Tonnika sisters/Legends

"There are times when one realizes how convoluted the galactic underworld is. One such occasion was researching the Tonnika Sisters on Mos Eisley."

- Alliance historian Voren Na'al

The Tonnika sisters were identical twins who became infamous con artists under the New Order. Individually, they were Brea and Senni Tonnika, although they often pretended to be just one woman, Bresenni.

In 0 BBY, they earned additional fame for being in the Mos Eisley Cantina when Luke Skywalker first met Han Solo, but in fact, the "Tonnika sisters" in the Cantina were the Mistryl Shadow Guard warriors Shada D'ukal and Karoly D'ulin, masquerading as Brea and Senni in the course of a mission.

Biography
The best-known source of information on the Tonnika sisters is a biographical entry written by Rebel Alliance historian Voren Na'al. However, his account contains a number of (perhaps inadvertent) inaccuracies, and it is unclear how far it can be trusted.

Early years
According to Na'al's account, the sisters were near-human Kiffu who grew up on the colony of Kiffex; although "abandoned" by their parents in early childhood, they were raised by the colonists in safety and with affection, but they were led astray through a desire for money which their homeworld could not offer. When a young scout pilot arrived on Kiffex to take on provisions, the teenage twins persuaded him to take them off-world with them, claiming falsely that they had been maltreated by the colonists.

Several problems with this version of events must be noted straight away. Kiffu is not the name of a species, but of a planet, the homeworld of the near-human Kiffar; the settlement on Kiffex was a notorious prison colony, an infamous den of lawlessness and depravity strictly interdicted by the local security forces. It can be inferred that the sisters grew up on Kiffex, and escaped in their teens through the help of a scout pilot who had landed at the colony; it may even be true that they were treated with relative affection and compassion by the criminals among whom they spent their formative years; but the entire timbre of the standard account must be treated with serious caution. It is not even clear that the Tonnika sisters were, in fact, Kiffar; they did not wear traditional Kiffar facepaint, nor is there any evidence that they showed any of the famous Kiffar psychometric abilities.

Career as con-artists
Over the following years, the Tonnika sisters acquired a reputation among the Galaxy's leading con-artists, running several notorious scams against high-society targets, ranging from crimelords to members of the Empire's new élite. On one occasion, they conned Grand Moff Argon out of twenty-five thousand credits, and in 0 BBY, just before the Battle of Yavin, they were on Tatooine to attend a party thrown by Jabba the Hutt at his palace on the edge of the Dune Sea. In this much, at least, Na'al's account would appear to be broadly accurate.

However, Na'al was wrong to claim that they were arrested in Chalmun's Cantina in Mos Eisley, a few hours before Alderaan was destroyed, a fact that Na'al himself later acknowledged, though he remained ignorant of their true identities. In fact, it was the Mistryl Shadow Guard warrior-women Shada D'ukal and Karoly D'ulin, masquerading as the sisters, who were arrested by Imperial Colonel Parq and subsequently released by Rebel agent Riij Winward. The Tonnika sisters themselves eluded capture, despite the efforts of Argon's agents, and continued to operate as con artists. The true identities of the Mistryl "Tonnika Sisters" were not disclosed in Winward's report to the Rebellion, and would go unrevealed to Rebel/New Republic personnel until D'ukal petitioned Leia Organa Solo to join the New Republic during the Caamas Document crisis.

Identical twins
Many of the stories told about the Tonnika sisters turn on the difficulty of telling them apart. They often masqueraded as a single woman named Bresenni, and Vul Tazaene, a Kiffar Guardian charged with hunting them down, was in love with one of them, but did not know which.

One of the best-known - and perhaps most reputable - stories about the sisters involves Han Solo, and a scam on Lando Calrissian. Solo had come to know the sisters through his dealings with Jabba the Hutt, and persuaded them to help him play a trick on the smooth-talking scoundrel. Solo arranged for Calrissian to meet "Bresenni" in The High Stakes Casino on the planet Balfron, and although Calrissian though that his new girlfriend suffered from severe personality shifts as the sisters swapped around in the role, he genuinely believed that he was growing close to her when Brea and Senni revelaed the deception. As he watched a holo-message from Han, Calrissian was at first dejected and angry, but quickly softened, although he vowed to get even with Solo for the stunt.

Behind the scenes


In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, two tall girls appear together in the Cantina scene, wearing matching catsuits, and with braided hair piled high on their heads. Played by real-life friends Christine Hewitt and Angela Staines, they were known by the simple production nickname "Space Girls," though they were also branded as "Star Whores."

In Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope, these characters were identified as the interplanetary con-artistes Brea and Senni Tonnika, but the article insisted that the sisters were identical twins, both 1.6m tall, while the characters seen on screen were visibly different in height and appearance. Hence, Timothy Zahn's short story Hammertong: The Tale of the "Tonnika Sisters" established a retcon that identified the girls in the Mos Eisley Cantina as Shada D'ukal and Karoly D'ulin, disguised as the Tonnika sisters. Christine Hewitt is normally identified as Shada, playing Brea, while Angela Staines is Karoly/Seni;  but some websites disagree,  and it is not clear if there is any canon matchup of actresses and characters.

A retcon was possible in this instance because the original Galaxy Guide material was presented from an in-universe perspective, as the work of Voren Na'al. Subsequently, however, the Galaxy Guide version of events has been further undermined by the depiction of Kiffex in the Star Wars: Republic comics, particularly in the Darkness storyline, which is largely set on the prison-world.

It is sometimes thought by fans that the girl who kisses Han in the ANH rough-cut is one of the Tonnika sisters. In fact, this "Cantina Girl" is a different character, played by a different actress, Jenny Cresswell. However, given Han's prior acquaintance with the real Brea and Seni, and considering the fact that they had left Mos Eisley for Jabba's palace just before the Mistryl arrived, it would be possible for this apparently unidentified character to be one of the the genuine Tonnika sisters.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina
 * Hammertong: The Tale of the "Tonnika Sisters"
 * Be Still My Heart: The Bartender's Tale
 * Empire Blues: The Devaronian's Tale
 * The Mandalorian Armor
 * Specter of the Past