Sando aqua monster/Legends

"There's always a bigger fish."

- Qui-Gon Jinn

The Sando aqua monster is the largest, massive carnivorous aquatic mammal that lives in the oceans of Naboo. Little is known about these giant creatures, and many myths and legends cling to the minds of galactic folk regarding its origins and habitats. What little is known about them terrifies researchers as well as Naboo citizens and denizens across the galaxy.

Characteristics


The sando aqua monster had a long, sinewy body that was almost feline in appearance, with hind legs used for movement on the ocean floor and massive finned claws to propel it through the water. Lacking a layer of fat or blubber, they were poorly streamlined, and not fully adapted to swimming. Males could reach over 200 meters in length, with females being at least 150 meters in length. Being mammalian, females nursed their young for about one year. Females bore only one pup per birth. The average life-span of a sando was thought to have been one hundred standard years, although their elusiveness made any accurate study difficult.

Their limbs were part-flippers, part-claws; scientists theorized that, evolutionarily speaking, they had only recently adapted from land-based ancestors&mdash;a theory supported by the large, bulbous organ located towards the end of the sando's tail, believed to be a possible remnant from life on land. The exact function of the organ is unknown. There were even reports of sando monsters surfacing in swamp lakes and attacking falumpaset and fambaa herds. They had also been seen sunning themselves on sandbars, though the reports were unsubstantiated. Unsurprisingly, scientists had never been close enough to observe their eating habits, and officially had never discovered how the beasts sustained their gargantuan bulk. The actual lifecycle of the sando was a mystery, as they were dangerous, although reclusive, predators. To most natives of the planet Naboo, the sando aqua monster was more of a myth than an actual creature, mainly because they had never been observed in the wild and reports of their washed-up carcasses were rare.

History


Reports of a sando's washed-up corpse were rare, though Lieutenant Panaka of the Royal Naboo Security Forces encountered a beached sando youngster prior to the Invasion of Naboo. It had been attacked by two opee sea killers, and it had surfaced, revealing a secret facility run by a man nicknamed Veermok. The incident was later covered up, and the area destroyed.

While attempting to reach Theed during the Invasion of Naboo, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Jar Jar Binks encountered a sando aqua monster in their Bongo. Kenobi was able to avoid the creature's maw, but an opee sea killer pursuing the submersible was not so fortunate. The sando grabbed the opee in its massive clawed hand and proceeded to feast upon it, giving the Jedi time to flee deeper into the planet's core. Soon after, they found themselves being pursued by an eel-like colo claw fish, but were again unexpectedly saved when the same sando caught and ate it.

Appearances

 * The Monster
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace novel
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace comic
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace game
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace junior novel
 * Episode I: Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope junior novel
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope junior novel