Question about alien species in the EU

Hey

I was recently re-reading Golden Age of the Sith and Fall of the Sith Empire and got to wondering about something. What's with the lack of consistancy with alien species in the EU?

Examples:

How come the only recognisable species in Golden Age of the Sith and Fall of the Sith Empire are humans and Hutts? And why aren't any other exhibited species used elsewhere? Or why aren't many "OT species" like Mon Cals, Duros, Bothans, etc. used in Tales of the Jedi books. And, on the flipside, why aren't Nazzar, Vultan, and Miraluka used in other EU projects that much, if at all?

 

Cause there's 1,000,000 species in the galaxy.

The Mon Cals and Bothans are also in the Outer Rim territories.

It's like asking "Why aren't the Mongolians more prevalent in Europe anymore."

 

Are you just refering to those comics or the entire EU? Humans certainly get heavy representation but a lot of aliens are mixed in as well in general. NJO had an entire alien race which got a lot of 'screen' time. Dark Nest as well. LotF is a bit more lacking but still has Alema Rar in an important role and has made almost every NR fleet commander an alien of some sort. Not to mention the Sullustian and the crazy Ewok.

In the Legacy comics most of the Sith seem to be alien, along with some of the Jedi.

Humans will always be the core characters I think as that is the audience they are trying to sell the books to but a close examination will reveal a bunch of aliens running around as well.

 

Its a big galaxy, and demographics change over time. For example, Mon Calamari had not been discovered as of TotJ, so there shouldn't have been any Mon Cals running around.* But I would say that it is not unreasonable to assume that there were Duros "just off camera" in TotJ.

IMHO authors and artists don't create new species enough. It bugs me to see the same 20 or so species from the films all the time.


(*Mon Calamari had been in contact with the greater galaxy, to some extent, by the end of the Mandalorian Wars, since there are Quarren in KotOR, and some Sith in the game explicitly mention Mon Calamari, IIRC.)

 

One plus of Legacy of the Force is its use of a variety of species in key roles. Fallen and Omwati Jedi, Duro and Bith fleet officers, Togorian Sith- a nice variety.

--Adm. Nick

 

Of course, when writers like Zahn invent new species, people complain about this and ask why he can not just use existing species, especially as the new species he creates are most often never used afterwards by others or even he himself. The Chiss and Noghri are of course the great exception. Personally I have nothing against new species, only the fact that they afterwards tend to sink without a trace in to the deep ocean that is EU.

 

Zahn also created the Barabel species, the Elomin, and the Caamasi.

Ooooh, actually, the Barabel already existed in West End Games stuff. But he did bring them into fiction... as in, an "appearance" rather than a "source" On Wookieepedia.

 

So the ideal solution, of course, is neither to use the overused movie and major EU species, nor to invent new species willy-nilly; but to use the plethora of barely-used, obscure EU species (and even obscure movie species - there still are a few) that already exist.

 

I agree. Instead of creating all-new species, I think they should just use the obscure aliens that we never read about anymore. I'd actually like to see some of the old forgotten ones take the spotlight for a bit.

 

Come on, Lamproids!

 

Go Team Vuvrian!

 

Saurin, HO!

 

Phase II of the plan will then be to retcon certain characters of the overused species into the underused shapeshifters, right? He's a Clawdite. She's a Shi'do. Definitely a Neti...

 

How bout some Nogrhi Jedi. Am I the only one who would love this?

 

I'm telling y'all, Star Wars would be so much cooler if we got more Devlikks. They're like, kriffin' dragon-fox hybrids with dreads! How much cooler can you get?

The ROTS game was a cheap cop-out with their noghri-look-alike Jedi.

Of course, noghri Jedi during the Old Republic would probably be considered a discrepency in what's canon, but there has been worse.

 

I almost died with excitement when I saw AotC and thought one of the Jedi younglings was a Noghri. Turned out it was a Whiphid, though.

 

No, you're not. I usually play the JA bot match levels as a Noghri with a green lightsaber.