Neeyutnee/Legends

"I need you to convince the Senate, or the Jedi Council, or whoever is in charge of this terrible war that we are threatened."

- Queen Neeyutnee, to Padmé Amidala

Queen Neeyutnee was a Human female politician who ruled as the Monarch of Naboo during the tumultuous time of the Clone Wars. Elected in 22 BBY as the successor to Queen Jamillia, the very young but mature Neeyutnee harbored no illusions about the war and met problems with appropriate action. She became closely involved with the Naboo Royal Advisory Council, the Royal Security Forces, and Boss Rugor Nass of the Gungans, ensuring that her peaceful homeworld remained relatively unharmed by the war. Not long after ascending to the throne, Neeyutnee was faced with a subtle Trade Federation incursion when a Separatist battle droid patrol was found in Naboo's grasslands. She worked swiftly with Captain Gregar Typho and Senator Padmé Amidala to uncover the nature of the threat, and Amidala's investigations resulted in the discovery and eradication of a secret Separatist laboratory that had been recreating the Blue Shadow Virus on their world.

When the Confederacy later sowed Gungan–Naboo tensions in an effort to invade Naboo, Neeyutnee again worked with Amidala and Representative Jar Jar Binks to avert the threat of invasion to their homeworld. Thanks to their combined efforts, the Confederate General Grievous was forced to recall his battle droid army from Naboo, and Binks also restored the Gungans' alliance with Neeyutnee's regime. She later oversaw the Festival of Light in celebration of the 857th anniversary of Naboo's union with the Republic. Neeyutnee only served one term before stepping down as Naboo's monarch, and, by 19 BBY, she had been succeeded by Queen Apailana.

Queen of Naboo
"Moving on: Boss Nass, you have a matter to bring forth to this council?''" "''Wesa havin' grave, grave concerns, Queen Neeyutnee."

- Neeyutnee and Rugor Nass, in a meeting of the Naboo Royal Advisory Council

The Human female Neeyutnee, born in the last decades of the Galactic Republic's rule, hailed from the planet Naboo, which served as the capital of the Mid Rim's Chommell sector. Nurturing maturity from a young age, Neeyutnee became a politician skilled in diplomacy and leadership. In the year 22 BBY, as the Clone Wars raged across the galaxy, Neeyutnee was elected to succeed Queen Jamillia as the Monarch of Naboo, becoming part of the Royal House of Naboo. In spite of her very young age, Neeyutnee rose to the challenge of leading her people with the support of the Naboo Royal Advisory Council, the Royal Naboo Security Forces, and Boss Rugor Nass, the leader of the Gungans and the Gungan High Council.

Neeyutnee led meetings of the Royal Advisory Council from the Royal Palace in Naboo's capital city, Theed. Besides collaborating with Captain Gregar Typho of the Royal Security Forces and Governor Sio Bibble of the Advisory Council in her duties, Neeyutnee worked closely with Senator Padmé Amidala, who represented Naboo's peaceful views in the Senate of the Galactic Republic, to overcome threats from the separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems. In times of crisis, Amidala would return home to advise Neeyutnee on the best course of action. Neither Neeyutnee nor Amidala underestimated the dangers posed by the Separatists, though they both faced the challenge and strain of leading their people in wartime.

The Trade Federation's revenge
"A droid scouting party like this can only mean one thing: ''invasion!" "''Perhaps, Governor. But there still remains much we don't know. I have already taken the liberty to call back our Senate representative. If Naboo is troubled, Senator Amidala will doubtless do all in her power to see we get the aid we need."

- Sio Bibble and Neeyutnee

Although Naboo was spared the worst of the Clone Wars, it was almost immediately after ascending to the throne that Neeyutnee was faced with a terrible threat on her homeworld. During an Advisory Council meeting, Rugor Nass brought to the queen's attention the shaak wrangler Peppi Bow, who reported that her shaak herd seemed quite worried and was acting restless in Naboo's eastern swamps. When Neeyutnee questioned whether there were problems with predators in the plains, Bow replied that this was not the case, and the Gungan herder also revealed that the last time her shaaks had been acting in such a strange matter had been a decade prior, when the Trade Federation and its battle droid army had invaded Naboo. Although both Sio Bibble and Security Forces Officer Chrin were skeptical that something was amiss, Neeyutnee approved Captain Typho's decision to personally take out a squad as part of regular security patrols. Their vigilance paid off when Typho's men discovered and shot down a scouting party of Separatist B1 battle droids amidst Naboo's grasslands. After learning about the droids from Typho, Neeyutnee ordered an immediate investigation and kept security forces on standby to counter further potential threats. She also took the liberty of calling Amidala back home from the Senate's headquarters on the galactic capital of Coruscant, hoping that she could convince the Senate to provide aid for the Naboo.

Neeyutnee and Typho met with Amidala when she arrived at the Theed Palace Hangar in her Nubian yacht, accompanied by her protocol droid, C-3PO, and Naboo's Associate Planetary Representative, Jar Jar Binks. Although Neeyutnee wanted Amidala to petition the Senate and the Jedi High Council for assistance in combating the threat to their world, Amidala knew that a few battle droids on Naboo would be not enough proof, as the senator&mdash;then Queen of Naboo&mdash;had encountered a lack of response from the Senate when Naboo had been blockaded and occupied by the Trade Federation previously. Once one of the battle droids from the Separatist patrol, a T-series tactical droid, was ready for analysis, Neeyutnee, Typho, Amidala, Binks, and C-3PO proceeded to a droid repair room to see what could be recovered from the droid. Under their supervision, a 2-1B medical droid performed a robolobotomy and examined the tactical droid's memory banks, though the captured droid was unintentionally reactivated, albeit without the use of its photoreceptors. Posing as a fellow battle droid, C-3PO convinced the tactical droid to recount its assignment on Naboo, one that, according to the tactical droid, concerned some sort of leaked virus and a secret laboratory on the world. Before the tactical droid could disclose any more information, Binks accidentally tipped over some shelves that then crushed the droid, ending the possibility of uncovering more of its data.

Though the tactical droid was lost, Binks provided their first lead on the location of the secret laboratory when he stated that he had been chasing a slug-beetle from the captured droids. Slug-beetles only resided in the mud under perlote trees, which could be found in Naboo's eastern swamps, the same place where Bow had encountered trouble with her shaaks. Because the droids were blotched with mud from an indeterminable location, Amidala realized that the laboratory was in the eastern swamps, from where the droids had brought the mud and the slug-beetle. Armed with this evidence of the Separatists' activity, Amidala, Neeyutnee, and the others went to contact the Jedi Council for help. Speaking with Jedi Masters Yoda and Mace Windu through a holoconnection from the palace's communications center, the Naboo officials asked for aid in combating the threat to their home. At Amidala's request, Yoda consented to send Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to Naboo because of their good relations with the Gungans.

While Amidala had Typho and C-3PO analyze the rest of the captured battle droids, the senator took Binks to personally investigate the eastern swamps, despite Neeyutnee and Typho's concern for her safety. In a piece of memory from one of the B1 battle droids, Typho discovered that the Separatist-allied Doctor Nuvo Vindi was behind the threat to the Naboo people. Vindi intended to resurrect the deadly Blue Shadow Virus plague, and he had received funding from the Trade Federation&mdash;specifically from Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray, who hoped to exact his revenge on Amidala and her people for the Federation's humiliating defeat during its occupation of Naboo. After Amidala found Vindi's underground laboratory, Kenobi, Skywalker, and the latter's Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, were able to lead several clone trooper detachments from the Grand Army of the Republic to shut down the facility before it could spread the Blue Shadow Virus to the galaxy. The Jedi's success came in part from Neeyutnee's early control of the situation.

Separatist plots on Naboo
"Binks, yousa been bombad leader in my place. Dis da second time yousa stopping war between us and the Naboo.''" "And we are grateful, Senator Binks." "''Mesa doing my best."

- Lyonie, Neeyutnee, and Jar Jar Binks

Around 21 BBY, when Boss Nass later retired as the leader of Otoh Gunga, Neeyutnee began to work with Lyonie, his successor as the leader of the Gungan High Council. As suffering and civil unrest began to grip the Naboo populace, another problem emerged for Neeyutnee when the war returned to her homeworld in the form of an impending Separatist invasion. The Confederate Head of State Count Dooku conspired with the Gungan Minister Rish Loo to re-open ages-old tensions between the Gungans and the Naboo, effectively bringing the Gungans on the side of the Confederacy against Neeyutnee's people. Influencing Boss Lyonie with mind-controlling magic, Loo had Lyonie deliver fiery anti-Naboo rhetoric, calling for a Gungan Grand Army assault on Theed. When Neeyutnee and Typho received reports from the Royal Naboo Security Forces about the potential Gungan–Separatist march on the capital, Padmé Amidala returned to help quell the strained relations. Neeyutnee received Amidala when she landed in the Theed Palace Hangar aboard an Eta-class shuttle with Anakin Skywalker, and Amidala and Skywalker proceeded to the underwater Gungan city of Otoh Gunga with Jar Jar Binks to meet with the strangely-acting Lyonie. Loo was subsequently exposed as the plot's perpetrator and was forced to flee from Otoh Gunga, while Binks was able to call off the Gungan Grand Army's march on Theed.

In spite of the exposure of Loo's exploits, the problem remained of the Separatists, who arrived on Naboo with a full fleet of C-9979 landing craft led by the Confederate General Grievous. Thanks to the sacrifice of Gungan General Roos Tarpals, the Gungans were able to capture the deadly Grievous, who was taken into joint custody by Neeyutnee and the Gungans. However, when Skywalker was taken captive by Dooku himself, Amidala and Neeyutnee were forced to exchange Grievous for the detained Jedi General. On the Naboo plains, with a trio of C-9979 landing craft hovering overhead, Neeyutnee, Amidala, Binks, and a recovered Lyonie met with a Confederate tactical droid to make the prisoner exchange. On Neeyutnee's order, Grievous's Gungan guards released the cyborg officer to the Separatists' waiting Sheathipede-class transport shuttle, while Skywalker was set free. Grievous and his fleet then departed from Naboo, their invasion plans thwarted. Despite losing Grievous, Neeyutnee and Lyonie were grateful, for an unnecessary conflict had been averted that day. Both Lyonie and Neeyutnee thanked Binks for his part in preventing another Naboo–Gungan clash, as he had done once before during the Invasion of Naboo over a decade prior.

In celebration of the 857th anniversary of Naboo's allegiance to the Republic, the Festival of Light was to be held at Theed's Royal Palace. Among the many guests whom Neeyutnee and Padmé Amidala were to host was Senator Bail Prestor Organa of Alderaan and none other than Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, himself a native of Naboo, who was to preside over the ceremony. Three days before the festival, however, the Republic's capture of criminal mastermind Moralo Eval revealed that a Separatist plot was in the works to kidnap the Chancellor during the festivities. Because Palpatine refused to abandon his role in the festival, the Jedi Order undertook its own measures to infiltrate and hinder Count Dooku's kidnapping plot, while security measures in Theed were increased: the Royal Naboo Security Forces stationed armed sentries at all of the entry points to the Royal Palace, a delegation of Senate Guards was to oversee the festival stage where Palpatine would be speaking, and the stage itself was to be sealed off by a ray shield for the duration of the event. Furthermore, several Jedi were to serve as bodyguards for Palpatine as well as Neeyutnee and her staff. On the day of the festival, amidst the busy preparations for that night, Neeyutnee, Amidala, Sio Bibble, and Bail Organa gathered at the Royal Palace's Landing Plaza to await Palpatine's arrival. He landed there in a T-6 shuttle with Senate Vice Chair Mas Amedda and their bodyguard personnel, consisting of Senate Commandos and clone shock troopers from the Coruscant Guard, as well as Mace Windu, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano.

Neeyutnee and Amidala greeted Palpatine as he disembarked from the shuttle, though the Chancellor remained of the belief that the amount of security accompanying him was overkill. Skywalker assigned Tano to be the personal bodyguard for Neeyutnee, Amidala, and their staff with orders to get them to safety in case of trouble. Skywalker and Windu, meanwhile, would be personally overseeing the Senate Guards' security measures. Once everything was in place, the festival began that night, and Neeyutnee, Amidala, Bibble, and Organa were escorted onto the festival stage with Palpatine and Amedda as the ceremony began. They sat at one of the risers along the stage, amidst the large audience, while the program began with Palpatine's opening address. As part of his speech, Palpatine initiated the Festival of Light's fireworks show, which showcased the scout Kwilaan's discovery of Naboo to Theed's original development as a farming community. However, it was during the fireworks that Dooku's bounty hunter operatives launched their plan to kidnap Palpatine. The Parwan mercenary Derrown compromised the stage's shield generator, triggering an explosion that injured Palpatine. While Windu and Skywalker protected the Chancellor, Tano led Neeyutnee, Amidala, and their colleagues back into the Royal Palace to take cover. Although Dooku's bounty hunters, led by the notorious mercenary Cad Bane, succeeded in capturing Palpatine, Skywalker and Windu managed to rescue him with the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had gone undercover as the sniper Rako Hardeen to infiltrate Dooku's plot.

The next morning, Neeyutnee, Amidala, and their staff went to the Republic's staging area to personally thank the Jedi for saving Palpatine. With the threat of Dooku's plot apparently averted, Palpatine ordered the Jedi security detail back to Coruscant so that only Skywalker would remain as his protection, as the Chancellor was to stay a day longer before returning to Coruscant as well. Neeyutnee held a banquet at the Theed Royal Palace that night, with Amidala among the attendees. Though Skywalker and Palpatine were also invited to the dinner, they were delayed when Dooku launched his true kidnapping attempt, his bounty hunters' earlier botched plot having only been a diversion. The Jedi managed to rescue Palpatine a second time, with Skywalker and Kenobi earning credit for the rescue. As the war continued, Neeyutnee stepped down as Monarch of Naboo, only serving one term as Naboo's queen. By 19 BBY, Neeyutnee had been succeeded by Queen Apailana, who led Naboo and its people through the loss of Senator Amidala and the establishment of the Galactic Empire, the Republic's authoritarian successor under the leadership of the newly christened Emperor Palpatine.

Personality and traits
"We came as soon as we could, my lady. Have you found any more droids?''" "''Only the three, but you can be sure they aren't tourists."

- Padmé Amidala and Neeyutnee, who worked together to overcome Separatist threats

A skilled politician, Queen Neeyutnee was dedicated to her people and cared for their well-being. She was willing to go to great lengths to keep Naboo safe. Like many of her peers, she saw the Clone Wars as terrible; the war threatened many lives and increased the difficulty of her leadership of Naboo. Even at a very young age, she was quite mature, and she did not harbor any illusions about the peril that the Confederacy of Independent Systems posed to her homeworld. She maintained a calm outward demeanor in important situations, even when dealing with the Confederacy. She was careful in her questioning of Peppi Bow, making sure to garner all relevant information about her shaaks' abnormal behavior. Although Neeyutnee was initially hesitant to believe that battle droids were on Naboo, Gregar Typho eventually found such intruders on their world. Following Typho's discovery, Neeyutnee took appropriate action, immediately ordering an investigation and keeping security forces on standby to address potential threats. She did not hesitate to recall Naboo's senator, Padmé Amidala, to assist in the search for information. Neeyutnee was not quick to jump to conclusions based on a lack of evidence: whereas Sio Bibble immediately assumed from the battle droids' presence that the Confederacy was planning an invasion of Naboo, she instead elected to wait for more information.

Besides being knowledgeable in diplomacy, leadership, and legislative strategy, Neeyutnee possessed wisdom in knowing which of her peers' advice to listen to, what action to take, and from whom to request assistance for certain matters. She rose to the challenge of leading her people in wartime thanks to the assistance of her Royal Advisory Council, the Royal Security Forces, and the Gungan leader Rugor Nass. In addition to maintaining close working relationships with Nass, Bibble, and Typho, Neeyutnee operated closely with Amidala, heavily relying on her to see Naboo through Separatist crises and accepting her experience-based insight and counsel. After Amidala returned to Naboo, Neeyutnee demanded that she inform the Republic Senate of the danger posed to their world, but Amidala knew from experience that more concrete evidence than a few battle droids would be required for a petition for assistance. She placed her faith in the senator's abilities and dedication to her people, trusting that Amidala would do everything in her power to obtain the proper aid for Naboo. Neeyutnee's sagacious actions ultimately helped save her people from the Trade Federation's secret incursion. When the Confederacy mounted an invasion of Naboo that proved unsuccessful, Neeyutnee was thankful to Jar Jar Binks for his part in healing the Gungan–Naboo tensions that had been re-opened by the Separatist conspiracy.

Fair-skinned with lavender eyes, Neeyutnee stood at 1.69 meters tall. Her wardrobe included a simple, dark robe made from Cyrene silk that was trimmed with purple, and she often sported similarly purple earrings. She wore her black hair in elaborate hairstyles, frequently adorned with purple beads, as a mark of royalty. In addition, she had purple facial tattoos to match her earrings, hair beads, and robe trimmings. On her lower lip, she wore the scar of remembrance, a symbolic reminder of Naboo's Time of Suffering prior to the Great Time of Peace. For self-defense, she carried a royal blaster pistol. Neeyutnee was able to speak Galactic Basic Standard and did so with a slight accent.

Portrayal
Created for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, the character of Queen Neeyutnee was first mentioned in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia in December 2008. She was first featured in "Blue Shadow Virus," the seventeenth episode in the television series' first season, and The Clone Wars: The Valley, the webcomic that led into the episode. She was depicted in the webcomic by artist Grant Gould and was portrayed in the episode by voice actress Jameelah McMillan. Both the episode and the comic were released in February 2009.

Neeyutnee has since been given various entries and mentions in the StarWars.com Databank and such publications as The Clone Wars: Visual Guide Ultimate Battles, The Official Episode Guide: Season 1, The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia, and the sixty-second issue of De Agostini's The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection. However, her Databank entry erroneously stated that she appeared in the 1983 film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. In March 2011, Neeyutnee was featured in the non-canonical video game LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, which humorously adapted "Blue Shadow Virus." She was given a brief cameo in the scene in which Typho and the others robolobotomize the captured tactical droid. Following the "Blue Shadow Virus" level, she was made available for use in the game's "Free Play" mode. Additionally, she was featured as one of the bounty hunter Cad Bane's hostages as part of the game's depiction of the episode "Hostage Crisis."

Neeyutnee was featured in the television series' fourth season, in the September 2011 episode "Shadow Warrior" and the February 2012 episode "Crisis on Naboo." She was again voiced by Jameelah McMillan in "Shadow Warrior," though she was not given a speaking role in "Crisis on Naboo."

Although The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia stated that Neeyutnee did not carry any weapons, her entry in the StarWars.com Databank maintained that she carried a royal blaster pistol. This article assumes that the latter is correct.

The new queen
"Young Neeyutnee is the newly elected Queen of Naboo, succeeding Jamillia as the Clone Wars rage throughout the galaxy."

- The beginning of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia entry for Queen Jamillia's revised successor, Neeyutnee

Neeyutnee presented a retcon to Star Wars canon's previously established lineage of Naboo monarchs. Queen Apailana was originally Queen Jamillia's successor until The Clone Wars inserted Neeyutnee's term between those of Jamillia and Apailana. However, there is still confusion surrounding this change, as not all sources published after "Blue Shadow Virus" have been consistent. The Essential Atlas, for example, still makes use of the original line of monarchs in its entry for Naboo, despite the fact that it was co-authored by Jason Fry, who also wrote The Official Episode Guide: Season 1. Apailana's own entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia even maintains the original lineage, despite the introduction of Neeyutnee as Jamillia's successor in the same publication. This article attempts to respect both newer and older sources as best as possible until a cohesive timeline is established.

Initially, the novel Clone Wars Gambit: Siege (July 2010)&mdash;the events of which occurred in 21 BBY, per Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth &mdash;depicted Neeyutnee's predecessor, Queen Jamilia, as still in power during that year. Neeyutnee was shown to have succeeded Jamilia by the time of the episode "Blue Shadow Virus," whose events were placed in 21 BBY by The Official Episode Guide: Season 1 (October 2009), indicating that Neeyutnee was elected as Monarch of Naboo in 21 BBY. However, that date of succession was overridden by The Essential Reader's Companion (October 2012), which placed the majority of the first season's events &mdash;including those of "Blue Shadow Virus" &mdash;in 22 BBY. Based on current source material, it is assumed that Neeyutnee was elected in 22 BBY.

Appearances

 * The Clone Wars: The Valley

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars