- "More than two legs is just... excessive."
- ―Garazeb Orrelios, upon seeing a group of krykna
Krykna were predatory, non-sentient, spider-like creatures native to Atollon. They were resistant to blaster bolts and highly sensitive to negative emotions, making them extremely difficult to tame with the Force. They were repelled by the signal emitted by sensor beacons.
Characteristics[]
- "Do you think it's aggressive?"
"I'm not waiting to find out!" - ―Captain Rex and Sabine Wren
Krykna were six-legged, spider-like creatures that had durable skin and cocooned their prey in underground hives. They also had beaked mouths surrounded by a pair of fanged pedipalps. Their skin was highly resistant to blaster bolts, including fire from starship cannons. However, their eyes were vulnerable, and they were also vulnerable to lightsabers and grenades.[4] They had a strong aversion towards the radiation emitted by sensor beacons.[2] They feasted primarily upon dokma.[4]
Although they could be connected with through the Force, it was extremely difficult, as they were highly sensitive to negative emotions.[6][7] They were not aggressive by nature, however their sensitivity to negative emotions could cause them to act aggressively towards those who displayed such emotions.
History[]
- "That's Ro Thran. H-he's the one who caught the bull krykna for the Tyn Syndicate."
- ―Winloss
In 3 BBY, Lieutenant Dicer was abducted by krykna while setting up a perimeter sensor near the newly-established rebel base on Atollon. During their investigation of Dicer's last known location, Sabine Wren and Rex were also attacked by krykna. The krykna showed no sign of vulnerabilty to their blaster shots. Although Sabine was able to kill some of them by shooting them right in the eyes, they captured Rex and took him away.[4]
The Spectres faced several krykna in their successful attempt to rescue Rex; the predators used their webbing to trap the Ghost and prevent it from taking off. Sabine recalled the krykna's earlier aversion to a sensor marker, so she used one to keep the creatures at bay while Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger used their lightsabers to cut the ship free. To prevent further krykna attacks, the rebels built a fence of sensor markers around their base.[4]
In 2 BBY, a powerful being called Bendu taught Kanan to overcome his fear of the krykna by letting the Force guide his senses. The Bendu taught him that his fear and other negative emotions blocked his connection to the Force.[6] After the former Sith Maul kidnapped the crew of the Ghost, Kanan and Ezra had to retrieve the Malachor Sith holocron from a cave full of krykna. Kanan managed to used the Force to convince the spiders of their peaceful intentions.[7]
When an Imperial infiltrator droid landed on Atollon, it was attacked by several krykna before it could reach Chopper Base. When Garazeb Orrelios found the now-damaged droid, it was surrounded by several dead krykna.[9]
When Ezra, Kanan, and Sabine traveled into the wilderness so that Sabine could train with the Darksaber, their speeder passed several krykna.[10] During the Battle of Atollon, Kanan later traveled to the krykna nest where the Bendu dwelled in an attempted to convince the enigmatic Force-wielder to aid the rebels against the Empire.[11]
The Gran hunter Ro Thran once captured a bull krykna for the Tyn Syndicate.[8]
Behind the scenes[]
The krykna are based on an artwork by Ralph McQuarrie of a Dagobah lifeform called the knobby white spider,[12] based on a sketch made in February 1979 for the The Empire Strikes Back,[13] which first appeared in Kevin J. Anderson's 1995 Star Wars Legends novel Darksaber[14] and The Illustrated Star Wars Universe.[12] This was also the basis for the spice spider[15] and the knobby white ice spider.[16]
Appearances[]
- The High Republic: Escape from Valo (and audiobook) (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars Rebels — "The Mystery of Chopper Base" (First appearance)
- "The Thune Cargo" — Star Wars Rebels Magazine 22 (Indirect mention only)
- Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow
- Star Wars Rebels — "The Holocrons of Fate"
- Star Wars Rebels — "Warhead"
- Star Wars Rebels — "Trials of the Darksaber"
- Star Wars Rebels — "Zero Hour"
- Doctor Aphra Annual 2 (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge — "Episode 4" (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
Sources[]
- "The Mystery of Chopper Base" Episode Guide | Star Wars Rebels on StarWars.com (backup link)
- The Creatures of Marvel's Star Wars Comics, Part 1 on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 34 (Databank A-Z: Davish Krail–Kuat Drive Yards)
- Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded
- Dawn of Rebellion
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 57 (Highlights of the Saga: Leaving Skystrike)
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 57 (Weapons & Uniforms: Chopper Base—Atollon)
- Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition
- Star Wars: The Mandalorian Handbook (Indirect mention only)
- "Fon Davis: Model Shop Role Model" — Star Wars Insider 223 (Misidentification of knobby white ice spider)
- In Escape from Valo, Ram Jomaram Encounters a Deadly Predator — Exclusive Excerpt on StarWars.com (backup link)
- Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1: Creatures of the Galaxy
- Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
- Atollon in the Databank (backup link)
- Dokma in the Databank (backup link)
- Krykna in the Databank (backup link) (First identified as krykna)
- Lieutenant Dicer in the Databank (backup link)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1: Creatures of the Galaxy
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dawn of Rebellion
- ↑ Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Star Wars Rebels — "The Mystery of Chopper Base"
- ↑ Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Star Wars Rebels — "The Holocrons of Fate"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Doctor Aphra Annual 2
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels — "Warhead"
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels — "Trials of the Darksaber"
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels — "Zero Hour"
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The Illustrated Star Wars Universe
- ↑ Phil Szostak (@PhilSzostak) on Twitter: "Initially sketched in February 1979 for #TheEmpireStrikesBack, Ralph McQuarrie completed his "bog planet tree creature" painting in 1993 for The Illustrated #StarWars Universe, later inspiring both the krykna for #StarWarsRebels and the spiders for Chapter 10 of #TheMandalorian." (backup link)
- ↑ Darksaber
- ↑ Star Wars Special: C-3PO 1
- ↑ The Mandalorian — "Chapter 10: The Passenger"