Gorum

Last Updated: 1/4/2024

Name: Gorum

Humanoid: Yes

Classification: Reptilian/Beast (Rodent)

Homeworld: Unknown

Coloration: Unknown

Biology: The Gorum were a race of bipedal humanoids who seemingly bore traits similar to both reptiles and rodents. The species stood approximately the same height as the average Human, if not slightly shorter, with two legs and two arms, as well as five-fingered hands, each finger ending with a sharp claw-like nail. Their skin seemed to have a scaly texture, although we do not know what color it was. Given their overall nature, it’s likely they were probably green or brown, although we currently cannot confirm for sure. Gorum also had an elongated, rat-like, prehensile tail that was well over a meter long and could essentially be utilized as a fifth limb.

Gorum heads were rather grotesque, with wide mouths filled with razor-sharp teeth and a forked tongue. They had upturned noses with large, exposed nostrils. Their beady eyes were sunken into their heads, with thin, triangle pupils that were bright red in coloration. One of their most striking features were their massive ear-like head fins, thin segmented flaps situated between two rounded lobes extending out from the sides of their heads. Flat spikes protruded from the Gorum’s foreheads and brow areas. The species was seemingly vampiric in nature, surviving on a carnivorous diet of other species’ internal fluids, draining them primarily through inserting their tongue into their prey’s ears. Gorum had the capacity to pronounce Galactic Basic Standard, although their native tongue remains unidentified.

Lore: Almost nothing was ever revealed about the Gorum, aside from the fact that one named Tormey was a member of the Rebel Alliance around the time of the Battle of Yavin.

Continuity: The Gorum are not Canon, and given the choose-your-own-adventure-esque nature of the source they originated from, some of their info may not have even been truly canonical within the Expanded Universe.

Unexplored: Like so many one-off species from this era, the Gorum were seldom explored, making them essentially a blank slate when it comes to characterization, both species-wide and in relation to the culture, history, and upbringings that may have influenced a Gorum character’s development. So, in cases like this, let’s simply pose a few questions that, if answered, would help us better utilize this species. For starters, where in the galaxy did this species come from, what was the name of their homeworld, what sort of environment(s) did it have, and what kind of creature might they have evolved from to appear the way they do? Would they be truly classified as reptilian, mammalian, or maybe both? And are they part rat, bat, or even ape? Of course, we also have to ask what color(s) they might have been? The standard green, brown, or tan, or something more creative like purple, stark white, or possibly a colorful gradient?

When was the species first discovered, and by whom? Were they possibly members of the Galactic Republic at some point in their history, and was Tormey an outlier or were they commonly associated with the Rebel Alliance and their subsequent iterations? Were the Gorum well known among the galaxy, did they have any sort of standing reputations, or were they obscure, potentially usually reserving themselves to their homeworld? And were their vampiric tendencies seen as something horrific, unsettling, and worth shunning, or in such a diverse and strange galaxy where this species aren’t the only blood suckers, was it generally viewed as normal and just what the species had to do to live? On that note, we could really use some expanded details regarding how they feed, including what species they could consume, if their prey needed to be alive, and how much control they had over their hunger, as well as if there were other methods that still allowed them to sustain themselves? It would be great if we could someday get answers to all of these someday (if they are ever even adapted into Canon with all of their preexisting lore intact), as well as the expansion of our usual list of worldbuilding concepts!

Additional Notes: There’s not a whole lot to say about the Gorum at the moment, and I’m honestly surprised they even received a species name in the first place. Their design actually reminds me a lot of some of the generic, default crowd aliens featured in the original Marvel Star Wars 1977 comic run, and it would definitely be neat if they were eventually brought into the current Canon with expanded lore and an updated appearance, that lets us see their design from a different, much clearer angle! (I would also like to note that a species existed within the EU known as the Gorm, reptilians hailing from Gormdin, who were never pictured, but whose description is very close to what we have here. There’s no proof that these two were intended to be one in the same, but given how often species names from Star Wars’ early years were misspelled and confused, I can’t say I would be surprised.)

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