbaccas nose.
I kept pulling the nose out and pushing it back in, he says in the book.
Greedo was designed as a Martian, the green, bug-eyed aliens of Roswell pop culture.
Actor Declan Mulholland substituted for the alien, who most people know fromReturn of the Jedi.
Notes on the script ofReturn of the Jedidescribe Jabba as a repulsively fat sultan-like monster with a maniacal grin.
Phil Tippett developed the final slug-like design.
For theAnnotated Screenplays, George Lucas told Laurent Bouzerau that he originally imagined Jabba to be furry.
Nilo Rodis-Jamero created a version of Jabba that looked like literally Orson Welles.
Early concept art shows bug-eyed toothy characters.
During production ofReturn of the Jedi, Gamorreans were simply known as Pig Guards.
Twileks
Theres always a Twilek.
Thats not a bad thing.
Twileks are graceful and fun, and their multi-colored skins make them visually interesting.
In the storyboard forReturn of the Jedi, Oola wasnt always a Twilek.
So how did these two become the same, tentacled species?
Many monster masks and prosthetics were made for Jabbas palace.
Among them, Rinzler describes snakeheads, which may have been referring to both Twileks.
The hirsute singer in the band that performs at Jabbas Palace in the Special Edition is also a Yuzzum.
Mon Calamari
Admiral Ackbar was not always supposed to be the commander of the Rebel fleet.
According toThe Making of Return of the Jedi, Marquand chose to highlight Ackbar.
The army of Wookiees that appears inRevenge of the Sithis the culmination of that plan, many years later.
The Wookiees, already represented by the technologically savvy Chewbacca, were too high-tech.
So Lucas changed the Ewoks height and made them a different species entirely.
Sullustans
TheReturn of the Jedinovelization described the Sullustans as a jowled, mouse-eyed creature.
But later reference books describe the Sullustans as jowled, mouse-eared.
This is believed to be an error that first appeared in the 1987Star Wars Sourcebook.
Beetjes writes that Doug Chiangs original designs for the Neimoidians were intended to look similar to Separatist battle droids.
Gungans
Despite Jar Jar Binks, Gungans have a lot of potential.
Theyre amphibious warriors with alien weapons.
They were used as an army inThe Clone Wars, too.
Their duck-billed faces were modeled not after modern ducks, but after the duck-billed dinosaurs, the hadrosaurs.
Early concept art of Gungans by Terryl Whitlatch resembles diminutive, two-legged frogs.
That idea was re-used twice in laterStar Warsmaterial.
InThe Clone Wars, a similar look became the puffed-up General Meebur Gascon.
His species is called the Zilkin.
In part, this is because they werent constrained to being portrayed by an actor in a suit.
Dugs walk on their forelimbs and manipulate with their legs, giving them a crab-like, low-slung appearance.
This change came about in part because of Darth Mauls backstory.
No longer a native of Iridonia,The Clone Warsestablished him as a son of Dathomir instead.
The final design kept two bullish horns and moved the other two to the bottom of the Chagrians face.
In the Legends Expanded Universe, the Chagrians were an amphibious race, born as tadpoles.
They are called Whatnots, live on Cloud City, and carry spears or dart guns.
The dart guns would be included inAttack of the Clonesas Kaminoan creations.
They still have the long, battle-droid like face, but were made more buglike.
Early ideas for the Genosians had them change color, like chameleons.
Geonosis itself was designed to contrast Kamino, rust-colored and desert instead of watery and clean.
Dermot Power concept art forAttack of the Clonesshows a Sith character with stubby green tentacles and small eyes.
Although most Nautolans seen inStar Warshave green skin, Legends characters have also sported blue or pinkish hues.
Lurmen were originally supposed to be the residents of Utapau.
These early Lasat had tails and were brown instead of Zebs purple.
They also lacked the prehensile, quadactyl feet Zeb has inRebels.
Megan Crouse is a staff writer.
