Friday, December 5, 2008

Not Yeti Friday - Albino Wookiees

We all know that Star Wars has its own version of the yeti: the Wampa.

(For you wampa fans, see here for a good cartoony, bloodpainting wampa by illustrator Michael Fleming (tweedlebop!) as part of his Star Wars Alphabet series.)

The Wampa has been cited by Loren Coleman as the most likely inspirational source for all those horns that artists often make sprout from the tops of their own yeti's heads.

Yep, wampa = yeti. But look at the wampa up close and compare it with a certain other significant hairy hominid of the Star Wars universe:



They're not that much different. Give Chewie some horns and dye his hair white and he'd pass as a skinny wampa.

Believe it or not, there are albino Wookiees in the Star Wars universe. The SW Wiki has this to say on the subject:

"Although albino Wookiees were rare, they were not unheard of. However, such a birth was generally held to be a bad omen, as white hair did not blend in with the earth-tones of their forest surroundings."

A famous albino Wookiee is a fellow named Tojjevvuk:




His SW Wiki entry reveals he was a freedom fighter. But he fought Chewbacca in a duel over a girl (later Chewie's wife Malla). During the fight, Tojjevvuk employed his claws. This is a big no-no in Wookiee culture. He would have been made a social outcast for the dishonorable act, but before he could be brought to justice, he fell to the forest floor. His white hair (which did not blend in with the earth-tones of his forest surroundings) made him an easy target for the creatures of the forest floor, who killed and devoured him.

That is why there aren't more white wookiees. They stand out too much.

Cry a tear for the tragic albino wookiee.

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