Fuzzum

The Fuzzums were a species of sentient avians indigenous to the planet Dandelo. Members of the species were roughly humanoid, standing shorter than the average Human, with squat, round bodies situated atop tall, spindly legs. The arms and legs were hairless, but the body was covered in what appeared to be brown fuzz. Fuzzums had beaks, which were capable of speaking the species' native language. By 15 BBY, they had developed a tribal society that relied on a relatively primitive level of technology, characterized by simple instruments, cave dwellings, and their ubiquitous spears.

The Fuzzums encountered offworlders at some unspecified point in their past. However, sometime before 15 BBY, a group known as the Starhunters came to Dandelo to make it the base of operations for their Starhunter's Intergalactic Menagerie. The newcomers drove the Fuzzums from their homes in Dandelo's cliffs so that they could be used to cage animals for the traveling animal show. Some Fuzzums escaped to the world's forests, where they settled in camps. Nevertheless, many others were enslaved by the Starhunters to help them hunt down new specimens for the menagerie. When a new group of offworlders arrived on Dandelo, the forest-dwellng Fuzzums were thus cautious of them, assuming the worst. The trio, the protocol droid C-3PO, the astromech droid R2-D2, and the Tammuz-an prince Coby, convinced the avians that they were friendly and only sought to rescue Coby's pet, Ingey. The group then plotted and executed a rescue mission for the Tesseletaed Arboreal Binjinfant. With the rescue of an old spacer named Greej and timely arrival of pilot Jann Tosh, the Fuzzums and their guests managed to free the beasts held in the caves, drive the Starhunters from Dandelo, and reclaim the Fuzzums' cliff dwellings.

Biology and appearance
The Fuzzums were a species of sentient humanoid avians who looked like compact balls of fuzz perched upon thin, sticklike legs. The arms, too, were thin and gangly, ending in three-fingered hands. All four extremities were naked and brown-skinned. The rest of the body was covered in orange fuzz. Members of the species had thick, puffed-out chests that narrowed to thin waists. Fuzzums stood about 1.45 meters tall. The overall effect made Fuzzums seem bizarre to Humans and other species.

There was little distinction between where the Fuzzum torso ended and the Fuzzum head began. The avians had plastic features capable of expressing a full range of emotions, including a white, beaklike mouth and yellow eyes with brown pupils, set below an expressive brow. The beak was toothless and red inside. A shock of taller feathers adorned the top of the Fuzzum head.

Society and culture
Fuzzum society lacked the technological sophistication of much of the rest of the galaxy. The species routinely wore clothing. A typical outfit included a cloth skirt, cords wrapped around the arms, and sandals on the feet. The characteristic design of the skirt was a white bolt of cloth with an elongated, brown, hexagonal flap in the center.

The species was divided into tribes. Their preferred habitat was villages set into natural caves, but after the arrival of the Starhunters, the Fuzzums relocated to villages in their world's forests. Fuzzums cooked stew in stewpots. Their villages played host to festive ceremonies, during which the avians danced to the accompaniment of drums, horns, and plucked string instruments. Dancing was a Fuzzum sign of joy, and boisterous laughter was a sign of amusement.

Fuzzums were brave opponents who fought and hunted with simple weapons. Their arsenal including bows, arrows they carried in capped quivers and spears they made from wooden shafts and stone blades attached by cord &mdash;in fact, a Fuzzum and his or her spear were never separated. Fuzzums tended to hunt and fight in small groups. They tended to attack with their spears, charging an enemy with spears overhead and thrusting downward. They tried to use their numbers to their advantage to overwhelm their target, and they showed no mercy to sworn enemies, such as the Starhunters. Captured enemies could face several fates: droids could be sold or dismantled for other uses, and sentient beings could be cooked and eaten.

Fuzzums spoke their own language, which was intelligible to at least some translator droids.

History
"He says that those caves used to be their homes until the Starhunters forced them out. Now they are hunted as well. When they are caught, the Starhunters force them to help trap others."

- C-3PO

The Fuzzums evolved on Dandelo, a planet of forests, savannas, and cliff-pocked hills. They achieved a basic level of technology and adopted a tribal society based around life in a cliff villages. At some point before 15 BBY, the Fuzzums encountered strangers from another world. From this contact, the Fuzzum language was added to the repertoire of protocol droids in the greater galaxy.

Eventually, a group of offworlders came to Dandelo and changed Fuzzum society for the worse. The strangers, calling themselves the Starhunters, drove the Fuzzums from their caves to convert them into cages to store rare beasts destined to join the Starhunter's Intergalactic Menagerie. The Fuzzums escaped to Dandelo's forests, where they established temporary villages and tried to avoid Starhunter safaris on the lookout for more species to abduct. From time to time Fuzzums were spotted and captured by the Starhunters. These captives were then forced to use their skills as trappers and hunters to find more animals for the menagerie. Over time, the Starhunters began to actively seek out Fuzzums as well as non-sentient species. The Fuzzums grew to hate these offworlders.

In 15 BBY, a group of Fuzzums spotted a spacecraft crashing into an area of jungle. When they investigated the wreckage, they found a blue-skinned boy and two droids. Taking the trio to be Starhunters, the Fuzzums threatened to sell the golden droid, turn the shorter droid into a stew pot, and eat the boy. The golden droid knew the Fuzzum language, however, and convinced the avians that the three strangers were also enemies of the Starhunters as well, seeking to rescue Ingey, a captured tessellated arboreal binjinfant. The Fuzzums agreed to take the new arrivals to their former village, current hideout of the Starhunters,

At the cliff-dwelling complex, the boy, Coby, spotted his pet being thrown in a cage by a large droid. Realizing they faced some resistance, the Fuzzums and the offworlders retreated to the Fuzzums' forest village to plot their next move. The golden droid, C-3PO, impersonated a rare creature known as a spotted jugadoo. The prospect of capturing the rare creature prompted the Starhunters to give chase to the phantom beast and leave the caves lightly guarded. Coby and the squat droid, R2-D2, climbed up to the cages and freed the animals, along with an imprisoned near-Human man named Greej. On Artoo's signal, the Fuzzums attacked the guard droids with their spears, allowing for the droids, Coby, and Greej to rescue the creatures in the chaos created by the skirmish.

Threepio and the Starhunters returned to the cages, and Greej arrested the animal collectors. The poachers managed to get his gun, however, and nearly escaped. The timely arrival of the droids' master, Jan Tosh, prevented their escape.

Thanks to the help of their offworld friends, the Fuzzums had regained their old village. They held a ceremony back at their forest settlement to fete the offworlders who had made it possible.

Behind the scenes
In the English version of Star Wars 4: In Battle with Darth Vader, when Han Solo and his companions are in the trash compactor of the Death Star, Solo says of the poles used to hold apart the walls: "they're snapping like twigs!" In the German translation of this comic from 1995, this line was changed to "These things are as fragile as Fuzzum-legs." In 2008, the original line was restored for the A Long Time Ago trade paperback.

Appearances

 * Star Wars 4: In Battle with Darth Vader

Notes and references
Fuzzums