bellatendris
Member since: 2009So I was browsing the requests, and I see a couple hybrid characters. While I understand that most of us can have whatever weird crossbreeds we want in our games, it brings up a thorn in my side that I've been dealing with for the past year.
I have heard numerous times that The Flanneled One has definitively said there can be no Twi'lek hybrids, but no one can point me to a citable reference. I know Humans and near-Humans can breed (Miralukans, Zeltrons, Kiffars, etc), but you would think something that was basically mammalian and similar enough for "relations", shall we say, would also be viable, even if the offspring would be sterile for one reason or another (horse + donkey = mule, viable offspring but unable to reproduce.)
Can anyone show me where TFO has said no Twi'lek-Human hybrids? I mean, it's not like a Falleen (reptilian) and Human (mammalian) cross- I can see how that wouldn't work.
I don't want to go into morality or deviant psychology here, but if any of y'all can help, I'd really appreciate it.
(Disclaimer: Of course I don't mean to be speciesist when I say "crossbreeds". I grew up around a livestock breeding operation, and I tend to use those terms.)
The way I feel about it... if it's not here. It's not true... But then again, I've never asked George.
I don't know but I'd love to find out. I have two human-twilek characters in one of my campaigns. Any ideas on what they may look like? I always imagined them as having lekku and hair. There have been married twi'lek and human couples before, like in the Millennium Falcon.
I've also heard the story that George says no Twi'lek hybrids are possible, but I've never seen a direct quote from him on it, so I'm inclinded to believe it's just a story that someone else started.
My take on it has been that there are enough similarities between them and humans for it to be possible, albeit extremely rare; more often than not, inter-species mating would be unsuccessful, but it has been known to happen from time to time.
Even though they're similar, and they're both mammals, that's just not enough to make them reproductively compatible. Presumably, the reason humans and certain near-humans can interbreed is because they derive from the same lineage (i.e. human colonists, separated from each other for long periods of time who developed different physical traits, but aren't too divergent).
I can't conceive of any way that Twi'leks and humans could be of the same sort of stock, even though they look sort of similar.
Bear in mind that on Earth, even animals that are related at some distance still can't interbreed (like humans and chimpanzees, or horses and giraffes).
Another good Earth example would be snakes and legless lizards. Even though they look (to us anyways) quite similar, there is no way they can interbreed. They're just not as closely related as they look.
Boshuda
Twi'leks and humans seem to have nearly the exact same anatomy though, from what we seen anyways. The only real difference seems to be the lekku and the female ear cones.
We have no way of knowing if they have similar biochemistry, similar molecular biology, similar gestation, etc. There is more to interbreeding than just looking similar.
Boshuda
True, Asok. The genetic difference between humans and chimpanzees is what, only 1% or so? From a purely scientific standpoint, it's virtually impossible that a species from another planet and evolutionary lineage would come closer than that 1%.
I say virtually because I'm one of those stubborn few who refuse to believe that anything is absolutely impossible.
For your campaigns and all, though, such logic can be thrown out the window; if the Star Wars galaxy is one where fire can exist in the vaccuum of space, then certainly anything is possible.
Is it possible though that twi'leks could have share evolutionary lineage with and/or descended from humans?
Archeron, a pivotal point in a scenario I am working on is a Twi'lek-Mandalorian Human hybrid. I see her as grey skinned, with short lekku as well as cranial hair and natural eyebrows. There's also a fair amount of debate on the female ear-cones vs. ears- apparently it's kind of a tossup as to which she will have, same as if you can curl your tongue or have a sixth finger or toe.
Asok, I addressed the differing gestation period by making the hybrid gestation period seven months instead of the average human nine. Twi'leks come from a harsh environment, and creatures from a harsh environment either have short or very long gestation periods. I went for short. However, I do have to take issue with the idea that all near-Humans evolved from Humans. I mean, there's never anything stated that Miralukans or Kiffar or even Chiss ever had a basis in Human colonists. Just sayin'.
Also, there's the fundamental truth that this happens in another galaxy. While the basic laws of physics don't change (I laugh at fire in vaccuum as well) the laws of biology are infinitely more malleable. Who's to say that a GFFA human could even breed with a Milky Way human?
When I get to work tomorrow, I will look in my copy of Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina and post the quote that I think makes the case for hybrids.
On a persnickety note: Whoever wrote that entry on Twi'leks either has a beautifully sneaky sense of humor, or they used an automated spellchecker and made a rather hilarious error.
Hey, just another idea to kick around here...
What about genetic experimentation?
I wouldn't put it past the Empire to have tried something like this as an early attempt at making the ultimate soldier (so it would depend a lot on the time period you're working with and how much you can play with that, too). Twi'leks were often made slaves, while Mandolorians were strong warriors - would the Empire not consider a warrior that could take commands ideal? I mean, that was the point of the clones, wasn't it?
Perhaps the Father was the result of this genetic experimentation. The experiment was not considered a success and he was to be destroyed but instead managed to escape and went into hiding. If you could somehow work in that a mistake of the creation was that he was able to breed (as opposed to most 'mules' which are sterile) then you're pretty much on the way!
What do you think?
I'd buy it. Drig made a similar comment to me recently. Star Wars (even if just in the EU) is full of genetic experiments (Arkanians) and mad scientists (Dr. Evezan) who've successfully and unsuccessfully modified species or combined parts of different species into singular abominations. One of my campaigns even featured an Arkanian enclave who had genetically mutated one species into another (as they are wont to do). So if mad science is involved, I say go for gusto. I assume there is an extremely high fail rate, though.
Boshuda
See, I was kind of going for a Force miracle sort of thing, but y'all just gave me a really really twisted idea that I like...a lot. And it could totally work.
Kisses all round...and I'll buy you a drink if I ever meet you!
Heh, cool!
In the Star Wars: Clone Wars episode The Deserter, a clone named Cut Lawquane ran away from the GAR after the Battle of Geonosis and marries Suu, a Twi'lek. According to Wookiepedia, the couple have two children who are Twi'lek/Human hybrids.
I enjoyed the episode but the ages of the children bothered me. If the Clone Wars lasted only three years, Cut and Suu could not have children that old unless Twi'leks mature faster then the normal Human. Also, Cut is a Jango Fett clone and ages faster then normal. The may be the cause of the childrens advanced ages.
*Edit* I was just reading the StarWars.Com entry on the episode and it states that Cut Lawquane is committed to his adopted family (Suu and the children).
But the idea of a Human/Twi'lek hybrid may be possible and other human/cross spieces.
Kia kaha
If Darth Plagueis can coax life into a being that has a full set of genetics with no obvious defects (aside from perhaps an incline to be whiny), and Kaminoans can pick and choose which genetic streams to allow in a clone or add new codes all together, crossing two mammalian breeds doesn't seem like that far of a stretch, even if it can't occur naturally at first.
And if that theory doesn't sit well upon your palate, I merely point to our own galaxy and the misbegotten platypus...
~Quip
I still think those were his children. They looked somewhat like hybrids with the blotches on their faces.
What about the platypus, Dragon? The platypus isn't a hybrid of anything - it's just a platypus.
Boshuda
Yes, just a platypus. They don't do much.
Kia kaha
I about went crazy when I watched that episode. I literally shrieked, "IT'S A MANDALEK!!" and the boys came running in from the other room.
The daughter looked like a straight Twi'lek but the boy, with such short lekku, could easily have been a hybrid.
I've also been working under the assumption that Twi'leks mature faster than humans, especially since I saw how smart and intuitive Numa was during the Battle for Ryloth series.
Edit: I think the platypus reference was in illustration that a poisonous, egg-laying mammal is proof that someone, somewhere in the creative department of the multiverse has a weird sense of humor, so a Twi'lek-Human hybrid is possible.