Entertainment

What the Porg!?!

In the long and storied history of Star Wars, we’ve been introduced to some terrifying and intimidating creatures. We’ve also seen the cute, cuddly, and often times annoying, critters too. But that’s the fun of Star Wars – seeing what creative alien species Lucasfilm will come up with next. Whether it’s through practical effects, puppeteering, or CGI, we’re always promised something different. And it seems that Star Wars: The Last Jedi will continue the tradition, as we’ll meet a few new interesting creatures when the film is released in theaters at the end of the year. Of course, Star Wars fans are already divided on one of these adorable new species – porgs. So, let’s take a closer look at the porgs, and see if they’re the newest lovable character (BB-8 anyone?) or if they’re a worrisome rehash of other creatures such as Convorees, Hoojibs, Loth-Cats, and Ewoks.

A Murder of Space Puffins? 

According to Lucasfilm Story Group’s Pablo Hidalgo, porgs are native creatures of Ahch-To (home of the very first Jedi temple and the planet where we last saw Rey handing Luke his trusty lightsaber in Star Wars: The Force Awakens). They’re the Star Wars version of puffins. They build nests, they can fly, have babies called porglets, and the term for a group of them is “a murder.”

Because they live on a remote planet with rare visitors, they’re not an aggressive species but more curious than anything else. Or are they? According to rumors, these creatures have razor sharp teeth and are not always cute and cuddly but sometimes terrifying (kind of like Ewoks, amirite?). You can identify the gender of a porg based on the color of their feathers. Porgs with orange feathers are male and the ones that don’t have orange are female. They stand about 15-inches tall and have befriended Luke Skywalker. Another rumor floating around is that they fancy themselves the protectors of Ahch-To and that they have given Luke permission to be there, but have not granted the same privilege to recent visitors – Rey, Chewbacca, and R2-D2. Although, this storyline may actually be tied to the recently revealed Caretakers.

Chewie and the Porgs with Special Guest Artoo

Speaking of Chewbacca and R2-D2 – who better to help Chewie deal with the loss of his best friend than the porgs? And how can you not love seeing Artoo interact with an adorable inhabitant of a distant planet, much like Ewoks from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

In the film itself, we’ll see porgs on screen being utilized with puppeteers and sometimes with CGI, but regardless, fans are already connecting with porgs. With just a brief glimpse of them, social media went crazy in love with these wide-eyed innocent animals. Young Star Wars fans can get to know them a little better in the young reader’s canon novel Chewie and the Porgs, which releases the same day as the film.

A Galaxy of Progabilities 

Do porgs have some kind of connection to the Force? Will they be comic relief much like Jar Jar Binks was? Can they fly the Millennium Falcon? Can they wield a lightsaber?!

We have a theory floating around the Entertainment Earth offices that Supreme Leader Snoke is actually like 14 porgs under a cloak, working him like a puppet. I think we’re right. All we can know for sure is that porgs will be part of the Star Wars merchandise very, very soon. For all the other hot porg questions, we’ll have to wait until December 15th.

What do you think about the porgs? Are you in love with them or are you worried about a Jar Jar Binks situation? Sound off in the comments below!

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