The Stellan were a sentient species native to the Outer Rim planet Stellan. A fiercely isolationist but peaceful race, the Stellan maintained that tranquility by abandoning children that they identified as too aggressive. Those children, such as Jeigh Esse, were launched into space. Esse herself was discovered by Rodians and followed in their trade as a bounty hunter.

Biology and appearance[]

The Stellan were a sentient species humanoid in form. Their face was dominated by a large mouth, filled with white, square teeth. Two black protrusions extended from their jaws, curving to a point. They had black, pupil-less eyes, which appeared as two narrow wedges, and stood out in stark contrast to their white skin pigmentation. The Stellan Jeigh Esse had three black shapes growing from the top of her head; one on each side by her small ears, and one on the very top of her head. The Stellan had four-fingered hands and an opposable thumb, with which they could manipulate items.^[1]

Society and culture[]

The Stellan had a largely peaceful civilization, and rejected any members of the species that were overly aggressive. All Stellan children were screened at an early age, and if any were found to be mentally ill, violent, or a threat to the Stellan's way of life, they were dubbed "ter-Stellan" and launched into space, at the mercy of whoever might stumble across the abandoned children. This practice stemmed from the Stellan belief of the "Vain Goddess," who had provoked the galaxy into an unending war as an offering of love and worship. The Stellan feared that if they succumbed to the Vain Goddess's song, the soul of Stellan would be lost forever. Stellan society was fiercely isolationist, and had a theocratic government ruled by a priest-king.^[3]

History[]

The Stellan evolved on the planet Stellan, located in the north-western corner of the Hunnoverrs sector of the Outer Rim Territories.^[2] As the Stellan practice of exiling children was discovered, many pirates and slavers from the nearby worlds of Tatooine and Rodia began to make trips to Stellan's orbit to prey on the discarded Stellan. One Stellan child that was identified as being too aggressive was Jeigh Esse. Esse was infamous on Stellan as one of the most vicious and conniving of the ter-Stellan—Esse framed countless other Stellan for her misdeeds, leading many innocent Stellan children to be exiled.^[3] She was eventually launched into space and discovered by a group of Rodians^[1]—the traditional Rodian homeworld of Rodia being only two sectors galactic west.^[2] They raised her as one of their own, instructing her in their craft as bounty hunters. Esse became a lethal hunter. Among her diverse weaponry was a polarizer that she adapted from a BlasTech EG-7 blaster.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

The Stellan were created by Chris Cowdrill, a fifteen-year-old at the time, as part of his entry in the Design An Alien contest held in the Star Wars Galaxy Magazines in 1995. Cowdrill gained second place in the under-16 category, and his entry was published in Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 7 in 1996. Leland Chee, Keeper of the Holocron, has since stated that the published "Design an Alien" entries are considered canon.^[4] The Essential Atlas acknowledged the Stellan by including their homeworld in its appendix. The StarWars.com blog The Not-So Magnificent Seven, written by Greg Mitchell, provides more insight into Stellan society, as well as establishing the plural of the species as "Stellan", rather than "Stellans".^[3]

Sources[]

• "Design An Alien" — Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 7 (First mentioned)
• The Not-So Magnificent Seven on StarWars.com (article) (content now obsolete; backup link)

Notes and references[]