Just How Big Is The Star Wars Galaxy?

With the colossal amount of planets in the Star Wars galaxy comes an equally unfathomable amount of alien species to fill them. In the first film alone, a seemingly endless list of creatures were seen, from the tribal Tusken Raiders to Han Solo's accomplice, the Wookiee, Chewbacca. In total, there are over 20 million different sentient species in the Star Wars universe, with more being constantly added to the ever-expanding saga.

Whilst there is a plethora of different species in Star Wars, George Lucas always wanted to maintain a level of believability for these creatures. In an 2020 interview with CNN, Terryl Whitlatch, a creature designer for The Phantom Menace, recalled the advise George Lucas gave him when making the creatures.

As Whitlatch said, "the characteristics and behaviours of real animals are what made their way down into designing creatures for Star Wars. George wanted them to look and behave like real animals in their ecosystems."

So, what was important for Lucas was that the creatures introduced throughout Star Wars were alien enough for audiences to believe Star Wars was in an alien galaxy, but recognisable enough for audiences to understand what kind of animals the creatures were.

Luckily for Lucas, this rule is followed to a tee, even after he passed the reigns of the franchise to Disney in 2012. Porgs in The Last Jedi clearly resemble birds, specifically puffins, and the Luggabeast, seen in The Force Awakens, is akin to an elephant. With or without Lucas, alien life in Star Wars is diverse, rich, and familiar.