Gotal/Legends

Gotals were tall, hairy humanoids that evolved on the moon Antar 4. They had gray-brown faces with reddish eyes, small, flat noses, and shaggy gray fur covering most of their bodies. Their most distinctive features were the twin conical horns growing on the top of their heads, which acted as highly responsive electromagnetic sensors. The unique nature of these sensors shaped Gotal culture, and gave them a place in the Galaxy as bounty hunters and diplomats.

Biology and culture
Antar 4, the fourth moon of the gas giant Antar in the Prindaar system, was a world with complex day/night cycles. Sometimes, one side of Antar 4 would be illuminated by the sun Prindaar, while the other received almost the same amount of light from the highly reflective surface of the gas giant Antar. At other times, Antar would block all sunlight to both hemispheres. As light was not always available there, Antarian animal life could not rely on sight as a primary sense.



The ancestors of the Gotals evolved cranial horns as receptors to sense electromagnetism and other energy emissions. These nerve-ending filled cones could sense the natural electromagnetic fields produced by Antar, Prindaar, and Antar 4's magnetite-rich crust. Their senses also picked up the electromagnetic auras from other life forms. Gotal hunters could sense their quarry from up to ten kilometers away, and could track herds of quivry for weeks. Gotal horns were even sensitive enough to pick up such indistinct signals as neutrino emissions and the Force (which they picked up as an indistinct "buzzing".) Most droids gave off enough electromagnetic emissions to seriously disorient or distract a Gotal's senses, however. Gotals relied heavily on their cones, with their eyesight and hearing being quite weak, and their sense of smell almost completely absent. Some Gotals began wearing cone socks to muffle electromagnetic intererence.

Gotals also used their cones to monitor subtle changes in one another's electromagnetic auras. This ability to quickly and easily judge another Gotal's emotional state was fundamental to their culture. For example, love at first "sight" was the norm among Gotals, whose empathic nature made the elaborate courtship rituals of other sentients unnecessary. Gotals only spoke to each other to relay abstract information, since they had no need to vocally express their emotions. (Ironically, since Gotals spoke in a non-inflected monotone, they seemed emotionless to Humans and other non-Gotals.) They also had little use for government or laws.



Young Gotals often had trouble assimilating the information arriving from their cones, and were in a constant state of agitated confusion until they learned to filter unwanted signals after about one standard year. Even then, it took them until the age of twelve to attain emotional maturity, and they could sometimes be nearly psychotic until then. Despite this, Gotal parents were devoted to their children, and young Gotals would have children as soon as they could manage it. Mature Gotals were generally calm and peaceful individuals.

The ruthless Imperial era financier Sarlim Gastess was among the few Gotals whose cones were non-functional. Perhaps because of his inability to sense emotions, this "blind" Gotal was a fearsome psychopath by his people's standards.

A Gotal's horns also appeared to be the primary physical feature they found attractive. Some Gotals became romantically attached to non-Gotals, but they only seemed to be attracted to other creatures with cones or horns on their heads.

Gotals in the Galaxy


Although they had problems using technologies such as droids and other devices that produced high levels of electromagnetic interference, the Gotals managed to develop quite sophisticated levels of technology. Using chemical reactions where other species would use electronics, the Gotals managed to colonize Antar's other five moons even before Galactic Republic explorers contacted them.

Eventually, Gotals could be found on almost any planet with a significant non-Human population, including Centares, Berchest, and Engebo V. They avoided the ecumenopoleis of the Core Worlds, however, due to the disorienting effects of the many droids and electronic devices on such planets. Well integrated into the Galactic community, most Gotals were fluent in both Antarian and Basic.

Their electromagnetic senses often led them to employment as trackers, soldiers, and bounty hunters. Gotal hunters and soldiers were difficult to ambush or trap, and easily saw through most attempts at camouflage or disguise. They prided themselves on tracking difficult targets, referring to the Gotal proverb "What is easily achieved is easily lost." Some Gotal hunters had developed their empathic skills well enough to accurately and quickly anticipate their enemies' moves&mdash;these were referred to as "precogs".

Thanks to their empathic abilities, they also worked as diplomats, counselors, and even professional gamblers. This sort of employment gave rise to the erroneous belief that Gotals were telepathic. In fact, the opposite was often true&mdash;Gotals with little experience dealing with non-Gotals frequently misunderstood their emotional states, mistaking moderate anger for imminent violent intent, and mild affection for love.

History


By 4,000 BBY, the Gotals were members of the Galactic Republic. One of their most notable contributions to Republic society was the Antarian Rangers, founded in 620 BBY to assist the Jedi. Co-founded by the Human Jedi Master Marus Timpel and the Gotal businessman Kaskutal, this organization grew to become a major non-Jedi paramilitary auxiliary, working alongside the Jedi Order to protect the Galactic Republic.

In the Republic's final years, however, the relationship between the Gotal and the rest of the Galaxy became increasingly strained. The Duinuogwuin-Gotal conflict between 35 and 33 BBY was a short, but intense struggle which required the intervention of the Jedi Masters Jorus C'baoth and Tra's M'ins to bring to an end. Tensions between the Gotals and the rest of the Galaxy continued over the next decade, however. During the Separatist Crisis of 22 BBY, many Gotals supported the Gotal Assembly for Separation, or its more violent splinter group the Roshu Sune. After Roshu Sune terrorists set off bombs in Antarian Ranger chapterhouses, the Jedi and their Antarian Ranger allies invaded Antar 4 in retaliation. During the Battle of Antar 4, the Jedi and the Antarian Rangers took heavy casualties. They used electromagnetic pulse weapons in desperation, even though such weapons caused immense pain and disorientation for civilian Gotals caught in the crossfire. The Jedi response turned the Gotals, and the people of thousands of other worlds, against the Republic. After the battle, many Gotal refugees fled to Atzerri. During the Clone Wars, Antar 4 was conquered by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The Gotals did not benefit from the war, and were greatly impoverished during the Confederate occupation.



At the war's end, the Gotal became subjects of the Galactic Empire. The Imperial military refused to let Gotals serve in the military, believing they were too apt to empathize with their enemies. Only a minority of Gotal were willing to work with the Empire in any case, since their empathic sense led them to distrust the promises of Imperial diplomats. During the Galactic Civil War, some Gotal soldiers became mercenaries and bounty hunters, while others joined the Rebellion or its successor, the Alliance of Free Planets. In later years, the New Republic liberated their homeworld. Later, Antar 4 became a part of the Galactic Alliance.

During the time of the New Republic, Gotal were one of the nonhuman races targeted in Warlord Zsinj's plot to destabilize the New Republic. The operation was able to brainwash certain individuals to attempt to assassinate major leaders in the New Republic. Three of the targets included Wedge Antilles, Admiral Ackbar, and Mon Mothma, whose assassin was Tolokai, her trusted Gotal bodyguard. The intent of the operation was to breed distrust between Humans and prominent nonhuman races of the New Republic. The operation was ultimately foiled.

Famous Gotals



 * Aramb, crewman on Admiral Ackbar during the Swarm War
 * Sarlim Gastess, owner of Gastess' Finance, Inc.
 * Glott, "precog" bounty hunter
 * Attatag Gosem, known spy and information broker
 * Kith Kark, Jedi killed during the Naddist Uprising
 * Kaskutal, co-founder of the Antarian Rangers
 * Ta'laam Ranth, Senator of the New Republic and Galactic Alliance
 * Spurlick, Confederate air traffic controller
 * Feltipern Trevagg, Mos Eisley tax collector and ill-fated lover of the H'nemthe M'iiyoom Onith

Behind the scenes

 * The Gotal alien design used in A New Hope's cantina scene was created by conceptual artist Ron Cobb and makeup artist Laine Liska. Cobb's illustrations came with biological notes, describing it as a "High Tundra" creature. High Tundra became the character's on-set nickname. Though the proper name for the character was initially Dratun, later Expanded Universe sources renamed the species to Gotal, and the character seen in the Mos Eisley Cantina as Feltipern Trevagg.