What species was Mira? (Jedi: Mace Windu comic)

Jedi Knight Mira was pale skinned with dark hair and spots. The only reasonable species I could really classify her as were perhaps Nagai or Chev (with the spots unexplained). Is there something I'm missing with her? Maybe even some rare albino Devaronian? Any help here would be hot.

Keith "Nar" Kappel

 

I don't think they ever said what she was... I had been wondering that too.

Obiy

 

I'm thinking she could be a Theelin, or at least partly.

 

Human.

 

[image=http://starwars.wikicities.com/images/d/dd/Mira1.jpg]

I guess "generic near-human" isn't very satisfying, but that's how I'd classify her.

 

Don't classify her as anything until we get an official confirmation on what she is, don't classify her as anything but near human.

A question, if near-humans can breed with baseline humans, they're human right? What is the definition of human, that you must be African, Caucasian, or Asian? Why aren't near-humans identical to humans, but with say green skin, considered human? The Theelin would have to be humans, since they can breed with them.

 

I think it means that there are, usually, physical characteristics that make them differ from baseline humans. Arkanians are near-human, for example.

 

The scientific definition of a species is any two organism can breed together and have viable (fertile) offspring is a member of the same species.

So if any wierd looking species in Star Wars can have viable offspring without the help of in vitro technology, that means even a hutt (if they fit the above definition) can be classified as a human.

 

Yes, but "near-human" never seemed a real scientific distinction and more like a generality. This is "human" and this is "evolved human that looks different from us."

 

I'd say near-humans would just be a different subspecies, since they can still interbreed. If we use our taxonomy, all humans and near-humans would fall under "H. sapiens" (have to abbreviate the genus name because this stupid word filter stars it out), "humans" in the sense of Luke, Leia, et al would be "H. sapiens sapiens", and near-humans would all be "H. sapiens *".

 

It's a purley semantic thing it seems. Biologically, yes, if a "near-human" can successfully produce offspring with a baseline human then the near human is by definition not a separate species, and certainly not a separate genus. There's also a genetic basis for determining different species, although I don't know quite as much about that, since it's a newer method.

Based on the "viable offspring" definition, Theelins must be human subspecies at the very most, and therefore calling them human would be correct-- rather than being H. sapiens sapiens, they could realistically be H. sapiens "theelin" or whatever. The subspecies issue is a bit fuzzy in modern biology though; that sort of classificiation might even be irrelevant. Ditto with species/genus; grey wolves/dogs, coyotes, and I believe red wolves can all interbreed successfully, but the three are considered three different species, albeit of the same genus.

Basically, based solely on what we know of their biology, I'd classify Mirialans, Hapans, Lorrdians, Rattataki, Chalactans, Kiffar, Zeltrons, Ferroans, Chev, probably Etti, and a host of other so-called "near humans" as simply human races, not even a subspecies. Chiss, Theelin, Wroonians, Miraluka, the unnamed sharp-eared race, and so forth are probably subspecies and at most separate species, although they fall under the same genus and could be considered humans just as, say, neanderthals are. Harder to call are races such as Arkanians and Zabrak, which have more drastically different physical characteristics that even may be a result of genetic tampering; depending on their genetic characteristics it's possible they may even fall in a different genus, although definitely in the same sub-family or tribe.

Hard to place are species like the Dantari, which seem to be a 'devoloved' form of humanity, the Taungs, which in what little illustrations we have look radically different from humans, and the Sith, which could be anywhere from a race of humans to a separate genus entirely. Both the Sith and Dantari are almost certainly descended from baseline humans, however, while the Taung classification as "near-human" could have been a mistake.

Based solely on Mira's external appearance, which differs only from baseline humans in skin color and facial markings, I'd call her a human.

EDIT: Would you believe the damn filter won't let me post ****? Unbelievable.

 

I enjoyed her demise, but not as much as the vibrant colours of the artwork. It was liek she just . . . stood there.

 

Given that the Sith "species" could interbreed with the banished Dark Jedi, I'd say they were human.

 

The issue surrounding that is that there's references somewhere to "sith alchemy" (read: genetic manipulation) being involved in the sith/human interbreeding, suggesting that they might have been different species of the same genus.

I'm not sure if the "sith alchemy" is fanon, though, since I don't recall reading it anywhere outside of message boards and the SW wiki.

Personally I'd classify the Sith as human, since the only physical differences are fleshy structures on the face.

 

Starcrash (aka The Legend of Zelda: Star Wars) had a planet with a race of elf-eared humans...

 

That's the "unknown sharp-eared race" I referred to. Presumably Master Fey is from the same race, and they're almost certainly humans.

 

Ah.

I believe that the near-humans with "chin-spikes" are called Mykes (in the Crimson Empire Handbook? I forget the original source. ) Examples can be seen in Rogue Squadron: The Phantom Affair, and in Crimson Empire II.

 

Myke, yep. You're right, it was in the handbook. Saxton had an interesting theory that the individual in question (Norym Kim) has Sith ancestry, giving him those chin spikes.

 

I seem to remember something like that. Makes sense to me.

 

What complicates this discussion is the fact that almost every speicies seen in SW have similarities that would be highly unlikely to find in the real universe, for example that elmost every sentient is basicly humanoid, that the vast majority can survive in a oxygen-hydrogen atmosphere and that even the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong has the same DNA-structure.
If so many seperate environments let so similar creatures evolve, it wouldn't be a long stretch to say that two speicies with completely different origins would still be able to interbreed.


/Charlii

 

The scientific definition of a species is any two organism can breed together and have viable (fertile) offspring is a member of the same species.

No, it's not. That's a common misconception based on an outdated definition. Many species can crossbreed and produce fertile hybrid offspring, but are still genotypically and phenotypically distinct enough to be considered separate species.

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) can produce fertile offspring, called wolphins, which share characteristics of both parents and are themselves fertile. Same thing with coydogs - coyotes (Canis latrans) and domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) can interbreed and produce fertile offspring, but are still classified as separate species. A lot of canines from different species can interbreed actually.

So, yes, in SW, near-humans can be considered separate species from baseline humans and still produce fertile offspring. Some near-humans seem to be humans in all but name (Hapans), some are a bit off the human norm (Mirialans with their green skin), and some are even farther from the human norm (Chiss with the glowing eyes, Zeltrons with the strong pheromones).

 

My point was that different skin tones does not a different species make. Just look around on Earth, the human species has many different skin colorations. If Mira is genetically the same as a human but with white skin and spots, wouldn't she be human?

 

I think with some of them, that's probably true from a biological standpoint, but culturally within the GFFA a distinction is made. If the only differences between her species and "baseline" humans is that she has spots or whatever, she's probably biologically a human in any sense that matters, but other humans probably don't consider her to be human.

With some near-humans, though, the difference is more pronounced (again, I'm thinking Zeltrons with the pheromones and the empathy).

 

statement: for a minute i thought you meant mira from kotor 2

 

ok, i understand with the spots, but do Theelin have pointed ears?

also, her nose seems rather--flat