Noghri

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Homeworld:
  Honoghr

• Size:
  1.4 meters

• Diet:
  omnivorous

• 

From the Expanded Universe

If ever a species could be misjudged by its appearance, it is the Noghri. Barely over a meter tall, these gray-skinned bipeds have wiry muscles, incredible reflexes, and surprising strength. They are deadly warriors that have grown up in unthinkable hardship, on a world forever despoiled by warfare.

The Noghri evolved on the planet Honoghr. Decades ago, a furious space battle raged over their world, and a shattered capital ship plunged into their primitive planet. The resulting environmental catastrophe poisoned their waters and soils.

An unlikely savior descended from the heavens. Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, saw great potential in the Noghri. He had Imperial scientists work on a project to reclaim the lost lands of Honoghr, to make the once lush world livable again. Using specially built decon droids, the Empire seeded the blighted Honoghr soils with life-sustaining kholm-grass.

Little did the Noghri suspect that Vader's charity was a ruse. The kholm-grass strangled all other native plants, and the decon droids were actually perpetuating Honoghr's ecological nightmare. The Noghri found themselves dependent on Vader and the Empire for their survival. They were forever indebted to him. The loyal and proud species dedicated themselves to becoming the Empire's killers. They lauded Vader, and proclaimed him their lord.

Even after the collapse of the Empire at Endor, and the death of Vader, the Noghri continued to surreptitiously serve the Empire. Their role as assassins and bodyguards was a closely guarded secret. When the New Republic discovered Noghri killers five years after Endor, they had no clue as to their origins. The leader of the fragmented Empire, Grand Admiral Thrawn, employed the Noghri in a mission to capture Luke Skywalker or Leia Organa Solo.

What Thrawn hadn't counted on was the Skywalker twin's lineage, and the keen Noghri sense of smell. So acute are their olfactory senses that Noghri can smell bloodlines. They recognized their target, Leia, as the Mal'ary'ush, or daughter of their savior. Rather than kill her, the Noghri hid Leia on their home planet, where she learned of their struggle.

Organa Solo was able to uncover the Imperial deception that had kept the Noghri servile to the Empire for decades. She proved the Empire had made fools of the proud species. Leia sewed the seeds of revolt among the Noghri ranks. What were once loyal enforcers now were enraged killers seeking revenge.

The Noghri aided the New Republic in exchange for environmental aid and a renewed future. It was the once loyal Rukh, Noghri bodyguard to Grand Admiral Thrawn, that ended that Imperial threat. In a daring act of vengeance, Rukh killed Thrawn aboard the Grand Admiral's command ship with an assassin's blade.

Since Thrawn's death, the Noghri continued to rejuvenate their world, though Honoghr may sadly be a lost cause. Many have relocated to New Nystao, on Wayland. Though their fealty to Vader has long been broken, they still are extremely loyal to Leia Organa Solo. They continue to serve as her bodyguard.

Behind the Scenes

In the development of his Thrawn Trilogy of novels, author Timothy Zahn drafted out a number of ideas that were disapproved for treading too close to material that George Lucas was to address in the prequel trilogy.

One idea that Zahn postulated was that the Sith were a species of killers in servitude to Darth Vader -- Dark Lord of the Sith. The idea was that Vader's gruesome mask was a stylized depiction of a Sith face. The idea was abandoned, and Zahn's Sith became the Noghri. Although not said in the text, it is hinted that the Noghri bear more than a passing resemblance to Vader's facemask.