Ubdurian

Last Updated: 1/31/2024

Name: Ubdurian

Humanoid: Yes

Classification: Near-Human/Alternative/Dwarf

Homeworld: Ubduria/Nag Ubdur

Coloration: Brown and Yellow

Biology: Ubdurians were a diminutive sentient species, bearing some similarities to Humans such as being bipedal humanoids with two arms and two legs, although they only stood around 1.2 meters in height on average. They also differed in regards to their pigmentation, with the Ubdurians having pasty, yellowish-tan skin that was far more wrinkled on average compared to baseline Humans. It was through their heads that the Ubdurians really established themselves as unique. Their craniums were elongated, with prominent brows, squinted, sunken black eyes, a nose ridge lacking visible nostril holes, and large mouths filled with wide teeth. They also seemingly had large aural cavities on the sides of their heads, although they were always covered by some sort of mechanical disks. Ubdurians were completely hairless, lacking head and facial hair, eyebrows, or even eyelashes. They seemed capable of speaking Galactic Basic Standard as well, although to what extent remains unclear.

Lore: The Ubdurians were known for being loud, dishonest, and cowardly. There is a lot of discrepancy regarding their true homeworld, with some stating it to be Ubduria, while others are confident that it is the planet Nag Ubdur, located within the Inner and Outer Rims respectively. During the days of the Old Republic, Mandalorian Crusaders actually conquered the Ubdurians of Ubduria, purging and enslaving them supposedly due to their status as a “dishonorable” species. It is believed that the Ubdurians did not fight back, and remained under Mandalorian jurisdiction for some time, although they were once again free and roaming the galaxy by the height of the Cold War era.

Legends/Canon: Ubdurians are exclusive to Star Wars Canon, which makes their lore regarding Old Republic Mandalorian Crusaders all the more interesting!

Unexplored: There’s still quite a bit about the Ubdurians left to be expanded upon. Learning where they originated from, whether Ubduria, Nag Ubdur, or somewhere else entirely, would be extremely helpful in establishing the origins of an Ubdurian character. Hearing more about their origins and history would also be especially cool, and their relationship with the early Mandalorians is worth some extra and extensive exploration. Ultimately, for a lesser known species like this, exploring their general evolutionary history, biology and anatomy, culture and society, economy and exports, governments and politics, galactic alliances and relationships, history of wars or lack thereof, religions and deities, philosophies and views of galactic concepts, habits, traditions, and rituals, and actions during major galactic events and eras is the best way to go for now. Establishing any or all of these lore tidbits will really help establish the Ubdurians as a new mainstay species!

Additional Notes: The Ubdurians are definitely interesting in design, although the masks used to represent them in live action are static and thus stuck with a really weird facial expression. It makes me very curious how they would emote or speak, so seeing a CGI version, whether in animation or otherwise would be super exciting! Until then, it appears they will continue to pop-up in the background of random television series, and I guess for now, that’s good enough for me. (Jake Lunt Davies, one of the character concept artists for The Force Awakens, reached out with some fun behind the scenes info after reading the original iteration of this article! He helped me realize just how short they truly were, and also gave some insight into their creation. Spawning from a design by Luke D. Fisher, creature effects supervisor Neal Scanlan was actually the one who asked that their appearances be striking so that they would stand out in their almost blink-and-you’ll-miss-it time in the forefront of a single scene!)

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