Mandalorian Wrap-Up Day 2: Aliens of the
Mandalorian
If I had one beef with the Disney
Star Wars films it is this: Where are the classic trilogy aliens? Fortunately
the Mandalorian delivers where the new films fail. There are a ton of classic
aliens in the Mandalorian including Jawas, Tusken Raiders, Twi’leks, Rodians,
Nikto, and Klatooinians. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Jawa
Episode Count: 4
Jawas appear in half of the Mandalorian episodes, most notably in Chapter 2,
when the Mandalorian attempts to chase down a Sandcrawler.
Jawas are droid scavengers.
They are an enigmatic species because no one really knows what they look like
underneath their robes. Their glowing-eyes tell us that Jawas are not and many
sources imply that they are a rodent-like species. In the Star Wars films,
Jawas are only ever seen on Tatooine and are native to the planet. However in
the Mandalorain Jawas are present on Arvala-7 and Nevarro. In the original
film, many Jawas are played by children, though the diminutive the actor Jack
Pervis did portray the chief Jawa.
Ugnaught
Episode Count: 3
The Ugnaught, Kuiil, is an
important character in the Mandalorian. Though Kuiil does not sport tusks, some
Ugnaughts do.
Ugnaughts originally hail
from the swampy, volcano planet of Gentes. Due to the harsh nature of their
homeworld Ugnaughts evolved to be strong and resilient. In “The Empire Strikes
Back” Ugnaughts can be seen all over Cloud City, most notably in the Carbon
Freezing Chamber. The diminutive the actor Jack Pervis portrayed the chief
Ugnaught on Cloud City.
Devaronian
Episode Count: 1
Though a Devaronian appears only briefly in “A New Hope” the species is quite
common in the Expanded Universe. It is no coincidence that Devaronians resemble
the Devil. Short on time and budget, the costume department of Star Wars utilized
a second-hand devil costume. It should be noted that only male Devaronians
sport horns. Female Devaoronians are harder to identify but they do have two
round bumps on their foreheads in place of horns.
Burg is the Devaronian who
appears in Chapter 6 of the Mandalorian. In the episode it is implied that
Devaronians are impervious to fire attacks.
Kubaz
Episode Count: 2
The Kubaz were a mammalian
species from the outer rim that consumed insects exclusively. One might assume
the often masked Kubaz have trouble breathing on foreign worlds, but the real
story is that they are just trying to protect their eyes. Since their homeworld
orbits a blue-star, the Kubaz have trouble seeing red or yellow wavelengths.
Systems with bright yellow light could damage Kubaz eyes, and therefore eye
protection was required.
Garindan is the Kubaz bounty
hunter that appears in “A New Hope” who informs the Empire of the two missing
droids. Bizarrely, Garindan is voiced by John Wayne. Wayne was not hired to be
a part of “Star Wars” but sound designer Ben Burt did steal a bit of stock
audio from Wayne and ran it through a synthesizer to create a sort of buzzing
mosquito-like voice.
Twi’lek
Episode Count: 4
Twi’leks appear in half of
the Mandalorian episodes, most notably in Chapter 6 in which purple-skinned Xi'an tries to rescue her brother Qin from a
New Republic prison ship.
Apart from Humans, Twi’leks
might be the most widespread species of the Star Wars universe. Since their
introduction in “Return of the Jedi” they have made their way into every corner
of Star Wars media. Twil’leks are easily identified by their head tails (called
lekku). Their lekku not only house part of the Twi’leks brain but also helps
store fats and other nutrients. Twi’leks also use their lekku to communicate
with each other in a type of sign language.
Twi’leks are also known for
their often vibrant skin colors. Though, Individuals such as Bib Fortuna or
Beezer Fortuna are known to have a light tan skin color, many other Twi’leks
have green, blue, purple, orange, yellow, or red skin.
Nikto
Episode Count: 3
Nikto appear in the first
episode of the Mandalorian, where they are seen guarding “The Child” from various
bounty hunters who wish to capture it.
The Nikto are a species with
many subspecies, which makes them hard to identify. The most common Nikto are
the “Red Nikto” and the “Green Nitko”. Both of these types appear in the
Mandalorian.
The Nikto were named after a
famous line from “The Day The Earth Stood Still”: ‘Klaatu Barada Nikto’. Star
Wars action figures traditionally identify three different skiff guards as
Klaatu, Barada, and Nikto.
Klatooinian
Episode Count: 1
Klatooinian appear as marauders on planet Sorgan in Chapter 4 of the
Mandalorian.
Klatooinians first appeared
in the film “Return of the Jedi”. The dog-faced Klatooinian species often
worked as henchmen and bounty hunters. They were close associates to the Hutts
for much of galactic history. The Klatooinians even worshipped the Hutts as
god-like beings (partly due to the fact that the Hutts had an extensive
lifespan).
Trandoshan
Episode Count: 1
Trandoshans appear on planet Arvala-7
in Chapter 2 of the Mandalorian. The Trandoshans in the Mandalorian appear to
have much smaller snouts compared to Bossk and other Trandoshans that appear in
various Star Wars media.
Trandoshans are known as the
greatest hunters in the Galaxy. More often than not, the prey they hunt is
Wookiees. Trandoshans have the rare ability to grow their lost limbs back (like
Deadpool).
Few Star Wars fans realize
that Trandoshans owe their existence to another reptilian species called the
Saurin. Two Saurin appeared in the “New Hope” cantina scene. They look pretty
much like Bossk, but shorter. This is because one of the Saurin costumes was
altered and turned into the costume for Bossk.
Tusken Raider
Episode Count: 1
Tusken Raiders are a group of
desert dwellers native to planet Tatooine. They lived in nomadic clans who
believed that the sparse water in the desert has been promised to them alone.
Moisture farmers, who stole the water from the ground, were a direct threat to
Tusken culture and it was for this reason that clans would attack farmers.
Sand People often carried
Gaderffii sticks (or Gaffi sticks) as their primary weapons. The pointed ends
of these weapons were sometimes covered in sandbat venom, which could paralyze
victims.
Though the term “Tusken
Raiders” was not used in the first “Star Wars” film, it was included in some
late drafts of the film script. Fans would have heard the term at least as far
back as a 1984 source book and by the release of the prequels even casual fans
would have heard the term.
The Tusken raiders who appear
in “The Mandalorian” communicate using ASL (American Sign Language).
Yoda Species
Episode Count: 8
“The Child” is the most culturally
iconic character from “The Mandalorian” eclipsing even the Mandalorian himself.
Pop Culture refers to this character as a baby version of Jedi Master Yoda,
though most people who hold this belief publicly are quickly corrected.
In the script for “The Empire
Strikes Back”, Yoda is an old wizened stranger. He is almost a millennia old,
and there has always been a shroud of mystery surrounding the character. The
most mysterious aspect of him may be his species. In the Expanded Universe,
Yoda has no home planet, he has no species name.
Before Yaddle’s appearance in
“The Phantom Menace”, Lucas did not even want to admit that Yoda was a member
of a species. When a 1993 trading card depicting other members of Yoda’s
species was to be released, Lucas ordered all copies of it to be destroyed.
Although some cards escaped the pulping and a few have been sold on Ebay for
$400 or more. The biggest controversy around Yoda’s species (and perhaps the
biggest mystery) is the number of toes on Yoda’s feet. In the Original Trilogy,
Yoda has three front-facing toes and one back-facing toe. In “The Phantom Menace”,
however, puppets of Yoda and Yaddle are missing the back-facing toe. Various
toys and sources depict Yoda as having three, four, or five toes, though three
fingers and three toes seem to be the most common depiction.
Mythrol
Episode Count: 1
Mythrols are a blue amphibious
race. Young Mythrols could produce a sweet musk, and their glands were used as
medicine and perfume on the black market. After molting, their face would change
shape and become barbed.
A Mythrol played by Horatio Sanz appears in the first episode of the
Mandolorian. Another Mythrol, Junn Gobint, works as a mechanic for the
Resistance and appears in “The Rise of Skywalker”.
2019 wrapped up so many
fictional universes. There was the X-Men prequel series, which began with “First
Class” in 2011. There was Game of Thrones, which launched in 2011 and was the
defining TV series of the decade. There was the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
which saw the first Avengers film hit cinemas in 2012 and “Avengers Endgame”
hit cinemas this Spring. All in all the 23-film “Infinity Saga” defined the
movie culture of the whole decade. 
