Fleebog

"The Fleebogs! All I know of them is that they dwell in a maze of tunnels just below the forest floor!"

- Chief Chirpa

The Fleebogs were a species of tiny, sentient beings characterized by blue skin, red eyes, and a yellow shell. They inhabited mazes of tunnels; one group of Fleebogs lived below the surface of the Forest Moon of Endor near Bright Tree Village in such a habitat. That population used domesticated insects as beasts of burden and lighting for their tunnels.

In 3 ABY, the Fleebogs of Endor were threatened by the ravenous ra-lugg, an arachnid that had invaded their subterranean territory. To bring their plight to the attention of the Ewoks of Bright Tree Village and thus gain their assistance, the Fleebogs used a type of plant known as a damsel flower to shrink Princess Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka down to their size. With the assistance of the princess and the also miniaturized Ewoks Teebo and Wicket Wystri Warrick, the Fleebogs defeated the ra-lugg and learned that even small beings could handle big problems.

Biology and appearance
"It's hard to get anyone to listen to you when you're only an inch high!"

- A Fleebog

The Fleebogs were a sentient species whose members were much smaller than most other intelligent beings. They had a roughly humanoid posture, although their limbs were short in proportion to their bodies. They had three fingers, including an opposable thumb, on each hand and two pointed toes on each foot. They stood only 2.54 centimeters high, making them shorter than the lower leg of an Ewok &mdash;a species whose members averaged one meter in height &mdash;and small enough to fit in an Ewok's palm. Their skin was hairless and blue, although some specimens had black spots on their arms. The belly and tail were striated and red. The Fleebog back sported a round, yellow shell with black spots.

Fleebogs had two thin antennae and two pointed ears on their high-domed heads. Their slanted, pupilless yellow eyes flanked a wide nose. Their broad mouths were flexible and expressive, capable of speaking Ewokese. Their minuscule, white teeth were sharp, and two fangs poked out even when the mouth was closed.

Society and culture
"The ra-lugg! Spring the tunnel defense quickly!"

- A Fleebog

Fleebogs lived in subterranean tunnels just below the surface. Their underground passages were large in relation to their diminutive inhabitants; they stood roughly twice the height of the average Fleebog and two or three times the width. These labyrinthine complexes could seem like mazes to outsiders.

The Fleebogs on the Forest Moon of Endor had access to only primitive technology. They fashioned doors and gates from sticks tied with cord and used these to block access to tunnels and to create enclosed spaces. They also employed cord to tie up prisoners. Endor's Fleebogs knew the properties of the damsel flower, a plant whose pollen caused an Ewok to shrink, although they had no idea that the process continued indefinitely until they used this technique on an Ewok firsthand. Fleebogs used domesticated beetle-like insects as beasts of burden and mounts, and fire beetles to illuminate their homes. Endor's Fleebogs spoke Ewokese.

The Fleebogs had an inferiority complex due to their minuscule size. They lived in constant fear of larger predators&mdash;such as the ra-lugg, an arachnid-like creature with sharp pincers&mdash;which led to the development of defensive measures. For example, they used a stick to prop up a platform of twig and string covered in rocks; if the ra-lugg attacked, the twig could be pulled free, strewing about the rocks and blocking off the tunnel. Another tactic was to break through the bottom of a surface puddle to allow the water to flood the tunnels below and drown out an intruder.

History
"And Fleebogs, I guess all this shows you that just because you're small doesn't mean you can't handle big problems!''" "Thank you, Princess! And we promise to watch our step from now on!" "''And we'll certainly watch ours!"

- Princess Kneesaa and the Fleebogs, after defeating the ra-lugg

Before 3 ABY, a group of Fleebogs had established a society on the Forest Moon of Endor in the Inner Zuma region. At least some of these Fleebogs established a home in the forest near Bright Tree Village and made contact with the Ewoks who lived there, although this was brief and unsustained. Nevertheless, the species' numbers never made up more than one percent of the Forest Moon's sentient inhabitants.

By 3 ABY, Endor's Fleebogs were terrorized by the ra-lugg, a web-laying arachnid predator. Although they had defenses against the creature, the Fleebogs feared themselves inadequate to defeat the beast and thus tried to petition the Ewoks for aid. Nevertheless, the Ewoks did not notice the diminutive beings, so their pleas went unanswered. The tiny beings set a trap for Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka, the princess of Bright Tree Village, by setting out a damsel flower for her to find. Upon sniffing it, she shrank in size and the Fleebogs kidnapped her.

Once the Fleebogs and their captive were underground, the ra-lugg attacked, forcing the Fleebogs to spring their defenses. The event seemed to convince Kneesaa of the danger the small beings faced. An Ewok rescue party that had been shrunk down and sent to retrieve the princess threatened to attack the Fleebogs, but the princess convinced them to aid the small beings instead. However, Kneesaa was shrinking at a continuous rate, a consequence the Fleebogs never intended. The Ewoks and Fleebogs thus agreed to retrieve a satchel of growing powder from the web of the ra-lugg. The princess, now small enough to evade the ra-lugg's notice, retrieved the powder. She scattered some of it on the monster, causing it to grow larger and run off in surprise. The Ewoks used the remainder of the substance to return to their normal dimensions, and the Fleebogs learned that size was no impediment to achieving great things.

Behind the scenes
The Fleebogs were created by writer David Manak and illustrator Warren Kremer for the Marvel Ewoks comic book. Their only appearance, The Incredible Shrinking Princess in Issue 11, was first published in January 1987.

No source has identified the Fleebog homeworld, making their ultimate origins unclear. Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds, p. 40, implies that only Ewoks and Yuzzums are native to the Forest Moon. "Castaways of Endor" adds only Duloks to this list and implies that all other sentients on Endor have been introduced from other worlds. According to "Endor and the Moddell Sector," such introductions were relatively common due to the dual navigational hazards of a massive gravity shadow and a shield of space debris that crashed countless starships on the moon. Still, the notion that the Fleebogs were one of these "castaway" species&mdash;or that they were native to Endor&mdash;cannot be definitively supported by available source material.

Appearances

 * Ewoks 11: The Incredible Shrinking Princess