Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Book of Boba Fett episode 5
The Book of Boba Fett features a description of Jawas under their hoods and face wrappings that might retcon what Tusken Raiders truly look like. Both species are indigenous to the desert world of Tatooine, but neither one has been shown in either Star Wars continuity unmasked. With a potential common ancestral origin carrying over from the Legends continuity, the Star Wars canon timeline might have changed the initial implied appearance of Tusken Raiders by describing their distant relatives, the Jawas.
Although Tatooine is often overlooked and dismissed as an unimportant backwater world in-universe, the desert planet is one of the most pivotal locations in the Star Wars franchise, being the homeworld of Luke and Anakin Skywalker, a major hub for famous criminals, and the setting for some of the saga’s most important plotlines. Tatooine is also one of the most well-documented locations in both Star Wars continuities, with a storied history, a plethora of flora and fauna (most of which is deadly), and numerous sapient species, such as Jawas and Tusken Raiders.
In The Book of Boba Fett “Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian,” Peli Motto mentions to Din Djarin that she once dated a Jawa, and she makes a point to describe them as having fur. If the Star Wars canon timeline adheres to the Legends continuity’s connection between Jawas and Tusken Raiders, the latter may have fur as well. This would, however, change the canon versions of both species from their Legends counterparts, since the original continuity implied a different appearance.
In Legends, Tatooine was once a world of oceans and jungles, populated by the technologically-advanced Kumumgah species. The Rakatan Empire enslaved the Kumumgah and conquered Tatooine for a time, but orbitally bombarded the world in retaliation to a Kumumgah revolt, resulting in Tatooine becoming a harsh desert world and the Kumumgah gradually evolving into two separate species: the Tusken Raiders, and Jawas. Neither species has been explicitly shown without their face wrappings, with the “glowing eyes” of Jawas being gemstones to protect their eyes. Legends includes dubious depictions of unmasked Tusken Raiders, whose feline-like faces in Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight might be a different mask, and whose monstrous appearances in the Star Wars: Republic comics might have been imagined.
The closest hint to a true appearance for both species in either Star Wars continuity comes from the Legends-era Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi comics, which visually depicts the Kumumgah species. The Kumumgah have a humanoid appearance and lack fur, so their descendants in Legends may appear similarly. Considering that the Kumumgah evolved into two separate species, another possibility is that Tusken Raiders appear closer to their ancestors while Jawas developed features like fur over time.
Although the Rakatan Empire isn’t connected to Tatooine’s history in the canon continuity, the Outer Rim world is confirmed to have once been an aquatic planet before a cataclysm turned it into a desert. If Jawas and Tusken Raiders share a common ancestry in canon, they might also share a similar appearance, with the canon equivalent to the Kumumgah possibly having fur. Peli Motto’s irreverent description of Jawas in The Book of Boba Fett hints at a potential new appearance for Tusken Raiders in the canon timeline.
New episodes of The Book of Boba Fett air Wednesdays on Disney+.
