Zygerrian/Legends

The Zygerrians were a sentient humanoid species native to the planet Zygerria. Members of the species were medium-sized, standing 1.7 meters tall on average and weighing around sixty kilograms. The Zygerrians were distinguished by their feline appearance, having pointed ears and clawed hands, while some individuals also had faces that were entirely covered in fur. The species was well-known for its long history of violence, war, and slavery, which the Zygerrians viewed as a natural order of life. This contributed to the Zygerrians being feared across the galaxy.

Founders of the Zygerrian Slave Empire and the subsequent Zygerrian Slavers Guild, the Zygerrians conducted slaving operations in the Outer Rim Territories for centuries before the Clone Wars. During the reign of the Galactic Empire, the Zygerrian slaving business thrived, since slavery was permitted by Imperial Decree A-SL-4557.607.232. The Zygerrians kept close ties with the Empire, supplying it with slaves and receiving discounts on slaver permits in exchange. Due to the nature of their business, the Zygerrians also became targets for Rebel Alliance privateers, bounty hunters, and various non-affiliated spacers.

Biology and appearance

The Zygerrians were a bipedal sentient humanoid species. Feline in appearance, the species possessed strong, angular features and large, pointed ears. Other distinctive features included long fangs that jutted from their jaws and claws that extended from their hands. Some Zygerrrians had faces and ears that were entirely covered with fur—ranging in color from brown to gray, red, or black. Other individuals displayed a certain amount of bare skin on their faces, which was light in tone. The Zygerrians' eye color varied between yellow and blue.

Prime Minister Atai Molec, displaying his species' traditional features

Males traditionally had more hair than females, with bands of fur growing on their cheeks. Male Zygerrians also displayed a number of bony spurs protruding from the chin, which females lacked.

With an average lifespan of eighty-one years, the Zygerrians reached adolescence at ten years; they were considered adult at seventeen, middle-aged at forty, and old at sixty-one. Medium-sized, they usually grew up to 1.7 meters and weighed around sixty kilograms on average. They generally had sallow complexions and were physically strong, but some individuals suffered from obesity.

The Zygerrians spoke Galactic Basic Standard with a pronounced accent.

Society and culture

Notorious slavers

"Slavery is the natural order of things. The weak deserve nothing more than to kneel before the strong, bound to our service."

―Queen Miraj Scintel

A warlike species, the Zygerrians held strength—both physical and mental—in great esteem, viewing it as a means to gain power and authority. The Zygerrians were cunning, ensuring that they had the upper hand in any situation, and traditionally settled their differences with an unarmed fistfight. They believed that it was the natural order of life for the strong to dominate the weak, so slavery was normal for the species, and a display of weakness could mean death or enslavement in their culture. Those unfortunate enough to become their slaves were viewed as inferior species by the Zygerrians. As such, a slave market thrived on their homeworld of Zygerria.

A Zygerrian presents a Twi'lek slave to potential buyers.

Because of those views, the species willingly cultivated its image as dangerous and unpredictable, in order to discourage others from challenging them. This tactic worked, and the Zygerrians were feared in spaceports across the galaxy, earning fame for their history of violence, piracy, slavery, and war. Despite their predations, the Zygerrians were nonetheless an advanced civilization.

Founded centuries before the Clone Wars, the Zygerrian Slave Empire focused on slave trading in the Outer Rim Territories for many years, until it was defeated by the Jedi. Eventually, the Zygerrians reestablished their business under the Zygerrian Slavers Guild, which thrived due to its disciplined and structured approach to business, as well as the Galactic Republic's diffuse presence in the Outer Rim. Each Zygerrian slaver had to pay a yearly membership fee to join the Guild and was then allocated a patch of space in which to work. The size of that patch varied from one planet to an entire system, depending on the level of membership the slaver paid for. The Twi'lek species preferred to use Zygerrians over other slavers, since the Zygerrians' "honorable" business approach reduced the damage that slavery inflicted upon Twi'lek society.

Traditional equipment

The species' natural physical strength was well-complemented by their mastery of various weapons, such as retractable shock whips. The shock whip was a traditional weapon of the Zygerrians that ensured that the target ensnared by the whip's electrified metal wires experienced great pain and muscle spasms. In combat, the Zygerrians tended to resort to non-lethal tactics, in order to maximize the number of prisoners captured.

File:ZygerrianSlaver-KaD.jpg

A Zygerrian slaver armed with a shock whip

In addition to shock whips, electrostaffs also saw widespread usage by the Zygerrians. The species also utilized firearms, such as the Zygerrian blaster rifle, which could fire both regular blaster bolts as well as shots that detonated on impact, creating an explosion.

History

Early history

Zygerria, the homeworld of the Zygerrian species

The Zygerrians hailed from Zygerria, a planet located in the Chorlian sector of the Outer Rim Territories, on the outskirts of the galaxy. Organized under the Zygerrian Slave Empire, the species prospered on slave trade across the galaxy and especially within the Outer Rim. Eventually, the Zygerrian Empire came to dominate a large portion of the region, stretching from the planet Argazda down the Salin Corridor hyperlane.

The slavers were also in control of the Triellus Trade Route, which provided access to the planet Ryloth, the homeworld of the Twi'lek species. At the height of their empire, the Zygerrians provided slaves to other powerful factions operating in the region, such as the Hutt Empire and Chevin slavers.

Relations with the Galactic Empire

However, the Zygerrians' tenure under the heel of the Galactic Empire was short-lived, since King Molec was able to negotiate a deal with Galactic Emperor Palpatine. In exchange for freedom from Imperial control, the Zygerrians agreed to restrict their slaving activities to the Outer Rim. The species enjoyed a rise in prominence once again, and the Zygerrian Slavers Guild went public after Imperial Decree A-SL-4557.607.232 legalized slavery under certain conditions.

However, because of such close ties to Palpatine's Empire, Zygerrian ships were considered legitimate targets for Rebel Alliance privateers during the Galactic Civil War.

Zygerrians in the galaxy

The rescue of Arhul Hextrophon

Calrissian: "Zygerrian slavers? You never told me that one."

Solo: "It wasn't anything important."

Ghent: "He and Chewbacca attacked a Zygerrian slaver ship. Just the two of them. The Zygerrians were so scared they abandoned ship."

Solo: "They were more pirates than slavers. And they weren't afraid of me—they abandoned ship because I told them I had twenty stormtroopers with me and was coming aboard to check their shipping licenses."

Calrissian: "And they bought that?"

Solo: "I was broadcasting a borrowed Imperial ID at the time."

―Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and Zakarisz Ghent

Although the Zygerrian slaver business was mostly situated near their homeworld, in the time of the Galactic Empire the Zygerrians also controlled a smaller and less organized Slaver Syndicate based in the Karazak system on the other side of the galaxy. This organization, generally regarded as mere thugs, was controlled by the Zygerrian Pr'ollerg clan, which strongly dictated the Syndicate's politics. The Syndicate, estimated to have over 2,000 active members, actively employed bounty hunters to capture individuals with only minor bounties on their heads in order to sell them as slaves later.

File:Han Solo JTL.png

Han Solo outwitted Zygerrian slavers in order to rescue Arhul Hextrophon.

Around 3 BBY, a group of Zygerrian slavers captured journalist Arhul Hextrophon and his family. The Zygerrians had been ferrying the captives for months before they were confronted by the smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca over the planet Janodral Mizar.

Solo broadcast an Imperial transponder code, claiming that twenty stormtroopers were going to board the slavers' ship to check their shipping licenses, forcing the Zygerrians to abandon ship. Since Janodral Mizar had a law giving slaver profits to their victims, Solo and Chewbacca left the ship and the Zygerrian treasure held aboard it to Hextrophon, departing in their own starship, the Millennium Falcon.

Other victims of the Zygerrians

At some point during the Galactic Civil War, the pirate Jondrell Inx captured Cressis Linrec, the daughter of Imperial Governor Linrec, and held her hostage on the planet Kallistas. Inx demanded that the governor pay a large ransom for his daughter, threatening to sell her to the Zygerrian Slavers Guild. Governor Linrec assigned Kallistas's governor, Dengless Rinn, to rescue his daughter. In turn, Rinn hired three bounty hunters to rescue the girl, hoping to resolve the situation quickly and keep Linrec's attention away from the planet, since Rinn himself was plotting an elaborate scheme against his superior governor.

Following a pirate raid on her family's transport, a young Human female named Janildakara was sold into slavery to the Zygerrians, who branded her on the neck. After enduring the life of a slave for several years, Janildakara escaped and became a bounty hunter in the females-only House Renliss chapter of the Bounty Hunters' Guild. She hoped to use the Guild's help to find her family, who had not been heard of since the pirate attack.

Behind the scenes

Development

The Zygerrians were originally created for The Star Wars Sourcebook, written by Bill Slavicsek and Curtis Smith, and published in 1987 as the first sourcebook for the West End Games Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. The species was mentioned in the book's Han Solo entry, which was presented as an in-universe piece authored by Arhul Hextrophon, describing the story of Hextrophon's capture by the Zygerrians and subsequent rescue by Solo and Chewbacca.

An inconsistency regarding the spelling of the species' name previously persisted in several Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game sources. Whereas The Star Wars Sourcebook originally spelled the name "Zygerrian," a few subsequent supplements alternatively spelled the name "Zygerian."

Canon/Legends

Legends and newer material have consistently changed Zygerrians in various ways, from describing them as merely human, being red with horns, and felines. See Wook:Zygerrian for more details.

Appearances

• "Two for the Price of One" – Galaxy Guide 10: Bounty Hunters (Mentioned only)
• Heir to the Empire (Mentioned only)
• Heir to the Empire 4 (Mentioned only)

Sources

• The Star Wars Sourcebook (First mentioned)
• Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments from the Rim
• Galaxy Guide 10: Bounty Hunters
• Star Wars Sourcebook, Second Edition
• Galaxy Guide 11: Criminal Organizations
• Pirates & Privateers
• Star Wars Encyclopedia ("Janodral Mizar")