Icarii

Last Updated: 4/19/2024

Name: Icarii

Humanoid: Yes

Classification: Near-Human/Alternative

Homeworld: Vestar

Coloration: Green, Gray, or Pale Blue

Biology: Externally, the Icarii were nearly identical to that of baseline Humans, with the same average height, weight, build, and frame, as well as other general traits such as number of fingers/toes, facial configuration, presence of breasts of females, locations of hair growth, etc. The biggest difference upon observation was simply their coloration, with pigmentation that made them gray, oftentimes with a slight blue or green hue, while their nails were dark gray. Their hair was also sometimes bright crimson, a color unnatural to that of Standard Humans. The major differences, however, were found within the Icarii, with all internal organs save for their brain technically being completely unnecessary.

Icarii were capable of surviving decapitation, and could not die from blood loss, only a bit of their green blood leaking out before the wounds would more-or-less seal. They still initially experienced pain, and later just discomfort, when being dismembered, however, as long as their brain remained intact, they no longer required sustenance or many other otherwise necessary faculties that a living being would need. It would seem their vocal cords were also located somewhere within their cranium,as they could speak without a neck. Severing or dissolving a portion of an Icarii’s brain would finally cause them to become deceased, and it is unclear whether or not these abilities are linked to their high aptitude for the Force or not. Though their native tongue remains unnamed, the Icarii could clearly pronounce Basic.

Lore: The Icarii hailed from a backwater world situated within the Outer Rim, known as Vestar, alongside another native near-Human species known as the Vestaari. They lived in relative peace for many years, with Vestar not receiving any sort of major galactic attention, but being steadily settled by offworlders throughout the millennia nonetheless. Vestar was covered primarily in massive trees, and both the Icarii and Vestaari tribes took up residence in villages among the massive forests. The Icarii seemingly had a strong connection to nature, having a unique link to the Living Force, and dressing in scant clothing, though royalty and shamans commonly adorned themselves with incredibly valuable jewels and gold, which may or may not have been acquired directly from Vestar. These baubles were embedded into their clothing, woven into their hair, and adhered to their faces, with their queen and head sorceress said to don billions of credits worth of jewelry at a time.

Though they were technically a rich race, they seemingly did nothing with this value aside from adorning their most influential members and performing religious rituals. It also seems they were not a very outgoing species, rarely leaving their homeworld and flaunting their wealth, meaning few were very aware of their existence. Still, word did get out regarding their practices, and legends grew of their seeming inability to die despite suffering grievous wounds. This eventually spawned a rumor that you Icarii had seven lives, and you needed to kill them seven times so that they would stay dead. Additionally, some Icarii women who were very strong in the Force took on the role of “Sorceresses,” able to use “Magicks” and see glimpses of the future, a fact which made outsiders who knew of them even more scared of their existence. When the Galactic Empire rose to power they brought with them unprecedented levels of xenophobia that spread throughout the galaxy, leading to the creation of the term “Ikie,” a slur used to refer to members of the Icarii.

Eventually, the Empire deemed the species enough of a threat that they were designed a target for complete and utter genocide. A campaign to wipe the “Ikies” from the face of the galaxy was launched, and the Imperials swarmed Vestar in 3 BBY, dispatching the unique special forces unit known as “Lightning Battalion” to get the job done. Making an enemy of the Icarii, the Vestaari, and all of the other immigrated locals, the Empire was met with a much more severe pushback than they had been anticipating. The Icarii especially put up a valiant fight, proving the legends surrounding their immortality weren’t completely unfounded. Ultimately, the Empire deployed a new and terrible bioweapon that rendered the species effectively extinct, save for one, their Queen, Selestrine, whose living head was smuggled offworld by one of the Imperial officers leading the campaign due to the wealth she had attached to her. Sadly, even she was later fully executed by Darth Vader, and with her, the last of the known Icarii died.

Continuity: The Icarii only exist within Star Wars Legends at the moment.

Unexplored: There are a fair number of questions raised by the snapshot we have of the Icarii’s history just before their end. We need to start from the beginning, however, by asking questions such as: When did the Icarii first develop sentience and what sort of creature might they have evolved from to result in their unique biology but similar appearance to baseline Humans? Did they develop before or after the Vestaari, and is it possible one or both species actually arrived on Vestar some time in the distant past, potentially being ancient Human offshoots? What was the relationship between the two species, did they ever come into conflict, and did they live in communities together or were they a bit more segregated in their societal approach? Additionally, did Vestar have any other environments outside of the superforests, and would they also be home to local civilizations, or possibly just the outside colonists who took up more-and-more of the planet’s real estate?

When were the Icarii first discovered by the outside galaxy, and at what point did they first learn of their wealth, unique magicks, and “immortality,” leading to a relatively negative impression and a number of tall tales? How often did the Icarii travel offworld, and were they ever hired for dangerous places of employment, whether physical labor, bodyguards, or possibly even a form of twisted entertainment? Would the Republic ever attempt to bring Vestar into their fold, and/or would they ever be allied or at least propositioned by other major galactic factions? Did they secretly do something to offend the Galactic Empire, or were they targeted simply due to rumors, and out of the Empire’s fear of aliens they could not understand (as well as roots of greed)? How did the Icarii Campaign go down, and while we know it lasted for months, just how long did it take before the species was finally wiped out by the atrocious, one-sided chemical warfare? On that note, was the species truly extinct following the death of their queen, or were there others out among the galaxy who had not been tracked down and could possibly save the species from vanishing forever?

Moving back to general lore, where did all of the Icarii’s wealth come from? Did they acquire it from trading with offworlders, their own secret mining endeavors on Vestar, or possibly other, even less-than-savory means? Why did Selestine choose to wear much of it, even when under attack by the Empire, and was any of it leftover following the species’ annihilation? Additionally, did the Icarii have a high natural midi-chlorian count, possibly resulting from their relationship to their world, and leading to their powers or precognition? If not, would their powers have been derived from twisted Magicks pulling from the Force like we see with some factions like the Witches of Dathomir? Would their ability to survive dismemberment be rooted solely in the Force, another unique power granted to them, or was it completely natural, with an anatomical/biological explanation? Playing into the legends and rumors, was it possible they also had strong regenerative abilities, able to reattach removed body parts in a similar manner to the Gen’Dai? Finally, were there ever any prominent Icarii Jedi, Sith, or other figures, who potentially used their abilities for distant purposes?

Additional Notes: This was a bit of a tough one to provide images for as all of the full-body shots feature Selestrine being… promiscuous dressed to say the least. I usually try to avoid that for the sake of keeping the site child friendly, but had to stick with the feature image above for now as it’s the least revealing. This just gives me an additional reason to want to see the Icarii make a return by debuting in Canon someday, not only for the usual deep cut worldbuilding opportunities, but also so I can get a more acceptable image as I don’t believe, as much as I love “Boba Fett: Enemy of the Empire’s” unique artstyle, that depictions like these would fly in this day and age. That aside, their lore is a pretty good example of the bizarreness found within EU, and I’m curious to see how much of it would still be able to make it into Canon without needing to be tweaked or updated.

Reference Images: