Anselmi

Last Updated: 09/06/2025 (OUTDATED)

Name: Anselmi

Humanoid: Yes

Classification: Aquatic/Diminutive

Homeworld: Glee Anselm

Coloration: Blue

Biology: Anselmi were a short, pseudo-amphibious, humanoid race hailing from the watery world of Glee Anselm, bipedal in nature and generally standing around 1.5 meters in height, while some could grow as tall as the average adult Nautolan. That being said, evolving from similar aquatic creatures to those the Nautolans (whom they shared a homeworld with) came from, they had many biological similarities. Despite this, the Anselmi actually moved onto the small pockets of land dotting the planet’s surface, while the Nautolan’s continued to live primarily under the sea. This eventfully causes their gills to devolve and they lost almost their entire ability to breathe underwater. They also had much less pigmentation variation than that of their deep sea brethren, coming almost exclusively in varying shades of blue.

Anselmi often had slightly hunched postures, sporting small, thin tails that they sometimes kept hidden under their clothing. They had three-toed feet and three-fingered hands, and their bodies were usually generally spindly, although they could sometimes gain a fair amount of muscle mass. They had a ridge for a nose but no visible nostrils, large lips, sunken eyes, and bulbous heads resembling that of a Nautolan without their many headtails/tentacles. The top of their head was generally speckled, and while it could sometimes be on the smoother side, it was usually covered in an assortment of spines appearing either side by side or in a row down the back of their head. The pattern of these spines was generally considered to be unique to each individual Anselmi.

Canonically, the Anselmi usually have what appear to be distinct, small antennae protruding from above their brow, their tail is slightly longer and thinner, and they sometimes have yellow patches stretch across the front of their faces. They are also depicted as having much more varied height canonically. In both continuities, they have the ability to speak Basic, and while they may still be fairly proficient swimmers, they generally avoid the water because their gill-like vestigial organs can no longer sustain being submerged for long periods of time.

Lore: Even before the height of the Old Republic, the Anselmi were the predominant species on Glee Anselm. They outnumbers the Nautolan by a fair margin, even though they had both evolved from fish-like creatures only a few centuries prior. At this point, the Anselmi were a fairly proficient amphibious species, being able to breath underwater as well as on land, most likely even better than the Nautolans could at the time. From the get-go, the Anselmi despised the Nautolans, even though the Nautolans tried to initiate a treaty of peace that would eventually turn into indifference as the one-sided prejudices lingered for millennia.

Once they had taken over nearly all of the islands on the planet and began setting up rudimentary colonies and civilizations, the Anselmi realized that it just wasn’t enough. Being a fairly greedy species by nature, the Anselmi turned their attention back towards the sea. They crafted weapons and assembled armies, deciding they would conquer both the land and sea of Glee Anselm. But to do so, they would need to wipeout the “inferior” Nautolans and becoming the planet’s only residents, a thought they seemed to relish in.

For one reason or another, however, that war never took place, and instead, they built a fairly massive empire on the planet, using it’s largest island as a base of operations. They secluded themselves on their islands, building massive walls to keep them separated from the sea. And over the next few thousand years, they lost their ability to breathe underwater. Even though they were able to construct a massive planetary civilization with elaborate structures and wealth beyond imagination, they never advanced very far technologically. While the Nautolans were developing submersible vehicles and eventually space fairing craft, the Anselmi wallowed in their possessions, guarding them with nothing more than essentially sticks and stones.

By this point, the Nautolans (referred to by the derogatory term “gill heads” by the Anselmi) began moving onto the remaining uninhabited smaller bits of land and actually building complex structures like platformed cities and spaceports that loomed above the sea. The Anselmi scoffed at Nautolans, while also fearful of their technology, as they were an incredibly superstitious people. These superstitions would be brought to fruition when the “cataclysms” hit. Changes in Glee Anselm’s climate and sea levels caused massive tidal waves to berate the world. The Nautolan’s were unaffected, as they could either simply live underwater or above the waves in their advanced structures. However, the Anselmi were not so prepared or lucky, and these waves decimated the their cities and their people.

Their walls were simply not tall enough to keep the seas out, and instead, trapped the water on many of the islands, permanently submerging the Anselmi cities. Because they never advanced enough technologically, the Anselmi simply had no way to combat the waves. They also had no ships to use to escape offworld or into the ocean, and many, many Anselmi drowned in the ensuing chaos. The species feared they had angered the ocean spirit of Glee Anselm as they watched everything they had created and hoarded crumble and wash away.

By the start of the Clone Wars, the Nautolan’s were by far the most predominant sentient species on the planet. The surviving Anselmi had spread out across the world’s few remaining jungle-covered land masses, getting into bloody turf wars and killing each other off faster than they could repopulate. They seldom interacted with the Nautolan’s, and feared the “gill heads” because so many of them had developed a connection with something they dared not comprehend: the Force. They did encounter the Republic at least once during the days before the Empire, and it was believed that in only a few years the species as a whole would face extinction, but because of their self-centered nature, the best anyone could do was observe their total collapse from afar.

Continuity: The Anselmi were actually supposed to make an appearance in Attack of the Clones, as a part of the Republic senate. However, this idea was scrapped and they eventually received the backstory they have now. They were first canonized in a pretty recent Clone Wars-centric choose your own adventure story featuring Obi-Wan and Anakin. However, that meant that depending on which path in the story was actually the true one, they may not have actually been Canonized at all, as they didn’t appear within every route. Fortunately, following that first tenuous appearance, more information and depictions of them have been released, fully solidifying their spot in the current Canon.

Unexplored: A lot about this species has actually already been explored, and it really seems like they don’t have much of a future in the Star Wars galaxy. However, there are still a few questions left unanswered. How did they attain such wealth? Is there some form of natural resource that Glee Anselm boasts that we have yet to learn of? Why did they have such an intense hatred for the Nautolans? Was it because they developed more impressive physiques and were generally stronger and more intelligent? Why did they end up not conquering the Nautolan civilization when they had the chance? And how long did the two species coexist before disdain was developed between them? I supposed the last question would be when did the last of the Anselmi die out? Was it during the age of the Empire? At the hands of the First Order? Or are some still alive in the galaxy even now? It is likely we will never know.

Additional Notes: It’s crazy to witness the extinction of an entire species on such a massive, preventable scale. I find their history and relationship with the Nautolans incredibly interesting, although I don’t think they have much storytelling potential individually as so few will seemingly ever make their way into the greater galaxy unless something changes. Their very nature alone makes them fairly one dimensional, and while you could explore the redemption of one of the final remaining Anselmi, their primitive beliefs would still make it difficult and possibly somewhat hard to relate to. Still, if you want to write about the preservation or even death of a species, as well as the dangers of greed and self-centeredness, then this is most definitely the species for you!

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