The Star Wars galaxy far, far away is home to numerous exciting species. In the early days of Star Wars production, Lucasfilm had to come up with some clever ways of bringing these aliens to life. Now, with illustration and modern CGI, Star Wars storytellers can bring just about any creature to life. Some of these Star Warsspecies have played bigger roles in the story than others. A few have built entire civilizations in their own right and won the respect and or dread of the galaxy at large.
However, who are the weakest and the strongest? Who has stuck to their tiny corner and who has reshaped the galaxy as a whole? The definitive rankings may be a surprise. This is by no means a complete ranking of every species that has ever played a major role in Star Wars media, but these are most of the species fans know. The rankings are based on the average power of a typical individual of the species combined with the galactic achievements of that species’ society. Also, all the species on this list are sentient-- not creatures.
Updated November 1st, 2021 by George Chrysostomou This fictional universe continues to expand on the page and screen and with it comes countless more alien Star Wars species. While some may be hyper-intelligent or skilled in battle, others may have a little less to offer the rest of the galaxy, perhaps being deemed weaker than most.
Jawas
Jawas are a species of small stature native to Tattooine. They lead nomadic lives scavenging the dessert for salvageable technology and selling them to Tattooine’s other sentient settlers. Sometimes their business methods are questionable. They are known to capture lost vehicles or droids and try and sell them in just good enough condition to be presentable.
This was the case when C-3PO and R2-D2 crash-landed on Tattooine during Episode One: A New Hope. Owen Lars and Luke Skywalker had to haggle with the Jawas to eventually buy the prized droids. Knights of the Old Republic offers the theory that Jawas and Tusken Raiders share a common ancestor that was once a highly advanced species. However, neither the Tuskens nor Jawas have been seen too closely under their robes to sufficiently categorize them.
Ewoks
Ewoks are a diminutive, hairy, primitive Star Wars species native to the forest moon of Endor, who live in villages nestled in the canopies of Endor’s vast forests. They were not widely known in the galaxy until the events of Episode 6: Return of the Jedi. While the Galactic Empire constructed its second Death Star in orbit above Endor, they built a powerful shield generator on the surface to protect the station.
Despite their small size and stone-age technology, Ewoks are intensely curious and fierce warriors. Their ingenuity and bravery led them to triumph over the Imperial garrison with hang gliders, catapults, rolling logs, spears, and rocks. Without them, the Rebellion’s mission to sabotage the shield generator and destroy the second Death Star would have failed.
Gungans
Gungans are an amphibious race that shares their homeworld with the Human society of Naboo. They have long wide bills and large ear flaps that hang behind their head. Gungans are highly adapted to their aquatic lives in terms of biology, but their technology has also developed to let them thrive in the water. Gungans developed advanced weapons, vehicles, and architecture all with aquatic adaptations.
One impressive technology lets them generate dynamic force fields. Their underwater cities are housed within vast networks of these bubbles since they could create traversable air pockets. When the Gungans fought a battle against the Trade Federation on the grassy plains of Naboo, their shield withstood heavy bombardment from the Federation’s tanks. If only Jar Jar Binks and had more sense.
Twi'leks
Twi’leks are a species known throughout the galaxy for their various skin colors and for their dual prehensile head tentacles. The tentacles, or “lekku,” augment Twi’leks cognitive functions, and Twi’leks incorporated them into their native language. If they wish, they can communicate silently using only subtle movements or twitches of their lekku.
Since so many Star Wars species consider Twi’leks attractive, they are widely held as slaves or objectified status symbols by the privileged in the galaxy. There are plenty of Twi’leks who have avoided slavery and made their mark on the galaxy. During the Clone Wars, the Twi’lek Jedi Master Aayla Secura became a respected and successful general for the Grand Army of the Republic. During the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Twi’lek resistance pilot Hera Syndulla became a crucial member of the crew of the starship Ghost.
Mirialans
Mirialans are a Star Wars race very similar to humans made distinct by their green or yellow-colored skin and their personalized facial tattoos. The appearance and the number of the tattoos are meant to signify accomplishments that the individual has made. Mirialans as a species is generally deeply spiritual. They even practice a rudimentary understanding of the Force and believed that every action a person took contributed to shaping their destiny in a moral sense. Naturally, many Mirialans became full-blown Jedi.
The most prominent Mirialan Jedi was Master Luminara Unduli who served the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars. Uduli was a formidable and graceful warrior and used the Force to perform great physical feats during the war. She also taught Barriss Offee, another Mirialan female, to become a capable Jedi Knight.
Rodians
Rodians are a reptilian Star Wars species with large compound eyes, frills, and elongated snouts. On their home planet of Rodia, they had evolved as hunters. Ancient Rodian society saw clans warring and preying on each other until a global dictator emerged with the title of Grand Protector of Rodia. Once they struck out into the wider galaxy, many Rodians became bounty hunters or joined criminal organizations.
Greedo was one Rodian bounty hunter introduced in Episode 4: A New Hope. He was a little too slow on the draw for Han Solo. Other Rodian hunters have been much more effective such as Hulas, who became Overseer of the GenoHaradan during Revan’s time. Other Rodians have had great legitimate success as well. Onaconda Farr served as the well-respected Galactic Senator from Rodia during the Clone Wars and Bolla Ropal was a Rodian Jedi Master during the same period.
Neimoidians
Neimoidians are a humanoid species with horizontally split pupils, no protruding nose, and grayish skin. In Episode One: The Phantom Menace, we see plenty of Neimoidians working in the Trade Federation, including its Viceroy Nute Gunray. Gunray oversaw the Trade Federations’ occupation of Naboo and maintained his leadership role when the Trade Federation joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
Neimoidian society in general is grossly materialistic. Even from birth, Neimoidian grubs are rewarded for taking and hoarding as much food from other hatchlings as possible. Their financial skills let them establish many colonies that they called “purse worlds” to maintain their wealth. It also let them raise large droid armies to wage their wars for them. However, by the time of the Galactic Empire, their leadership was destroyed and their assets had been liquidated.
Zeltrons
Zeltrons are a near-human species known throughout the galaxy for their warm red skin tones, empathic, hedonistic culture, and gullibility. Their home planet of Zeltros is usually in a constant state of revelry. They have a second liver and high metabolisms, which let them consume much more alcohol and sweets than most other Star Wars races. Zeltros is one of the most sought-after vacation spots in the Galaxy.
In the Legends continuity, Cade Skywalker has a female Zeltron Partner named Delilah Blue. She is a capable bounty hunter and technician besides being well versed in the capabilities of her species. Various Force-sensitive Zeltrons also appear in Legends. Perhaps because of their emotionally driven culture, they have leaned heavily towards the Dark Side. One such Dark Side Zeltron, Chantique, broke free of her slave station and became the Magister Impressor of the Mandalorian Crucible.
Keshiri
Keshiri is a purple-skinned near-human Star Wars species native to the Wild Space planet of Kesh. Five thousand years before the Battle of Yavin, a lost Sith vessel crash-landed on the planet. Many of the native Keshiri witnessed this arrival and believed the Sith to be the Skyborn, deities from their own religion. They pledged themselves to a life of servitude to the Sith.
Even after thousands of years when the Keshiri realized the Sith were not the Skyborn, they continued to work with them and serve them. When the Lost Tribe of the Sith’s Armada arrived in the galaxy after the battles of the Second Galactic Civil War, many Keshiri were commanders and powerful Sith Lords. These included Keshiri High Lord Sarasu Taalon and Lord Korelei. They had even managed to invade Coruscant until they were beaten by the Jedi.
Iktochi
The Iktochi are a race of rough-skinned humanoids with hanging cranial horns. They were known throughout the galaxy for their reliable powers of precognition and telepathy. This gives advantages and disadvantages in galactic society. They were one of the only species in history to peacefully anticipate their own discovery by Old Republic explorers. They make fine pilots and mechanics but unfortunately, they are widely mistrusted.
Iktochi are banned from most casinos in the galaxy-- many people expect them to use their abilities to lie or cheat. However, that didn’t stop the Iktochi Male Saesee Tiin from becoming a Jedi Master and member of the Jedi Council leading up to the Clone Wars. There are also several Iktochi Sith Lords including Darth Cognus. Cognus used her foresight to wait out the duel between Darth Zannah and Darth Bane so she would become apprenticed to the victor.
Trandoshans
Trandoshans are large reptilian humanoids with scaly skin and clawed hands and feet. They evolved to be ruthless, fierce hunters, capable of regenerating lost limbs and seeing into the infra-red spectrum. Trandoshans hold a deep belief in a deity called the Scorekeeper. The Scorekeeper supposedly keeps tallies of a Trandoshan’s hunts and battles. The more successful the hunter, the greater the Scorekeeper favored them.
Most Trandoshans in the galaxy become bounty hunters, slavers, or mercenaries. Wookiees are among their most prized prey and victims. Bossk was the most famous Trandoshan bounty hunter during the reign of the Galactic Empire and he frequently harassed Han Solo and Chewbacca. In various new canon stories, Bossk encounters both Ezra Bridger and Boba Fett in their youths. Though he had self-interest motives both times, he helped shape Bridger and Fett into the legends they grew to be.
Geonosians
Geonosians are an insectoid Star Wars species native to Geonosis. Their society was separated into rigid caste systems and they constructed vast hives within the spires of the landscape to house their living spaces and industry. Gladiatorial combat is central to Geonosians. Those willing to fight could gain status and riches above the others of their caste and the masses flock to arena matches as mass entertainment.
By the time the Clone Wars broke out, the Geonosians had already produced a massive, multifaceted droid army to serve as the Confederacy’s military. Their creations were fearsome, but the clone army of the Republic prevailed against them. Geonosian engineering played a role in developing the first Death Star, which ironically was used by the successor to the Republic, the Galactic Empire.
Kaminoans
Kaminoans are an exceptionally tall humanoid Star Wars race native to the remote watery planet of Kamino. In ancient times, a Great Flood nearly drove their species to extinction. The Kaminoans underwent a harsh but effective period of genetic engineering and culling. By the time Kaminoan society stabilized, they had become very isolationist and perfectionist.
Eventually, the Kaminoans began to offer their scientific services and expertise to clients from the wider galaxy. They were commissioned in secret by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas to build a clone army for the Galactic Republic. When the Republic formally adopted the clone army, their programmed discipline and resilience proved invaluable in defeating the Separatists-- and of course in defeating the Jedi themselves when Order 66 was issued by Emperor Palpatine. The Kaminoans themselves felt mainly neutral about how their work was used.
Falleen
The Falleen are a species of mammalian and aquatic reptilian hybrids that exuded great influence over the galaxy in both the Legends and Canon timelines. In Legends, the notorious Black Sun crime syndicate was led by the Falleen Prince Xisor. Xisor built up his wealth and influence partly in a vendetta against Darth Vader, who had ordered a planetary bombardment in which most of Xisor’s family was destroyed.
Xisor’s cunning and ambition were so great that he even warranted begrudging respect from Emperor Palpatine himself. Xizor, like all Falleen, is capable of producing pheromones that could intoxicate almost any other sentient being. In the new Canon, Falleen are also the guarded leaders of the Black Sun syndicate. They sowed chaos all throughout the Outer Rim while the Jedi were primarily concerned with battling the Confederacy.
Bothans
Bothans are a furry humanoid Star Wars species hailing from the planet Bothawui. In different Star Wars media, they have appearances like dogs or cats or even horses. They are known throughout the galaxy for their keen political instincts and passion for intrigue. The Bothan Spy net was the most extensive network of spies and informants in the galaxy. During the time of the Old Republic and into the Empire era, the Bothans collected extensive information on anyone that they suspected could become political opponents.
Despite their consummate suspicion, Bothans were prominent members of the Galactic Republic. They also primarily aided the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War. The most famous Bothan intelligence operation informed the Alliance that Emperor Palpatine was personally overseeing the completion of the second Death Star. Many Bothans perished to bring them that information.
Mon Calamari
Mon Calamari are an amphibious race with high domed heads, webbed fingers, and large bulbous eyes. Their civilization has very advanced art and technology known throughout the galaxy. Mon Calamari also has a reputation for being some of the best starship designers in the galaxy.
Their vessels tend to have curved rather than angular designs but were just as powerful and efficient as comparably sized ships from other cultures. Mon Calamari was a staunch advocate for peace, unity, and exploration in the Old Republic. They hated the Empire and were one of the first societies overall to join the cause of the Rebel Alliance. Mon Calamari leaders like Admiral Ackbar and Admiral Raddus played vital roles in the Rebellion. They commanded the Rebel forces at the Battles of Scarif and Endor.
Yoda, Yaddle, And Grogu's Species
No one knows what Yoda's species is called-- not in the universe or in any canon source. However, each of the characters that share his appearance has been relatively small, with pointed ears and tridactyl hands. Almost all of them are members of the Jedi Order.
Yoda himself was a highly revered member of the Jedi Order and served as the Order’s Grand Master for 200 years during late Old Republic Era. He was one of the only Jedi to survive the Great Jedi Purge. Yoda also trained Luke Skywalker in seclusion on Dagobah before he become one with the Force. Thousands of years before Yoda’s time, another of his species named Vandar Tokare served on the Jedi Council of the Dantooine Enclave. He was a key figure in the Jedi Civil War and helped train Revan after the Jedi Council stripped Revan of his memories.
Zabraks
Zabraks are a near-human species made distinct by their horns and facial tattoo patterns. The vestigial horns grow in various patterns and are a sign of coming of age. Similarly, the different tattoos that adorned Zabraks’ faces could signify rites of passage or clan of origin, among other things. Zabraks are active, passionate, and driven as a people. They value independence and self-reliance from the harsh conditions of their homeworld of Iridonia.
Physiologically, they are much more resilient than most Star Wars species. Most of the Zabrak characters seen in Star Wars are dauntless warriors of some kind. This included the iconic Zabrak Sith Lord Darth Maul. Maul’s physical conditioning was far beyond even the usual level of his species. Fueled by his hate, Maul survived being cut in half by Kenobi and returned to antagonize the Jedi for many years.
Wookies
Wookiees are a large hairy humanoid species native to the planet Kashyyyk. They evolved as arboreal mammals, building tree houses in the canopies of the towering worshyr trees that covered their home world. Wookiees are usually gentle but they are devastating in fights when provoked. Even close friends of Wookies should be wary about upsetting them.
Because of their great strength, many Star species have sought Wookiees out as slave labor. Trandoshans in particular prize Wookiees as slaves and as hunting trophies. However, Wookiees have made free lives for themselves in numerous ways. They have a gifted affinity for technology and have powerful native weapons and armor, like the Wookie Bowcaster. Chewbacca was a paragon of Wookiee loyalty, bravery, and ingenuity. He fought alongside his best friend Han Solo and the Rebellion and the Resistance for decades.
Chiss
The Chiss are a blue-skinned near-human species from the planet Csilla in the unknown regions. For most of galactic history, they have been enigmatic and isolationist. Chiss society is heavily regimented and duty-oriented, with an aristocratic and military nobility governing the planet. They first emerged on the galactic stage during the Great War between the Sith Empire and the Old Republic. The Chiss Ascendency allied itself with the Empire, with some Chiss attainting high ranks in the Empire itself.
By far the most famous and influential Chiss in the galaxy was Grand Admiral Thrawn. In the Legends continuity, Thrawn becomes the leader of the Empire for several years after the Emperor’s death during the Battle of Endor. In the new canon, he’s still one of the Empire’s most cunning and ruthless tacticians, albeit before the Battle of Yavin.