Zygerrian

"How can a civilization this advanced still practice slavery?''" "''It makes them wealthy and powerful at the expense of others."

- Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker, on the Zygerrians

The Zygerrians were a humanoid species from Zygerria. They built a powerful empire by selling their slaves, until the Jedi of the Old Republic went to war with them and outlawed it. The Zygerrians attempted to openly revive their slave trade when they allied with the Separatist Alliance during the Clone Wars.

They are ruled by a monarchy, who are served by the Prime Minister and the Royal Zygerrian guard. They patrolled on the backs of flying brezaks and brandished electro-whips to control their slaves.

Behind the scenes
The Zygerrians were first mentioned in The Star Wars Sourcebook, written by Bill Slavicsek and Curtis Smith and published in 1987. The species remained relatively untouched by the Expanded Universe until the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars project. The Zygerrians played a major role in Slaves of the Republic, a story arc of The Clone Wars comic series written entirely by Henry Gilroy that ties into the television series. In 2011–2012, the Slaves of the Republic comic books were adapted into three episodes of the television series, titled "Kidnapped," "Slaves of the Republic," and "Escape from Kadavo." The episodes followed the same premise, but featured a number of differences, most notably, a new overtly feline appearance.