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- Togruta Guide - November 14, 2022
Ever wondered what those things are on Ashoka Tano’s head? Is it a hat? Hair? Well, this article is for you. One of the things I love about the Star Wars universe is all the characters and all of the alien races. One of my favorites is the Togruta.
They’re the sweet spot between being a warrior race and artisans. The Togruta have significantly affected the Star Wars universe and helped shape what it is today. We’ll dive into their culture and touch upon prominent Togruta figures.
Bottom Line Upfront
The Togruta are a humanoid alien race whose skin color spans a variety of colors. At first, it may appear that the Togruta all wear head dressing, but in reality, their headpieces were a set of horns called montrals on top of their head and three tentacle-like appendages called lekku. One on either side of the head and one down their back. Their montrals and lekku allowed togruta to use echolocation.
The togruta were highly protective of their home world and considered the ground sacred. Because of this, many of the Togruta would walk barefooted on their homeworld and only wear shoes when they were off-world.
Their government was led by a queen that also held the title of “Supreme huntress of the United Tribes” and “Ruler of the Togruta.”
Their military consisted of the Royal Togruta Fleet and the Royal Guard.
Despite their homeworld having a military, some Togruta colonies that were off-world, specifically those on Kiros, chose to have a civilization based around art and culture and therefore had no army.
Notable Togruta include the Queen Elarec Yovet, Jedi Ahsoka Tano, and Shaak Ti, who was also a Jedi
Togruta Culture
Togruta’s preferred living in elevated areas such as mountains and cliffs and formed tribes to hunt the Akul to protect these habitats. The Akul was a beast that was so strong and fearsome that it could destroy an entire village. Though the Akul was a fearsome opponent, the togrutas various skin colors aided them in their hunt as it allowed them to camouflage themselves into their surroundings easily.
To the togruta, their planet was sacred, and thus, they were highly protective of it. As such, they formed a formidable military to protect it. The Togruta government consisted of the Togruta military, Royale Guard, and The Royale Togruta Fleet. All of this was led by their ruler.
Queen Elarec Yovet was one such ruler. As Queen of the togruta, she had multiple titles bestowed on her as it was her responsibility to oversee and govern all aspects of Togruta culture.
The togruta were capable warriors, but they also enjoyed the arts. So much so that the togruta were known for producing melodramatic holovids. And if you’re anything like me, you’d do anything to see a 90’s-esq teen drama created by the Togruta. No? Just me? Moving on…
Though the Togruta homeworld was Shili, they had colonies all over the galaxy. Because of this, the Togruta spoke their native language of Togruti and Galactic Basic Standard.
One such colony was on the planet Kiros. The society and culture of Kiros differed from Shili in that they were a colony of artists without any military or defense force. This would eventually make them targets for Count Dooku and his droid army.
Togruta and the Clone Wars
Before the Clone Wars, the Togruta had not joined the Galactic republic; until the Nihil attacked the Republic fair on Valo, this began to change.
Queen Yovet was in attendance during the attack and saw the violence and destruction the Nihil was capable of. In response, she ordered the Togruta Royale Fleet to aid the Republic in its efforts to defeat the Nihil.
After the crisis, Queen Yovet sought to align Shili with the Republic in hopes it would increase relations and strengthen both parties.
And increase relations it did. For example, a Togruta by the name of Kirames Kaj served as Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic years before the invasion of Naboo.
During the Clone Wars, the Togruta played several vital roles. Jedi Shaak Ti was in charge of overseeing the Clone Trooper training camp on Kamino. Though she would ultimately fail, she came close to discovering Darth Sedious’ plan to eradicate the Jedi with order 66.
Additionally, during the Clone Wars, the Zygerrian Slave Empire sought to enslave the Togruta colony on Kiro to support the Separatists. As a result, the Zygerrian’s enslaved all 50,000 of Kiro’s Togruta residents. However, Togruta Jedi, in training Ashoka Tano, her master Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, were able to infiltrate the Zygerrian empire.
After the Zygerrians captured Ashoka and company, Anakin was able to contact the Republic for backup. The Republic responded by sending a fleet of clone troopers led by Jedi Master Plo Koon.
Through the combined efforts of Ashoka Tano, Anakin Sky Walker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Republic was able to free the Togruta. After their liberation, the Krio Governor, with Ashoka’s encouragement, decided to join the Republic.
Togruta and the Empire
With the Republic’s fall and the Empire’s rise came opposition in the form of resistance groups. One resistance group was formed on Raada and led by Ashoka Tano and had other Togruta as members. Under Ashoka’s leadership, the Raada group would join with other resistance cells in forming the Alliance.
During the rise of the Empire, several Togruta Jedi lost their lives due to order 66 and Jedi Hunters.
After the fall of the Empire and the rise of the New Republic, the Togruta continued to work with the New Republic to rebuild the system.
Notable Togruta
Ashla
Ashla was a Jedi Youngling who master Yoda trained. Their name means “light side of the Force.” Though she only appears in one scene in the 2002 film Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, she’s notable because, well, she’s adorable and because when Ashoka Tano fled to the Outer Rim, she made “Ashla” her alias.
Behind the scenes, Dave Filoni wanted to make Ashla and a Young Ashoka. However, they decided against it because it would make Ashoke too young.
Raana Tey
Tey was a ruthless Jedi known for her ferocity in battle. Because she was highly force-sensitive, Tey was prone to nightmares and headaches until she was taught to control her abilities by Jedi Master Krynda Draay.
Tey was genuinely dedicated to her training and stopping the rise of the sith by any means necessary. She would join the Watchcircle, a secret organization inside the Jedi Order dedicated to stopping the return of the Sith. This would lead Tey and other members of WatchCircle, to misinterpret a vision to mean one of their padawans would bring about the return of the sith and destroy the Jedi temple.
Tey and others decided to kill their padawans to keep these visions from coming true. This was known as the Padwan massacre. So they killed them all except one they let live to frame him for the massacre.
There was no Sith. The destruction and death, they say in their vision, were actually caused by Tey and other members of the WatchCircle attempting to cover up their involvement in the Padawan Massacre.
Shaak Ti
Considered by many to be one of the wisest on the Jedi council (mind you, Yoda was on the council, so that’s saying something.) Shaak Ti was a gifted teacher, and as such, she was chosen by the Jedi council to oversee the training of new Clone Troopers.
Shaak Ti was a compassionate Jedi who viewed the clones not as “products” simply used for war but as people. Unfortunately, this put her at odds with the Kamino government, which merely saw them as merchandise to be bought and sold.
Apart from supervising the training of the clone army, Shaak Ti was the commanding officer of the local garrison stationed on Kamino. In addition, she commanded and reinforced the Kamino Security Force and worked as a Jedi council representative to ensure the Jedi Council’s and the Republics’ interests were represented on Kamino.
Shaak Ti would come close to uncovering the conspiracy to use the trooper’s inhibitor chips as a way to turn them against the Jedi. But in the end, the secret was held by a clone Trooper named Fives, whom she could not save.
Eventually, Shaak Ti would meet her end at the hands of Darth Vader during the Jedi Purge.
Ahsoka Tano
Ashoka was the padawan leaner to Anakin Skywalker. She would train to be a Jedi until leaving the order behind after her faith in the Order and the Jedi themselves were shaken. If she had stayed, she would have been given the rank of Jedi Knight.
Though not technically a Jedi, Tano would continue to use the force and light sabers in battle and would eventually return to lead her own garrison of clone troopers. However, the troopers would turn on her due to order 66, and Tano barely escaped with her life. Instead, she fled to the Outer Rim to hide from the Empire.
Here in the Outer Rim Tano, she found herself on Raada and eventually formed and led her cell of resistance freedom fighters.
Elarec Yovet
Queen of Shilli, Yovet, was the leader of the Togruta and made the safety and well-being of her people her top priority.
She would do her best to avoid conflict even with the Republic, which she and the Togruta people did not trust.
It was Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh that reached out to Yovet in an attempt to ease these tensions by inviting the Queen to the Republic Fair on Valo. While there, the fair was attacked by the Nihil. In response, Yovet would add her forces to the Republic to try to end the crisis with the Nihil. Over time Yovet began to see that the best chance for her people to survive would be an alliance between Shilli and the Republic.
Togruta FAQ
Question: Are Togruta only female?
Answer: No, there are both male and female Togruta.
Question: Are Ahsoka and Shaak Ti the same species?
Answer: Yes, both Togruta women.
Question: Are Togruta and TWI leks related?
Answer: Both species ha lekku (head tenacles), but they’re not the same appendage despite having the same name and looking similar. Togruta and TWI leks appear to be completely unrelated species.
Question: What is Ahsoka’s hair called?
Answer: The horns on top of the head are called montrals while the tentacles are called lekku.
Question: Is Ahsoka a GREY Jedi?
Answer: No, Ashoka states she is not a Jedi of any kind.
Togruta Conclusion
The Togruta are a fun species. Instead of adhering to one specific trope, they are very versatile and well-rounded. This made them feel real, which made it easy to care about characters like Ashoka.
Their influence can be felt across the entire star wars universe, whether they’re hunters, Jedi, or artists. They’re a lot like regular people. And I think that probably what I like most about them is the “message,” or at least the message as I see it is that it doesn’t matter what you do; you can have influence and do good.