- "I just want to get this stupid work over with."
"The tower is only a hundred meters high."
"Only. And cold and windy up at the top."
"We may be fortunate enough to find a redcrested cougar waiting for us at the base. It would save us the climb." - ―ExGal-4 member Garth Breise and Yomin Carr
Redcrested cougars were large, non-sentient, carnivorous felines native to the Outer Rim planet Belkadan. Armed with large claws, fangs, and a bone-tipped tail, the cougars dwelt in Belkadan's jungles and occasionally attacked sentient beings. Redcrested cougars could not breathe Belkadan's atmosphere after it was changed to noxious fumes by dweebits released by the Yuuzhan Vong.
Biology and appearance[]
Redcrested cougars were four-meter-long[2] felines that averaged 140 kilograms in mass and possessed a red crest. The agile cougar's paws sported huge claws, and its fangs measured ten centimeters. The tail of a redcrested cougar ended in a lump of bone, which allowed the tail to be swung like a club.[1]
Behavior[]
- "Redcrested cougars are night hunters, and they'll be thick about us, wanting to put a face to our strange scents."
- ―ExGal-4 member Bendodi Ballow-Reese, to other team members traveling in the jungle of Belkadan
A non-sentient carnivore, redcrested cougars dwelt in jungles and could travel through the trees. Night hunters, the felines sometimes attacked sentient beings, and when exposed to a strange scent, the cougars worked to identify it. Redcrested cougars occasionally roared or growled.[1]
History[]
Redcrested cougars were native to the Outer Rim planet Belkadan,[1] where they lived by 22 ABY.[3] Around that time, the Extragalactic Society created the listening post ExGal-4 on Belkadan, and soon after its creation, a redcrested cougar breached the facility's walls by jumping over them from atop a tree and managed to seriously wound two ExGal-4 members before it was killed by researcher Danni Quee.[1]
In 25 ABY,[4] to prepare for an extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy, Yuuzhan Vong warrior Yomin Carr, disguised as a researcher at ExGal-4, released insect-like dweebits on Belkadan. These dweebits mutated plant life on the planet and converted the atmosphere into a haze that was unbreathable and lethal for both the ExGal-4 researchers and the redcrested cougars of the jungles.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
Redcrested cougars appeared in 1999's The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime, the first novel of The New Jedi Order series, by R. A. Salvatore.[1]
Appearances[]
- The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime (First appearance)
Sources[]
"Staring at the Stars" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link)- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. III, p. 86 ("redcrested cougar")
- ↑ The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime, which The Essential Reader's Companion dates to 25 ABY, states that ExGal-4 had existed for three years, and that the redcrested cougar attack occurred in the first year of the base. Therefore, the felines must have existed on Belkadan by 22 ABY.
- ↑ The Essential Reader's Companion