Gand/Legends

"Insects, from a poisonous world. They do not praise their skills or accomplishments, and they are difficult to surprise. They have the instincts of prey, yet are predators &mdash; it is strange."

- Vossk, a former bounty hunter on Nar Shadaa, to the Jedi Exile

Gands were a sentient species of an insect genus that evolved on the ammonia-gas planet Gand. Several physical varieties existed, but there were two main sub-species of Gands: those with lungs and those without lungs. Gands with lungs were adapted to Gand's atmosphere, but like Kel Dors, they required special breathing gear if they wanted to leave Gand to manage potentially-poisonous off-world gas mixtures. Gands without lungs, however, were immune to poisonous gases and could venture off-world without worry of suffocation. Both races possessed special regenerative properties. Gands were considered to be a very humble species. This was a result of their culture, which dictated that an individual's identity be earned. Due to that, most Gands were self-deprecating and polite, usually referring to themselves in the third person. First-person pronouns were reserved for the most legendary of Gands, as the usage presumes that one is so renowned that everyone would know one's name.

Within that culture was one of the species most-notable professions; the findsmen. Shamanistic bounty hunters, these Gands would track their quarry by divining omens sent to them in rituals based around the worship of the thick ammonia mists that covered their world. Though their methods were sometimes viewed as arcane, the accuracy of a findsman could be unsettling to the casual observer.

Biology and appearance
"At least I know you don't snore. Heck, I don't even know if you breathe."

- Corran Horn in regards to rooming with Ooryl Qrygg



Gands were stocky insect-like humanoids covered in a chitinous exoskeleton. This exoskeleton was considered to be rather durable, as Gands were able to shrug off injuries that would cripple most other species. For example, the Gand bounty hunter Zuckuss had jumped from third-story windows, been caught in an explosion, and even shot in the shoulder, but was able to continue his duties without so much as a disorienting effect. The Gands also possessed large, compound eyes with a visual range that included the ultraviolet spectrum and had excellent night vision, however they could not perceive colors in total darkness. They had only three fingers on each hand, though those digits were capable of punching through stormtrooper armor, as evidenced by Ooryl Qrygg, a Gand pilot with Rogue Squadron, on the planet Talasea.

There were several different physical varieties documented, however most Gands were classified into two sub-species; lungless and "breathers." The breathers possessed lungs, along with the usual assortment of internal organs that were typical in most species. These Gands, however, were adapted to breathing ammonia and required breath masks and similar equipment to survive in the more-common oxygen-rich environments offworld. Oxygen exposure would scour the insides of the lungs like acid, requiring replacements if the Gand did not suffocate.

A breathing Gand was able to hold their breath for a length of time when needed, along with reducing the perceptibility of their bodily functions to a point where it could fool an observer to thinking that the Gand had died. Zuckuss demonstrated this ability while working with Boba Fett, however he made use of compressed ammonia canisters to extend respiration cessation for several days.

The Gand subspecies that did not have lungs did not respire, as they obtained all the metabolic ingredients they needed through the ingestion of their food. The materials would aid in gas exchange and waste would be passed through openings in the exoskeleton. This made lungless Gands immune to poisonous gases and they were not required to wear respirators when venturing off-world. Some lungless Gands would wear such equipment anyway, usually to maintain anonymity.

Usually, Gands spoke their native language, but to speak with other beings, lungless Gands required the aid of a muscular gas bladder that allowed them to, among other things, draw in gases and expel them at a controlled rate through pieces of their exoskeleton that vibrated to approximate speech. These Gands also made use of translator vocoders to compensate for their lack of vocal cords. Some Gands, however, were born with the proper organs and structure to speak other languages such as Basic.

Gands needed only a fraction of the amount of sleep required by Humans. This trait was common throughout the Gand varieties, so xenobiologists attributed it to culture, rather than breeding. Staying awake and aware was more beneficial to the work of findsmen and was a skill that was honed throughout a lifetime.

Gands also possessed remarkable regenerative abilities. Ooryl Qrygg was able to grow a severed arm back within months, although he was assisted by a bacta cast. The exoskeleton appeared more pale and chalky in hue than normal until the regeneration process was complete.

Society and culture


The Gands evolved on the planet Gand, an isolated Outer Rim world that boasted a potentially-lethal atmosphere comprised of ammonia. This atmosphere helped deter the galaxy as a whole which allowed the Gands to evolve into a rich, yet peculiar, culture. They were considered by most to be a very humble society, its members soft-spoken and polite.

Gand society placed heavy importance on the achievements of an individual and held that an individual had no name, and thus no worth, until he proved otherwise. Young or unproven Gands were all called "Gand," as they were considered merely aspects of the same whole. Major accomplishments earned the use of a family surname. Mastering a skill, such as becoming a findsman, allowed for the use of the given name, all with third-person self-reference.

A storied Gand could earn the right to use first-person pronouns after many feats and accomplishments and the ritual aptitude test, the Janwuine-jika. To deem if a Gand was worthy enough to become janwuine, the Elders of Gand would send the ruetsavii&mdash;a group of Gands who were renowned through their own accomplishments and therefore considered able to judge the deeds of others.

Use of the first-person self-reference otherwise was considered arrogant, as it implied to those a Gand was speaking to that he was so great that everyone would know his name. Once a Gand became janwuine, however, this was considered a reasonable presumption, as all other Gands would know his name and accomplishments.

However, if a Gand were ashamed of his actions, he felt it reduced his accomplishments, and thus his name. This "name reduction" was done to show penance, and depending on the level of identity earned, the Gand could refer to his or herself by either the surname, or even "this Gand." Some Gands, if they commit unspeakable acts, were exiled. They discarded their culture and could thus refer to themselves in any way they wish. Failure to become a findsman was sometimes a reason for exile.

Trade and commerce were conducted on orbiting space stations due to the poisonous atmosphere of the planet. Gands were also seen as insular and somewhat xenophobic. Outsiders were rarely, if ever, allowed onto the surface of Gand, as the Gands did not want their society to be tainted with ideas of independence and self-worth. The few that were allowed onto the planet were usually under the sponsorship of a janwuine Gand, or considered hinwuine&mdash;a being of standing. However, for a visitor to speak of their time on Gand was considered an insult to their hosts.

Findsman
Within Gand society, a select few felt the call to the path of the findsman. Findsmen belonged to a religious sect that worshiped and interpreted the movements of the gaseous mists on Gand to predict the location of criminals. Part shaman, part law enforcer, a findsman would augur the location of a fugitive, track him and bring him to justice. The time-honored tradition was established since the planet's totalitarian monarchy formed and it thrived for centuries. However, when the Galactic Empire took over Gand's slave trade, sophisticated scanning equipment was used to locate fugitives hiding in the enshrouding mists, much to the detriment of the findsman.

Many findsmen retired, or pursued new professions, such as the renegade Vytor Shrike and the Rebel operative Venlyss Pnorr. However, other Gands, notably Zuckuss, took the profession off-world, finding work as bounty hunters, security advisors, or even assassins.

The findsmen rituals were known to take at least three hours to complete, but were considered to be very reliable. Many attributed their success to the Force, believing that findsmen were actually Force-sensitive.

History
The Gands evolved on the planet Gand, which was discovered sometime prior to 3,951 BBY. An inhospitable and isolated world located just beyond the Centrality, the Gand society developed in "pocket colonies" that dotted the surface. These colonies, separated by seemingly endless kilometers of thick ammonia mists, were each ruled by Gand's totalitarian monarchy. The mists were influential in Gand culture, and the religious findsmen sects worshiped them, divining omens and signs from the currents to pinpoint the location of hidden prey.

The Gands had an active slave trade and penal system and employed the findsmen to locate runaways hiding in the enshrouding fog banks. The poisonous environment deterred galactic interference and the tradition flourished for centuries until the intervention of the Empire. Taking control of the slave trade, the Imperials brought with them their advanced technology, controlling the number of runaways and rendering the findsmen useless. However, rather than allow the tradition to face extinction, many Gands took the trade off-world.

Since then, the insular Gands maintained a tight control over how much influence outsiders had on their people. Most outsiders only got as close as the orbiting space stations, which were the centers of Gand commerce. If visitors were permitted on the surface of Gand, they were sequestered in the "Alien Quarters" located in the spaceports. There were a few who were afforded the honor of being allowed into Gand society, but they were under the sponsorship of the janwuine or the ruetsavii. General Airen Cracken, along with several other members of Rogue Squadron, was invited onto Gand to witness the janwuine-jika ceremony for the pilot Ooryl Qrygg. He admitted to finding the ceremony to be unsettling.

Gands in the galaxy
During the reign of the Old Republic, many Gands, primarily a group of bounty hunters who left for Nar Shaddaa, regularly visited Jekk'Jekk Tarr where they could find gas fumes similar to those present on their homeworld. Some of them were probably killed by the Jedi Exile during her search for the Quarren, Visquis. Another Gand, Ossluk Noslee, was also present on Nar Shaddaa during that same time period. A pair of his gloves fell into the possession of the Jedi Exile. Gands were also seen on Taris as early as 3,964 BBY; one was present when Zayne Carrick returned to the planet.

Gands were also present in the Jedi Order in varying capacities. Vaabesh, an orphaned Padawan during the waning years of the Galactic Republic, served as a commander for the Grand Army of the Republic. However, he lost his life during the Second Battle of Jabiim. Another Gand, Jedi Master Tyffix, served as a general. During the Battle of Thustra, he sacrificed his life to save those of his and Master Tyr's Padawans when the command center was struck by a bomb.

Gands were also seen in the Outer Rim Territories, on the slave trade planet Orvax IV, and a Gand bounty hunter was present on The Rig shortly after the Battle of Geonosis. After the Clone Wars, many former findsmen took their trade off-world, including Zuckuss,  his second-cousin Lu'daal-ud, and Vaskau Farg, who once had tracked a Sakiyan witch to Arkania. Vytor Shrike was an active bounty hunter on Tatooine and Venlyss Pnorr worked under the guise of a hunter and transported Alliance operatives to safehouses.

A Gand was seen in a cantina on Onadax and another served as a crewmember on the Scarlet Vertha. Other Gands found work as smugglers and still others, like R'Kayza, found work as assassins. Some Gands pursued what most would consider to be a nobler profession, such as serving as a pilot for Rogue Squadron, as Ooryl Qrygg had done. A trio of ruetsavii Gands, Syron Aalun, Ussar Vlee, and Vviir Wiamdi, were sent to observe Qrygg and aided in several raids during the Bacta War and the battle of Thyferra.

Behind the scenes
The Gand species name first appeared in Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back, which also corrected the swapped names of the characters of Zuckuss and 4-LOM. Since then, however, the species name encountered various misspellings, including "Gann" in Star Wars Missions 11: Bounty Hunters vs. Battle Droids, and "Gund" on the packaging for the Kotobukiya ArtFX Zuckuss statue.

The species' first foray into the novels was in X-wing: Rogue Squadron, with the introduction of the character of Ooryl Qrygg. This also introduced the previously-undocumented lungless sub-species. Shortly afterward, Tales of the Bounty Hunters was released, which featured the short story Of Possible Futures: The Tale of Zuckuss and 4-LOM. However, the short story utilized sources from West End Games, which at the time did not have material for the lungless Gand sub-species. Many have viewed the lungless sub-species to be a retcon, as Qrygg was portrayed as not needing to breathe, whereas Zuckuss suffered from a respiratory condition.

Notes and references
Gand Gandowie Ганды