The width and breadth of the Star Wars Universe can only be measured in the sheer number of species it contains. The plenitude of its many and colorful beings provides a foundation for many imaginative storylines, from tragic to heroic, and everywhere in-between. The galaxy far, far away that George Lucas created has dazzled audiences with beings both large and small, wherein some of the smallest accomplish some of the biggest changes.
From the moment that Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi walked into the Mos Eisley Cantina, everything about the Star Wars narrative changed. Until that point, the beings that audiences had seen were Jawas, Tusken Raiders, and droids. In that moment, our eyes traveled over creatures of every conceivable physical orientation. There were long snouts, huge eyes, scales, fur, and suddenly Luke and Obi-Wan found themselves some of the only humans in sight. Though the species of the Star Wars Universe are more numerous than this article can possibly contain, we’ve gathered 26 of the most powerful and ranked them accordingly. To qualify, they had to have some impactful moment either on screen or in the pages of Star Wars novels and comics, as well as influenced the machinations of the galaxy’s most prominent events.
26 JAWA
With their glowing orange eyes peering out suspiciously from dusty red hoods and furry, black grabbing hands, jawas make the galactic citizens they encounter put a hand over their pocketbooks. To see a jawa is to know two things: you might be about to get your possessions stolen or you might be able to strike a deal for theirs. Either way, you’re getting robbed. Known famously on Tatooine for being scavengers, jawas are in the business of trade and commerce at all levels. All levels of scrap and shoddily refurbished droids, that is. They hungrily comb the desert for anything they can trade to local moisture farmers, such as Luke Skywalker and his Uncle Owen, in the case of C-3PO and R2-D2.
Much speculation has been made about what jawas look like beneath their robes. Since jawas have been known to vary in height (most being a meter tall, some as tall as a human), Tatooine inhabitants have wondered if they are a devolved version of themselves, or some sort of mutated rodent creature. They smell atrocious, but that’s to their benefit, as scent plays a part in their use of Jawaese, which is impossible to understand by anyone other than a jawa -- perfect for discussing shady bargains. Since the abandonment of mining facilities on Tatooine, jawas utilized their leftover sandcrawlers as their main method of transport, filling them with debris from crashed ships, busted podracers, and droids.
25 VORNSKR
Graceful, agile predators, Vornskr are a species of Force-sensitive canine creatures that hail from the planet Myrkr. They live in packs, consisting of an alpha, beta, and several females. Females deliver litters of pups, and make their dens beneath large trees. They track and feast on the ysalamiri, creatures also sensitive to The Force, that have learned to project a bubble around themselves that nullifies its effects and dissuading Vornskr attacks. Because of the Vornskr lust for ysalamiri meat, they also have developed a taste for any Force-sensitive creature, including Jedi. With their sleek black bodies and whip-like tails filled with venom, they are perfect predators who prefer to stalk and stun their prey before devouring it.
The lightsaber dueling style of Jedi Master Mace Windu, Form VII, was once referred to as the Way of the Vornskr. The Jedi swordsman had once faced down several singlehandedly, and admired the precision of their coordinated attacks. The smuggler Talon Karrde, owner of two tamed Vornskr named Sturm and Drang, once used them as bait for members of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. While he was successful in that endeavour, the Vong eventually would use the canine creatures for their biological experiments and create mutant species based off their DNA. Vornskr were also used as the guards of Sith temples.
24 TUSKEN RAIDER
On the windswept, desert planet of Tatooine local moisture farmers have to be on their guard wandering the wastes alone. Tusken Raiders, or “Sand People” frequently prey on unsuspecting travelers, especially those encountered alone. Their raiding parties, comprised of the males of their species, are known to be aggressive and incredibly brutal. They stand roughly two meters in height, garb themselves in tan robes to protect against the heat and sand, and use horned face coverings that resemble gas masks to conceal their features and make themselves more fearsome. Their weapon of choice is a war pike, which they use to beat their prey unconscious, as well as a long distance rifle to pick off prey from a distance.
Tusken Raiders live in huts comprised of a combination of coarse canvas-like fabric, and a mixture of mud and water they use to harden and shape it around wooden structures. The women tend to the young and scavenge, while the men make raiding parties and set off in search of victims that get lost among the dunes. They are known for the domestication of banthas, the large, shaggy beasts with encircling horns that lumber across Tatooine. Though slow, the men ride them into battle, while the women use them as beasts of burden around their encampments. Bantha steak is a renowned food staple on Tatooine, and bantha milk is rich in nutrients and has a pleasant taste.
23 WAMPA
Though it might not seem like anything can really survive on Hoth (what with tauntauns dropping like flies near a Hutt’s backside), the wampa manages to trudge the glacial tundra with a thirst for the kill. Standing a hulking mass of white fur at over three meters, it had sharp claws at the end of its massive arms, flesh-tearing teeth, and round horns. Packs of wampas often attacked the Rebel Alliance base on Hoth, requiring signage be posted warning of their potential presence.
While doing a routine scouting mission outside Echo Base, Luke Skywalker was attacked by a wampa. It slaughtered his tauntaun and rendered him unconscious. While it feasted on Luke’s mount, it left him hanging upside down in its ice cave. Wampas often sneak up on their prey, stun them, and fuse them to the ceiling of their dwellings. In this manner, they can come back for seconds and thirds of their victims whenever they please. Their ice cave acts like one massive refrigerator. Luke eventually has to concentrate (while the blood is rushing to his head) and use The Force to bring his lightsaber to his hand. The wampa, sensing its midnight snack is about to escape, charges over to deliver the killing blow, only to have its arm sliced off. Behind the scenes knowledge from The Empire Strikes Back suggests that the wampa scene was added to explain the slight change in actor Mark Hamill’s face after a car accident disfigured it, requiring plastic surgery.
22 TRANDOSHAN
Like the wookiees, Trandoshans are a bipedal species of warriors that relish honorable deeds. Unlike the wookiees, Trandoshans also relish the hunt, and claim trophies from their victims to earn status. Perhaps this is why the wookiees, known for being unmaterialistic, despise the Trandoshans... or perhaps it's because they tend to enslave them. Trandoshans are tall, smooth-scaled reptilian creatures with orange eyes, snouts, and strong arms that end in three-digit clawed hands.
Trandoshan clans erected an immense game preserve on the moon Wasskah during the time of the Clone Wars, where they hold complex hunts by releasing captured prisoners into the environment or by waiting for wayward travelers to land on the moon itself. They welcome the sport the hunt provides, and many Trandoshan males earn the honor of their clan by being successful in their first hunt. One of the most infamous Trandoshans in the galaxy is Bossk, who made his first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back as one of several bounty hunters Darth Vader hired to track down the Millennium Falcon and capture Han Solo. It’s the Mandalorian bounty hunter Boba Fett that claims the prize, who Bossk had worked with on several occasions. Fett found him ruthless, like the vast majority of his species, but not without cunning intelligence to match his ferocity in battle.
21 NEXU
Found on the planets Cholganna and Zhanox, the graceful and terrifying Nexu are known for being agile and stealthy predators. Measuring four and a half meters, covered in white and purple striped fur and quills, they had abnormally large mouths full of razor-sharp teeth as well as sharp claws. Though feline in appearance, their four red eyes made them have an arachnid quality. Fast and cunning hunters, their light weight made them perfect killing machines, though their lack of bulk made them easy to incapacitate (provided you could get a hit in).
When Obi-Wan Kenobi, his apprentice Anakin Skywalker, and Padme Amidala found themselves in the Petranaki Arena on Geonosis, a Nexu was one of the foes they faced. Though they were in a gladiatorial arena, the fight was anything but fair as they were chained to poles, and intended to be executed. Padme found herself facing off the Nexu, but her quick reflexes and resourcefulness found her able to use her chains to climb her pole. She was then able to use it to strike at the head of the Nexu, which could occasionally scale it and get a few good swipes in to her. It was all thanks to the Nexu that Padme’s outfit became a tattered two-piece.
20 ACKLAY
On the watery world of Vendaxa, acklays are a species of amphibious reptilian crustaceans that can live both in the sea and on dry land. With an armored shell covering their bodies, six skin-covered and calloused legs, and hands that it used to grapple it’s prey with as it brought it towards its needle-filled mouth. A vestigial organ beneath its chin helped it locate prey by electrical currents it emitted, which it would then attempt to spear with its legs. Their sharp teeth minced their prey, and their stomachs could expand to three times their initial size, implying the acklay could pack in quite a few Jedi snacks.
In the Geonosian arena of Petranaki, an acklay went after Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and it was only after getting a spear away from a Geonosian picador could the Jedi begin to fight back. Though he was pleased to deliver a decisive blow to the scuttling creature, a decisive snap of its jaws broke the spear and left him helpless. It was only after Master Mace Windu and his assault team of Jedi stormed the arena and gave Obi-Wan a lightsaber could he deftly neutralize the beast’s threat. It was one half of a mated pair kept at the arena, so somewhere, a lone acklay mourned the loss of its feisty partner.
19 GORAX
In case you thought nothing bigger than an Ewok lived on Endor, be glad you never ran into a Gorax. Giant, shaggy creatures with gnarled faces and long ears, they raided Ewok villages for their meals, and sometimes just because they didn’t like the little fuzzy buggers. Five times the size of a human and known for their ornery temperament, the Ewoks lived in constant fear of a Gorax attack. A Gorax could not only swallow an Ewok whole (or five), it could also rip a tree out with ease, roots and all, meaning entire Ewok villages could be torn down in a matter of minutes.
Gorax first appeared in Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure, which premiered in 1984 on national television. It followed a family of colonist scientists who crash land on the planet of Endor and have to survive with two small children. The parents are kidnapped by a Gorax, who takes them back to its lair in the mountainous region, leaving the children no choice but to appeal to the Ewoks for help in rescuing them. The young girl Cindel befriends Wicket, whose diplomatic skills had been instrumental in getting the Bright Tree Ewoks to rally around Princess Leia and the Rebel Alliance’s fight against the Empire.
18 SANDO AQUA MONSTER
Some people don’t go swimming because of jaws. Some gungans don’t go swimming because of the Sando Aqua Monster. Twice the size of a Sarlacc, these carnivorous creatures dwell in the oceans and lakes of Naboo. Due to their enormous size, and the effort it takes for their enormous limbs to tread water, they have to constantly feed. Their diet consists of everything from entire schools of fish to the chewy opee sea monster. Sandos are powerfully built creatures, with long felinoid bodies that ripple with muscles. Their giant mouths contain multiple rows of sharp, needle like teeth, which they used to slice through the flesh of their prey.
Many legends exist about these majestic and terrifying creatures, contributed to by Naboo citizens and small children. Knowing the truth about their habits would be easily done, if the Naboo were ever interested in asking a gungan. Much of what anyone knows about Sandos has come from gungan exploration and a few researchers from the surface. Sandos have a lifespan of about a hundred years, and females bear only one pup at a time. Due to the fact that they have both claws and flippers, it’s believed that they evolved from land dwelling mammals. Most had never been close enough to observe their eating habits, but Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Jar Jar Binks got a full show when they witnessed a Sando tearing into the opee sea killer that had been chasing them.
17 RANCOR
One of the most iconic species in Star Wars canon is the rancor, a massive monster from the planet Dathomir. One in particular, a female, found fame beneath Jabba the Hutt’s palace as his pet (as well as a major deterrent to negotiations that didn’t go in his favor). Rancors stand five meters tall, have arms that are twice as long as their legs, and have massive claws but relatively small mouths. Their hide is thick and resistant to blaster fire, making them formidable opponents.
Though they are found predominantly on Dathomir, a sub-species of rancor, called the “jungle rancor” can be found on the planet of Felucia and also Teth. While known for being particularly ornery and vicious to prey, rancors are fiercely protective of their young. A carnivorous species, both male and female rancors hunt for food, either for themselves or for their brood. Rancors have been known to be domesticated, as they were by The Force-sensitive Night Sisters. According to Star Wars Legends, the Night Sisters use a combination of The Force and witchcraft to create incantations and conjure visions. They are known to ride rancors, utilizing them for their intimidating physical qualities as well as their known tempers.
