Wookiees are tall, bipedal fur covered people with an animalistic snout, and are easily underestimated. They have a deep history and impressive achievements. Modern Wookiee culture is one of loyalty and honor.
Physically wookiees usually come in shades of brown, which camouflage well with the forests of Kashyyyk, there homeworld. There are exceptions however, an albino wookiee is vulnerable to attack both from the wilds and prejudice. Generally, wookiees are known to live hundreds of years, so they’ve seen many changes in the galaxy. They speak in only barks and growls but have various sub languages depending on region which humans find very hard to translate unless they start young.
Wookiee Culture says that they are first and foremost loyal to family and clan. They only take one mate. However, they also have what they call honor families. If someone saves a wookiee’s life, the wookiee code says they owe that person a life debt. If they become truly close, those close to that person are also included in the honor family. This leads to Wookiee culture in general being one of great honor and integrity though naturally their are exceptions.
Wookiee culture leans toward a belief in the force, and a preference for the highest regions of there forest, for the lower shadowlands are extremely dangerous. Their villages are built there. Wild creatures as well as carnivorous plants dwell there. Young wookiees often dare each other to grow lower before the official trials of adulthood, sometimes with tragic results. The exception to this is near the archipelgos and beaches, where the deep forest creatures don’t reside.
Wookiee culture has a love for freedom but also specific rules. For instance, tearing the arms off the aggravating droid is fine. Using claws in a fight are not, claws are strictly for climbing. Violation of this rule is enough to get one labeled ‘Madclaw’ and exiled.
A young wookiee for their trial to be considered adult, must go to the dangerous lower levels to hunt the syren plant. Usually with friends, they harvest the inner part for their special belts. However, these deadly plants are carnivorous and use pheromones to lure in victims. A slow wookiee risks losing an arm or a leg if they aren’t careful. A wookiee also goes out to find a species called quillerat, which when hunted they carefully give to their hoped for mate. If accepted it’s confirmation of betrothal. In Wookiee culture, it’s acceptable to wait even hundreds of years for the right mate, given the long lifespan.
The wookiee skills include everything from engineering to starship piloting, and the Claatuvac Guild was an organization of navigators, cartographers and hyperspace scouts that operated out of Kachirho. They mapped much of the galaxy. These maps were a prime reason the CIS invaded them during the Clone Wars, as they were an invaluable resource. Some of these routes were known only to themselves. They also colonized other places, such as Alaris Prime.
Wookiees are known for both temper and strength, the former depending on the particular Wookiee, but the latter is a double edge sword. Their building abilities lead to unique designs, often of wood, for their buildings and vehicles and impressive achievements that give wookiee culture high marks for craftsmanship.
Wookiee Culture History
There is evidence that in ancient times, wookiees and their world of Kashyyyk artificially had their evolution sped up. The evidence also suggests that the Rakata, had been there, based on an ancient Star Map found in the depths.
At some point in time, Tho Yor arrived and took some force sensitive wookiees off planet, making them part of what would be a community of proto Jedi on Tython. In the Tython System, Wookiee culture found slightly different direction as the colonized Ska Gora at one point coming into direct conflict with their distant Jedaii kin.
After being discovered by Czerka Corporation, they were conquered and enslaved, . Czerka renamed the world Edean. Wookiee culture suffered under their oppression. They still had tales of their hero the Great Bacca, who created a sword symbolizing the unity of the people. It was held by chieftain’s until it was lost in the depths. But it would one day be reclaimed by Zaalbaar, who had been outcast. Zaalbaar found his brother had betrayed the people and colluded with Czerka, but after he over through him he was reunited with his father and helped free his people with the aid of Revan.
By the time of the Empire, wookiees were a not uncommon sight in the galaxy. They were members of the Republic and on good terms with the Jedi up to the point that it became an Empire. At this point, helping the Jedi escaped marked them as rebels against the Empire before any official rebellion was declared. This loyalty earned them planetary bombardment and slavery. They were freed by the New Republic some years after the Emperor was dead, and were from the start members of the Rebellion.
At the time of the invasion, the wookiees did have a king ruler (whether elected or by birthright is unknown) and a Senator, Yarua.
Enemies
The traditional enemy of the Wookiee is the Trandoshan. While the Wookiees didn’t seek them out, Trandoshan hunters find the Wookiees an excellent challenging prey to earn points with their goddess. They will invade the lower levels and catch young daring wookiees unaware and skin them for their pelts as trophies.
Slavers in general are also their enemy, for Wookiee’s great strength and technical skills make them sought after workers.
Famous Members of the Wookiee Culture
Heroes
Chewbacca
The most famous Wookiee is probably Chewbacca, hero of the Rebellion and New Republic. He helped Jedi escape Order 66. He spent years on the run from the Empire after the world was attacked. He rescued numerous of his fellows from slavery before being captured, then he was rescued by a Lt. Han Solo. Han would be kicked out of the Imperial military for helping the Wookiee, but he earned a loyal companion for life. Chewbacca continued helping Han and the rebels, and later on rescued more of his fellow Wookiees from Maw Installation.
Zaalbaar AKA Big Z
Zaalbaar helped free his people and fought alongside Revan against both Czerka slavers and Darth Malek. He would become a leader of his people, a long way to rise after being outcast as a madclaw.
Bowdaar
Bowdaar helped the VoidHound, a smuggler privateer in his war against the Sith Empire, while serving the Republic. He was a gladiator who rarely, if ever, lost a match and had been long enslaved before freed. He didn’t believe in life debts, it felt too much like slavery to him. However he was very close to the smuggler and stayed by choice.
Jakarro
Jakarro was a wookiee with a big attitude. While he was a smuggler and had a shady reputation and background, he fought valiantly against Revan’s followers when he tried to resurrect the Sith Emperor, and again later alongside the Outlander after Zakuul was defeated. He travelled with a dismantled droid, carrying the head of C2-D4 on his chest to communicate. Somewhere along the way he lost an arm and had it replaced with a mechanical one.
Chenlambec
This wookiee was actually a bounty hunter. He was something of a double agent, on the surface working for whoever paid the most credits. But in reality he helped the Alliance and most particularly, Wookiees on the run. He trained Tinian I’atte in the trade after her family was killed by an Imperial governor and at one point tricked the Trandoshan hunter Bossk into Imperial confinement and stole his ship. While Bossk later escaped, he saved many a Wookiee and bought them time to flee before the hunter returned.
Tyvokka
In spite of a belief in the Force, Wookiee Jedi are rare. Tyvokka lived during the last days of the Old Republic and trained Plo Koon. He died valiantly during the Stark Hyperspace War.
Lowbacca
This very young relative of Chewbacca was a nephew and actually only in his teens. For a wookiee this is extremely young. But he exhibited skill with the force, and so went on to train at Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy, along with the likes of the Solo kids. He carried a translator droid, merely a head, for convenience with the other students. He would later go on to distinguish himself as a member of the New Jedi Order.
Renegades
Hanharr
No society is without it’s troublemakers, and this is no exception. Hanharr was a brutal wookiee, who, while he had a twisted form of honor, rejected other aspects of wookiee culture. saw his people enslaved by Czerka. Rather than watch their degradation, he murdered his entire tribe. He also hunted the slavers. Becoming a bounty hunter, he was hired to get to Mira, a fellow hunter. In their conflict, after injuring him she saved his life. He resented this and rather than accepting the code of life debt, set out to murder her.
Raabakyysh
A friend of Lowbacca long thought dead, she was seduced by the beliefs and anti human rhetoric of the Diversity Alliance. She tried to convince Lowbacca to join her, but he was repulsed by the hatred and knew several humans as friends. She was loyal to it’s founder and later infected with a plague from the Emperor’s storehouse of biological weapons. Raaba remained isolated until she could be sure the plague didn’t kill her.
Wynni
This wookiee woman was a smuggler and not too big on the whole honor system. She didn’t care if a fellow wookiee male was married and took rejection of her flirtations very badly.
Sources on Wookiee Culture
- Young Jedi Knights, especially: Diversity Alliance by Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta
- Star Wars episode 3-6, movies, book and comic adaptations
- Chewbacca tribute comics
- Dark Lord, Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno
- Knights of the Old Republic (game)
- Knights of the Old Republic 2 (game)
- Star Wars the Old Republic (game)
- Chewbacca, Star Wars Adventures, Slavers of the Shadowlands
- The Prize Pelt: the Tale of Bossk (Tales of the Bounty Hunters)
- Star Wars Republic, the Stark Hyperspace War (comics)
- Han Solo book 2 Hutt Gambit by A.C. Crispin
- Han Solo book 3 Rebel Dawn by A. C. Crispin
- Han Solo Adventures by Brian Daley
- The Force Unleashed (book , comic and game)
- Galactic Battlegrounds (PC game)
- The Clone Wars (game, 2002 XBox)
- Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void by Tim Lebbon
- A Forest Apart (short story) by Troy Denning
- Classic Marvel Star Wars comics (post Return of the Jedi)
- Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn
