The creatures in Dagobah's "Cave of Evil"

Thought it's best to make a thread about this, because this issue gets rarely discussed.

Were the snakes and lizards in the cave "normal" animals or somehow mutated? And how much was their behavior altered by the evil in the cave? Were they a potential danger to visitors?

Always wondered about that, since i first saw ESB.

 

Never thought of that. It's an interesting idea. I wonder if it's ever been explored in any of the literature.

 

Not directly, as far as i remember. At least in Legends. But there were things that were most likely directly inspired by the cave creatures.

For example the reptiles on Lake Nath (a similar dark side domain on Ambria) in TOTJ and maybe the tomb guardian beasts on Korriban. Perhaps even the undead corpses and skeletons among them.

 

I feel safe in assuming they were no danger to Jedi trainees. Yoda told Luke he wouldn't need his weapons.

 

Good point. But on the other side, perhaps when Yoda entered the cave they hid from him, because he *had* a lightsaber at this time

Not sure if Yoda could have sensed them in this case or from outside. The dark side or the cave itself could possibly cloak them from people lurking outside and maybe sometimes even from people inside.

In this case, Yoda may have been wrong to advise Luke to enter the cave without a lightsaber

Luke may have done the right thing.

 

They look like normal creatures, not mutated ones. I don't think the idea is to say anything about any effect on the creatures themselves, but to help make the place more uncomfortable and dreadful.

 

Yep. But perhaps the cave may have changed their behavior instead of their bodies.

 

Perhaps, but there's nothing to support that assumption. The creatures don't do anything special one way or the other.

 

There are hints in Legends that these creatures aren't harmless. As i said on Reddit:

"Not sure about that, because the cave seems to attract these creepers somehow for whatever reason.

And i remember that the reptiles living at a similar domain of the darkside in TOTJ (Lake Nath on Ambria iirc) were extremely aggressive.

Not to speak about the beasts living in Sith tombs on Korriban, that were used as Guardians..."

 

Harmless or not, that doesn't make them abnormal. Like I said, there's nothing that indicates that the place is affecting them in any a particular way because they don't do anything.

They are creepy to the audience, yes. The scene is meant to evoque that feeling. But it's all part of Dagobah's wildlife. Is the snake that snuck on Luke's X-wing creepy? I'm sure it is to some people.

 

But there must be a reason why the cave and other dark side places attract such animals?

And often they were shown to be as aggressive and dangerous...

 

Not on the cave on Dagobah.

 

But why should the cave on Dagobah be any different than other dark side locations, in this case?

 

The Dagobah cave was written first and intended to be a place for Luke to be tested without weapons. So I think a better question is, why are the other dark side locations different from Dagobah? And I suspect the answer is, those authors wanted some kind of overt dangers for their characters to confront, as opposed to the philosophical/ethical/spiritual challenge Luke faced on Dagobah.

 

It’s possible, but nothing has ever been said one way or the other.

 

Think it could be either way, too. But i think it would be more interesting if the animals in the cave would be kind of different in their behavior than the specimens outside.

 

It's interesting that the snakes and lizards weren't there when Galen Marek visited the cave in The Force Unleashed 2 (at least in the game), if i remember correctly...

 

My least favorite part of ESB was all those snakes and lizards scattered everywhere in the cave. Felt like a cheap horror movie set.

 

"Life creates the Force, and makes it grow." All the animals were supposed to indicate a place strong in the Force, I believe. I'm not a big fan of snakes and lizards, but cute fluffy bunnies would have looked totally out of place on Dagobah.

 

Were there really that many? I remember a lizard, and one or two snakes. Did Lucas add more in the special editions?

 

No, but I think there are three snakes and two lizards in the cave, then a snake in Yoda’s house and one in Luke’s X-wing engine. It’s like the reptile guy from the zoo visited the set that day, and decided to put his reptiles to work.

 

Not sure about it, was Zahn possibly also inspired by the cave lizards when he created the Ysalamiri?

Did he ever mentioned something about it anywhere?