“Tails” from the GFFA: The Phantom Menace

Myths define cultures. “Myth” refers to stories that a culture tells to explain aspects of their culture, history, or society. The way we think about different aspects of our lives are still affected by ancient myths. For example, the Edenic myth, the story of Adam and Eve, still influences the way some think about snakes. …

A Being’s Best Friend: Pets in the Star Wars Galaxy

Creatures have always held a special place in the hearts of Star Wars fans. Dewbacks, wampas, and even rathtars have all upstaged humans from time to time in various Star Wars scenes. But would you want a wampa as a pet? And come to think of it, are there pets in Star Wars? It's an …

Nature of the Force II: Dagobah

What can the swamp biome of Dagobah teach us about how we interact with the Force? As an entirely wild, untouched planet, Dagobah provides an arena for our characters to test themselves, to face their insecurities, and to be forced to become better for themselves. This happened for both Luke and Yoda, whose experiences on …

Sarlaccs: The Nature of the Beast

Introduction As explorers have pushed out from the core worlds, they have increasingly encountered species either unknown or poorly documented within the research literature. Most often this is due to the relative isolation of the planets where the species occurs - for example, little research has been done on the wampas of Hoth because the …

Do the Space Whales Need Saving? The Purrgil and Conservation.

“Save the Whales!” A statement that has become synonymous with the environmental movement itself. Movements to protect whales from the perils of the commercial whaling industry were at the forefront of the early environmental movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s, embraced by such big-name groups as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Foundation. The work of …

Vulptex and Its Amazing Salt-Colored Dreamcoat

The crystal foxes, or vulptex, of Crait are a fascinating example of a familiar species combined with a very unfamiliar design element. At first glance they might seem altogether fantastical and unrealistic, but if we look closely we may find similarities to more familiar animals from our planet that may help us understand this galactic …