Nuknog

Last Updated: 2/12/2024

Name: Nuknog

Humanoid: Yes

Classification: Reptilian/Saurian/Dwarf/Alternative

Homeworld: Sump

Coloration: Purple, Blue, Gray, Tan, Orange, and/or Yellow

Biology: The Nuknog were a strangely shaped reptilian species bearing some saurian traits. They were bipedal, with two arms, as well as two incredibly short legs. They usually stood no taller than 1.2 meters in height, with plump bodies and wrinkled, hairless skin. They could have a fairly wide variety of colorations and skin patterns, seen being purplish-blue, orange, blue and tan, or even yellow and purple, although these colors were often pale and muted. Despite the rounded shape of their torso, their limbs were rather thin, with four-fingered, Human-like hands, while their feet were more rounded and almost elephant-like, with three large, darkened nails each.

Their heads were oblong, both upwards and outwards, with bizarrely shaped skulls. Perched atop their long necks was a central cranial bulb, with a crest of rounded points extending from the top of their head down and around the back. They had forward facing eyes that were white or yellow, with beady black pupils. They also had aural cavities situated on either side of their head, as well as nostrils on the lower center portion of their main head segment. Extending out directly under their nostrils was a long, almost beak-like jaw, which curved out and downward. Their mouths were elongated, with wide, defined, almost tooth-like growths sprouting from their upper lips.

Nuknog possessed advanced senses of both eyesight and hearing, with their acute aural cavities being especially susceptible to loud sounds. The shape of their cranium restricted the size of their brains, leading to a diminished mental capacity and limited intelligence. Nuknog were simpleminded and shortsighted beings, generally incapable of comprehending complex topics, although it was common for them to devote their entire lives to mastering exactly one field or passion with great success. Additionally, the species had relatively short lives, not living long past 65 standard years. Despite the bizarre shape of their mouths, Nuknog were capable of clearly pronouncing Galactic Basic, but usually stuck to their own language, also known as “Nuknog,” which consisted of simple growling and squeaking sounds.

Lore: The Nuknog’s Outer Rim homeworld of Sump was discovered some time between 3,000 and 1,000 BBY, making them relatively new additions to the galactic landscape. They first made intergalactic waves around 1,000 when Sump’s ruling body decided it was in the species best short-term interest to sell their entire homeworld via blocs to various galactic mining companies. This was when the Nuknog gained their reputation for being extremely gullible and manipulatable due to their shortsighted nature, as well as their extreme impatience and tunnel vision when it came to accomplishing tasks. The mining corporations quickly swarmed the world, “employing” the native population, although their rights were quickly stripped away, becoming little more than glorified slaves not long after the deal was made. While a handful of the leading Nuknog made a small profit in the form of food and technologies for a short time, the world was quickly ripped apart and covered in pollution, the people’s living conditions becoming so poor that their average lifespans were nearly halved by the end of the Old Republic era.

More and more, the mining conglomerates cut costs, confining the locals in almost prison-like barracks, feeding them nothing but table scraps, and sending them to do the dangerous tasks that none of the offworlders wanted to undertake, leading their daily casually rate to be incredibly high, and their population count seems to have fell by almost half over the next handful of centuries. A few hundred years before the collapse of the Galactic Republic, a team of Jedi accidentally stumbled upon the horrors that Sump had become. Appalled by the once lush oceans that had become toxic marshlands, diseased air and putrid smell, and most of all, the horrible living conditions that the Nuknog intentionally endured, they returned to the Republic Senate to report their findings.

Outraged by the atrocities they had learned about, the Senate convened and agreed on an emergency intervention. The Republic moved in on Sump, pressuring the various mining companies to pay reparations, provide the locals with healthcare, and abide by Republic standards via official inspectors. Unable and/or unwilling to continue their operations under these conditions, the mining consortiums dissolved and slinked back off to their own territories, suddenly leaving the Nuknog to their own devices among the now ruined remains of their once beautiful home. The Republic then offered the species the chance to become members, although the Nuknog weren’t incredibly interested unless the invitation came with free food and housing for all of their people. The Republic was not willing to bend to all of their demands, and the Nuknog government, in turn, refused to trust them, not believing they could be any better than the corporations they had driven off who, at the very least, provided them with some form of sustenance, shelter, and “employment.”

This mindset killed the Senate’s desire to provide any form of aide or guidance for the Nuknog, and their continual plight was quickly forgotten. Sump remained outside of the Republic’s jurisdiction, abandoned by all outside forces by the start of the fall of the Republic. Many Nuknog attempted to flee their homeworld, although they often sold themselves into slavery to do so “affordably.” This meant it was fairly common to see Nuknog in the service of various factions across nearly every corner of the galaxy. Given the undesirable nature of their homeworld, they remained independent and unbothered by all future galactic conflicts, almost becoming a brief battlefield during the Clone Wars, although that event was avoided, and they were not brought into the folds of the Galactic Empire either.

Continuity: Despite being introduced pre-Disney, the Nuknog did make the immediate jump into Canon given their debut within Episode I: The Phantom Menace. That being said, aside from most of their biological info, almost all of their lore remains relegated to Star Wars Legends.

Unexplored: This is one of those cases where a species is more or less a blank slate when it comes to Canon, although, if their Legends lore is adapted fairly faithfully, it really limits the level of exploration they can undergo, this time given how simple Nuknog are compared to most other sentient species. That being said, we can still ask quite a few questions that, if answered, will help us better understand this species and their history just a little bit better! For starters, when did the Nuknog first develop sentience, and what sort of creatures might they have evolved from? Is it possible that they had a much higher mental capacity in the past, only diminishing as their skull continued to develop and restrict their brain in the strange manner that it had? How advanced was Sump prior to the Nuknog’s selling of the planet, and what was their government like given what we know about their ability to perceive complexity and master single skills? Did they have any major corporations or exports of their own, possibly becoming miners before or shortly after they were discovered, or were they on the more primitive side, living simple lives as farmers or fishermen before their eventual occupation?

Why was the Republic (and the Jedi) so completely unaware of Sump’s terrible state for centuries? When they finally did intervene, were the dealings with the mining groups fairly straightforward, or was there some opposition, possibly even leading to an armed conflict? Were there any notable names among those who occupied Sump, such as the Mining Guild, Mining Collective, or Corellian Mining Corporation? And was the planet ever able to recover or rebuild at all after they were left on their own? Were there still ways for the Nuknog to survive, such as a replenishable food source, clean, natural water, or areas where the pollution wasn’t high enough to halve their lifespans? Or was it possible the species was on the fast track towards extinction, given that there were no known dedicated Nuknog communities out among the galaxy, just individuals with little agency? Exploring the answers to some of these specific questions, as well as giving us a glimpse into the presumably dumbed-down worldbuilding concepts surrounding their species, including traits such as their culture, politics, economy, traditions, religions, diets, arts, and technologies, will help us really be able to utilize the species to their full capacity in the future!

Additional Notes: It doesn’t take much to understand the Nuknog, and I find their EU history to be surprisingly unique and compelling. Their design is also equally distinct, and comes from the great era at the turn of the century where they got really experimental with aliens given the new developments when it came to CGI. It is also worth noting that the species were originally intended to be a bit taller than how they’re commonly depicted now, however, they were mistakenly perceived a being squat and stubby by the developers of the video game Episode I: Racer due to how they interpreted concept art of podracer pilot Ark “Bumpy” Roose, leading to the version that is most widely accepted today!

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