M'iiyoom Onith

For other uses, see Onith.

▶️ to a preview of M'iiyoom Onith speaking H'nemthe and laughing with Feltipern Trevagg
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Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope

M'iiyoom Onith, also known as Nightlily, was a sharp-tongued H'nemthe female.^[1] In 0 BBY,^[3] Onith spent time in the back rooms of Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina in Mos Eisley spaceport on the planet Tatooine. The H'nemthe sat in a booth with the Gotal tax collector Feltipern Trevagg and the Givin smuggler Elis Helrot. Not realizing what was at stake, Trevagg attempted to romance Onith^[1] and was laughing with an arm around the H'nemthe's shoulder when the local moisture farmer Luke Skywalker entered the cantina with Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO. Onith was also laughing^[2] and speaking H'nemthe.^[4]

The pair were still sitting next to Helrot in the back room booth when Skywalker and Kenobi later got into an altercation at the bar with the criminals Doctor Cornelius Evazan and Ponda Baba,^[1] after which Trevagg alerted his Imperial allies to the Jedi's presence.^[5] Onith had brown skin, black eyes, and wore a brown shawl while in the cantina.^[2]

Behind the scenes[]

Re-shoot mask[]

CantinaCreatureHead-McQuarrie — "Creature Cantina Head" by Ralph McQuarrie

M'iiyoom Onith first appeared in the original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope,^[2] which was released on May 25, 1977.^[6] Portrayed by an uncredited^[2] Phil Tippett,^[7] Onith's mask was created by Tippett^[8] as one of several aliens to be used^[9] in a series of supplemental shots filmed for the cantina sequence on a sound stage in Dovington's Hollywood studio between January 24–25, 1977.^[10] The character's shawl was also reused in combination with Trevagg's mask^[11] for the character Hennet Kayn during the shots.^[12]

To make the character's mask, Tippett cast a slip latex copy of makeup artist Rick Baker's creepy baby mask from the 1974 film It's Alive and then sculpted Onith's mask on top by layering polyfoam over it and stippling the surface with latex, layers of tissue and cotton, and a large number of dots of texture.^[8] The final look is thought to have been inspired by a sketch^[9] entitled "Cantina Creature Head" that Ralph McQuarrie originally created for the Rodian character Greedo.^[13]

Naming and mask reuse[]

"When we first saw Feltiperrn in the cantina, he was snuggling up to a beak-nosed alien who was giggling up a storm. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, but this comely alien was given the unflattering on-set nickname of Yam Nose."

―Author Pablo Hidalgo, discussing the creation of M'iiyoom Onith^[14]

YamnoseRepair — Repair work was done on the Yam Nose mask in 2012.

Given the on-set nickname of Yam Nose, Onith was intended to receive the proper name of Yamnoss, but the idea never came to fruition,^[14] although a H'nemthe character in 1978's The Star Wars Holiday Special that reused Onith's mask was eventually given the name.^[15] Onith's mask was also reused for a H'nemthe character that appeared in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.^[14] In 2012, the original mask was in very good condition and was cleaned and restored by Maria Teran of Tom Spina Designs, who only needed to add and paint a few patches where there was missing latex.^[8]