Aiwhas? On Bespin?

Hi, guys, i was just doing a google search for twin-pod Bespin speeders and i came up on this image. It may be just me, but those flying reptiles look like Aiwhas to me. What are they? And another question is, how can they survive on Bespin, if i was right?

 

Classic Trilogy Forum


This belongs here.

 

Why would this belong in the OT forum? This involves tidbits from both the PT and the OT.

 

Ralph McQuarrie designed them for Bespin, but they were never put into the film. In TPM, they were adapted for use on Naboo, where the Gungans would use them to fight against battle droids on flying STAPs in the skies above the ground battle. That idea was scrapped, and they weren't included there in the movie either. In the designs for AOTC they were put on Kamino, where they finally got there chance to appear on the big screen. I believe EU materials now list them as living on all three planets.

 

Apparently, a lot of the cloning done on Kamino was to preserve species.

The Aiwhas were becoming extinct, and some were shipped to Naboo, for whatever reason.

It's in the newest Star Wars Insider, I think.

 

No no no no no...


That creature you see is not an Aiwha, but rather a Thranta.


There were many types of Thrantas, all native to Alderaan. Unfortunatly all species but one became extinct when the planet was destroyed by the Death Star.


Here is the basic description of a Thranta:

Thranta- a creature native to the planet Alderaan, the thranta was a reptavian of incredible beauty and diversion. No less than four species of thranta were once native to Alderaan, although only the common thranta - sometimes called the Alderaan of Bespin thranta - were exported to Bespin before Alderaan was destroyed. The great thranta, the pilotta thranta, and the balana thranta were all exterminated with the destruction of Alderaan. The thranta was basically a huge, floating wing, bouyed by a lighter-than-air bladder. They were very docile creatures, and could be easily domesticated. All four major subspecies could be trained to serve as transportation beasts, carrying individuals or entire barges. The average thranta lived or forty standard years or so. The thrantas that survive on Bespin, known as rodeo thrantas, were descendants of domesticated thranta that were used as flying mounts. The thranta was used on Alderaan as a transportation method as well as a show-beast. Smaller thranta were trained as recreational mounts. Some thranta were even transported to Coruscant, to be used as Imperial courier beasts. However, these thrantas wasted away without their natural environment to thrive in. The noxious fumes and emissions of the planet-wide city seemed to poison them.



Below are all types of the Thranta ever known to exist (those in blue text are not extinct).


Pilotta Thranta- once native to the planet Alderaan, the pilotta thranta was made extinct with the destruction of its homeworld. It was the second-largest of the four major subspecies of thranta, rivalled only by the great thranta. Its skin was black on the dorsal side of its body, and white on the underside. The nose of the pilotta was short and pointed, and the rudder-like tail had three lobes instead of the four found on the common and balana thrantas. The tail had two horizontal lobes, with the third lobe rising above them. Trained pilotta thrantas carried passenger transports hung from their bodies.


Great Thranta- this was the largest and most majestic of the thrantas which inhabited the planet Alderaan. An immense, white-skinned creature, the great thranta had a long neck and a very stubbu head. Its relatively short tail lacked the horizontal rudders of the other species, and the wings of the great thranta were heavily muscled. Like most other species of thranta, the great thranta was made extinct when the first Death Star destroyed Alderaan. In sheer size, the great thranta was ten to fifteen times as long as the pilotta thranta. Trained great thrantas had to be controlled by handlers who traveled in a compartment strapped to the back of its head, and could carry a huge passenger transport strapped to its chest.


Balana Thranta- once native to the planet Alderaan, the balana thranta was made extinct with the destruction of its homeworld. It was distinguished from the common thranta in several ways, chiefly the balana's larger body and brown coloration. The wings of the balana had a hooked shape near the forward tips, giving the appearance of "hands." The characteristic rudder-like tail was also slightly different, with the horizontal lobes being much longer than the vertical lobes. Like other thranta species, the balana could be trained to act as a transport beast, and it would allow an open-air seating raft to be strapped to its back.


Common Thranta (also known as the Alderaan Thranta and the Bespin Thranta)- this was the only species of thranta to survive the destruction of the planet Alderaan. The reason for this was that it had been exported to the gas giant of Bespin, which was one of the few worlds where the common thranta actually survived away from Alderaan. A

 

Lord_Hydronium has it down for the most part. To expand on what he said, the Falcon was to orginally encounter them in it's intial approach to Cloud City. But they were removed from later drafts and became the cloud cars instead.

I seem to recall the name "thranta" not appearing until Kevin J. Anderson's book featuring the worlds of the OT (I can't, for the life of me, remember the title, but I know I have it as I was flipping through it in my room the other day). If you're interested in more about this scene, try checking out the Annotated Screenplays. It's chock full of interesting info regarding the earlier drafts of the OT as well as provides some insight to what's to come in the PT.

 

Ahh, a thranta, a decendant of the fanta soda.

Anyway, good discussion so far.

 

I have always wondered about that scene in ESB. Right as the Falcon flies into Bespin. I assumed they were Stormtroopers but I guess I was wrong.

 

So are Aiwhas a genetically engineered version of the thranta, adapted for aquatic habitats, or are Aiwhas totally different creatures, native to Kamino?

 

i think bespin is the answer to this query