Races / Wookie

Wookie

Homeworld: Kashyyyk
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Famous Members

Wookie

The Wookies or Wookiees, whose name for themselves translated to the People of the Trees, were a species of tall, hairy humanoids that were inhabitants of the planet Kashyyyk. A race of arboreal mammals, the Wookies lived in treehouses nestled in the canopy of the towering wroshyr trees. Despite their fearsome appearance, they were usually gentle, although they were prone to devastating fits of rage when provoked.[1]

Biology and Appearance

A race of towering, hairy bipeds, the Wookies were one of the most recognizable species in the galaxy. They were renowned for their great strength, their intelligence, their loyalty and their short temper. Due to their appearance, they were sometimes referred to as "walking carpets."
The Wookies of the jungle planet Kashyyyk were shaggy sentient beings whose countenance was considered impressive by many other species. They were humanoid in shape, with a head, a torso, and four limbs, and they stood 2.1 meters on average. Their upper limbs, or arms, ended with hands sporting four fingers plus an opposable thumb that allowed them to grab things. Being a species of tree-climbers, Wookies had a strong back, dexterous hands and thick calve muscles. For the same evolutionary reasons, they also possessed curved retractable claws that sprouted from hidden sheaths in their fingertips with the flex of a muscle. Their heads featured a pair of forward-facing eyes, the color of which ranged from blue to brown, with some individuals having green, yellow, golden or red irises. The Wookies' nose was very sensitive and would provoke some sort of olfactory delirium in the presence of meat.[22] Additionally, the Wookie's mouths were filed with sharp fangs that could puncture even the durable scaly skin of the Trandoshans?, their ancestral enemies. The Wookies were also good swimmers, which was reflected by their powerful thighs.
But their most striking physical feature in the eyes of the non-Wookies was their uniform coat of water-shedding hair, the color of which ranged from black to brown according to the subspecies. In fact, the word "Wookie" was in fact a catch-all term referring to a number of related races that could be distinguished primarily by their fur. The most common subspecies were the Rwooks, who came from the region of Rwookrrorro and whose hair was typically brown, red and chestnut. Although albino Wookies were rare, they were not unheard of. However, such a birth was generally held to be a bad omen, as white hair did not blend in with the earth tones of their forest surroundings.[1]

Society and Culture

Wookies greatly valued honor and loyalty. Therefore, their notion of "family" encompassed much more than just blood ties. A part of that most sacred tradition was the social institution of life debt: when a Wookie's life was saved by someone else, regardless of the species, they would frequently devote themselves to a lifetime of service to their savior and their family. Through the mechanism of the life debt, the People of the Trees used to develop unbreakable bonds with their boon companions and true friends, forming a "honor family."[1]

History


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