Alien Compendium: The Rise of Skywalker

Now that the movie has been released, it’s about time to do a roundup of all the new alien species we find in the last installment of the Skywalker Saga. Thus far we’ve unfortunately only had one source of information really, which is the Visual Dictionary that goes with the movie. Luckily, this time around the Visual Dictionary is much bigger than the previous guides, and comparable to the Official Guide they did for the Solo movie. The StarWars.com databank doesn’t really add any new info, and neither does The Art of the Rise of Skywalker.

The Resistance

We get a couple of new species in the Resistance, and interestingly few of the previously introduced species returns, except for the Abednedo and the Tarsunt. Since we know that not many of the original Resistance members survived the evacuations of D’Qar and Crait, we can probably assume these other characters to have died.

The Caphex from Caphexdis were actually named in the Battlefront II DLC that came out with the movie, which introduced the Caphex as a new playable unit. A Caphex named Seossra Thwisp can be seen passing behind Poe, Finn and Rey when they are bickering about the Lightspeed skipping. Dellso Prin is a Cingulon, who works with the Resistance as a mechanic. He was played by Nick Kellington. In various scenes on Ajan Kloss we see the insect-like Cyclorrians. There’s at least two members of this species present, Vazzet Dipterz who sits atop a loadlifter workframe, and Wizzich Mozzer (played by Warrick Davis). The Didynon are a species from Didyma V. One Didynon named Engi Golba (played by Ed Sheeran) was part of the Resistance Assault Force, and can be seen clearly during the final briefing.

The Lacertilo are an amphibious species with large mouths and compound lungs. Bo Rogiave is a Lacertilo who is part of the Resistance assault force at Exegol. The Mohsenians are a mole-like species with white fur and dexterous claw fingers. They have extremely sensitive olfactory receptors, and can actually smell illness. A Mohsenian named Twylope Nur can be spotted when the Millennium Falcon returns from the mission at the beginning of the movie. Junn Gobint is a Mythrol, a species we originally saw in The Mandalorian. Although they look quite different, the differences are explained by the fact that Junn is a post-fledgling Mythrol. He can be seen standing behind C-3PO when R2-D2 receives the message from Luke’s X-Wing.  The Ovissians are a species with green skin and large horns protruding from the side of their head and their chin. Boolio is an Ovissian that is affiliated with the Resistance, and supplies Poe and his crew with valuable information on the Sinta Glacier asteroid before being killed by the First Order. Boolio was played by Aiden Cook and voiced by Mark Hamill.

The Reesarians are a red-skinned species with sharp eyesight, and the ability to see into both the infrared and the ultraviolet ends of the spectrum. A pair of Reesarians, by the name of Phenlass and Odla Sur have joined the resistance, and can be seen standing under the Tantive during the initial briefing on Ajan Kloss with the message brought back by Poe Dameron. Yipsit is a Shahkirin, a short species with wide-set eyes. Yipsit grew up on Bestine IV, but it’s unclear if that is the Shahkirin homeworld. He can be seen prepping an A-Wing shortly after the final briefing on Ajan Kloss. The species is named after actor Kiran Shan, who presumably plays Yipsit. The Talpiddians are a furred species with large noses. Huper Tenrecs was one Talpiddian that joined the Resistance as weapons specialist, but another Talpiddian wearing a blue and red outfit can also be seen wandering around on Ajan Kloss. Both of them are in the same shot during the intial briefing about Palpatine’s return. Klaud is a Trodatome, a species with prehensile sensory antennae, but no arms.

Party on Pasaana

Before we go to Pasaana, we get a scene where Kylo Ren has his helmet repaired by Albrehk, a Symeong alchemist. The Symeong basically look like chimpanzees (as if they were based on The Planet of the Apes trilogy), but with pointy ears. Even the species name is… simian.

The Aki-Aki are native to Pasaana, and form the vast majority of the background characters seen on this planet. Adult Aki-Aki have the distinct double “trunks” hanging from their face, something that younger Aki-Aki (like Nambi Ghima and the children at the puppet show) don’t yet have.

None of the other species seen on Pasaana have names at this moment, and most of these don’t even have character names. Kalo’ne is the female driver of Lando’s Treadable (Species #01), a six-eyed being who seems inspired by the Muppets. Ochi of Bestoon belongs to a pale-skinned species without noses (Species #02), but his name at least suggest he might be native to Bestoon. Ochi’s henchmen, Ommo Twilto and Dered Karno (played by and named after Tom Wilton and Derek Arnold) are also of an unnamed species with elongated faces (Species #03). They can be seen in the flashback shots on board of Ochi’s ships, but are also part of he crowd on Pasaana, somewhere. Caspus Pillar was only named in the Topps card set, and not in the Visual Dictionary. He is a member of a yellow-furred species (Species #04). He can be seen clearly in the extras, where he sits atop an Etobi.

The rest of the alien characters can either be seen vaguely in the background during the Pasaana scense, but are better visualized in the extras or in the Art Of book. These include a four-eyed long-necked being (Species #05), A small Weequay-like alien played by Kiran Shah that sells tater twist sitting atop a droid (Species #06), and a helmeted being with weird ears played by Nick Kellington (Species #07). Species #06 can at least be seen in the background when the heroes steel the speeders, #07 is standing behind Nambi Ghima when she gives Rey the necklace.

Then there’s a tusked being that looks a bit like an Aki-Aki but is definitely not (Species #08), which can be seen in the background when Lando shoots the Stormtrooper. Three hooded three-eyed “nuns” can also be seen passing by in this scene (as well as some others), but they are never clearly in focus. Art Of has some better pictures (Species #09), and it can be seen in a BTS shot used in Star Wars Insider 203. A being with an oddly-shaped helmet in this scene is probably also an alien, judging from the images in the Art Of (Species #10). The “Freddy Krueger” alien (Species #11) is also somewhere on Pasaana, played by CFX sculptor Darren Nevin, although I’ve only seen him in the extras.

Kijimi and the Celebration

The most prominent new species from Kijimi is the Anzellan, which we meet in the form of Babu Frik. These tiny beings (standing only about 20 cm in height) have floating corneal micro-lenses in their eyes, which allow them to see microscopic details. We do encounter some other new species, a few of which have been named. Most of them are blink-and-you-miss-it.

The Boosodians are a species with 20 eyes, some of which could focus on specific portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, allowing them to see x-rays or radio waves. A Boosodian named Amuncie Tidian, played by Nick Kellington, can be seen stepping outside his dwelling and quickly running back in again during one of the first scenes on Kijimi. A Deymasollian named Faddaff Davenspon is hanging around in the bar. She was 300 years old, indicating the Deymasollians are a long-lived species. Standing close to her against the back wall is also Tommet Sozach, a Ginmid. At the bar is Plesko Marno, an Ozrelanso (although he can really only be seen in the documentary). His species has lekku, and he generally resembles a Twi’lek, suggesting maybe a link between the two species.

The rest of the species on Kijimi goes unnamed. Sitting at a table near the entrance is Carib Diss, a species with a huge mouth with sharp teeth (Species #12). All their sensory organs are located in their mouth, and Carib wears a sensor dome that prevents him to have to open his mouth to see. He shares his table with a bald alien that resembles the Ginmid, but is definitely not (Species #15). Rothgar Deng looks alien enough, but might actually not be alien (Species #13). All the hints in the text in the Visual Dictionary seem to point to him being none other than the bounty hunter Dengar. Wolentic Dudge belongs to a species with a thick layer of heat-retaining blubber (Species #14). I haven’t been able to spot him anywhere in the movie or extras, but he’s featured on the Kijimi page of the Visual Dictionary. Next to Rothgar is a species with green skin, yellow eyes and spikes atop his head (Species #17, he is most likely not a Zabrak). He can be seen clearly because the collar that hides the bottom half of his face has lights in it. And in the corner of the bar is a huge being with white fur (Species #16). He was created as an homage to Ludo, one of the creatures from Jim Henson’s Labyrinth (see article).

In the end of the movie, during the celebration, there are some new aliens among the non-Resistance members, who have been dubbed “The Unaffiliated” by the Visual Dictionary. Wilsa Teshlo is a Kessurian, a species that is also supposed to be present on Pasaana already. Atop their head they have montrals which enhance their space perception. Kid Malmash is a Shungbeek, a white-skinned species with big red eyes. He has yet to pupate, which means his species has two life stages. He also wears a domed helmet that keeps in argon-rich atmosphere. There’s a few other species that thus far have not been named. Lazu Lirona (Species #18) would make a perfect Kyuzo, and she looks much more like Embo than Zuvio ever did. Seleno Chandro belongs to a pale-skinned species with pointy chins (Species #19). A squirrel-like being (Species #20) and a blue-skinned being  with a weird breathing apparatus strapped to his face (Species #21) can be spotted in the background during the celebration, but are featured in the extras in more detail. The squirrel alien I initially thought was a Melbu, but that was a mistake.

What’s Left

There’s a few more species that I wanted to highlight in this blog entry, that didn’t fit into the categories above. First there are the Alazmec of Winsit, who are seen on Mustafar in the beginning. They are not really described in the Visual Dictionary as a species, but more as a cult. The novelization of the movie describes these beings as Mustafarian colonists. Maybe they are a species called Alazmec from a planet called Winsit. Not 100% sure, but I’m inclined to keep them on the list as a species for the time being.

Then there’s three aliens that I haven’t been able to place, and with a reason. Juronus Opto, who may not be an alien at all (Species #22) and Euphaus Biro, a crustacean being (Species #23) are depicted in the index of the Visual Dictionary, but I haven’t seen them anywhere in the movie. However, creature performer Nick Kellington confirmed me he was fitted for the Euphaus costume in Jordan for a scene on Tatooine, which never made it into the movie. Similarly, performer Tom Wilton said he got fitted for a mask that can only be seen sitting on a shelf in the extras (Species #24) for the same scene. No word on Juronus, but maybe he was on Tatooine too?

The spidery creature sitting atop the big baby head (Species #25, and #26?) is the Eye of Webbish Bog that was supposed to appear on Mustafar but was ultimately cut. The character does appear in the novelization though.

And the Creatures

Let’s not forget about the creatures! There’s several new creatures in the movie. The most prominent one is the Orbak, a species of horse-like creatures native to Kef Bir. They have long shaggy fur, and were related to other species used as riding beasts, such as the Pulga, Fathier and Bordok.

The Arboreal Zymod is a creature native to Ajan Kloss, which has the ability to change colors much like chameleons can. The Etobi is a beast of burden used on Pasaana, but in the movie can also be seen on Tatooine, when Rey buries the lightsabers. The Oki-Poki are small, bunny-like creatures native to Pasaana, with large sensitive ears. They feed on Thistlebuzzers (one can be seen being eaten in the movie). The Vexis is a serpent, also native to Pasaana, that burrows caves in the sand. They secrete an oil that helps to harden the tunnels and prevent them from collapsing.

Four more unnamed creatures can also be seen in the movie. One of them is an enormous creature living in the Megafauna Chasm of the Typhonic Nebula, who almost swallows the Millennium Falcon whole (Creature #01). A two-legged beast of burden that looks a bit like a furry cow can be seen on Pasaana (Creature #02). This particular creature, played by creature performer Aiden Cook, can also be seen in several shots in the extras. A smaller, worm-like creature (Creature #03) is seen near the tent where the puppet show takes place. And on Kijimi there’s a white-furred beast of burden with a rodent-like face that is scared by the battle taking place there (Creature #04).

There, I think I got all of the new species. There’s a bunch of recurring ones too, who were already listed in the Preliminary Compendium.

• Abednedo, from Abednedo
• Crolute, from Crul (vision only)
• Delphidian, from the Delphidian Cluster
• Ewok, from Forest Moon (Outer Rim, H16)
• Gabdorin, from Gabdor
• Ithorian, from Ithor (Mid Rim, M6)
• Jawa, from Tatooine (Outer Rim, R16)
• Mon Calamari, from Mon Cala (Outer Rim, U6)
• Snivvian, from Cadomai Prime (Outer Rim, R3)
• Sullustan, from Sullust (Outer Rim, M17)
• Tarsunt, from Tarsunt
• Wookiee, from Kashyyyk (Mid Rim, P9)

Perhaps there’s still some I missed hiding in the background on Pasaana, but the Art of the Rise of Skywalker didn’t really add any to the ones I already saw in the movie and extras. There’s always the exclusive bonus footage in the Target exclusive, but I doubt there will be anything new in there. At most we get a better look at some blurry background aliens. Did you spot anything else? Let me know!