Monday, May 27, 2013

Invid's Guide to the Star Wars Universe: Alien Species (#87)

861. Priapulins. The Priapulins are worm-people named after a group of real-life worms that themselves named after a male body part because of a certain... resemblance.

Now that you have that wonderful image in your head, I must go on to remark that they're worm people that are bigger than humans and have tentacles. (I'm sure that's not helping the mental image issues any.) There was also a Jedi Master of this species who was known for his spectacular lightsaber prowess; his technique involved wielding six lightsabers at once.

Rating: 4/5. While I really do wish they hadn't been named after the particular sort of worm they were named after, there's not really anything else wrong with them.

862. Proliferans. Proliferans are basically ambiguously canonical giant ant people. They have an empire, stereotypically just called the Proliferan Empire, a queen, and are good at digging, a skill they use to befuddle their enemies.

Ding ding ding! We have the three basic stereotypes of ant people, right here!

Rating: 2/5. There are plenty of much more interesting insect people in Star Wars; for that matter, there are plenty of much more interesting eusocial/hive-minded insect people in Star Wars.

863. Prosslee. The Prosslee had once enslaved the Forshul. When the Forshul took sides against the Bothans during the Caamas document crisis, the Prosslee took sides with the Bothans, at least partly because that put them on the opposite side of the Forshul.

Rating: 2/5. They add interesting texture even if we know nothing else about them.

864. Proteans. Proteans are human-sized gelatinous blobs. They can change color and shape extensively, giving them excellent camouflage skills, and consume things by enveloping them. They're noted as not especially bright.

Apparently, they reproduce through two of them merging, then after a year spent in a stony cocoon, the parents and a child emerge from the cocoon.

Rating: 4/5. I find bizarre reproductive systems fascinating, to be frank, at least when they're mostly workable. A year of immobility and being wrapped in a probably water/airtight cocoon seems too long, but other than that, it works.

865. Psadan. Psadan are heavily armored beings that coexisted with the Myneyrshi on Wayland. They are often described as walking rocks, although this is metaphorical rather than literal.

Like the Myneyrshi, their population took a severe hit when the [string of expletives deleted] Yuuzhan Vong invaded Wayland, and their status is somewhat unknown (indeed, the impact on them has largely been ignored, while the Myneyrshi have had more stories since then). If the Psadan have a cultural trait, it may be intractable stubbornness, based on an anecdote from the mad Jedi clone Joruus C'baoth, who couldn't get a particular one to behave even with repeated application of Force lightning. Which sorta makes sense as a cultural trait for a bunch of armored guys.

They're rather charmingly ugly, too.

Rating: 4/5.

866. Pui-uies. Pui-uies are apparently weird little double-sphere people, one above, one below, attached by a short neck, with "cilia" on the lower affording movement.

On the one hand, I must give a nod of appreciation for designing something alien. On the other hand, I must frown, because this creature does not sound like it could survive in a real ecosystem, much less have the ability to climb to the top of a food chain, no matter how smart it was.

Rating: 3/5.

867. Pulras. The Pulras live on the same planet as the Aganof and a probably forgettable species I've somehow never talked about even though they ought to be under "H"-perhaps they're under "S." How do they compare to the awesome Aganof?

Well, like the Proteans, they're blob-things, with a number of similar traits, though they reproduce via automatic fission instead of sexually. In their case, they've got a different fascinating special feature-they can merge with each other as circumstances call for at will, forming larger combined organisms called "binds."

Wait, did I say "merge with each other?" Actually, they can potentially merge with any organic creature, and thus potentially serve such creatures as prosthetic limbs.

Rating: 4/5. Best friendly slime ever? Well, no, they'd have to compete with Sergeant Schlock, but they're ranked.

868. Pursians. Pursians come from Pursin. I cannot help but imagine them as being creatures with purses for heads and continually pursed lips. Because I'm a bit weird.

Rating: 1/5.

869. Pyrdyrians. The Pyrdyrians are a species who are not especially pleasant to look at. Many millions of them were killed by the Dark Jedi Kueller, leaving a population of only about a thousand.

Rating: 2/5. Mostly dead and ugly. What a thing to be stuck with.

870. Pykes. Pykes are fascinatingly ugly guys with these really strange large heads that have tiny faces on the very front bits. The only named individual of the species is called Lom Pyke and the known members are members of the criminal Pyke Syndicate, which really makes one wonder.

Rating: 3/5. This is based on their weird, rather intriguing appearance.

-Signing off.

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