Swokes Swokes

Last Updated: 02/13/2026

Name: Swokes Swokes

Classification: Reptilian/Alternative

Homeworld: Makem Te

Coloration: Pale Green, Gray, White, Pink, Tan, and/or Orange

Biology: Swokes Swokes, also sometimes just known as the Swokes, were very bizarre looking creatures with grotesque features, standing about 2 meters tall on average with stocky builds. Despite their large stomachs, their legs were usually disproportionately thin. Many Swokes Swokes bodies seemed to be almost patchworked together, and didn’t necessarily have one consistent biological profile. Some had tails, while others did not. Some had lidless eyes and pupils while others had large, black, bulbous eyes. Some had four-toed, pseudo-webbed, duck-like feet, while others had three toes and large reptilian toenails. And some had four-fingered hands, while others had five.

Their general frames usually remained the same, however, as well as the randomly sprouting spikes/horns extending from their craniums, and their massive, razor-like teeth. It would seem brains were slightly underdeveloped compared to many galactic denizens, leading to naturally violent and irrational behavior among most members of the species, and their sharp claws and teeth were a product of being a descendant of a predatory creature, potentially developing sentience in the near-past of the “modern eras.”

Sokes Swokes had three nostrils, spots and warts all arose their body, and usually emitted a constant stream of mucous-like saliva from their mouths. Despite all of these unusual attributes that would commonly be associated with unhealthiness among other species, Swokes Swokes has a natural healing ability, allowing them to regrow any lost limbs or other body parts, aside from a few critical components such as their heads. Their blood was sticky and thick, compared to a runny sap-like fluid in consistency. This fluid was what helped them repair injured body parts. Without any extra exertion, and the average time for a limb to grow back was around ten days. It was said the species had the same general lifespan as the average Human.

Their internals were also very distinct, as Swokes Swokes lacked most of the organs found in most similar sentient species, and had only a very sparse nervous system. They only had the most necessary nerves, and generally did not experience pain, or at least had an incredibly high tolerance to it. In fact, they could not feel much of anything physically, which matched their common psychopathic tendencies. Their interiors were said to best resemble that of a tapeworm, and they are able to digest almost any material. They could not physically grow hair, and directly under their skin was always a thick layer of blubbery fat. Their skin’s texture was said to resemble either dough or rubber. Female Swokes Swokes could have up to six nipples.

Swokes Swokes had a natural tendency to become easily addicted to most forms of spices, and their withdrawals were incredibly serious, although they could not feel the pain due to their lack of neurological pain receptors and other nerves. Instead, they suffered from severe physiological damage while on and away from spices. They grew relatively faster than most species, being considered a young adult at around 9, and fully mature by 14, afterwards not showing many signs of actual aging, only getting stronger and larger with age until they eventually succumbed to death.

Lore: The Swokes Swokes were a predatory, warrior-based species. They tended to have a very volatile existence, and were known for practicing grotesque rituals and habits. Their society as a whole seemed to revolve around the idea of death, worship it almost, although it was rather hard for them to actually die due to their incredible healing abilities. Instead, they created something on their homeworld of Makem Te known as the “Tract of Makem Te,” a massive burial ground for both their own people and a few privileged offworlders. A historian named Vicendi once included the Tract among his “Twenty Wonders of the Galaxy” list during the Old Republic era, though at some point it seems to have been forgotten as it is not present on the modern list. Still, after they were rediscovered, the Tract became one of the major economic drives for the Swokes Swokes society, as tourists flocked from all over to see it, and the Tract grew over time until trillions of graves lined the planet’s surface during the galaxy’s “modern age.”

The Swokes Swokes went more or less unacknowledged in the galaxy until relatively shortly before the Clone Wars, at least a few hundred years prior, when they were rediscovered by the Galactic Republic who were seeking to launch a mining operation of their homeworld. They were offered a seat amongst the Republic Senate, and while galactic politics went against their better nature, they accepted the offer and allied themselves with these strangers who came from the stars. None of the senators or representatives from Makem Te really enjoyed their jobs, and longed for more violent occupations. They really disdained having to dress up and attend scheduled meetings, and usually the turnover rate for Swokes Swokes senators seemed unusually high.

Makem Te itself was nearly entirely covered by a desert wasteland, and the Swokes Swokes were forced to adapt to harsh environments and even more dangerous predators who also called Makem Te home during the process of developing sentience. This constituted for the evolution of their bizarre biology, and they spent so much of their early time as a civilization trying to survive, so much so they evolved much slower socially or technologically than other galactic denizens. They did develop tools for mining, as well as gear for taming the planet’s wild beasts, They would use these creatures such as giant snake-like dragons for traversal, and the cave systems were their only sources of sparse food, as there was no natural surface water or food to be found on Makem Te.

While they were still in their infancy as a species, their planet was caught up in both the the “Great Sith Wars,” as well as the “Mandalorian Wars,” serving as a battlefield for various armies, although the Swokes Swokes were little more than bystanders and may not have even been noticed by these temporary invaders. The Galactic Republic really started to take an interest in the world when scouts discovered rare spices deep within the planet’s crust. Mining operations were quickly deployed all across the planet, however, the Swokes Swokes did not really benefit from this, as all the spices and profits went directly into the Republic’s pockets. Presumably this came from the species being manipulated and taken advantage during the initial meetings between Republic personnel and Swokes Swokes leaders.

When the Clone Wars began, the Republic’s taxation of the Swokes Swokes was heavily increased, and they were actually approached the early Confederacy of Independent Systems and Count Dooku to help them liberate their planet. They would briefly take the Separatists up on this offer, seceding from the Republic, however, when their own small mining operations were put at risk from Republic forces shortly before the end of the Clone Wars, they actually went back on the offer and rejoined the Galactic Republic to save their mines and the roughly 2 billion Swokes Swokes living on Makem Te. When the Galactic Empire rose to power, they actually abandoned most of the Republic’s old mines and surprisingly left the Swokes Swokes to their own devices, even supplying the people with all sorts of weapons. This is believed to be because they knew the race was dangerous yet still primitive, and hoped that they would kill each other off so the Empire didn’t have to expend any extra resources to govern them.

Because of these actions, however, the Swokes Swokes would end up adoring the Empire, finally finding a galactic power who enabled their violent ways, and allowed Imperials to seek refuge on their planet after the Battle of Endor and the subsequent collapse of the galactic dictatorship. Multiple Imperial Warlords made themselves home on Makem Te, fighting for dominance, and it eventually became an Imperial bastion during the rise of the New Republic. The Swokes Swokes hated the New Republic, and swore their allegiance to the Empire time and time again, though it is unknown if this sentiment persevered to the various Imperial successor factions.

The majority of the Swokes Swokes population were religious fanatics, and their planet was populated with hundreds of widely varying violence-based religions, including the likes of the “Temple of the Beatific Razor.” Most of these religions involved self-mutilation and sacrifice, and all had some variance of the same doctrine which stated that if you were a part of any of the other religions, you were a heretic and must be put to death. Massive civil wars were fought between these grotesque religions, and the Swokes Swokes enjoyed every minute of each. It seems they generally did not feel any remorse or empathy, although it is not confirmed whether this was biological or sociological in nature. In essence, every Swokes Swokes was some degree of clinical psychopath and/or sociopath. This made them great as assassins, mercenaries, bodyguards, and bounty hunters, all professions they commonly sought out and were sought out for across the galaxy.

Above all else, Swokes Swokes adored and respected their ancestors (as long as they weren’t heretics), often visiting their massive graves to pay respects. Funerals were the most sacred ceremonies a Swokes Swokes could attend, and they, along with burials, were taken very seriously. They had mandatory mourning periods, where they would cease all hostilities, and they would carry artifacts or body parts of their dead ancestors and loved ones into battle as good luck charms. They also valued jewelry and gemstones, and often had precious gems surgically implanted into their bodies near their few vital organs. While they could not be seen, they were still treated as a status symbol to brag about, and the more gems one had on or in them, the more politically powerful they were.

As stated above, a lot of the planet’s economy was based around the Tract, while they did not benefit from their own spice industry. However, at some point they did begin to produce basic building materials such as metals, glass, and even lumber, to be sold to the galaxy, with many Swokes Swokes departing to serve as traveling merchants on poor and desolate worlds similar to their own. They also had a rather large animal breeding business, and the massive predators that they tamed were bred and sold for mounts and gladiatorial beasts. Overall though, it was the funeral industry was also booming on Makem Te, with anything from statues to tombstones to coffins being produced and sold to offworlders. Self-proclaimed Swokes Swokes “psychics” would help mourning tourists contact their deceased loved ones, and the cremation business became the centerpiece for many marketplaces. Warehouses were stocked filled of both funeral supplies as well as dead bodies, and they even began diving into alchemical practices using these abundances of resources to varying degrees of success.

Many Swokes Swokes were employed in a way that was somehow associated the Tract, which, at the time of the Galactic Civil War, covered roughly 10% of Makem Te’s entire surface area. Tourists could look at the graveyard from the outer edges, as well as from above, however, if any offworlders were to enter without rare and explicit permission, it was considered sacrilegious act and Tract bodyguards would maim or kill them if caught. That said, they also had landspeeder services who would take Swokes Swokes pilgrims on day long trips across the graveyard to visit their ancestors memorials, and restaurants, vendors, and shopping centers sprung up outside the Tract for sightseers, as well as at designated checkpoints within it for pilgrims. It would seem some Swokes Swokes lived their entire live within the Tract, born among the graves where they would eventually be laid to rest.

Food was also a big deal on Makem Te, as the Swokes Swokes ate a lot of it. They could essentially eat and digest any material, but common Swokes Swokes meals included massive insects to predatory reptile meat to sugary candies and spice laden alcohol. They were messy eaters and did not care about hygiene whatsoever, preferring to eat out of communal feeding troughs as opposed to traditional sit-down-style restaurants. The Swokes Swokes meats and alcohol industry was fairly popular both on and off of their homeworld. Cannibalism was also an acceptable practice among the Swokes Swokes, although it was only usually relegated to severe punishments or rituals. Supposedly it was honorable for your flesh to be consumed by your own family and loved ones, but dishonorable to be eaten by strangers. However, it does seem that upon death at least part of the body needed to remain for the burial ceremony, and supposedly the species sometimes even consumed their own flesh in dire situations as it would eventually regenerate.

Their Swokes Swokes spoke a language known as Swoken, which sounded incredibly unsettling to most other sentient creatures. It consisted of guttural cries, screeching, and screaming. Despite this, they could learn Galactic Basic Standard quite easily, although they could not speak it without what sounded like slurred speech, and generally thought it was an unattractive or repulsive language altogether. Their naming conventions were rather unique, as they went by one name, and if possible, a title. For example: “Fabswa the Mutiliated” or “Gragra the Repugnant.” It seems the only Swokes Swokes who were allowed to use two actual names were those of nobility or great acclaim, with one had to either be born into a surname or do something outstanding to earn one.

Continuity: Most of the Swokes Swokes lore is, unfortunately, still relegated to Star Wars Legends. In addition to everything mentioned above, the Swokes Swokes also allied themselves with Grand Admiral Thrawn within the EU, were visited during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, and then fell under the control of the New Galactic Empire and Darth Krayt within Star Wars Legends. Since none of these events have effectively taken place yet within Canon, and most likely never will (with the exception of maybe Thrawn’s resurgent Empire), I included them here as they wouldn’t be referenced if you’re intending to write a Canon-adjacent piece of your own. Everything else above could very easily be fit right back into continuity, however, so I included it and will continue to add onto it with any Canon revelations we receive, presumably in the same way they’re recorded within the Holocron Continuity Database.

Unexplored: In Legends, I would say they literally explored almost every facet of Swokes Swokes life from thousands of years before the Battle of Yavin to hundreds of years after. There were not many prominent Swokes Swokes characters, but there didn’t necessarily need to be. Now, canonically, still nearly nothing exists about them almost 10 years into the Disney Star Wars era, aside from the fact that they were allied with the Republic, had violent tendencies, and had been discovered during or prior to the High Republic Era. So the question is, which way do we go when exploring a character of this species within a Canon or Canon-adjacent piece of media. Do we start to rely on old information and re-canonize what was written above, or do we take it in new and even more bizarre directions, if that’s even possible for an already metal species like this one. Maybe we’ll see them loyal to the First Order, or they could still be subservient to the Canon iteration of Thrawn, as much as I’d like to be upset at their sparse inclusions so far throughout the current continuity, I’m still really excited about all of their potential!

Additional Notes: This is my favorite species of all time, they’re so fun to write about! Like, there’s so much here to unpack and expand upon, and despite already being fairly fleshed out they sorta have infinite potential from a broader worldbuilding perspective. I really do believe is one of the richest alien species lore-wise Star Wars has to offer, and it’s great for creating characters with no moral obligations or desire to do anything for anyone other than themselves and the satiation of their own incomprehensible desires. They obviously aren’t “evil” by nature, but they are the pinnacle of “different,” being so far from the Human baseline that it’s difficult to relate to them. And because of that, there is so many themes and characterizations to explore; the Swokes Swokes, at least in the EU, definitely get an A+ in storytelling from me! (Also I didn’t mention it above but I remember reading of a bit of lore involving the Yuuzhan Vong where they supposedly arrived on Makem Te to conquer it and the Swokes Swokes were so scary that they sorta just left and avoided the world going forward, which I believe is just the chef’s kiss for this species!)

Reference Images: