Shaak

This article is about the animal. You may be looking for the similarly named Jedi Master Shaak Ti.

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Shaaks were a bulbous mammalian species^[2] of non-sentient herbivores that grazed on the grasslands of Naboo, and were bred on other planets as well.^[4] Gentle and non-threatening (despite what their dark red eyes might suggest),^[5] shaaks were slow movers, although they were prone to bucking wildly if someone untrained in shaak-riding attempted to mount them.^[1]^[4] They had four legs, brown leathery skin, and bodies that were plump with blubber. They were known to barely be able to stand upright, because their legs were very weak in proportion to their bulbous bodies^[4]. Shaaks were unable to swim, due to their size, and therefore avoided the swamps of Naboo.^[1] If infected with the waterborne Blue Shadow Virus, shaaks would die instantly,^[6] while members of most other species had 48 hours to live before the virus became fatal.^[7]

Gungans farmed shaaks for their meat and hide.^[2] They were also sometimes used as pack animals. Their scat was a popular fertilizer used by Naboo farmers on their fields.^[8]

Shaaks in the galaxy[]

Shaak leg was a delicacy on Pijal^[9] and they were raised as livestock for consumption by some residents of the planet Batuu.^[10] Shaak steak was another type of dish made from Shaak meat.^[11]

In 22 BBY,^[12] a shaak was flying within the traffic of the planet Coruscant as the Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi were chasing the assassin Zam Wesell.^[1]

Later that year,^[12] when he was on Naboo during an assignment to protect Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker haphazardly rode a shaak through the majestic grasslands near the lake country, while on a picnic with Padmé. He fell off, and after being stepped over by the shaak, pretended to be hurt in order to amuse her. At least twelve shaak were grazing through the field behind them.^[1]

During the Clone Wars, a female Gungan named Peppi Bow wrangled shaaks. She lost six shaaks in her herd to the Blue Shadow Virus, which had been created in Nuvo Vindi's laboratory.^[6]

Behind the scenes[]

"The shaak is this very funny looking big fat pig like... creature with a big round body and lives on Naboo in the lake country"

―Mark Siegel, Concept Sculptor for Lucasfilm^[src]

The shaak species was designed by Terryl Whitlatch for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. They could be seen exceedingly briefly in one shot of the movie. Whitlatch wanted to suggest a grazer bred for food, the Naboo equivalent of a sheep. A few computer generated shaaks were also seen in one shot of the next movie, Attack of the Clones. The 3d sculptor for the scene, Mark Siegel, rendered it using just a few two dimensional drawings.^[13] At first, Siegel thought that the shaak was too ridiculous to be properly put to screen, but ended up being pleased with the final result.^[14]