Why There Are No Wookiee Jedi In Star Wars
Wookiees have been synonymous with Star Wars since 1977’s A New Hope, and yet, for all their popularity, the one thing we’ve never seen the beloved space Yetis do on screen is swing around a lightsaber. How is it that in the 45 years since the franchise began, there’s never been a Wookiee Jedi? Well, the truth is, there are Wookiee Jedi—it’s just extremely rare.
Between Legends and what Disney now considers canon, there has only ever been a handful of Wookiee Jedi. There are a few reasons for this.
The truth is, there are Wookiee Jedi—it’s just extremely rare.
One of the first things established about Wookiees in Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, is that they are prone to sudden fits of violent anger. Consider this exchange between Han Solo and C-3PO:
Han: Let him have it. It’s not wise to upset a Wookiee.
C-3PO: But, sir. Nobody worries about upsetting a droid.
Han: That’s cause a droid don’t pull people’s arms out of their sockets when they lose. Wookiees are known to do that.
Knowing that Wookiees aren’t exactly the most zen of creatures, it’s hard to see them being calm enough to exhibit a Jedi’s control over their emotions during a fight.
The Jedi Order also has a preference for non-violent solutions whenever possible, something that doesn’t mix well with the Wookiees’ habit of flying into a berserker rage when pushed.
In addition to Wookiees not having the right temperament to be Jedi, their species just naturally doesn’t produce many force-sensitive individuals. Force sensitivity itself doesn’t make someone a Jedi or Sith automatically, but it does determine whether someone has the potential to build a strong connection with the Force or not.
Species such as Wookiees, Jawas, and those with natural immunity to Force manipulation like Hutts and Toydarians don’t have a strong connection to the Force, if they have a connection at all.
On the other hand, Legends was a wild, wild continuity. Considering there was a Legends character named Skippy the Jedi Droid, a few Wookiee Jedi doesn’t sound that weird.
Lowbacca, Chewbacca’s nephew, was probably the most prominent Wookiee Jedi, given that he trained with Han and Leia’s now non-canon twins Jacen and Jaina. Tyvokka, Vorlocca, and proto-Jedi Ruhr were a few of the other Wookie Jedi that were part of the old Star Wars Expanded Universe.
George Lucas’ “No Wookiee Jedi” Decree
Oddly enough, it wasn’t Disney who all of a sudden decreed no more Wookiee Jedi. It was George Lucas himself.
When the makers of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords asked if they could make the Wookiee character Hanharr a Dark Jedi, they weren’t just told no, Lucas stated that there should be no more Wookiee force-users, period.
Given that George Lucas based Chewbacca on his own dog Indiana—coincidentally also where he got the name for Indiana Jones—it’s clear that he had a great personal love for the species.
He even went so far as to make Chewbacca and his hairy ilk the focus of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. Knowing all of that only makes his decree that there should be no Wookiee Jedi that much more baffling.
Lucas never really explained the reasoning behind his “No Wookiee Jedi” policy and eventually abandoned it altogether when he personally approved the creation of a Wookiee youngling, Gungi, for Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Since The Clone Wars was one of the few pre-Disney Star Wars projects other than the films that Disney decided to make canon, Gungi is possibly the sole Wookiee Jedi that exists both in Legends and in the current canon.
Interestingly, all of the other Wookiee Jedi in Disney Canon have been confined to the High Republic era of Star Wars—stories that take place 500 or so years before the movies.
Burryaga Agaburry—say that three times fast—Arkoff and Kelnacca from the upcoming Star Wars series The Acolyte all lived before the birth of Chewbacca, making us wonder if there is possibly some yet unexplored catastrophe that cuts the Wookiee species off from the force between the High Republic era and the Rise of the Empire era.
Lowbacca, Chewbacca’s nephew, was probably the most prominent Wookiee Jedi, given that he trained with Han and Leia’s now non-canon twins Jacen and Jaina.
Until Disney says anything concrete, we can only speculate on why there are so few Wookiees in the current canon and why the ones that do exist are from the distant past.
All we do know for certain is that Wookiee Jedi are a rare occurrence in Star Wars for a variety of reasons. As such, we should be thankful for the ones we have because, honestly, what’s a cooler image than Big Foot swinging around a laser sword? Nothing, that’s what.
Unless it’s a giant slug doing the same thing.
