Star Wars Shows Creatures Can’t Be Judged By Their Appearance
The idea of not judging anyone by their appearance, including creatures, has been a recurring theme in the various animated films. star wars series. While the overall message is the same in these stories, how the showrunners approached the creature’s initial impressions and motivation differed. These different shots showed that there are different ways creatures can be misinterpreted if people don’t take the time and effort to understand them.
The clearest examples of misunderstood creatures in the star wars animated universes are the beast Zillo in Star Wars: The Clone Warsthe Dragon of the Ordo Moon in Star Wars: The Bad Batchthe Purrgil in star wars rebels and the Rokkna of star wars resistance. While these episodes and arcs aren’t the only creature features in the star wars universe, they represent the different forms this theme has taken, and they all advocate learning to understand and respect all creatures and the natural world.
The Beast Zillo showed the depths of Palpatine’s cruelty
In “The Zillo Beast”, the eighteenth episode of the second season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the Republic Army accidentally destroyed Zillo’s Beast home on Malastare while testing an electroproton bomb that disabled the electronics. As Dave Filoni explained in the episode’s featurette, the Zillo Beast was an homage to giant monsters such as Godzilla and Rodan., and the Zillo Beast’s gargatuan size first evoked fear in the Republic and Dug armies. The Dug believed the Beast to be a vicious monster, and according to their legends, they believed they had wiped out the Zillo Beasts on their planet.
However, the Zillo Beast’s survival and the fact that they left the Dug alone for decades showed that the Zillo Beast was actually a much more peaceful creature. While Mace Windu advocated saving the Beast of Zillo, the Republic actually only decided to capture the Beast of Zillo because Dr. Sionvar Boll and Anakin Skywalker pointed out that the Beast of Zillo’s seemingly impenetrable skin could be adapted to provide armor for Republic ships. Therefore, even with Mace Windu as its defender, the majority of the Republic military still viewed the Zillo Beast in terms of what the Zillo Beast could do for the Republic. The true needs and character of the beast Zillo were ultimately discarded in the face of greed.
After the Zillo Beast arrives on Coruscant in “The Zillo Beast Strikes Back”, Palpatine and Boll’s inhuman experiences cause the Zillo Beast to desperately escape. The Beast Zillo may have accidentally injured several people and buildings, but they clearly only saw Palpatine as the real threat. In a featurette for “The Beast of Zillo Strikes Back,” Filoni hinted, somewhat jokingly, that the Beast of Zillo could sense that Palpatine was a Sith Lord and attempted to warn the Republic. However, due to the communication barrier, the Republic soldiers killed the Zillo Beast before the truth could be revealed. Although the Beast of Zillo did not attempt to warn the Republic, their fate was one of the most tragic in history. Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The Republic destroyed Beast Zillo’s home, experimented on them, and ultimately killed them, all because Beast Zillo seemed monstrous.
Bad Batch’s Dragon Ordo Moon Helped Omega Shine
While Zillo’s Beast Fate Was Tragic, Others Misunderstood star wars creatures had much better fates. In “Replacements”, the third episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Clone Force 99 encountered an Ordo Moon Dragon after the Havoc Marauder crash-landed. The Ordo Moon Dragon survived by eating electricity and they stole a capacitor from the ship. At first, the Ordo Moon Dragon seemed frightening to Omega, especially due to the darkness on the moon outside the ship. However, while Hunter recognized that the dragon could be dangerous, the Ordo Moon Dragon did not inspire the same level of fear as the Zillo Beast.
Throughout the episode, the Ordo Moon Dragon never really acted as an aggressor towards Clone Force 99. not intentionally harmed. Later, when Omega snuck into the dragon Ordo Moon’s lair, she was initially terrified when the dragon found her and nearly shot them. However, because her fear made her hesitate, she realized that the dragon was actually no threat to her. Instead, they roared because they were startled by its light. Since Omega took the time to reevaluate her initial judgment and learn more about the Ordo Moon Dragon, she was able to peacefully regain the team’s capacitor in exchange for her flashlight. Omega’s encounter with the Ordo Moon Dragon cemented his place on the team and showed that his compassion would be a key strength for Clone Force 99 going forward.
Purgil from Star Wars Rebels showed that seemingly simple creatures are often much more complex
star wars the creatures have not only been misinterpreted as monstrous. In star wars rebels “The Call”, Hera Syndulla first explained the Purrgil as “a threat. A great heavy threat.” Hera acknowledged that the Purrgil were the subject of many ancient stories and may have inspired many species to explore the stars. However, Hera considered the Purrgil a dangerous nuisance because the Purrgil had inadvertently caused the deaths of some of her friends when they heavily traversed hyperspace lanes and starship trajectories. Due to her preconceptions, Hera could not understand that the Purrgils were trying to communicate with the Ghost’s crew.
Unlike the Zillo Beast and the Ordo Moon Dragon, the Purrgil had defenders from the start; Both Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger wanted to protect them. Ezra eventually bonded with the leader of the Purrgil and discovered that the Purrgil could naturally travel through hyperspace. With the help of the Purrgil, the Ghost’s crew destroyed a key refinery used by the Miners’ Guild and the Empire that also supplied the Purrgil with Clouzon 36, which the Purrgil devoured to make natural hyperspace fuel. Therefore, by working with and trying to figure out the Purrgil, the Ghost was able to get the fuel it needed and achieve a key victory for the rebellion. If they had worked against the Purrgils, they might not have survived.
Because Ezra dug deeper and tried to understand the Purrgil more completely, he was able to turn the tide of the war against the Empire. In the star wars rebels series finale, Ezra teamed up with the Purrgil to forcibly take Grand Admiral Thrawn away from Lothal into deep space. While the fates of Ezra, Thrawn, and the Purrgils are currently unknown, they may still play a major role in the progression of the franchise in shows such as Star Wars: Ahsoka.
Star Wars Resistance’s Rokkna Showed That Even Monstrous Creatures Can Be Great Parents
While the other misunderstood star wars creatures have various motivations, star wars resistance have shown that in many cases a creature’s maternal instinct can be misinterpreted. In the first season episode “Bibo”, Neeku Vozo adopted a small, tentacled four-eyed creature he named Bibo, who was accidentally carried to a wreck by Synara San. Later in the episode, a large sea monster first attacked Synara and Kazuda Xiono at sea and eventually followed them to the Colossus, a mobile space station docked in Castilion, an ocean world, at the time. At first everyone assumed that the Rokkna was trying to attack and harm the platform or trying to eat Bibo. However, after swearing to protect Bibo, Neeku realized the truth: the Rokkna was Bibo’s mother. Neeku unfortunately returned Bibo to the Rokkna, saving the Colossus and reuniting the family.
In many ways, “Bibo” actually served as a mirror to “The Zillo Beast Strikes Back.” Both feature large, misunderstood creatures running amok, albeit for very different reasons. In “The Zillo Beast Strikes Back”, the eye of the Zillo Beasts became a recurring motif as they identified Palpatine as the real threat. In contrast, in “Bibo”, when Neeku looked into the Rokkna’s eyes, he also realized the Rokkna’s true motives.
Overall, the Zillo Beast, the Ordo Moon Dragon, the Purrgil, and the Rokkna all show that the creatures of the star wars galaxy are all worth understanding rather than being called monstrous. They represent an ongoing commitment throughout star wars to understand the galaxy from other points of view. More recent anime series, such as Star Wars Galaxy of Creatureswent further in this call for understanding by focusing exclusively on the creatures of the galaxy and showing that all creatures, monstrous and small, deserve respect.
About the Author