M'iiyoom Onith/Legends

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"The m'iiyoom is the white flower that blossoms in the season of trine, the season when all three moons give their light. It's also called the nightlily."
―M'iiyoom Onith explains her namesake — (audio) Listen (file info)[2]

M'iiyoom Onith, (Pronunciation ) also known as Nightlily, was a female H'nemthe from the planet H'nemthe. She spent her life on her homeworld until she was selected to travel the galaxy and find a mate from outside of her culture. During her journeys, she ran out of credits and became stranded in the spaceport city of Mos Eisley on Tatooine, where she was courted by the Gotal tax collector Feltipern Trevagg. Trevagg found Onith physically intoxicating and intended to desert her after a single night of passion, but won her affection by telling her that he would marry her. Onith in turn fell madly in love with Trevagg.

After Trevagg showed her some of the sights of Mos Eisley, he brought her to a cantina and ordered her several alcoholic drinks. He slipped a Love-Wallop pill into one of them, hoping to more easily seduce her, and the two then went to the Mos Eisley Inn and consummated their love. As per H'nemthe custom, Onith used her razor-sharp tongue to murder Trevagg immediately after making love, and soon after returned to her homeworld. Notorious for being the first female of her species to attempt mating with a non-H'nemthe, she began speaking publicly about her experience.

Biography

"Don't you understand that fate has brought us together, fate in the form of a stupid ruling by a venal official?"
―Feltipern Trevagg, to M'iiyoom Onith[1]

The female H'nemthe M'iiyoom Onith was born to an unwealthy family on the planet H'nemthe, the homeworld of her species. She was named for the m'iiyoom, a white flower that blossomed on the planet and that translated from the H'nemthe to Basic as "Nightlily." Onith lived with her mother and sisters and did not bed a male during her youth or young adulthood. As virgins were forbidden to leave H'nemthe, she remained on the planet[1] until she was selected to take part in an experiment to see how well female H'nemthe would fare at finding mates from outside of their native culture.[3] Onith left to visit her sister on Cona,[1] and was accompanied by a chaperone during her travels until she boarded the wrong ship during a layover at a transfer station. The scientist Mammon Hoole later believed that she may have done this intentionally in order to lose her chaperone.[3]

M'iiyoom Onith flirts with Feltipern Trevagg in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina.

Before reaching Cona,[2] Onith ended up in the spaceport city of Mos Eisley on Tatooine, where officials claimed that her travel papers were not in order. Forced to pay a passage tax, she was unable to afford transportation back to her homeworld.[1] Onith lingered in Mos Eisley for several weeks, becoming a regular at a local cantina.[4][5] Eventually, she made her way to a tax collector's office in the city and was directed to the male Gotal Feltipern Trevagg. When she entered Trevagg's office, the Gotal glimpsed her and immediately fell in love, desiring to have sex with her as soon as possible. In order to keep her on Tatooine for the night, he told Onith that he would speak to the captain of the passenger liner the Tellivar Lady, but in reality dawdled on his way to Docking Bay 9, allowing the ship to lift off. Trevagg then took Onith to lunch at Court of the Fountain, an expensive restaurant owned by the crime lord Jabba the Hutt.[1] While walking there from the tax office, he offered many compliments on her appearance, flattering her and winning some affection in return.[2]

Jabba the Hutt's chef Porcellus produced four courses of fruits and vegetables for Onith, as H'nemthe virgins were not permitted to eat meat. Over the meal and a bottle of wine, Trevagg expressed his love for her, and Onith interpreted the declaration as a proposal of marriage.[1] The Gotal played along, kissing Onith, and promising her a union of body and soul.[2] Hoping to rid himself of Onith after a single night of pleasure, Trevagg brought her back to his office and booked her passage from Tatooine on the passenger liner the Starswan, telling her that he would be joining her within the coming days. He then brought her to the cantina she had visited several weeks before, hoping to further inebriate her and secure his night of intercourse. Onith was excited at the prospect of marriage and happily followed Trevagg to the bar,[1] where he identified various species to her astonished eyes.[2]

The two sat at a booth with the Givin Elis Helrot,[6] but paid him little mind.[2] Over several drinks, they began to discuss the idea of consummating their marriage before it actually happened. The Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the young moisture farmer Luke Skywalker then entered the cantina, and Onith became frightened when the two skirmished with the Aqualish Ponda Baba and his companion Doctor Cornelius Evazan. Trevagg used the opportunity to fetch her another drink, and, eager to get her into bed, slipped a Love-Wallop pill into it. When the Corellian smuggler Han Solo killed the Rodian bounty hunter Greedo, Onith again grew frightened[1] and asked if they could leave.[2]

Trevagg brought her to the Mos Eisley Inn.[1] Onith had fallen madly in love with him,[3] and they began to physically demonstrate their passion for one another.[2] After sex occurred, Onith used her razor-sharp tongue to gut Trevagg, as was customary for H'nemthe females to do. She left his corpse at the inn[1] and returned to her homeworld, where she gained notoriety for being the first female of her species to attempt mating with a non-H'nemthe. No longer a virgin, she became free to travel offworld, but preferred to remain on the planet and speak publicly about her experience.[3]

Personality and traits

"Mating is such a solemn thing, such an awe-inspiring thing…"
―M'iiyoom Onith — (audio) Listen (file info)[2]
Onith and Trevagg at a Mos Eisley cantina

M'iiyoom Onith came from a culture that placed a premium on true love.[3] While being courted by Feltipern Trevagg, she was swayed by his charms[1] and fell madly in love with him.[3] She was also excited at the prospect of marrying him after having only known him for several hours. After consuming some alcohol, she desired to mate with him,[1] which in H'nemthe culture only occurred in cases of true love.[3]

After having lived her entire life on her homeworld, Onith was enchanted by many of the sights that she saw in Mos Eisley, including the Court of the Fountain restaurant,[1] the cantina that she and Trevagg visited, and the many species present in the city. She was shy and modest, denying Trevagg's claims that she was beautiful and only mentioning her virginity bashfully.[2] Trevagg surmised from her conversation skills and her inability to see through his lies that she was very unintelligent, but found her physically desirable nonetheless.[1]

Additionally, Onith was quick to frighten, and was uneasy entering the cantina,[1] wary of the dark thoughts and emotions within.[2] She relaxed when Trevagg promised her safety, however, as she felt completely comfortable in the presence of the Gotal.[1]

Behind the scenes

"When we first saw Feltiperrn in the cantina, he was snuggling up to a beak-nosed alien who was giggling up a storm. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, but this comely alien was given the unflattering on-set nickname of Yam Nose."
―Author Pablo Hidalgo, discussing the creation of M'iiyoom Onith[7]
Onith's mask was designed by makeup artist Rick Baker.

M'iiyoom Onith first appeared as a background alien in the cantina scene of George Lucas's 1977 film Star Wars, played by an uncredited actor[8] and seen snuggling up to the Gotal character Feltipern Trevagg. Onith was one of the scene's booth-dwelling aliens whose masks were designed by makeup artist Rick Baker,[7] created for supplemental shooting done during post-production when Lucas decided to liven the scene with more action and additional characters.[9] In the film itself, Onith was portrayed by Phil Tippett.[10] Given the on-set nickname of Yam Nose, Onith was intended to receive the proper name of Yamnoss, but the idea never saw the light of day.[7] However, a H'nemthe character in 1978's The Star Wars Holiday Special that re-used Onith's mask was eventually dubbed Yamnoss.[11] Onith's mask was also re-used for a H'nemthe character that appeared in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.[7]

Onith's name was established in 1995 with the release of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game's Premiere Limited set.[12] Her character was fleshed out by author Barbara Hambly in the short story Nightlily: The Lovers' Tale, which was included in the 1995 anthology Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina.[1] Ashley Albert voiced the character in the audio drama of Nightlily.[2]

Although Onith appears in the manga adaptation of Star Wars, she is standing with a group of assorted aliens rather than sitting with Trevagg and Elis Helrot.[13] The cover of The Mos Eisley Cantina Pop-Up Book depicts the Talz Muftak as sitting at the booth with Onith and Trevagg, and its interior shows a table populated by Onith, a Rodian, and an Aqualish.[14] Onith is one of several cantina aliens who appears in a 1979 Star Wars drunk-driving PSA set in the Mos Eisley Cantina.[15]

Appearances

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