Avogwi

Last Updated: 01/30/2026

Name: Avogwi

Humanoid: No

Classification: Avian

Homeworld: Altor 14

Coloration: Red and Orange

Biology: The Avogwi were a species of sentient avians that stood anywhere between 1.5 and 2 meters tall when perched on their hind legs. They had crimson skin with similarly colored scales on their legs, which bled into the orange feathers of their torso, feathers that covered every other part of their body save for their appendages and beaks. These feathers were longest on the Avogwi’s tail and wings, possessing a wingspan of 4 to five meters in width. Avogwi feet were fleshy and bird-like, with three forward talons and one in the back, each tipped with a sharp claw. Their hands, instead, only featured three clawed fingers, with no opposable thumbs thumb-like digit, extending from directly from the tip of their wing bones, which themselves did not possess an elbow-like joint. This made it rather difficult for the Avogwi to actually utilize their hands, as they had limited arm mobility, and could only clumsily grasp objects, unable to utilize any complex tools or machinery.

Avogwi had hawk-like heads, with short feathers on the tops of their craniums, and seemingly no visible aural or nasal cavities, though they may have been buried under down. Their beaks were hooked, and inside they possessed long tongues with spiky barbed tips. Avogwi were carnivores, subsisting themselves on diets of meat, generally hunting living prey, and greatly preferring the taste of their homeworld, Altor 14’s, other sentient species, the reptilian Nuiwits, compared to the sparse non-sentient wildlife. Avogwis were said to be very muscular with extreme strength, especially in their limbs, having the ability to fly incredibly easily. They also had the capacity to speak, possibly sharing a language with the Nuiwits, and seemingly eventually gaining the capacity to pronounce Galactic Basic Standard as well, despite the unusual configuration of their mouths. Though believed to have directly evolved from a nearly identical non-sentient avian species some time in their past, it has also been theorized that the Avogwi shared a common ancestor with the Nuiwits, though the only traits they shared were their scales and identical tongues.

Lore: The Avogwi originated from the planet Altor 14, an arid planet found within the Roti-Ow System of the Zoraster Sector housed within the infamous part of the Outer Rim Territories known as “The Slice.” The planet was known for its relatively hot climate, baking under the light of its two suns, Roti and Ow. The surface of Altor 14 was comprised almost entirely of plainlands and deserts, with sparse vegetation and even sparser sources of water. The two main lifeforms on the planet were a species or avians and a species of lizards, with the former being the predators of the latter. At some point both species developed sentience, becoming known as the Avogwi and the Nuiwits, though they would continue their one-sided persecution, seemingly under the collective title of Altorian (at least following their discovery).

The Avogwi found the Nuiwits delectable, and though originally hunting them on instinct, began to develop malice towards the species. Observing their reptilian neighbors, they noted they were developing much more quickly as a civilization, developing farmlands, cities, and eventually advanced technologies, all due to the fact that their hands had developed in a way that allowed for complex utility. Spite and jealousy developed, only spurred on to the fact that the Nuiwits had evolved into a purely pacifistic people, refusing to fight back against their predators and unwilling to even eat other animals on the planet, leading vegetarian lifestyles instead. The Avogwi had developed something of a religious doctrine, that being “all creatures that wanted to live must kill, and that all creatures that would not kill would die so that others could live.”

These philosophies came from the legend of “Toro-toral,” considered the greatest Avogwi in history, and the main story passed down through the generations as it seems the Avogwi had no way to create written records. The tales said Toro-toral was the first member of the species to take to the skies, being the reason other Avogwi could fly in the modern ages and reaching an almost dietic status. It seems he was also treated as the first “Avog,” sole ruler of the Avogwi people determined by their strength and skill. He supposedly taught survival of the fittest, something the Avogwi very much took that to heart. And so they doubled down on their dedication to wipe the Nuiwits off the face of the planet, while remaining fearful of the many technologies their prey had begun to develop outside of their understanding, and racing to beat the reptilians in securing what few available surface water sources could be found on Altor 14. It was also believed that even hinting at a shared ancestry between the Altorians was complete and utter heresy, and an offence to the Avogwi of the highest degree.

Of course, infighting existed within Avogwi communities as well, as they were not a unified people and possessed few ways to communicate long distances. Still, they all acknowledged the active Avog, and gathered together on rare occasion when it was time to choose their newest leader, hosting a tournament consisting of on-on-one duels to the death, with the survivor of this battle royale becoming the newest Avog. There were few other reasons for various clans to convene, though at least one did seemingly occur in 15 BBY when, for the first time ever, Altor 14 was visited by travelers from the stars.

The Avogwi made first contact with the outside galaxy when delegates from the “Rego Mineral Company” arrived on Altor 14 only a few years after the fall of the Galactic Republic. The world had previously been uncharted, being on the edge of colonized space within the Outer Rim. These miners were rather surprised to encounter not one but two distinct sentient civilizations, one of which so advanced they possessed both automated mining equipment and unique types of droids. Because they were much less advanced than the Nuiwits, they were looked over regarding any negotiations as the Rego Mineral Company acknowledged the reptilians as being the true owners of the world. Convening with the Nuiwit “Councils of Elders,” they quickly traded away mining rights to the planet, with no consultation with the avian population, something that upset them greatly.

Watching their home get essentially pawned off to foreigners that they had no reason to trust, the Avogwi grew only more disdainful. There was growing fear that, with their newfound wealth and allies, the Nuiwits would finally take it upon themselves to wipe out their oppressors, but instead that continued in their pacifistic ways, more-or-less ignoring the Avogwi entirely. This was seen as the ultimate affront to the avian sentients, who seeming increased their aggression, though it was of little avail as the Nuiwits population boomed, their fortifications grew stronger, and their civilizations continued to usurp Avogwi territory, forcing the avians back. When discovered, it seemed the planet’s combined population numbered less than one million, so being the less numerous species, their numbers must have been somewhere under 500,000, presumably continuing to decrease as they lost land, food, and water.

The Nuiwits hoped the Avogwi would eventually up and abandon Altor 14 in search of a new home, and that ended up being at least partially true. While many of the natives remained, a number did also find passage offworld as more and more travelers would arrive and depart due to growing mining operations. These Avogwi would quickly develop a reputation as unsavory, almost always falling into some life of crime and being known for having a taste for sentient flesh. From assassins to bounty hunters to black market dealers and even crooked port bosses, the Avogwi’s natural strength, flight abilities, violent personalities, and ruthless ideologies made them the perfect fit for these jobs. And in their absence, the Galactic Empire would occupy their homeworld, subjugating all who remained behind, for, as they had feared, Rego’s intentions were someone nefarious, being affiliated with the galactic regime from the start. Fortunately, the Empire wouldn’t remain in power for much longer after that, and in only a few decades, when their presence was removed following the Imperial collapse, it would be the Hutt Empire who moved in to fill the vacuum, though what happened after that remains untold.

Continuity: Just like the Nuiwits, the Avogwi remain relegated to the Star Wars Expanded Universe for now, having only appeared mostly within a few RPG magazines/source books, though given their density, still expanded upon a fair bit.

Unexplored: As mentioned in the section above, the Avogwi are honestly fairly fleshed out, though not quite as much as the Nuiwit neighbors given they had a little bit less… “potential” I suppose. Though the tale is interesting enough that both should have their fair share in the spotlight, even if the Nuiwits come across as a bit more nuanced. Of course, this is only within the confines of Star Wars Legends, and in Canon, not existing yet makes them essentially a blank slate, though I do really hope most of their above lore remains in some capacity as their relationship (both societally and potentially biologically) is really what makes them most unique. Sentient bird species in general that aren’t on the more anthropomorphized side are also still a pretty rare site, so should they make it into Canon, that’d be pretty exciting.

All that said, there are still at least a few specific questions we can ask regarding the species that, if answered, might help us understand them at least a little bit better. These include: Is it true the two species did, in fact, share a common ancestor? When did they first develop sentience, and how did their philosophies sort of evolve from base instinct into a more organized religious fervor? Was there any truth to the tales of “Toro-toral?” and how might the legend of changed or been radicalized being passed down verbally all those years? How did Rego interact with the Avogwi, were there ever any official summits, and how did the avians learn of the negotiations that sold the rights to their homeworld? How and when exactly did members of the species leave the planet, what would more specific examples of their exploits across the galactic underworld look like, and did any remain on the straight and narrow? What happened to those that remained under the Galactic and Hutt Empires, as well as further on down the lines? And some additional artistic explorations would go a long way as well, especially just seeing exactly how they look in color!

Additional Notes: Getting to write about both Altorian species back-to-back has been very fun, presenting a bit of each side, though the Avogwi were generally the antagonists of the tale of both species. It’s still somewhat of a tragedy that they had zero say over the sale of their home, though it’d be easy to argue this fate was self-inflicted due to their inability to negotiate. Still, when you encounter a species that was raised with such dogmatic faiths from birth, you can empathize a bit and wonder how their trajectory might have been different if such philosophies were changed, or someone had intervened and realigned them on a less violent route. Sadly, at least within the EU, that never happened during the snippet of their existence we observed, but with the advent of the current Canon, there’s still always a chance to see an alternate history play out where peace talks were eventually held, Scalvi-Crulkon or Syrinxian-Vekuran style. Though would the loss of that pivotal conflict make the species as a whole much less interesting and distinct within such a vast landscape of sentient Star Wars species. Unfortunately we may never have the chance to find out.

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