Sakiyan/Legends

"What's to stop me from breaking your neck right now?" "You could try, even if I didn't have a blaster, but I wouldn't advise it. I am stronger than you, and my heritage is&hellip; somewhat fiercer. Your chances of victory would be exceedingly small. Even with the knife and me barehanded, the odds are probably no better than fifty-fifty."

- The criminal Mathal receives an anatomy lesson from his Sakiyan business partner, Tarnese Bleyd

The Sakiyans were a humanoid sentient species indigenous to the planet Sakiya in Hutt Space. They evolved from predatory mammals and still found thrill and glory in "the hunt". They were often employed as assassins and bounty hunters. Their hairless skin came in a variety of shades, from pale to jet-black, purple, and crimson (although members of the pale-skinned subspecies are normally treated as outcasts in Sakiyan society). Their brains were nearly twice the size of a Human brain and the parts of the Sakiyan brain devoted to sensory input and processing were superior even to those of the Bith. They had incredible vision that extended well into the infrared, as well as highly acute and motion sensitive peripherals. In addition, Sakiyan's had excellent aural and olfactory senses, considered nearly supernatural by other species, allowing them to track and detect days old odors and near inaudible noises. They were known to have 150% the strength and dexterity of humans, with their pupils contracted into slits while their ears ended in sharp points - giving them a sinister appearance. Sakiyan Force-users were rare, though not unheard of.

Honor was extremely important to Sakiyans, and they disliked being proven wrong. Honor was divided into distinct concepts such as Monthræl (personal honor) and Yithræl (pride honor). If a Sakiyan dishonored him- or herself, his or her family and descendants would be dishonored as well. However, a descendant could lift the dishonor from the family name through "glory-bringing" acts. They tended to place the interests of themselves and their communities above others, and were cautious in their dealings with other species, no doubt in part due to their planetary history of alien invasions. Sakiyans had a poor sense of humor.

The Sakiyans originated on the planet Sakiya within the environs of Hutt Space. Along with the Riileb, the Sakiyans were one of the few species to resist Hutt conquest and invasion during the Pre-Republic Era. They later established colonies on other worlds including Sakidopa, Sakiduba and Sakifwanna. In the days of the Galactic Republic, xenobiologists had differing opinions as to whether Sakiyans should be classified as Near-Human. Under the Galactic Empire, Imperial scientists concluded that they were a distinctly alien albeit humanoid species on the basis of their unusual brain structure.

Biology and appearance
"This is a&mdash;whattayacallit&mdash;an outrage!" "This is how it is, Naxy. If you think you're going to have free roam of the Mynock, you better think again. I don't trust you. Until we find safe harbor, we're just gonna keep you safe and sound." "It reeks of gorg goo! Don't scum like you got any sense of smell?"

- Naxy Screeger demonstrates his species' keen senses to Cade Skywalker

Sakiyans were sentient humanoids who ranged in height from 1.6 to 2.1 meters tall. The species was divided into both male and female sexes, with sexual dimorphism making the men taller than the women on average. Individuals had four or five fingers per hand, the digits capped by fingernails. Each member of the species had a skeleton that included a spine and cranium. Tendons and ligaments connected bone to muscle at angles that made Sakiyans one and a half times as strong as a Human of the equivalent size, and faster moving as well. Ganglions of nerves lay under the flesh. Each Sakiyan also had a heart. At least some members of the species were ambidextrous.

Sakiyan skin was highly reflective, shining like burnished metal. Their skin tones tended to be dark, ranging from pitch black to deep violet or red. However, lighter shades appeared as well, including gray, plum, bronze, deep green or green, and pale blue. A separate subspecies existed with pale, pinkish flesh. Sakiyan skin darkened when the individual flushed. Members of the species were resistant to extremes in temperature, able to operate comfortably &mdash;without breaking a sweat &mdash;at heat levels that might injure non-Sakiyans, as well as frigid depths, although these were less appealing to them. Sakiyans were able to use synthflesh to heal wounded tissue. They were vulnerable to the effects of dendriton toxin.

The shiny, hairless Sakiyan pate left visible both subcutaneous veins and the bifurcated cranium below, which was larger than that of a Human. The expressive visage was characterized by two eyes, a nose, and a mouth with two pointed ears on the sides &mdash;although these points were less pronounced in some members of the species. Sakiyan eyes resembled those of Humans except that, whereas Human visual organs narrowed to round pupils, the Sakiyans' narrowed to slits. Eye color varied less than in Humans, with gray, silver, blue, yellow, and orange rimmed by red obtaining. In other specimens, the eye color changed depending on the lighting; one example had a red sclera with irises that ranged from yellow to blue or green. Sinuses lay behind the nose, and these cavities were susceptible to burning from certain foods, such as ganno juice. Sakiyans sported fangs among their white teeth, which sprouted from pink gums. The depths of the Sakiyan throat could produce a low, rumbling noise, almost subsonic in nature.

Because their appearance was so similar to that of the Human species, xenobiologists debated whether to classify the Sakiyans as a near-Human species or one completely unrelated. Those scientists who argued for the latter status cited the speies' vastly different brain structure as their strongest evidence. The brain was nearly double the size of its Human counterpart, a result of the organ's highly developed centers devoted to sensory input and reflexes; indeed, the Sakiyans reached nearly supernatural levels of sensory perception, surpassing even the large-brained Bith in perceptual capabilities. Sakiyans enjoyed excellent visual acuity, with sight extending into the infrared range and with keen peripheral vision. Infrared light appeared as a silver glow to Sakiyan eyes, and their perspicuity at detecting it allowed members of the species to even see through walls if adequate heat sources lay on the opposite side. The wide variety of wavelengths to which their eyes were attuned made full-spectrum light seem almost like a glare to a Sakiyan, even to the point of proving bothersome and bringing tears to the eyes. The species' hearing was also well developed, acute enough to detect a creature as tiny as a gravel maggot burrowing through the soil. They enjoyed discriminatory smell, keen enough to track prey; a skilled Sakiyan hunter could smell the slightest trace of quarry, down to the smell of it sweat or the after-odor of a recent blaster fight, and with a good whiff, a Sakiyan could detect a quarry's species and age. In sum, the Sakiyan brain, evolved over centuries, gave them the senses and reflexes to be natural-born hunters.

Sakiyans entered adolescence at age 11 and reached full adulthood at age 16. They entered middle age at 49 and had a life expectancy of 85 years. In advanced age, various Sakiyans suffered from dulled senses, with some even going deaf. Some members of the species exhibited sensitivity to the Force, but the trait was rare among the Sakiyan population.

Society and culture
"You're larger and much stronger, true, but I'm far faster. You are obviously adept with these [knives], but I still have the advantage." "You really think so? I'm a hunter and a warrior, bird-man, and I've killed half a dozen opponents with this very blade. You are fast, yes, but your bones are hollow and your feathers no protection against cold durasteel. No matter how fast you are, you can't get to me before I gut you."

- The Nediji assassin Kaird faces off against his Sakiyan target, Tarnese Bleyd

Sakiyan family structure separated the species into groups known as prides or clans. Each Sakiyan recognized an individual known as a pride-father, and other individuals were known as pride elders. The Sakiyans had highly developed concepts of honor that dictated how to respectfully treat others. Honor came in many varieties, each with its own distinct name and rules. Montræl was a Sakiyan's personal honor, thought to also control the individual's destiny. Yithræl, pride or clan honor, was held in particularly high esteem. In the case of a clan's reputation being besmirched, the members might go to great length to redeem their collective honor. Sakiyan males were expected to provide for their families lest their personal and pride honor be diminished. Once wed, a female Sakiyan was known as her groom's family-mate, while the children were referred to as younglings. Dying with a mark against one's honor was considered the cruelest fate that could befall a member of the species. Sakiyans recognized special expanses called "bonepits"; seeing an avian scavenger known as a flensor fly over one's bonepit was considered an ill-omen. In Sakiyan religion, the afterlife was known as the Realm Beyond.

Clans were organized into serpentine family–political units. On their homeworld of Saki, also known as Sakiya, these manifested as communities headed by selected leaders. The Sakiyans were a wary people, who valued the survival and safety of their own community above that of others. Coupled with a natural territoriality, especially when other hunters encroached on their territory, they were cautious around outsiders&mdash;especially non-Sakiyans. Their mantra was "survival demands efficiency." Indeed, each settlement developed a detailed plan to enact in the event that an outside force attacked or attempted a conquest. To this end, communities maintained underground escape routes known as warrens. Lightweight repulsorlift platforms lay in wait to evacuate children, the infirm, and important leaders, as well as to carry away important equipment and supplies in case of such danger. The Sakiyans were no pacifists, though: standing armies responded to invading forces with tactics of harassment and retreat. Most invading forces gave up in the face of such resistance. In a worst-case scenario, a Sakiyan had no compunction about eating other sentients, especially if family survival depended on such a decision. Despite the wide variety of skin tones evident in the species, the Sakiyans ostracized their pale-skinned members as aberrations.

Hunting was highly valued in Sakiyan society. While many Sakiyans practiced hunting on their homeworld, the species considered themselves self-assured predators in a galaxy replete with grass-eaters and only a few other predatory species worthy of Sakiyan respect. They used not only their senses but also cunning, planning, and patience to capture prey; for instance, when hunting for gwayo bird eggs on Saki, the hunter stalked the bird until led to its nest. Sakiyan hunters trained themselves to slow their heartrate and calm themselves; such measures allowed the individual to move with greater speed. Sakiyans also hunted for sport, with the more dangerous the quarry and the more perilous the hunt, the more honorable and satisfying it was to the hunter. Sakiyans who owned large amounts of land or other wealth were also respected in Sakiyan society.

Saki was a planet abuzz with industrial activity, and Sakiyan technology was on par with other spacefaring species. An intelligent and hardy species, they particularly excelled at repulsorlift technology, with particular emphasis on engineering components to be lighter and more efficient. For this reason, Sakiyan repulsor technology was highly sought after by the Hutts, which led the gastropod species to commission Sakiyan-designed repulsorsleds in ever more dainty and elaborate models. Hutt interests in Sakiyan repulsorlift engineering were so great that the Hutts virtually controlled the market, putting the Sakiyans into an ineluctable financial relationship with their galactic neighbors. A variety of Sakiyan flute made a noise that members of the species found pleasant; the sound resembled a member of the Ghostling species sighing.

At least some Sakiyans viewed other species as inferior due to their underdeveloped senses when compared to the Sakiyans; in comparison to the Sakiyans, the belief went, other species could only hope to flail about in near blindness, lacking as they were in the ability to see into the infrared. Still, some non-Sakiyans entered the tutelage of a Sakiyan hunter to improve their own hunting skills; the Nimbanel Tawss Khaa was one example. Because full-spectrum light bothered them, Sakiyans in the galaxy at large coped by wearing dark visors in bright light or dimming room lighting to avoid glare. Typical Sakiyan clothing included elaborate robes or full-body jumpsuits. At least some Sakiyans sported facial markings. Sakiyans disliked being doubted and even less being shown to be wrong. They were not entirely fearless; for instance, one Sakiyan joined a Ryn in keeping a safe distance from a Sarkan.

Sakiyans expressed emotion through their faces; a frown indicated discomfort, while a smile indicated pleasure. Still, Sakiyans were not know for their well-developed senses of humor. Raising two hands and shaking the head conveyed that the Sakiyan recognized his or her interlocutor's attempt at trickery, while rolling the eyes indicated annoyance. Another gesture was to snap fingers when struck by an idea, and to shrug to indicate disinterest or self-deprecation. A snort indicated derision, while a growl denoted anger. Their native language was also known as Sakiyan, which the typical member of the species could both speak and write. They could also speak Basic, and many learned Huttese as well. Sakiyan names consisted of two parts, a clan name followed by a personal name; for instance, the Sakiyans Tarnese Bleyd and Tarnese Lyanne both came from the Tarnese clan. Other examples of names included Ejaf Ya-Drun, Johr Penyk, Djas Puhr, Kol Rzad, Tudan Sal, Moja Skunaz, and Vihn Thas. The clan name doubled as a Sakiyan's perusal blood cry.

History
"My people's ancestors were warriors, but they can't match&mdash;no one in the galaxy can&mdash;humans for sheer bloodthirstiness."

- Tuden Sal

The tropical world of Saki, in orbit around the star Saki Prime, served as the backdrop for the evolution of the Sakiyan species The planet's little seasonal variation gave rise to wide swaths of jungles, swamps, and veldts punctuated by savannas and lakes. The species' ancestors were prey animals who dwelled in trees and atop natural high points. As a response to the dangerous predators of their world, the early Sakiyans evolved advanced senses as a survival mechanism. Eventually, the Sakiyans themselves developed into a species of successful hunters, their senses honed to track prey, and sporting dark skin to camouflage them against the backdrop of their homeworld. Based on their highly developed brains, xenobiologists postulated that the earliest Sakiyans arose far back in the galactic past. As the species developed the capacity to use tools and create their own shelter, they avoided the fate of many other sentient species and maintained their advanced senses. Meanwhile, generations spent as hunters made them tough durable.

From at least 25,000 BBY, the Sakiyans faced numerous invasions by offworlders intent on conquering their planet. Due to their homeworld's location in Bootana Hutta, close to Hutt Space's astrographical center, the species came into contact with the Hutts in the distant past. Indeed, Sakiyan records were some of the oldest to chronicle the early spacefaring civilization of the Hutts, telling of "Hutt cavaliers" in armor&mdash;perhaps precursors to the Shell Hutts&mdash;and recording Sakiyan tribute sent to the Hutts&mdash;including technological expertise in the form of help with developing planechanga, enormous railguns able to propel boulders through space at such speeds they could crack a planet upon impact. The Sakiyans were careful to keep the Hutts at a distance in all aspects of life on Saki save commerce; in this way, the Hutts were wooed into settling for economic domain over Saki and its denizens rather than outright political control. The arrangement allowed the Sakiyans to avoid becoming a slave species, as was the fate of most other natives of Hutt Space &mdash;although at least one Sakiyan did serve the Hutts. Instead the Sakiyans remained independent and respected by their Hutt neighbors. Relations remained fraught between the two species for millennia, with the Sakiyans referring to their neighbors as "slugs."

Other invasion attempts were made by the Tion Hegemony, the Sith, and the Drackmarians. As the Tionese expanded under the reign of Xim the Despot, the Sakiyans had already established their relationship with the Hutts; when the Tionese encountered Sakiyan and Nimbanese traders who claimed to serve the Hutts, Xim's curiosity was piqued, prompting his war with the Hutts. The Sakiyan homeworld later fell within the bounds of Sith Space from 1,004 to 1,000 BBY, during the New Sith Wars. Xenobiologists postulated that as a result of these hostile encounters with outsiders, the Sakiyans developed their propensity for caution and mobility in their communities.

At some point, the Sakiyans received peaceful visitors from the Galactic Republic, scouts, who shared with the species the secrets of repulsorlift technology. The Sakiyans recognized the possibilities repulsorlift afforded them in their efforts to remain deft and mobile, and their engineers tweaked the technology to emphasize these attributes. Their efforts came to the attention of the Hutts, who soon established their economic dominance over the Sakiyan repulsorlift industry. The Sakiyans were represented in the Galactic Republic by Senators. They eventually founded three colony worlds, Sakidopa, Sakiduba, and Sakifwanna, each located in a star system of the same name.

After the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Sakiyan homeworld's location in the bowels of Hutt Space kept the species insulated from the grasp of the Emperor and his forces. However, the Empire abducted Sakiyan technicians and force them to work in Imperial research and development centers to improve the Empire's repulsorlift technology, particularly in the development of new repulsortanks. During this period, xenobiologists finally settled the debate over whether to classify the Sakiyans as near-Humans or non-Human, coming to the consensus that the Sakiyans were non-Human based both on their appearance but also on the vast differences in their brain structure.

With the fall of the Empire and the rise of the New Republic, both that new government and the Hapans of the Hapes Consortium approached the Sakiyans to broker political and commercial alliances. Nevertheless, the Sakiyans remained wary, telling the outsiders to speak to the Hutts instead. After the species known as the Yuuzhan Vong made their first advance on Hutt Space during their invasion of the galaxy, they spared the Saki system. The unorthodox tactics of the alien invaders worried the Sakiyan leadership that the outsiders might be able to circumvent the Sakiyans' battle-tested strategies to resist invasion. They thus began to make furtive overtures of support to the New Republic and the Hapans in the case these groups decided to counterattack the Vong. After the Vong devastated Hutt Space, the fate of the Sakiyans remained unknown to the rest of the galaxy. By circa 25 ABY, the population of the Saki system was between 100 to 500 million inhabitants.

Sakiyans in the galaxy
"I smell blaster fire. What's going on? Why the security alert?" "Intruders. I found them messing with our slaves. I took a shot at them." "What kind of intruders?" "Small creatures, wearing hooded robes. They might have been Jawas." "Not Jawas. Humans. I smell human children."

- Sakiyan bounty hunter Djas Puhr corrects his Dug partner, Khiss

Sakiyans rarely ventured away from their home system, let alone away from what they considered the ideal conditions of their homeworld proper. They generally lacked the inclination to trade with outsiders. The same attitudes prevailed on the few Sakiyan colony worlds, where few Sakiyan inhabitants had any urge to venture into the galaxy beyond. Still, Sakiyans could be found in the galaxy at large in small numbers. For instance, in 33 BBY, a Sakiyan with a heavily scarred head was present at the Dewback Inn on the planet Coruscant. Another Sakiyan was present at a cantina on Mos Espa in 32 BBY while the Devlikk Podracer Wan Sandage hired the Glymphid Aldar Beedo to assassinate the Dug champion Sebulba. Likewise, a short time after the Battle of Geonosis, a Sakiyan was present on the Wheel space station when the Twi'lek Jedi Aayla Secura was searching for her missing Jedi Master, Quinlan Vos. A male Sakiyan was present in a bar on Tatooine, talking with another patron named Oked, when Asajj Ventress joined a group of bounty hunters headed by the Trandoshan Bossk during the Clone Wars. Another Sakiyan was eating nexufish sulyet at Gort's restaurant on Coruscant when Jax Pavan and Nick Rostu patronized the establishment. Later, a Sakiyan with an eye patch hustled to get out of the way of Prince Xizor of Black Sun in the Yaam Sector of Coruscant. Thorp was a member of the pale-skinned Sakiyan subspecies. By 0 ABY, he had come to own the Human bartender Ackmena a favor. When the Empire established a curfew on Tatooine on a night that Thorp was present at the Mos Eisley Cantina, the Sakiyan ignored Ackmena's pleas for the patrons to go home, even starting a round a glass clanking to demand more drinks. Intoxicated, he eventually stumbled out of the cantina, ushered along by Ackmena and her bouncer, Tork.

Many Sakiyans at large in the galaxy found work as assassins, an occupation in which their keen senses gave them an advantage over their competitors. Similarly, keen senses made Sakiyans apt bounty hunters as well. One example was Djas Puhr, who was working professionally during the final decades of the Galactic Republic. In 32 BBY, Djas was one of several Sakiyans hired by the Dug podracer Sebulba. Djas and a fellow hireling, the Abyssin Gondry, traveled from world to world with Sebulba; as the Dug took part in Podraces, Djas and Gondry captured luckless victims to sell to sell as slaves in the Outer Rim Territories. On one occasion, Djas led an expedition to the planet Datar to collect Ghostling children from their nests. After being transported to the desert planet Tatooine, the children escaped with the aid of the Human child Anakin Skywalker, so Sebulba tasked Djas with recapturing them. The Sakiyan tracked the Human boy and his companions&mdash;the Twi'lek Panna, the Bothan Dorn, and the Human Kitster Banai&mdash;with the knowledge that they were wanted by Gardulla the Hutt. Nevertheless, the children evaded capture again and again, eventually seeking refuge in pleasure garden of Gardulla's fortress. Djas recaptured the Bothan boy Dorn, but the Ghostling Princess Arawynne escaped the bounty hunter's pursuit with the help of a Wistie lookout. When Djas heard the fans that cooled the pleasure garden shut off, he realized that the Ghostlings and their allies intended to escape through the ventilation system. Surmising that the Whisties were aiding the Ghostlings in their escape, Djas used the diminutive, bioluminescent sentients to track the escapees to their would-be escape vent. There, Djas covered the garden side of the vent while Sebulba blocked the exterior exit in his freighter. The ploy worked; Puhr recaptured the children, who were then scheduled for execution in the Mos Espa Grand Arena. Nevertheless, Djas was forced to track the slaves down once again when they escaped the arena and fled to Bantha Rock. By the time he arrived with Sebulba and Gondry, the quarry of Ghostlings had already been evacuated from Tatooine. Undeterred, Djas remained an active bounty hunter for decades. By 0 BBY, he had developed a reputation as an imposing figure who followed through on his promises. As a regular fixture of Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine, he kept to the shadows, watched the denizens of Mos Eisley go about their business, gathered information, and sought out bounties to hunt. The process worked; Djas was highly sought after by the later stages of his career. Djas sat at a table with the Talz drifter Muftak, the Abyssin scout Myo, and the Bith musician Lirin Car'n on the day that the Humans Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Master, and Luke Skywalker, a moisture farmer, met the Corellian smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca.

Another bounty hunter and a contemporary of Djas's was Sixtat, who was active during the Clone Wars. The Sakiyan, also known as the Outlands Butcher, became infamous for his skills as a hunter, which led him to become supercilious and overconfident. His renown was so great that the Head of State of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Count Dooku, chose Sixtat as one of twelve bounty hunters to take on the Box, a death machine invented by the Phindian crime lord Moralo Eval. The last few surviving hunters would earn themselves a lucrative contract: to kidnap Palpatine, Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. Sixtat fought through a succession of challenges alongside his competition and survived to face the final test: firing a blaster rifle to hit three small, moving targets. Sixtat made his first two shots, but he missed on his third; the blunder caused the ground to retract from below him, and he plunged to his death in a pit of fire.

Other Sakiyans worked as scientists and engineers. Members of the species were especially common in repulsorlift engineering and development. During the Clone Wars, a Sakiyan scientist found work as a contractor for the company Arkanian Microtechnologies. She participated in a project to re-engineer animals. However, she made enemies who placed a bounty on her head and thus became the target of a Gand Findsman named Vaskau Farg &mdash;who viewed her not as a researcher but as a "witch". The Sakiyan traveled to the planet Arkania, where she bought a speeder in the settlement of Novania and headed off into the tundra to an Arkanian Microtechnologies installation. Farg tracked her with his Force abilities, disabled the Arkanian security guards, and confronted his prey. Later, under the regime of the Galactic Empire, Sakiyans were forcibly removed from their homeworld to toil in such facilities for the Empire.

Other Sakiyans at large lived as nobles, scouts, scoundrels, or soldiers, taking up employment in administrative, military, and bodyguard posts. For example, in 33 BBY, Brug D'Shar served as the aide-de-camp to the Human Counselor Westa Impeveri on the planet Cularin, a position that earned him a reputation for electoral fraud. As a panelist during a meeting moderated by Human reporter Yara Grugara, Brug advocated the use of platform cities on Cularin because they benefitted the economy and helped deter overcrowding. In 20 BBY, during the Clone Wars, the Sakiyan Tarnese Bleyd served as an Admiral in the Galactic Republic navy, posted as the commanding officer of the Drongar, a MedStar-class medical frigate. Reeling from his clan's misfortunes when his pride-father, Tarnese Lyanne, was betrayed by underworld business partners in the Black Sun criminal organiation, and resentful of what he considered a backwater assignment, Tarnese entered an arrangement with Filba the Hutt of Black Sun to steal a medical substance known as bota from the frigate. Tarnese hoped both to restore his clan's prestige through the new wealth but also to double-cross his Black Sun contacts as retaliation for what they had done to his pride-father. During his dealings with the underworld, Tarnese made a sport of hunting down and killing Black Sun operatives who attempted to strongarm him. However, when a Sullustan reporter named Den Dhur overheard Tarnese meeting with Filba, the Admiral knew the jig was up and attempted to pin the operation on his Hutt partner. Black Sun sent a Nediji assassin named Kaird to kill Tarnese instead. The Sakiyan put up a fierce fight in the the ensuing knife battle, but the Nediji used dendriton toxin]&mdash;a dishonorable move in the Sakiyan's eyes&mdash;to gain the advantage and slay the Sakiyan. In [[19 BBY, a Sakiyan worked as the bouncer at Qarek'k, a rough-and-tumble establishment on the underlevels of Coruscant. During the Galactic Civil War, the Sakiyan Glocken worked as an enforcer for an old, Human cantina owner named Merl in the spaceport city Muracie on the planet Centares. When the bounty hunter Beilert Valance arrived at Merl's to ask about Tyler Lucian, a deserter from the Rebel Alliance, Glocken and the Gotal enforcer Uri attempted to stop him from using force on their boss, but both were shot and killed by the intruder.

Other Sakiyans became even more enmeshed in the galactic underworld as outlaws and members of criminal organizations. For instance, when the Togruta Padawan Ahsoka Tano lost her lightsaber on the planet Coruscant during the Clone Wars, she consulted a database of wanted criminals in the Jedi Archives; one of the profiles she considered as the possible theif was a Sakiyan. During the Galactic Civil War, a Sakiyan smuggling ring ran supplies for the Alliance to Restore the Republic from a base in Syvris shadowport near Hutt Space. Their routes ranged as far afield as the planets Corellia and Terminus. The operation came to the attention of the Galactic Empire shortly before the Battle of Hoth, when Death Squadron, the personal TIE fighter squadron of Darth Vader, personal enforcer for the Galactic Emperor, found the smugglers during a raid on the Ulkantha asteroids. With knowledge of their operation, the Chiss Grand Admiral Thrawn formulated a strategy by which Vader would send Death Squadron against the smugglers' base in Syvris shadowport. The raid succeeded; Death Squadron nearly destroyed Syvris and gained custody of key members of the Sakiyan organization. Tayand was a Sakiyan crime lord active during the Galactic Civil War, reputed for his insanity and bloodthirstiness. When Tayand lost a large pot to the Human Connor Freeman in a game of sabacc, he claimed that Freeman had cheated. The Human fled the scene, but Tayand put a bounty on his head. The Mandalorian bounty hunter Boba Fett pursued Freeman, but another hunter, a Human named Daquinn, reached the man first and brought him to Tayand's base on the planet Cilare. Fett retook the bounty from Daquinn and his partner, the Whiphid Yarttar. However, when Fett tried to buy off Freeman's bounty to prevent him from being executed, Tayand refused. Connor immediately offered a three-credit bounty for the Tayand, which Fett immediately claimed by killing the Sakiyan crime lord. Naxy Screeger was a Sakiyan gambling addict active during the Second Imperial Civil War. Naxy rarely found himself out of debt and was almost universally disliked, a condition exacerbated by his loquacious nature and poor command of Basic. On one occasion, Naxy skipped bail on the Feeorin Rav, which brought him to the attention of the bounty hunter Cade Skywalker and his crew. They captured Naxy alongside a Bothan Jedi named Hosk Trey'lis at Brogar's Cantina on the planet Lok, then turned him in to Rav. Nevertheless, the Sakiyan managed to talk his way out of captivity, and he even teamed up with Skywalker and his crew on their ship the Mynock on a mission to obtain a Wookiee smuggler named Chak's ship, the Grinning Liar. In return for his help, Skywalker dropped Naxy off at the planet Socorro. Naxy drifted to the planet Kaer, where he found work for the Houk; he then wound up working as Vedo Anjiliac Atirue's gatekeeper on the moon Nal Hutta.

Other Sakiyans held more mundane positions in galactic society. The Sakiyan restauranteur Tuden Sal operated a chain of restaurants during the latter years of the Galactic Republic. When Lorn Pavan provided Tuden with some information that allowed him to keep his liquor license, Tuden owned Lorn a favor. Lorn called in the favor in 33 BBY when he asked Tuden to hook him up with smuggling groups, such as Black Sun, to help him leave Coruscant. Tuden helped Lorn and his droid, I-5YQ, find a ship to chase after Darth Maul. He then helped them escape Coruscant with clearance codes. Nevertheless, Tuden did not think Lorn had much chance against a Sith. He loaded I-5YQ into his skycap and ordered the droid chauffeur to bring them to the temple. The droid escaped, and Tuden encountered him again on Coruscant in the company of Jax Pavan, Lorn's son. Tuden went bankrupt soon after losing the droid when a rival initiated a hostile takeover of his business. He was never able to get the droid back out of the mind wiper place and instead sold the droid as he liquidated his assets. The takeover had been initiated by Senator Palpatine to help finance his plans to become Emperor. Tuden thus became blacklisted by both the Empire and Black Sun. He lost his family and family-mate in the process. Tuden thus joined the Whiplash, an anti-Imperial organization. Vadoo was a young Sakiyan captured by Trandoshan hunters and brought to the moon Wasskah to be hunted for sport. Vadoo was killed by the Trandoshans after arrival, as the hunters opened fire with their ship's laser cannons to identify the most worthy target for their hunt. A male Sakiyan cargo hauler was present on the planet Stobar near Plop Dribble's in 21 BBY when the Zabrak Sith apprentice Savage Opress demanded that he take him along to the planet Lotho Minor. Upon arrival, Oppress kicked the pilot out of the ship to plummet to the surface of the planet. Another example was Finn, a Sakiyan bartender at a tavern called Rik's in 137 ABY; in addition to mixology, he was a competent fighter&mdash; skills that allowed him to act not only as the chief bartender but as an enforcer as well.

Behind the scenes
"He's hard to spot in the cantina, but he's definitely there, with his gleaming black skin and inexpressive face."

- Pablo Hidalgo, on the Sakiyan Djas Puhr's appearance in Star Wars Episode IV

Rick Baker's special effects team created a bald, large-headed alien character known as "Coal Man" as a background character to be featured in the cantina sequence of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, first released in 1977. The actor wearing the mask was part of supplemental shooting done in Los Angeles, California, on January 24 and 25, 1977. When CBS television made The Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978, a pale-colored mask based on the same mold was used for the character Thorp.

The character was first identified as Djas Puhr and his species as the Sakiyans in 1995, when the character from A New Hope was featured on a card for Decipher's Premiere Limited set, part of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. The card also provides the earliest reference to the species' super-Human sensory powers. Alien Anthology, a 2001 supplement for Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game provided even greater detail about the species and offered them as a possible choice for players of the game. Author Michael Reaves fleshed out physical and social aspects of the Sakiyans through characters featured in his MedStar duology, published in 2004, and his Coruscant Nights trilogy, published in 2008  and 2009. The book The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film, published in 2007, confuses Djas Puhr with another large-headed cantina alien with his brain seemingly exposed. The second character, known as "Brain-guy" during filming, was later dubbed Pons Limbic and made a member of a separate species, the Siniteens.

The various games that have featured Sakiyan characters have represented their unique abilities in disparate ways. The collectible card game version of Djas Puhr makes him more powerful after nightfall to reflect his advanced senses, for instance. Sakiyan characters in Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game enjoy the ability to see in the dark, a bonus to sensory skills, fast reflexes, but a slightly lowered constitution. Ultimate Alien Anthology, a revised and expanded version of the Alien Encounters sourcebook published in 2003, maintains the same general statistics for Sakiyan characters but also gives them bonuses to wilderness survival when the sense of smell can be be used, restores their lowered health, and gives them the ability to detect danger. The Legacy Era Campaign Guide, the final iteration of the species published in 2009, updated for Wizards' Saga Edition of the roleplaying game, allows Sakiyans to see in the dark but not to make out colors; it also gives them lightning-fast reflexes. According to Alien Anthology, most Sakiyans could speak Basic. However, the expanded version of that book, Ultimate Alien Anthology, does not indicate that the language was common among the species. The later book, Legacy Era Campaign Guide, grants all Sakiyans the language. This article follows the latter source as the newest of the three. The young reader game books Episode I Adventures Game Book 6: The Hunt for Anakin Skywalker and Episode I Adventures Game Book 7: Capture Arawynne, both written by Dave Wolverton and published in 2000, allow readers to take on the role of the Sakiyan bounty hunter Djas Puhr. However, the novel versions of both stories attribute the actions in the game books to Sebulba, relegating the gamebooks to non-canonical status. q In the video game Star Wars: Yoda Stories, first released in 1997, the Sakiyan Thorp is one of several characters who may spawn randomly during quests and interact with the player character.

Appearances

 * Episode I Adventures 5: The Ghostling Children
 * Episode I Adventures 6: The Hunt for Anakin Skywalker
 * Episode I Adventures Game Book 6: The Hunt for Anakin Skywalker
 * Episode I Adventures 7: Capture Arawynne
 * Episode I Adventures Game Book 7: Capture Arawynne
 * Episode I Adventures 8: Trouble on Tatooine
 * Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
 * Episode I: The Phantom Menace ½
 * Star Wars: Republic 49: Sacrifice
 * Star Wars: Blood Ties: A Tale of Jango and Boba Fett
 * MedStar I: Battle Surgeons
 * MedStar II: Jedi Healer
 * Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
 * Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows
 * Coruscant Nights III: Patterns of Force
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * The Star Wars Holiday Special
 * Star Wars 29: Dark Encounter
 * Star Wars: Legacy 2: Broken, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Legacy 3: Broken, Part 3
 * Star Wars: Legacy 14: Claws of the Dragon, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Legacy 23: Loyalties, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Legacy 37: Tatooine, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Legacy 49: Extremes, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Legacy 2: Broken, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Legacy 3: Broken, Part 3
 * Star Wars: Legacy 14: Claws of the Dragon, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Legacy 23: Loyalties, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Legacy 37: Tatooine, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Legacy 49: Extremes, Part 2

Non-canon appearances

 * Star Wars: Yoda Stories