Lanai

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Lanais were an avian sentient species who lived on temple island on the ocean planet of Ahch-To for thousands of years. The females of the species took on the role of Caretakers and attended to the ancient structures on the sacred island—which was the site of the first Jedi Temple, where Jedi Master Luke Skywalker came to live as a hermit after his Jedi students were killed by his nephew Kylo Ren—while the males were known as the Visitors.

Biology and appearanceEdit

Native to the aquatic planet Ahch-To,^[1] Lanais were an avian sentient species^[2] who dwelled on temple island which held the first Jedi Temple. They were distinguished by their gray skin and bird-like skinny feet.^[1]

Society and cultureEdit

Lanais spoke a non-Basic language, and were able to communicate with Jedi Master Luke Skywalker during his self-imposed exile on Ahch-To.^[1]

HistoryEdit

For thousands of years, Lanais inhabited the temple island on Ahch-To, and the female Caretakers tended to the ancient structures at the site of the first Jedi temple.^[2] After the death of his Jedi students at the hands of his former apprentice and nephew Kylo Ren, the legendary Jedi Master Luke Skywalker came to Ahch-To,^[5] home of the Lanais,^[3] to live in solitude.^[5] The Jedi Master's presence on the island was accepted and tolerated by the Lanais,^[1] but when Rey came to the island to be trained by him, the Caretakers found that she disrupted their work.^[1] On one occasion, Rey lifted two Lanai using the Force out of frustration before she put them back down.^[6]

Behind the scenesEdit

"They're kind of these sort of fish-bird type aliens who live on the island. They've been there for thousands of years, and they essentially keep up the structures on the island."

―Rian Johnson^[src]

The Lanais were created and developed for Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, the eighth film in the Star Wars saga, which was released on December 15, 2017.^[7] The Caretakers were first revealed in an article by Entertainment Weekly, released on August 9, 2017.^[8]

Rian Johnson, the writer and director of The Last Jedi, wanted the Lanais to bear resemblance to nunnery in real life. They were designed by Neal Scanlan's crew, and Michael Kaplan made their working costumes which reflected "a nun-like, spartan sort of existence." Johnson also described their language as "a blubbery sort of Scottish fish talk."^[8] The creature effects supervisor Neal Scanlan also said that he felt like "the only creatures that would ever exist on the Ahch-To island were those indigenous to it, where very few other species and DNA would have reached them." This led Scanlan to the idea of the Lanais being an extrapolation from the porgs^[9]—a sea bird species native to Ahch-To^[10]—and having bird-like feet, despite being a further developed race.^[9]

During the film's production, the Lanais were animated with a person inside, one of whom was a friend of Daisy Ridley,^[8] the actress who portrays the character Rey in the film.^[11]