The Star Wars franchise is a grand, sweeping venture that has become one of the most renowned, divisive, and widespread multimedia franchises in history. Filled even today with games, TV shows, and films making waves across the world, the Star Wars Universe is an impressive feat in lore that has removed more lore from canon than most franchises will ever have in their universes.
That being said, one of the most well-loved races of creatures in the Star Wars Universe is the Wookies, due to one of their number, Chewbacca, being such a prominent character in the franchise since the very beginning. Fans know some things about Wookies, but much about them is buried deeper in lore.
7 They Are Loyal
While fans will recognize the loyalty of Chewbacca over many of his other qualities, being a great friend of Han, Leia, and many other members of the Rebel Alliance, it isn’t just Chewie that proves a fierce and loyal companion. All of his race put honesty, loyalty, and friendship high on the list of qualities they admire.
It isn’t easy, especially with the language barriers, to initially make friends with Wookies and be accepted by them. But once somebody manages to become a companion of one, they will find themselves with a fierce, lifelong friendship that can be hugely useful to keep around in a bind.
6 They Love Wood
Wookies aren’t big on metal craft, but they are incredible carvers and have 150 words for wood in their tongue. Their home planet of Kashyyyk has a huge abundance of very interesting trees; some of their woods are as hardest and pliable as metal.
The Wookies make tools, weapons, and even vehicles out of their trees, not to mention homes. Their capital city lies in the shade of a thousand-foot tree, and other materials that come from their trees, like sap, have also been used to construct vehicles. It is hard to imagine a spaceship made from sap, but the planet of Kashyyyk is not a common place.
5 The Wookies Lost A Big Role
The Wookies and their planet of Kashyyyk almost played a much bigger role in the original trilogy of Star Wars films. While George Lucas eventually decided to build the second Death Star around the planet of Endor and brought the Ewoks to life, he originally envisioned a different race of creatures being the natives of the central planet.
Kashyyyk and the Wookies were to be the site of the second Death Star being built, with the Wookies set to be enslaved and forced to build the space station for the Empire. The plans changed, but the Wookies and Kashyyyk eventually got to appear in Revenge of the Sith alongside their friend Yoda.
4 There Have Been Wookie Jedi
As seen in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, there have been Wookie Jedi. It is rare for one of the Wookie race to become a member of the Jedi order, but it has occurred, as was the case with the adorable padawan Gungi in this show.
The episode that Gungi was introduced in, named “The Gathering,” was a famous one in the history of the show, as it revealed the ways that Jedi Padawans make their lightsabers. Gungi ended up making his from a brylark tree, one of the hardest wooden materials in the galaxy. Not many other Wookie Jedi are known of, but Gungi did not appear to be the first of his kind to join the order by any means.
3 Their Hatred of Transdoshans
Chewbacca has often been seen fighting alongside Han Solo, but his kind is not a warlike people generally. Unfortunately, they have a generations-long conflict with another race that lives near them, the Transdoshans.
Unlike the Wookies, the Transdoshans are completely willing and even eager to get involved in conflicts, and that is part of what has led to such violence and hatred between the races for such a long time. The Transdoshans featured in The Clone Wars when they tried to cause the downfall and enslavement of all the Wookies.
2 Yoda Is (Technically) A Wookie
Yoda was fighting alongside the Wookies in Revenge of the Sith on Kashyyyk, and while this was a role he took on as a member of the Jedi Order and a diplomat, his connection to the people and their planet was actually far deeper.
The Wookies call Yoda a name that means “Defender of the Home Tree” and make him an honorary Wookie. Yoda is originally from a far-off, unknown planet, so Kashyyyk is actually the closest thing in the known galaxy that he has to a home world.
1 Their Complex Languages
While all Wookie noises sound ridiculous and unlike any language ever heard, they are not all the same. There are actually three different languages spoken on Kashyyyk. While Chewbacca speaks Shyriiwook, which is the most commonly spoken and understood version of the Wookie language, there are two other types.
These others are called Thykarann and Xaczik and are less well-known outside Kashyyyk. While some humans and other races can understand Wookie, and one or two can even speak it, they generally understand the Shyriiwook dialect and cannot speak the others.