- "Next on our map: The Strutter village. Those silly Strutters will be easy to fool."
- ―The Totem Master plans his next theft
Strutters were a species of sentient avians. Members of the species had svelte bodies with blue legs and beaks, and long arms with dexterous hands. A group of them inhabited the Strutter village on the Forest Moon of Endor, where they used mirrors to admire themselves as they groomed their pink and yellow plumage. Strutters placed great importance on trendiness and style and did not refrain from critiquing the comportment of others. This behavior made them seem extremely vain to members of other species and earned the avians a reputation for silliness.
In 3 ABY, a strange figure appeared in the Strutter village and offered them a totem pole, emphasizing its cutting-edge flair. The Strutters eagerly accepted the gift, but in reality, the object was made up of a group of beings who had been enslaved by the peddler. In the night, the peddler activated them via a magic ring and ordered them to rob the village. However, a pair of Ewoks foiled the burglary and saved the Strutters' possessions.
Biology and appearance
Strutters were a species of sentient, bipedal avians[1] who stood roughly 1.5 to 2 meters in height.[2] Each Strutter had a round, oblong body that was oriented horizontally. The birds were mostly covered in pink feathers, accented by tufts of yellow at both ends of the neck and on either side of the head. The tail, too, was bushy and yellow; it was flexible, and Strutters wagged it as they preened. Two long, jointed arms were situated where other birds had wings. These ended in four-fingered hands with which the species could manipulate their environment and grasp objects. The avians strutted about on two long, thin, light-blue legs .Their tridactyl feet were wide and webbed.[1]
From the body extended a long, curving neck that ended in a small, round head. The Strutter visage consisted of two white eyes with dark red lids, and a curved, pointed beak that was full of white teeth and a red tongue. This bill extended around the back of the head as well and was flanked by two pink protrusions. The face was pliable and expressive, as Strutters were able to smile.[1]
Society and culture
- "Tisk, tisk, tisk."
"Tacky, tacky, tacky." - ―Two Strutters comment on the Totem Master's sense of style
Strutters lived in globular huts set on stilts or hanging from trees.
Strutters were fond of primping and preening, which they did while peering at themselves in hand mirrors. Members of the species had definite ideas about what was considered chic or unstylish and did not refrain from telling even total strangers what they felt about their taste. Strutters had an infatuation with fashion, which led them to constantly seek out the latest trends. As their name implied, Strutters did not simply walk; they swaggered with eyes closed, head held high, and chest out. Other denizens of Endor found their behavior absurd, and Ewoks considered them to be fairly unintelligent. Nevertheless, the Strutters of Endor could speak and understand Ewokese.[1]
Strutters were communal creatures and lived in large groups. They disliked cold weather and huddled together for warmth in such conditions.[3] On Endor, Strutters lived in a village situated in a grove amongst the moon's forests. The birds inhabited spherical huts made of sticks and straw, entering and exiting through an oblong entrance with a long, thin perch in front of it. The Strutters elevated these huts high off the ground, either hanging them from tree branches or perching them on stilts or poles. Strutters furnished their dwellings with various items, including bottles, boxes, cans, folding fans, locking chests, rugs, and stools. They were diurnal, sleeping deeply at night in their huts, their snores filling the village.[1]
History
- Totem Master: "Yes, this beautiful totem pole is guaranteed to make your village the talk of Endor."
- Various Strutters: "Fabulous!"
"Marvelous!"
"It's just incredible!"
"Love it, love it, love it, love it, love it, love it, love it, love it."
"Oh, dear me!" - ―The Totem Master preys upon the Strutters' vanity[src]
The Strutters of Endor eagerly accepted a totem pole from a strange peddler, never suspecting that it was actually a gang of enslaved thieves.
The Strutters of Endor established a village in the forests near the Ewok population center, Bright Tree Village. There, they built elevated, rounded homes. They established relations with nearby groups, and over time, the Strutters accumulated or created various goods for their village.[1]
In 3 ABY,[4] a strange trader rolled into the village in a bordok-driven cart. Although the Strutters expressed their disapproval of what they considered to be the outsider's "tacky" style, the merchant regained their interest when he offered to give them "the latest thing," free of charge: a totem pole. The Strutters fawned over the gift and placed it in a prominent location in their village.[1]
That evening, the Strutters went to sleep in their homes as usual. Unbeknownst to them, the merchant used a magic ring to activate the totem pole, causing the constituent creatures depicted on it to come to life as his slaves. The Totem Master commanded the creatures to rob the Strutters of their possessions, and the slaves quickly amassed a large collection of stolen items. However, two Ewoks—Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka and Wicket W. Warrick—had stowed away on the Totem Master's cart in pursuit of their friend, Teebo, who had been ensorcelled along with the other totem slaves. Warrick and Kneesaa captured the Totem Master in a bid to foil his scheme, but the thief escaped and set his slaves on the intruders. In the ensuing skirmish, Warrick stopped the Totem Master by reflecting a magic blast with a Strutter mirror, turning the Totem Master himself into an inanimate totem. His ring then slipped from his finger and shattered, freeing the other totem slaves and ending the theft from the Strutter village.[1]
Later that same year, the Strutters suffered from extreme cold when their village was inundated with snow during a freak storm in the middle of the Forest Moon's summer. They were forced to huddle together for warmth as the snow reached as high as their chests. Eventually, the weather returned to normal after four young Ewoks—Kneesaa, Warrick, Teebo, and Latara—returned the Season scepter to the Sun King, from whom the Snow King's Icehead minions had stolen it, thus causing the anomalous weather patterns.[3]
Behind the scenes
Writer Bob Carrau introduced the Strutters in "The Totem Master," an episode of the Ewoks cartoon series that first aired on October 4, 1986, during the show's second season. He later gave them a cameo role in another second season episode, "The Season Scepter," which first aired on November 1, 1986.[5] Although several Strutters speak in the earlier cartoon, none of the voice actors or actresses are listed in the show's credits.[1]
Neither story reveals much about Strutter history or society aside from placing them in the Strutter village. Nevertheless, later sources imply that Strutters—and several other sentient species found on Endor—came from other planets. For example, the roleplaying supplement Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds names only Ewoks and Yuzzums as native to Endor,[6] and the article "Castaways of Endor" adds only Duloks to this list.[7] According to these works and the roleplaying article "Endor and the Moddell Sector," the majority of the sentient species who lived on the Forest Moon were survivors of crash landings caused by the main planet's massive gravity shadow and shield of space detritus.[8]
Appearances
Ewoks — "The Totem Master" (First appearance)- Ewoks — "The Season Scepter"
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
Ewoks — "The Totem Master".
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Strutters stand as tall as three sections of the Totem Master's totem pole, with each of these sections being slightly less than a mater in height.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ewoks — "The Season Scepter"
- ↑ Star Wars: Behind the Magic
- ↑ "A Star Wars CELibration" — Star Wars Insider 27
- ↑ Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds, p. 40.
- ↑ "Castaways of Endor," p. 1.
- ↑ "Endor and the Moddell Sector" — Star Wars Gamer 9, p. 28.
