Weequay/Legends
Weequays were a race of humanoids who came from the Outer Rim planet of Sriluur, near Hutt Space. Their home was a harsh desert planet, leading to the species' tanned skin tone and rough, sandy, wrinkled skin. Their eyes were dark and slightly recessed into their skull.
Biology and appearance
Weequays were humanoids with thick, leathery skin that ranged in color from tan to dark brown. Their faces were lipless, with a frill along each of their jowls.[3]
Society and culture
Weequays had the ability to communicate with members of their own clan through smell by exuding complex pheromones. This pheromonal language could not be understood by any other species, or even by Weequays of another clan. Only Jedi senses could even tell that two Weequay were communicating. Gotal were also able to sense their communications. Since each Weequay's pheromones were unique, Weequay had no need for a name within their clan. As a result, speech was only a secondary form of communication for Weequay, and they seldom spoke a whole sentence, resulting in Humans mistakenly believing the species to be unintelligent.
Only Weequay who had to live among other clans, or among non-Weequay, took a personal name. Even then, some were simply referred to as "Weequay". In Weequay culture, individual identity was much less important than the clan. As long as the clan survived, a single Weequay was expendable. This resulted in a sometimes brutal culture.
Male Weequay often tied their hair into long braids. Traditionally, they would grow one "seclusion braid" for each Sriluurian year spent away from their homeworld as a tribute to their home. When they returned, they shaved their braids. Weequays serving the Hutt clans were often very close to their homeworld, and would only have one or two braids. Female Weequay were usually bald, and did not follow this tradition.
Weequay religion was complex, with many deities. Among them were the moon-god Quay and the thunder god Am-Shak. Quay was their chief god; indeed, "Weequay" translated to "Follower of Quay". Zealous Weequays performed ritual sacrifices in Quay's honor, at times resorting to murder, earning their culture a violent reputation. Each of their cities was centered around a shrine of black, polished stone, known as a thal, where the Weequay made offerings of food and valuables. Their religious code prohibited building thal off Sriluur, so off-world devotees were obligated to substitute animal sacrifices (usually large animals like banthas).
The Weequays shared their homeworld with Houk colonists, though not enthusiastically. The two societies went to war on Sriluur in 10 BBY. The conflict ended after a decade, leaving many unemployed Weequay soldiers to find work as mercenaries and bounty hunters. This war also gave certain Weequay companies a good reputation throughout the galaxy as manufacturers of force pikes and other melee weapons.
Weequays in the galaxy
Weequays were widely used throughout the galaxy as mercenaries or criminal henchmen. They played this role in their earliest recorded contact with the outside galaxy, when they joined Vodran, Klatooinian, and Nikto mercenaries in the pay of the Hutts to battle Xim the Despot's forces at the Third Battle of Vontor during the Hutt–Xim conflict. Unlike the other races hired by the Hutts, the Weequay did not sign the Treaty of Vontor, and remained independent of the Hutts. They were used extensively as foot soldiers by the Hutt Cartel and Black Sun. Jabba Desilijic Tiure also employed several Weequay mercenaries, including Ak-Buz, the captain of the sail barge Khetanna, and Ak-rev, one of Jabba's bodyguards and an occasional drummer with the Max Rebo Band.
Weequay were occasionally hired as bodyguards in Hutt syndicates when they chose to make their lives in the galaxy. They generally went offworld as part of small groups, usually from the same clan. Their role in the galaxy was usually minor, as their mean-spirited temperaments left them ill-suited for more grand ventures, while their suspicious and xenophobic nature prevented them from carving permanent settlements on strange worlds.
At some point the rebel pilot Jan Ors punched a weequay.
Behind the scenes
Star Wars creator George Lucas named the Weequay as a literary nod to Queequeg, a fictional character from the novel Moby-Dick.[5]
