#plif the hoojib

[cantsayidont]

January 1982. Among the many unfairly maligned bits of the original STAR WARS comic are the hoojibs, a race of sentient telepathic creatures who look like little pink bunnies, and who feed on electrical energy. First seen in STAR WARS #55, by David Michelinie, Walt Simonson, and Tom Palmer, the hoojibs are native to an arboreal world call Arbra, where the Rebels set up a temporary base in the wake of their escape from Hoth — in a rare case of the comics creators (who were not privy to the story direction of the movies until it came time to prepare a film adaptation) successfully anticipating the next movie, which also featured the Rebels meeting cute furry creatures on a forest world.

Plif, pictured above with Chewbacca, was the hoojib "spokesmind," a very polite and thoroughly civilized fellow who accompanied Luke and Leia on a number of adventures through the rest of the series. He was a useful traveling companion: Because few people were familiar with hoojibs, he could usually be passed off as a pet, but not only was he a telepath, he could also drain the power packs of blasters and other portable equipment if he got close enough without being noticed.

There were of course also definite advantages for the hoojibs in befriending some relatively kindly bipeds:

Many STAR WARS fans still roll their eyes at any mention of hoojibs, but I have a soft spot for them. For one, they were characters, not just cute animal mascots, and in the lexicon of weird or silly STAR WARS aliens, they're really 80th percentile at most. For another, if you have any fondness at all for little furry animals, the idea of having a cute little creature you can talk to telepathically and who can occasionally do useful parlor tricks holds a definite appeal. A hoojib would make a good companion for a SW video game, and I think they'd be fun TTRPG player characters for the open-minded.

Incidentally, the issue that first introduced Plif and the hoojibs became one of a number of STAR WARS comics adapted as book-and-record sets by Buena Vista Records in 1983:

[spockvarietyhour]

@airyairyquitecontrary Plif the Hoojib

[tompalmerillustration]

Star Wars 67, page 4. Marvel Comics, 1983. Layouts by Ron Frenz. Finishes by Tom Palmer.

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Star Wars Alien Species - Hiromi

Hiromi's homeworld is unknown (as of yet).

The most prominent trait of the Hiromi was their instinct for self-preservation. One of their favorite activities was, in their words, "not getting beaten up". The Hiromi became very fearful when the possibility of being in danger came up, and were quick to suggest alternatives to fighting—including bringing in reinforcements to fight in their stead, hiding, and going home. Nonetheless, when they were truly needed, the Hiromi charged headlong into whatever task was required of them, though they were no less afraid as they did so.

he Hiromi had a grandiose image of themselves, claiming to be "glorious conquerors," though their short attention spans meant that their grand long-term plans, such as galactic control, were frequently derailed by thoughts of food or play. The Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker would observe that they enjoyed the work of conquest. Other words they used to describe themselves included "glorious", "ruthless", and "supreme". Hiromi considered themselves to be ruthless masters of interrogation, and backed this claim up by making subjects crack in a short time by relentlessly bombarding them with shouts of "Talk!".

Another activity the Hiromi enjoyed greatly was cheering. Whenever they achieved any kind of victory, they would praise themselves and let out a cheer. This was, to them, a very important part of any activity. When Luke Skywalker sought to rally the Hiromi, he appealed to their love of cheering by leading them in one.

Finally, the Hiromi had a great passion for food. Their first task after "conquering" Zeltros was to have lunch, and they had nothing but praise for the quality of the Zeltronian food and desserts. The Hiromi knew of the Jedi and the Force only through legends.

Approximately 2000 years before the Battle of Endor, the Hiromi Empire began planning its conquest of the galaxy. Over the next two millennia they watched the shape of galactic affairs and waited in hiding. They heard legends of the Jedi Knights and their powers, though it would not be until their invasion that they saw one, namely Luke Skywalker, in action.

In 4 ABY, shortly after the Battle of Endor, the Hiromi mothership Kuratcha was dispatched as part of the advanced force of the invasion of the galaxy, and the Hiromi operative Hirog infiltrated the command staff of the Alliance of Free Planets as Admiral Ackbar's aide. Hirog's mission was to destabilize the Alliance to prepare for the Hiromi invasion, which he set about doing by pitting the Lahsbee and Ewoks at war against each other, as these were considered to be the two least dangerous members of the Alliance.

The first phase of his plot was to arrange it to appear that one of the Lahsbee was engaging in an affair with the Ewok Princess Kamida. The Ewok Tippet, who had been courting her, was outraged, and began rallying his people to fight the Lahsbee. The second phase of the Hiromi plan was to plant a bomb near the Alliance leadership; when it detonated, it would kill all the participants in the conflict, leaving the rest of the galaxy to assume it was the fault of either the Lahsbee or the Ewoks. With the leaders of the Alliance dead, their worlds would presumably split and wage war on each other.

The situation never reached this point. A stray blaster shot, accidentally fired during an honor duel between the Lahsbee and Tippet, disabled the timing mechanism on Hirog's bomb, causing it to tick uncontrollably towards detonation. Hirog ran screaming from his hiding place, yelling to everyone present about the plans of the Hiromi and their impending doom. As it happened, one of the Lahsbee had transformed into their animalistic form, the Huhk, and when the creature flung a rock at Hirog and missed, it accidentally disabled the bomb. The Hiromi forces on the mothership chose to abandon Hirog and retreated, the Ewoks and Lahsbee made peace, and Hirog was chased from the scene by the enraged Huhk. He somehow escaped, and later rejoined the Hiromi forces.

Not to be defeated, the Hiromi next set their sights upon the world of Zeltros, home of the Zeltrons. Captain Hookyr, leader of the invasion force, decided that with its temperate climate and rich supply of pleasures, Zeltros was the perfect world for their people. Arriving in orbit on the Kuratcha, they dispatched a force to the royal palace. Members of the Alliance of Free Planets had come to Zeltros too, and King Arno and Queen Leonie held a party for them. With the king and queen busy reveling, and many Zeltros drunk, Hiromi scout Ensign Phoebe reported that they had been neutralized, and recommended the Hiromi strike. The rest of the invasion force, meanwhile, "captured" Luke Skywalker and the Hoojib Plif, though in fact Skywalker had allowed himself to be taken to see whether the Hiromi had the backing of any stronger allies.

This accomplished, the invaders then swept into the empty throne room, and, with the Hiromi declaring him "Hookyr the First", the ruler of Zeltros, Captain Hookyr took his seat on the Zeltron throne. By his order, the first act of the Hiromi was to go to the royal kitchen and have lunch. Unfortunately for them, two other parties had arrived on Zeltros, the Nagai and the Tofs, each of them determined to conquer the world first. The Tof broke their way into the kitchen and took the Hiromi invaders captive. Altogether, the Hiromi conquest of the palace kitchen was the shortest successful invasion of Zeltros ever recorded.

Skywalker and the Hoojibs, although taken captive by the Tof, did not remain so for long, and after defeating their captors they freed the Hiromi. Four Zeltron friends of Skywalker had been captured by the Tof, and Skywalker enlisted the help of the Hiromi to rescue them from the Tof ship. Though initially frightened, the Hiromi saw it as another chance to fulfill their destiny. Skywalker then turned their interrogation skills against a Tof prisoner, who quickly cracked and told them the codes to infiltrate the Tof vessel in orbit.

Taking the Kuratcha to the Tof Wayfarer, the Hiromi waited in the ship until Skywalker had dispatched the guards in the hangar. While they wanted to stay beside Skywalker as he sabotaged the Tof ship, Skywalker heaped praise upon, as he said, "that dauntless, matchless, legendary Hiromi spirit", and thus inspired the Hiromi to charge off to rescue the prisoners. However, it was not as simple as they expected; the Zeltrons believed the Hiromi were working with their captors and assaulted them, and only the timely arrival of Skywalker saved them. A Tof, meanwhile, began sneaking up on Skywalker; Hirog shouted a warning and shot the Tof, killing him. Having killed a Tof in a fair fight for the first time, the Hiromi were very pleased with themselves, and the gathered party let out a loud cheer. Later, the Hiromi would muse that Skywalker had only helped a little, and that it had been them who had truly helped defeat the Tofs.

In the wake of their victory. the crew of the Kuratcha put in a request to return home. They believed they could best serve the Alliance and the Hiromi while safely hidden—though they were careful to explain that this did not mean they were afraid.

All Hiromi serving in their invasion force were clad in a uniform of red berets and boots, with the exception of Captain Hookyr, who wore a red hat. They dressed in red, tan, and purple attire.

Hiromi were a green, insectoid sentient species approximately 1.5 meters or 4.9 feet tall. They had yellow eyes, two long antennae on their heads, and unlike many insectoid species, tongues.

Hiromi age at the following stages: Unknown (as of yet).

Examples of Names: Hirog, Hookyr

Languages: Native language is unknown (as of yet). They can speak Basic.

[atamascolily]

I never actually read Junior Jedi Knights #1: The Golden Globe by Nancy Richardson before, so I figured I’d give it a shot. Like most of Star Wars Legends, it is a trip, but in a fun, if confusing way.

The academy was built to train people to become Jedi Knights, protectors of freedom and justice. Only beings who had shown they were skilled in working with the Force had been invited to attend the academy. Anakin was one of those chosen to attend the first session created for younger children and aliens.

So... Jedi Hogwarts, then. The first Harry Potter book was published in Britain in 1997 and in the US in 1998, and this book was published October 1, 1995, so it actually predates Hogwarts, but I’m still calling it that.

Leia “can’t bear” to have all three kids away at Jedi Hogwarts at the same time, so now it’s Anakin’s term. I’m raising my eyebrows because Leia is a politician assuming she’s not actually Chief of State right now; she’s super-busy and Winter took care of the kids for much of their childhood. It does explain why we never see anyone from the YJK books in this series, and the good-bye scene between Anakin, Leia, and Han is 300% more believable and heart-warming than anything in the Disney ST, so I approve.

Also, here’s some world-building for all your Yavin 4 fics:

“The Great Temple hasn’t been changed much on the outside,” Luke said. He had sensed his nephew’s curiosity. “But we had to change the inside in order to create the academy rooms. We’ve divided some spaces into sleeping and refresher units for you and your classmates. And we’ve hung heavy drapes above the open windows. The windows in the Temple have no glass because the climate here is so warm that we rarely need it. However, every few months we have terrible storms. The temperature drops and rain and winds whip through the jungle. When that happens the heavy drapes keep the temple warm and dry. There’s one place that we haven’t touched, though-the Grand Audience Chamber at the top of the Temple. All of the instructors and students here agree that it is just too beautiful to change,” Luke explained.

(And then everyone who’s seen the movie would be confused! LOL)

HAVE I MENTIONED HOW MUCH I LIKE THAT TIONNE IS A MAJOR PLAYER IN THESE BOOKS? Because I do. Traveling with Luke and rescuing kids, singing songs, being kind... #legend. I don’t think we ever see Kam, though, so I don’t know what he’s up to. It’s literally just Luke and Tionne, plus a bunch of NPCs here.

I don’t get how Anakin can be so good with droids yet not understand Artoo’s Binary, but okay. I love how Artoo just follows him around for... reasons, or he would except Anakin cheats by using the stairs. Ignore Artoo at your peril, kid.

More world-building:

Anakin had reached the Grand Audience Chamber. It was the highest room in the Temple, and unlike the other rooms, it had not been rebuilt for the academy. Gently Anakin pushed open the large doors. He walked into the center of the Grand Audience Chamber. The walls were a deep tan stone, worn smooth over the years. Blueleaf shrubs, the most common shrub on the moon, poked through several cracks in the stones. They attached themselves to the stone with suckers. The shrubs were electric blue, and as Anakin leaned close he could smell a spicy perfume.

(As an aside, I don’t understand why Legends makes the Grand Audience Chamber at the top of the Temple - the room we see in ANH seems too large to fit at the top of a pyramid the size the ones in Chichen Itza. Does anybody have any drawings of the interior of the Temple of Kukulcan or any other Meso-American step-pyramids  to confirm or deny this? Also, I don’t get why an audience chamber would be at the top of so many stairs - it seems like you’d want that to be closer to the ground for easier access for the plebes, and keep the upper levels as private space for the aristocracy. But I digress...)

Anakin meets Tahiri, who is from Tatooine and raised by Sand People, because we need to have more movie references and there are only like 5 acceptable planets for Star Wars writers, because movies, so that’s fine. Her defining character traits are impulsiveness, constant chatter, and a distaste for shoes.In light of the prequels, her comments on sand have aged well:

“Where I’m from it’s hot and there’s sand everywhere - gritty sand that sticks between your toes. So, aren’t you going to say something?”

Tionne shows up and sends them to bed. Anakin’s not a morning person. #Relatable. At breakfast, his reaction to Tahiri’s account of her dream in which he saves her on a river is priceless:

Anakin was silent. So this was what his brother Jacen was always talking about. I guess girls do get crushes on boys and say things that make no sense, he thought.

LOLOLOLOL. Also, Anakin says Jacen and Jaina are his best friends and Tahiri laughs and says No, I’m your best friend now like I said yesterday, and MY HEART. These kids. I love them.

Anyway, Luke lectures them on the Force, and it’s mostly Yoda’s sayings all mushed together, and apparently “Believe and you succeed” really is a part of it, so okay then. We swing suddenly from Anakin’s POV to Luke’s and it’s kinda jarring, especially since Luke is only interested in recapping his own personal history and has nothing new to say.

Anakin starts dreaming the same dream as Tahiri and hearing voices, so they sneak out to investigate even though Luke has explicitly warned them not to. Anakin’s so worried about being kicked out, it’s charming...

LOL, Tionne expects them to lift 2-kilo weights with their minds on the first day. What. They do it through the Power of Friendship, because of course they do, in between plotting how to get out of the academy and investigate the dream.

Fortunately, Artoo is there to help! Good old Artoo! He’s got a lot of practice in being sneaky. I have no idea why the raft is conveniently there waiting for them in the jungle, but okay. Tahiri falls in during the storm, but fortunately Anakin is able to use his lesson in TK to save her. They lift Artoo out the same way once they get to their destination, but Tahiri drops him in the water when her control slips. Good thing he’s waterproof!

Anakin name drops Exar Kun and a bunch of Yavin IV backstory. I like that Anakin is Indiana Jonesing his way across Yavin while simultaneously wondering if his uncle’s going to kick him out. Also Artoo brought the only light. They find a mysterious golden globe and a cute animal named Ikrit and cover themselves in glitter before heading back.

Tahiri’s already willing to sacrifice herself for Anakin in case Luke wants to kick them out and they’ve literally just met and this makes me wish I didn’t know what I know about NJO, because now everything hurts.

Luke’s waiting them for them, all stern in his Jedi blacks and.... Artoo steps up and lies for the kids, and he decides he’s not going to end their careers as a Jedi students just yet. LOL.

Meanwhile, Ikrit is curled up in Anakin’s bed - turns out he’s a secret Jedi Master and the voice in Anakin’s head. Turns out the globe is full of trapped children because Exar Kun is a jerk and they can’t tell any adults or it will be destroyed. Ikrit’s been sleeping for hundreds of years waiting for the right kids and he chose them. Of course, Anakin and Tahiri vow to do what they can to help, even though it’s going to be difficult, because of Luke’s lecture earlier, which Anakin can recite from memory (he really does have an eidetic memory, doesn’t he?). The end.

I have so many questions. Why did Artoo help them out? (I assume Ikrit, but I don’t remember if that’s ever explicitly spelled out. And can Jedi talk to droids with the Force? How did Ikrit meet Artoo? It just raises more questions.) Was it Ikrit or Artoo who set up the raft? How did they do that and where did they get it? Does Ikrit even have thumbs? Why couldn’t Anakin and Tahiri just walk to the Palace of Woolamanders or whatever? Did Ikrit really hibernate for four centuries straight or did he wake up every couple of years to stretch his legs and whatnot? Why did he do that rather than, you know, get help or something? Why has Tahiri been dreaming of the river her whole life, only for the dream to suddenly jump to Anakin? Is Ikrit sending her the dreams or is the Force?

 I like how there’s such an emphasis on training, when they’ve been on-planet for less than a week (three days??) because that’s how fast the plot moves when you’re eleven (and Tahiri is NINE!). These kids! Did I mention I love them?

Ikrit is technically a Kushiban and not a Hoojib as I’d originally thought. I’m not sure exactly what the difference is, since they’re both sentient telepathic lagomorphs, but that’s fine, I guess. I am fond of the Hoojibs, but I didn’t know about them until @joysweeper​ posted some Star Wars Marvel comics from the ‘70s with Plif, so they’re not exactly common knowledge. That said, I really like the illustration of Ikrit on the cover, and I’m also absurdly fond of him in spite of the fact that canon is so flimsy here.

[thenewsguru]

Hey Plif! l Fall festive #Hoojib(@Genghistwelve), thank you for following me

Tweet by James

[tompalmerillustration]

Star Wars 55, page 1. Marvel Comics, 1982. Pencils by Walt Simonson. Inks by Tom Palmer.

[tompalmerillustration]

Star Wars #63, page 10. Marvel Comics, 1982. Layouts by Walt Simonson. Pencils and inks by Tom Palmer.