Carnivorous seaweed

"Weird.''" "''Interesting&hellip; Uh, then again&hellip; maybe 'weird' is a better word for it."

- Jaina and Jacen Solo on carnivorous seaweed

Carnivorous seaweed was a green, aquatic, carnivorous species of plant that grew in the oceans of Hapes and used its tentacles to suffocate its victims. In 23 ABY, Jedi trainees Tenel Ka, Lowbacca, and Jacen and Jaina Solo were nearly killed by a patch of carnivorous seaweed in the Hapan ocean when Ambassador Yfra sabotaged their wavespeeder. Later, the young Jedi drove their wavespeeder into a patch of carnivorous seaweed to kill a group of Bartokk assassins who were following them. These assassins were sent by Yfra to kill the matriarch of Hapes so Yfra could assume the role of Hapan monarch.

Biology and appearance
"I can't find its brain. It seems all reflexes. All I can sense is that it's hungry, hungry."

- Jacen Solo on carnivorous seaweed

An aquatic, carnivorous species of plant that grew in the oceans of Hapes, carnivorous seaweed grabbed its prey with its tentacles and then suffocated it by constriction. The seaweed's tentacles were green, thick, and rubbery with long thorns, and it had big scarlet flowers with blue fruits in the center that looked like eyes. In 23 ABY, Jacen Solo, who was training at Jedi Master Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum, tried and failed to use the Force find the brain of a patch of carnivorous seaweed. He stated that the seaweed seemed to be all reflexes and hunger, but that it was also sentient.

History
"I'm not letting some weed get the best of me!"

- Jacen Solo while fighting carnivorous seaweed

In 23 ABY, a patch of carnivorous seaweed in the Hapan ocean nearly took the lives of Jedi trainees Tenel Ka, Lowbacca, and Jacen and Jaina Solo after their wavespeeder was sabotaged by Ambassador Yfra during her plot to overthrow the Hapan monarchy. After escaping from the seaweed by using their lightsabers and knives and returning to Reef Fortress where they were staying, the young Jedi helped the matriarch of Hapes, Ta'a Chume, escape from Bartokk assassins by climbing out the window of her bedchamber where she was trapped. The assassins had been sent by Yfra to kill the matriarch so Yfra herself could be the monarch in place of those of the Hapan Royal Family. The Jedi trainees escaped the island in a small wavespeeder, however, they were chased by the Bartokks in their assault craft. The friends decided to steer their wavespeeder into some carnivorous seaweed in the hope that the assassins would follow them and be killed by the seaweed. The assassins did follow the wavespeeder, and after Ta'a Chume set their craft off balance using a small blaster she was carrying, they were pulled into the ocean by the carnivorous seaweed. The young Jedi were able to escape the seaweed and deliver Ta'a Chume to her palace in time to stop Yfra from overtaking the monarchy.

Behind the scenes
Carnivorous seaweed first appeared in the 1996 Young Jedi Knights: Lightsabers by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta. Later it was mentioned in the Star Wars Encyclopedia under the entry for "Hapes Consortium" and in The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons. It was also mentioned in James Luceno's Jedi Eclipse. In The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, it was mentioned in the entry for "Reef Fortress."

Appearances

 * Young Jedi Knights: Lightsabers
 * Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse