User:SavageBob/Sandbox

"Fuss fuss! Honestly, you screech more than a squirmy Ranat!"

- C-3PO to R2-D2

Ranats were a species of meter tall rodents with long, tusk-like incisors in their lower jaws.

Biology and appearance
"Con Queecon, they call themselves. Big rodents native to the Aralia system. They're nasty&mdash;smart enough to fight but too stupid to understand surrender. It's illegal to arm a Ranat."

- Sprig Cheever

Ranats were a species of small rodents who were distantly related to the Tintinna. They shared many features in common with their cousins and other rodents, and they were easily mistaken for mammals with similar physiology, such as Squibs. Nevertheless, the status of Ranats as fully sentient or merely semi-sentient was the subject of galactic debate for centuries.

With few exceptions, Ranat stood only about a meter high on average. This small size made them seem innocuous to many who encountered them, but it also belied their power. They had short, well-muscled limbs, with four digits per forepaw and three per hindpaw. All four paws were nimble and capable of fine manipulation. Ranats had short, heavy-duty, retractable claws that, while of limited use in hunting or self-defense, allowed a Ranat to dig through as much as one meter of soil and loose rock in a mere 15 seconds.

Their bodies were tough, wiry, and partially flattened. They were flexible, able to squeeze through small openings that would prove impenetrable to other beings of similar size. Although the tail was long, scaly, and hairless, Ranats were almost entirely covered in fur that ranged from dirty blonde to dark reddish or grayish brown. Some Ranats groomed themselves, but in most, the coat was often filthy and foul-smelling, which contributed to the notion held by many non-Ranats that the species was visually unappealing. Ranats' stooped over when they stood, scampered and scurried when they ran. Members of the species tended to wear little more clothing than cloth hoods, leather belts, and ornamental tooth bands. However, those Ranats who integrated into galactic society often wore full-length tunics and even footwear.

The Ranats' eyes, located on the sides of the head, were beady and black or red. Their hairless, pink ears were small and round and typically lay flat against the head. The long, pointed snout was full of sharp teeth and terminated in a yellowish-white nose surrounded by long, black whiskers. Their senses were acute: they could see in the dark and detect others' moods by scent. Ranats spoke with a voice of squeaks and screeches.

A Ranat's bottom two incisors, located where the canine teeth of many other species grew, were sharp, pointed, and discolored yellow or brown from tartar and dirt. Gnawing stimulated glands in the Ranat's jaw to produce growth hormones. Unchecked, this caused the incisors to grow up to a centimeter in a standard hour. The only way to counter the growth was to gnaw even more and wear the teeth down. Some members of the species managed to keep these teeth small enough to fit inside the mouth, but others had incisors that poked out from the mouth and overlapped the upper lip like tusks. Coupled with their sharp teeth and powerful jaws, the incisors gave Ranats a dangerous bite.

Ranats were fecund. Females went into heat at least twice each standard year. During that period, they mated with as many males as possible. After fertilization, the fetuses gestated for about 120 standard days. The mother then gave birth to a litter of three to six young. The species' signature incisors began to grow in at adolescence. Members of the species were considered adults at three standard years of age, and the average Ranat could expect to live to 20 standard years of age.

Society and culture
"There's nothing like a good fight."

- Unidentified Ranat

Although they were not intelligent by most metrics, Ranats were resourceful and crafty creatures. Ranats lacked higher emotions associated with other species, consumed instead by the simple desires to eat and fight. This made them pre-eminent survivors, experts at scrounging, foraging, and getting into places they did not belong. However, it also made them come off as belligerent, temperamental, self-centered, and stubborn to outsiders. Notions of honor and keeping one's word were sublimated by the desire to survive, meaning that a Ranat's promise was only good as long as it did not interfere with the search for food. Ranats insisted on their superiority to other lifeforms, calling themselves Con Queecon ("the conquerors") in their own language; Ranat was an appellation from others that referred to their rodent-like appearance. A few Ranats did develop more individual personality quirks, often coming off as paranoid to others. They also gnawed incessently to keep the growth of their incisors in check.

Ranats culture was otherwise uncomplicated. They had nothing in the way of the art, diplomacy, poetry, philosophy, and technology practiced by other species. Although Ranats used simple tools, such as rocks to stone intruders, they created no technology of their own. Nevertheless, they readily adopted technology from without. In particular, Ranats were fond of shiny knickknacks, which they hung from their clothing or stashed with their personal belongings. Ranats had a difficult time mastering complex devices or fields that required abstract reasoning, and only one Ranat in a hundred ever learned any advanced technological skills. Nevertheless, relatively simple items were within their reach, such as blasters. For example, Ranats enjoyed a game wherein they threw dice at one another and tried to snap them up in their jaws.

Diet and hunting
For Ranats, live revolved around obtaining food; all other impulses took a back seat to the quest for food. Ranats were omnivores, capable of eating almost anything. In fact, their concept of food encompassed everything from sentient beings to carpets and tapestries. They were particularly notorious for eating the young of species such as Humans. Indeed, they preferred meat to other foods, and they spent much of their time hunting to get it.

The species hunted in packs of at least 5 members. Their preferred prey were mammals, especially the roba, a porcine behemoth native to Aralia. Upon locating their quarry, Ranat hunters surrounded it and then went in for the kill. One by one, the hunters ran up to their prey, bit it, and tore off pieces of flesh; the hunter then retreated before the quarry had a chance to retaliate. Once the prey finally succumbed to its injuries, the hunters descended upon it, gorging themselves and carrying the remains back to the town to feed the rest of the tribe. The entire process was extremely effective, so much so that soon after arriving on Aralia, the Ranats had depressed the populations of several game species.

Combat and war
The only other drive for a Ranat was that of the fight. Limited resources on Aralia, exacerbated by the Ranats' high fertility rate and overhunting, frequently placed Ranat tribes in conflict with one another. One favored tactic was to stalk a hunting party from a rival tribe. After the enemy had tired themselves out making a kill, their stalkers attacked.

Ranats became unflappable opponents and unrepentant killers in a fight. They preferred to fight with their sharp teeth, getting in a bite and then shaking their target furiously. Ranats who felt trapped by an enemy became even more savage as they tried to fight their way out of a corner. They had no concept of surrender, meaning that a fight lasted until one side had been wiped out or fled. Prisoners of war were killed and eaten.

Still, Ranats held grudges. Any Ranats from the losing side who survived an attack rallied their tribemates to mount a retaliatory strike. Preparations for such tit-for-tat offensives took on an air of festival, as the whole tribe prepared the warriors for their mission. The concept of revenge was so compelling that some tribes hatched even suicidal schemes to get back at a rival.

Ranats showed loyalty to only their own tribe; members of other groups were always rivals and enemies. Nevertheless, by the time of the Galactic Empire, some Ranat tribes showed signs of cooperation to oust offworlders from their planet.

Social structure and habitat
Ranats hailed from Aralia, a planet of tropical and semi-tropical climates. Ranat communities preferred the tropical forests found along the coasts of Aralia's landmasses, but they could be found across the world. They were divided into tribes of about 100 members.

These groups dug out and inhabited subterranean tunnel complexes known as towns, cities, or warrens. These labyrinthine habitations had many levels and could sprawl to 3 square kilometers in area with more than 50 km of tunnels. The convoluted passageways acted as a natural defensive mechanism, since intruders were unlikely to know the twisting paths as well as their inhabitants. For additional safety, Ranat engineers dug out several dead ends in which interlopers might be trapped and killed. They also built several exits per warren and camouflaged them with branches, twigs, and foliage. The tunnels widened into large chambers in places, each of which was devoted to a single task, such as sleep, meals, storage, refuse disposal, or caring for the young.

Defective newborns were eaten, but healthy infants were placed in their tribe's nursery. There, the adult females took turns tending to and suckling them while the other mothers continued to fight and hunt. Accordingly, Ranats rarely knew who their biological mother was. These caretakers were rarely doting parents, and some were known to kill a particularly troublesome infant rather than put up with it. Once a young Ranat could manage to grasp objects with both fore- and hindpaws, he or she began to venture out into the larger warren and onto the surface. Ranat children enjoyed roughhousing with one another, and some youths were accidentally killed in such tussles. Still, the adults largely left them be.

Language
Ranats spoke a simple language named for them. Spoken Ranat sounded like a string of short, high-pitched chitters and shrieks. Ranats squealed when in distress or having fun, and they shrieked when in pain. Still, Ranat communication relied on non-verbal cues as well. Members of the species smiled to show contentment, blinked rapidly to show desperation, and grabbed their tails to express intense fear. The Ranat's whiskers twitched to express satisfaction and trembled to show happiness. Most Ranats could also write their language.

Members of the species were capable of learning other languages as well, including Basic. Ranats tended to take simple names, such as Kleef, Marbor, Reegesk, Targan, and Veerz. Others, however, took two-part names, such as Engal Jeers, Nestra Pallik, and Nevar Yalnal.

History
"Then I got an idea. If these smelly critters were formally declared, by an Imperial government official, to be only semisentient, they would have no claims to the land, and we could wipe them out using the most extreme measures available to us."

- Excerpt from the journal of Hayzo Trebors

Though originally from Rydar II, the species was primarily found on Aralia during the Imperial era. In 200 BBY, the Human population of Rydar II nearly exterminated the Ranats, since the Ranats had been preying on their children. Only three Ranats survived&mdash;two males and a female, who stowed away on a spice smuggler's ship. According to the Ranats, the ship crashed on Aralia after the three stowaways devoured the crew.



Ranats were omnivores who strongly preferred meat, especially the roba beasts of Aralia. Their sharp incisors and claws were useful both as weapons and as natural tunneling tools. Tunneling wore down their teeth, but this was not a problem as their constant gnawing released hormones which stimulated the growth of their teeth. Ranats reached adulthood after three standard years, and their females could give birth to anywhere from six to twelve children per year. Thanks to this, the descendants of Aralia's three original Ranats soon became a large, thriving population. Ranat tribes lived in large maze-like tunnel networks, where they raised their young communally and lured intruders into dead ends to be killed. Ranats had simple personalities, showing little evidence of higher emotions and being primarily motivated by food.



Though Ranat tribes were almost always hostile towards each other, they did cooperate to kill "pest-control" teams when entrepreneurs arrived on the "unpopulated" planet Aralia to turn it into a planetary amusement park in 2 BBY. After these incidents, the sector government issued a ruling declaring the Ranats semi-intelligent, allowing them to be killed in self-defense and making it highly illegal to arm them. They also restricted the movement of well-armed groups to Aralia to hunt Ranats, ostensibly in order to preserve the planetary environment. It is also possible that they wanted as few people as possible to discover how close to full sentience Aralia's "vermin" really were.

Ranats in the galaxy
"Ranats and Ryn. And the ship's captain is an ex-Imperial. I hate to say it, but it really isn't worth it. With supplies so low in the refugee camps, it won't take long for the Ranats to start abducting children for their dinner."

- An unidentified pilot in a New Republic refugee caravan on whether to send a rescue mission for a ship full of Ranats and Ryn

During the Galactic Civil War, the Imperial military tested Ranat mercenary bands for possible use against Rebel Alliance forces. It is unknown if any Ranat units saw actual combat against Rebel forces. It is known, however, that Imperial Supervisor Gurdun employed a Ranat agent during the hunt for IG-88.

Not many Ranats were seen off Aralia, and those that did remained at the lowest levels of society. A population of Ranats established themselves on Tatooine, including those who overran Jabba's Palace after his death. Another population of Ranats was concentrated on shady Borgo Prime. Ranats were also found in the employ of Mage Orloc, who attempted to start his own Jedi Order. One exceptional pair of Ranats on Tatooine, the Vriichon Brothers, once owned Chalmun's Cantina.

The Ranat Rik-tak was a member of the Justice Action Network who operated in the Tapani Sector.

Behind the scenes
During production of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, first released in 1977, artist John Mollo included a rat-like alien in his costume sketches of the patrons of the film's cantina sequence. The production team dubbed the character "Rodent" and "Rat Face." Although Mollo's drawing gave the cloaked and hooded figure a breath mask, the design team eliminated this detail in the final design. The character was later given the proper name Aceatta. The same rat-faced mask design was used for a taller alien who appears as a background extra in outdoor scenes set in Mos Eisley spaceport. Both characters were filmed as part of principal photography in London, England. The smaller of these two characters appears as an audience member in "The Emperor's Court," a non-canonical story from Star Wars Tales, first published in December, 2002.

In 1989, Troy Denning included the rat-like Ranats in his book Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races, a supplement for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game from West End Games. The statistics for the species make Ranats comparable to other species in their agility but deficient in their alertness, intelligence, mechanical aptitude, strength, and technical aptitude. The game also makes Ranat characters work twice as hard as members of other species to learn technological skills. Still, the rodents receive a bonus to attacks using their sharp teeth. The Star Wars Roleplaying Game from Wizards of the Coast also offers Ranats as a playable species. Its statistics give them a bonus to dexterity but penalties to intelligence and likeability. Ranat characters enjoy special abilities to bite in combat, see in the dark, and slip through small holes. Nevertheless, this version of the game also makes Ranats learn technology-based skills at a slower rate than other species. The book also provides different statistics about the Ranat lifespan, giving them 4 years of childhood, 5 years of adolescence, and a lifespan of 55 years. As this contradicts all other sources that provide such data, this article assumes Ultimate Alien Anthology to be in error. Ranats have since appeared in various roleplaying adventures, some of which offer multiple versions of the same scenario. For example, the adventure "The Refugee Trail," published in the 2002 book The New Jedi Order Sourcebook, is designed to test the player characters' morality. If they opt not to mount a rescue mission to save the shipful of Ranats and Ryn, the Yuuzhan Vong Peace Brigade takes them instead.

In 1995 and 1996, Decipher identified the two rat-like aliens seen in A New Hope as Ranats. Decipher named the smaller Ranat from the cantina Reegesk and the taller one from the streets Nevar Yalnal. The cards' game mechanics reflect their Ranat namesakes. For example, the Reegesk card allows a player to "scavenge" through lost cards to recover devices, droids, and weapons. The Nevar Yalnal card, on the other hand, gives its player a chance to remove an opponent's spy from the game.

Several rodent-like aliens of unidentified species appear in Star Wars comic books. For example, a hooded and cloaked rat-like figure is seen in a cantina on Diado in "It Takes a Thief," a story set in x BBY. Similarly, the bosun of the pirate Krayn's ship in Jedi Quest is rodent-like. Finally, a Ranat-like alien is pictured aboard a space station run by a Black Sun Vigo in Darth Maul 2, set in x BBY. However, without explicit species identification, it is impossible to tell whether these characters are Ranats or members of similar species, such as Squibs or Tintinna. The article "Action Figure Archive," in Star Wars Insider 75, mislabels the Chadra-Fan character Kabe as a Ranat.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Darth Maul
 * Jedi Quest comic
 * Jedi Quest: The Shadow Trap
 * It Takes a Thief
 * The Paradise Snare
 * Rebel Bass
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * "Play It Again, Figrin D'an: The Tale of Muftak and Kabe"
 * "Be Still My Heart: The Bartender's Tale"
 * "Swap Meet: The Jawa's Tale"
 * Trade Wins: The Ranat's Tale
 * "Doctor Death: The Tale of Dr. Evazan and Pondo Baba"
 * Galaxy of Fear: City of the Dead
 * Galaxy of Fear: Planet Plague
 * Galaxy of Fear: Ghost of the Jedi
 * Galaxy of Fear: The Doomsday Ship
 * To Fight Another Day (SWAJ 6, Hyperspace)
 * Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88
 * The Prize Pelt: The Tale of Bossk
 * Zorba the Hutt's Revenge
 * Mission from Mount Yoda
 * X-Wing: Solo Command
 * Queen of the Empire
 * Dark Apprentice
 * Children of the Jedi
 * Planet of Twilight
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Kenobi's Blade
 * Young Jedi Knights: Shadow Academy
 * Young Jedi Knights: Delusions of Grandeur
 * Young Jedi Knights: Diversity Alliance
 * Young Jedi Knights: Jedi Shadow
 * Balance Point
 * Recovery
 * Star by Star
 * "The Emperor's Court"
 * ''Tatooine Ghost
 * "The Refugee Trail," The New Jedi Order Sourcebook
 * "The Refugee Trail," The New Jedi Order Sourcebook

Notes and references
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