There are about a million and a half different alien races within the Star Wars universe. It seems like with every new movie or TV series we get dozens of new species added to the canon. What’s impressive about this is that someone has to come up with each and every one of them! This includes their design, planet of origin, species culture and history. I want that job, please.
Even with all the new and alien creatures popping up in a galaxy far, far away, it’s nice to see some recognizable space jockeys appear over the course of the saga. That said, some familiar alien faces have now shown up in an official photo for the upcoming Star Wars TV series The Mandalorian.
Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive first look which depicts the title character, the Mandalorian, up against a couple of reptilian Trandoshans. The Mandalorian looks like he’s doing just fine against the formidable lizard-like humanoids, too.
The first-time movie-goers got a glimpse of a Trandoshan was way back in 1980 during the second released Star Wars film (but 5th chronologically), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. In the story, the Empire was having trouble tracking down the Millennium Falcon and its occupants Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO. A very frustrated Darth Vader turned to bounty hunters to help find our hiding heroes. Within the assembled group of bounty hunters is a Trandoshan named Bossk.
After his cameo appearance in Empire, Bossk went on to appear in numerous Star Wars comics, books, and TV shows.
The Trandoshan race hails from a planet called Trandosha. They are highly skilled hunting enthusiasts. The Trandoshans even have a moon dedicated solely to hunting. The ravenous reptiles kidnap species from all across the galaxy and release them into the wilds of the moon in order for them to be hunted. They were even known to kidnap young Jedi Padawans and drop them on the moon as big game challenges.
It sounds like the Mandalorian is going up against some rather tough predators (see what I did there?). But since he’s the title character, I’d be more worried about the Trandoshans. The Mandalorian premieres on Disney+ streaming service November 12th.
-Steve