Ranat/Legends

Ranats were a species of meter tall rodents with long, tusk-like incisors in their lower jaws. They were often classed as merely semi-intelligent vermin. However, they did have the intelligence necessary for the use of language and simple tools. Despite the negative opinions of the rest of the galaxy, they considered themselves a superior species. Indeed, the Ranats' own term for themselves was Con Queecon, or "The Conquerors".

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.

Though omnivorous, Ranats greatly preferred meat, especially the roba beasts of Aralia. Their sharp incisors and claws were useful as weapons and as natural tunnelling tools. Tunnelling 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 co-operate 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 Ranat 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.

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.

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 Jabba's death. One exceptional pair of Ranats on Tatooine, the Vriichon Brothers, once owned Chalmun's Cantina.

Appearances

 * "Trade Wins: The Ranat's Tale", in Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina
 * Zorba the Hutt's Revenge