Dressellian

Dressellians were a tall, thin, mammalian humanoid species with elongated, hairless skulls, wrinkled skin, and teal-colored blood who valued freedom above anything else^[5]. For most of their history, they lived a peaceful and isolated lifestyle on their homeworld, Dressel, until the Galactic Civil War forced them into closer contact with the rest of the galaxy as supporters of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and later, the New Republic.

Society and culture

Modern Dressellian society is made up of city-states governed by direct representative democracies. While citizens of the same city-state cooperate well, those from different regions often struggle to agree. Many Dressellians still live in traditional nomadic tribes, roaming the vast steepara forests that span Dressel's islands and continents.^[6]

These towering trees, nearly a kilometer high, are central to traditional life—providing materials for textiles and construction, as well as food like steepara seed and syrup, cuirreal climber meat, and mushrooms. The forests are also home to dangerous predators such as the erselu, panagra, and astrigia.^[6]

Imperial occupation has deeply impacted Dressellian society, uniting its people against a common enemy. Many have returned to their nomadic roots to better resist the Empire. With support from their Bothan allies, they conduct effective guerrilla raids on Imperial forces, who are almost exclusively human. This conflict has fostered a deep mistrust of outsiders—especially humans—among the Dressellians.^[6]

Though renowned for their resistance efforts, Dressellians are also celebrated artists. Their music, literature, and visual art resonate with powerful, universal themes and have gained popularity among Imperial opponents.^[6]

History

Dressellians evolved in the sub-equatorial grasslands of Dressel's main continent, Breehara. Two centuries before the Galactic Civil War, the Dressel system was discovered by Bothan scouts. At the time, the Bothan Clan Askar decided to leave the low-tech natives of the planet alone, restricting their activities to mining the Dressellian Asteroid Belt.^[2] The Dressellians did have limited contact with the Galactic Republic, however, as a Dressellian named Reeft, was inducted into the Jedi Order and became a Jedi Knight during the last years of the Galactic Republic.^[7]

Panno, a Dressellian working for the Alliance to Restore the Republic

Dressel's isolation ended after the Galactic Empire took control of the system around 10 BBY. The Imperials descended on the planet, moving to set up bases and exploit Dressel's natural resources. The Dressellians, despite having only a loose political organization and barely industrial-level technology, formed a resistance movement. At first, their resistance groups had limited effect on the Imperials. As time wore on, however, the Dressellians became masters of guerrilla warfare, making the continued occupation of Dressel very costly for the Empire. Dressellian guerrillas armed themselves with a mixture of their own equipment and captured Imperial weapons and repulsorlift vehicles. Later, the Bothans threw their support behind the rebellion, smuggling equipment, weapons, and mercenaries to train the Dressellians. The Dressellian Projectile Rifle was designed during this period, and was produced in large numbers and used to great effect. In the end, the Imperials decided the occupation was not worth the cost, and abandoned Dressel.^[2]

The most prominent Dressellian during the Galactic Civil War was the Rebel commando Orrimaarko, a veteran of his homeworld's rebellion. Orrimaarko was present in the briefing room aboard the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Home One before the Battle of Endor,^[3] and later participated in the battle as part of General Han Solo's strike team.^[8]

After their homeworld was liberated, Dressellian society returned to its former state, with the former underground leaders becoming the leaders of Dressel's array of loosely organized participatory democracies.^[8] As they had for centuries, the Dressellians preferred to keep to themselves; they became members of the New Republic, but their Senatorial delegation frequently skipped votes unless coaxed into participating by their old Bothan allies. This changed during the Yuuzhan Vong War, when many Dressellians once again took up arms to defend their homeworld and the rest of the galaxy.^[4]

Behind the scenes

For a time, some fans assumed that the "prune face" aliens in Return of the Jedi were in fact the Bothans. However, the Expanded Universe has made the Bothans into an entirely separate species. Galaxy Guide 12: Aliens — Enemies and Allies was the first to identify the Dressellians by name.