R’ora

Last Updated: 07/02/2026

Name: R’ora

Humanoid: Yes

Classification: Aquatic/Gastro-Cephalopod

Homeworld: Luprora

Coloration: Red and White

Biology: The R’ora were an aquatic humanoid species that had recently developed sentience on the planet Luprora as of 34 ABY. They stood approximately the same height as the average Human, with two traditional arms, two legs, and one head, though their bodies seemed to be comprised of nearly pure muscle. Their calf muscles were especially large, with wide feet featuring three to four clawed toes connected by webbing. Similarly, their hands also hade for sharp digits each, with webbing, and additional spines protruding out and back from their elbows that featured web-like fins. The species had coarse collection of muscles centered around their torsos and necks, with prominent veins also around their shoulders and necks. They had red and white skin, with red along their backs, sides, and arms, though the white portions were their bellies, chins, and underarms, as well as their palms and the soles of their feet.

Their heads were almost shark-like, with solid glassy reddish eyes, sharp jawlines, and anywhere from what looks like one to seven large spines extending from the backs of their heads in a disheveled manner that ensured no two R’ora looked identical. Their gaping jaws lacked lips, showcasing their razor-sharp teeth and gums at all times. It seemed they produced a lot of saliva naturally, and their tongues were thick and elongated, ending in a point. Though there were a number of complex, deep grooves running along the sides and backs of their heads, there was nothing visible that could be confidently discerned to be nasal or aural cavities, nor traditional gills. Still, despite this, the R’ora were able to survive both above and below the surface of the water, though originating from the sea they were presumably more proficient with swimming as a form of locomotion.

Additionally, the species had two long, segmented tentacles extending from the back sides of their torsos, which were prehensile, able to be used as weapons with the series of quills extending from towards the ends, as well as potentially grab objects. These tentacles were could grow up to anywhere from approximately the length of their bodies to twice as long , and seemed to be covered in some sort of hard plating, ending in a sharp point much like their digits and tongues. It is unclear what sort of the language the species possessed, as they’re never shown speaking in a traditional sense, only seemingly roaring and screaming, so it’s possible the only communicated utilizing these methods given their still-primitive status. R’ora were naturally vicious, seeming to retain some animalistic traits from their recent precursor species, causing them to either capture and torture or brutalize offworlders. It seems they may have had a unique relationship with giant tentacled sea creatures native to Luprora known as Tsw’ells. They shared many features, and almost seemed not to be aggressive towards each other, potentially sharing a common ancestor or at least possessing a symbiotic relationship. The R’ora were presumably carnivorous given their appearance and the lack of plant life on Luprora, most likely surviving off of a diet strictly of raw seafood.

Lore: Seemingly around the time the R’ora developed sentience, if not slightly before, wayward travelers belonging to a species known as the Lupr’or arrive on the planet Luprora, beginning to colonize the world. Following a mass exodus of their original homeworld after they decided to abandon their lives spoiled by technology, these pilgrims would burn or bury all of the tech they arrived with, including their spacecraft, and begin spreading out across the various rocky islands of the otherwise watery planet, establishing small colonies and farms. And for a time, these near-Human Lupr’or thrived, living off the sea, enjoying lives free of complication and technology, and developing pacifistic lifestyles. Unfortunately, an event took place which the Lupr’or believe was the planet turning against them, with one way, the climate instantly changed from moderate to almost perpetually stormy, with the Tsw’ells waking up and rising from the deeps to terrorize the shoresides, and the R’ora finally making their full emergence, committing a systematic genocide of their homeworld’s colonizers, who refused to fight back. It’s believed they were named by the Lupr’or given the similar formatting, and thus would not consider/refer to themselves as much, which should be obvious given the seeming language barrier, though technically we have no confirmation of this.

The R’ora would establish at least one major above-sea stronghold in what seemed to maybe have been an abandoned Lupr’or community on a small inland island. There, they would begin to fashion rudimentary weapons out of sharpened steel and sticks, such as cleavers and scythes, though they didn’t really have any other notable developments. They had yet to find a need for clothing, nor any other furnishings. And it seems they too, given their physiology, lived off the fished of the sea, if not Lupr’or flesh as well. It is unclear if any of the Lupr’or superstitions were true regarding the R’ora being spurred on by the will of the planet itself, though the timing of the emergence of a number of dangerous events is, at least, a bit suspect. Still, the Lupr’or could do nothing as the R’ora wiped out colony after colony until their prey had been driven back to one final settlement. That was when a visitor from the stars arrived, a Human in a TIE Fighter who landed on the world, seeking asylum. Instead of butchering him, the R’ora would take him prisoner, binding him and torturing him, their only understandable motive seeming to be curiosity.

Shortly thereafter, a second TIE Fighter would crash land on Luprora, containing three passengers, First Order Captain Phasma, as well as a rank and file TIE pilot and BB-series astromech droid. They were chasing the first Human to arrive, identified as First Order Lieutenant Sol Rivas, though unlike him, they did not encounter the R’ora upon arrival, instead coming across a Tsw’ells, which Phasma subsequently killed, before the Lupr’or discovered them and took them back to their village. It turns out Rivas had uncovered that Phasma had deactivated the shields to the Starkiller Base superweapon, leading to its destruction, before she could fully wipe evidence of this cowardly act she had performed under duress. With the Lieutenant being the only loose tie, she had pursued him from the base, commandeering her pilot companion’s TIE which was still receiving maintenance, which resulted in their not-so-graceful landing. Phasma had convinced the pilot that Rivas was actually the traitor, and the both of them, wearing disguises, instead convinced the Lupr’or that they were searching for a friend, the Captain engineering a layered deception.

During this time, the R’ora continued to torture their “guest,” maiming him to the point of seemingly gouging out one of his eyes. As the Lupr’or predicted, they would only keep him alive for a few days at best, and though the TIE pilot believed that letting the R’ora do so would be in their best interest, Phasma’s paranoia would not allow anyone else to take his life but hers, she needed to confirm no one else knew. After some shenanigans with the Lupr’or which resulted in Phasma earning their respect and uncovering the last of their old buried vessels, she revealed herself to be an agent of the First Order and rallied them to her cause relating to them using experiences from her own childhood. Weaponizing their fear and anger regarding the R’ora, she convinced them it would be better to die fighting than to die cowering in fear (ironic given recent events), and so they would abandon their pacifism, forming a militia supplied with weapons brought from the recently uncovered transport. They would devise a plan to storm the R’ora stronghold, which included electrifying the water around it using the old tech to kill all of the Tsw’ells guarding the waters around their island.

The attack would commence shortly thereafter, with the Tsw’ells being defeated rather easily. The R’ora would begin rallying to prepare to defend their home, gathering together crude weapons as the Lupr’or arrived outside their walls by boat and began scaling over them. The skirmish would begin with little ceremony, both sides clashing headfirst as blood was instantly spilled. Phasma would use the conflict to sneak past the R’ora and locate Rivas, provoking him to reveal he and he along knew about her transgressions, before executing him on the spot. Unfortunately, Phasma’s pilot had overheard the exchange, though she initially played it off. She asked Phasma if they would help the Lupr’or win their fight against the R’ora, but the Captain stated that they had already lost. Rivas three pursuers then fled the battlefield, though Phasma would eliminate both the droid and pilot before escaping Luprora, tying up the final loose ends and leaving the Lupr’or colonists to go extinct. It is pretty evident that all of the able-bodied men, women, and children who went to fight were eviscerated, and though some R’ora may have died, they greatly outnumbered their foes. We can only assume following the fight, they would launch one final counter attack, finishing off the few remaining sick, elderly, and young who stayed behind, reclaiming their homeworld and becoming the only sentient population.

Continuity: The R’ora come from Star Wars: Canon exclusively, currently limited to one comic miniseries.

Unexplored: Though we do get to know a bit about the R’ora, and from what we see they aren’t particularly a complicated species, there’s still at least a few questions we could ask that, if answered, could help us understand them a bit more. These questions include: At what point exactly did they develop sentience, was it a slow or long process, was it or their attitudes influenced in any way by the “will” of Luprora, as the Lupr’or believed, what sort of creatures did they evolve from, and was there any biological relation to the Tsw’ells? Even if not, what exactly was thei relationship and why did it seem they were not aggressive towards each other? What caused their aggression towards the Lup’ror exactly, what did they think about these colonists outside of their disdain for them, were there ever any R’ora who questioned their activities and motives and maybe considered peace, especially when their neighboring sentients didn’t fight back, and why would they fashion weapons if their biology would have more than done the trick in slaughtering their foes?

How did the R’ora communicate, and could it be considered a traditional language? Did they somehow grant themselves their name, or did the Lupr’or give it to them, and if so, how did the R’ora refer to themselves (if it could be translated into a comprehensible name)? Did the species have any other distinct biological/anatomical traits? Did they have any interesting traditions, philosophies, or potentially religious beliefs? How long would it be before they developed into the next quantifiable stage/age of a civilization? Would they ever encounter any other outsiders, or would they ever remain relegated to Luprora? And though we assume it’s the case, is it true that they were the ones to deal the final blow to the Lupr’or colonists, ensuring their extinction? Finally, why did they capture Lieutenant Rivas instead of just killing him? Were they just curious, maybe attempting to interrogate him in their own twisted ways, did they just enjoy to process of a long torture, or was there some other reason? Aside from these questions, and despite not necessarily even qualifying for the other concepts in our usual list of general worldbuilding traits, I’m sure there are additional aspects to explore that would make the species stand out even more among a long list of aquatic humanoid sentients? Additional depictions in other art styles or mediums, as well as maybe different stages of their lifecycle or other potential colorations/bodily configurations, would be very neat to have for memorability’s sake!

Additional Notes: What a great humanoid aquatic design for a Star Wars species! It’s just a shame that we’ll probably never see them again given their primitive nature and the uncharted nature of their world. That said, we do know that some species in Star Wars have developed incredibly quickly, so maybe they’ll be ready to travel offworld in 50 years time in-universe (or out I suppose) within the post-TROS eras. I jest a bit, but if someone really wanted to, I’m sure they could write a way that allowed a R’ora character to exist within the greater galaxy, and maybe then we’d finally learn what they refer to themselves as. But if not, at least we can appreciate them for their brief appearances here, so bravo to Kelly Thompson and Marco Checchetto for writing and illustrating them respectively, I look forward to any future designs y’all may conceive!

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