By George & Josh Bate
Some of the creatures of the Star Wars universe are wondrous, others are terrifying, but a commonality is that they are all interesting. In the new reference book Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1: Creatures of the Galaxy, author S.T. Bende and illustrator Iris Compiet have crafted an in-universe guide to the non-sentient species from a galaxy far, far away. The book is written from the perspective of Ardis San Tekka, a creature cartographer and member of the famous San Tekka family.
The book is filled to the brim with fascinating facts and reveals, which led us to collect 10 of our favorite ones here.
Here are 10 Things We Learned from Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1: Creatures of the Galaxy….
The Oki-Poki were a species introduced to Star Wars in The Rise of Skywalker. Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1. reveals that the Oki-Poki have “brilliant blue eyes within very large ears.” This “unique placement enables the Oki-Poki to see sounds: Their eyes vibrate in tune with their cavernous, tufted ears.”
There are several subspecies of Rancors, as discussed in Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1. As the book details, “Jungle Rancors are native to Felucia.” Meanwhile, “Shadow Rancors ave a darker skin tone and a more destructive nature than the primary species.” Another subspecies is Rage Rancors, who “stand taller than their counterparts and possess a heightened level of rage.” Finally, “Wild Rancors exist in groups called a Crash, with a singular alpha exerting dominance over the rest of the group until he is challenged and defeated.”
In the section about Zillo Beasts, the book explains that a cloned Zillo was discovered on the planet of Silla and taken to an Imperial stronghold on Tantiss. “It is said to have escaped, although its precise whereabouts remain unknown,” creature cartographer Ardis San Tekka describes.” This confirms that the cloned Zillo Beast from The Bad Batch is still out there and could feature in a future Star Wars story.
Porgs are fascinated by sparkly, shiny objects and will “peck you until you give them your jewelry…or your arm.” This explains why the Porgs were fascinated with Luke’s lightsaber on Ahch-To in The Last Jedi.
The massive space whales termed Purrgil made their live-action debut in Ahsoka Season 1 and, before that, first appeared in Star Wars Rebels. Ardis San Tekka in Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1 describes Purrgils as “playful creatures” and elaborates that “if you toss a space rock to them, they’ll swat it back at you with their tentacles.”
Mythosaurs have long been a fixture of Mandalorian culture in Legends, but were more recently confirmed to be in canon in The Mandalorian Season 3. Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1 has a section on Mythosaurs, which describes them as “massive” and “not-so-mythical,” a reference to these creatures actually being real and far more than just myth. The book goes on to explain that “according to legend, the Mythosaurs were tamed by Mandalore the Great and were ridden by ancient Mandalorians.”
The Mythosaur section of the book also teases that there is more to come of these creatures in future Star Wars stories. “Mandalorians believe that Mythosaurs will one day rise up to usher in a new age for their people.” This is most certainly in line with the conclusion of The Mandalorian Season 3, which similarly teased that we will see these creatures once again.
Groups of Rathtar (the dangerous species introduced in The Force Awakens) are called “Remorses.” There is also a subspecies known as Dwarf Rathtar. Although smaller in size, it is still probably best to avoid any and all Rathtars.
Loth-Cats’ favorite food is Loth-Rats.
The deadly Nexu (seen in the arena sequence of Attack of the Clones) have “multiple methods of sight, using two of its eyes for visual tracking and the others as infrared sensors to detect body heat.”
Check out a gallery of pages from Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1: Creatures of the Galaxy below….
All of this is just a sample of the interesting information packed within Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1: Creatures of the Galaxy.
Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1: Creatures of the Galaxy is published by Insight Editions and can be purchased here.