Jinjang berry

"Come on, Latara, you know it hardly rains up there. And without the jinjang berries, the baby gubas might starve."

―Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka^[2]

Jinjang berries, also known as Gin-jang berries, grew on the Forest Moon of Endor. In 3 ABY, the Ewok Teebo ate some of the berries for dinner, and he later helped the Ewoks Wicket Warrick, Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka, and Latara bring jinjang berries to a guba bird nest.

Description

Jinjang berries,^[1] or Gin-jang berries,^[5] grew from the jinjang shrub, which was native to the Forest Moon of Endor.^[1] They were blue in color^[2] and could be eaten by Ewoks,^[4] Bothans, Humans, Ithorians, Mon Calamari, Rodians, Sullustans, Trandoshans, Twi'leks, Wookiees, and Zabraks.^[3] The berries were typically used in desserts to enhance flavors.^[5]

History

"What about dinner? You were supposed to get something to eat."
"I did. The Kagles just made me tobo leaves, jing-jang berries, [sic] fried mahuga."

―Wicket Warrick and Teebo^[4]

Sometime between 0 ABY and around 1 ABY,^[6] a spacer explored the Forest Moon of Endor and foraged the forests to find jinjang berries. The individual later used the berries to cook ice cream in a Corellian Fried Ice Cream Fryer.^[3]

The Ewoks carrying the berries up the mountain

In 3 ABY,^[7] a trio of the brown-furred individuals known as the Kagles served the fruit, along with fried mahuga and tobo leaves, to the Ewok Teebo while on Endor. Teebo later recounted the dinner's dishes to his friend, Wicket Warrick.^[4]

Later that year,^[7] a group of young Ewoks—Warrick, Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka, Teebo, and Latara—carried a bagful of the berries each up a mountain to a guba bird nest. Kintaka, whose idea it had been, expressed concern for the baby birds, who would be in danger of starving due to the lack of rain. She reached the top first, offering the jinjang berries to the gubas, but they instead plucked her from the nest, rose in the air, and dropped her; her weight caused the nest to sag down and then spring up, launching the Ewoks to the bottom of the mountain.^[2]

Behind the scenes

Jinjang berries were first mentioned in "Home Is Where the Shrieks Are,"^[4] the third episode in the second season of the animated television series Ewoks, which premiered on September 20, 1986.^[8] They later appeared in "Battle for the Sunstar," the twentieth episode of the season,^[2] which first aired on December 6 that same year.^[8]

The Disney+ subtitles for "Home Is Where the Shrieks Are,"^[4] added on April 2, 2021,^[9] spell the berries' name as "jing-jang berries,"^[4] while the subtitles for "Battle for the Sunstar" use "jinjang."^[2] Jinjang berries, spelled "Gin-jang," also appeared in the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts,^[5] prior to its closure on December 15, 2011.^[10] Meanwhile, 2008's The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia included an entry for the berries' bush, spelled "jinjang."^[1] Among the two subtitled spellings, "jinjang" is the lone version that is also reflected in other source material—The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia—so this article uses this as the primary spelling, notes Galaxies' spelling as valid, and treats the second Disney+ spelling as an error.

Jinjang berries were added to Galaxies as a rare foraged food component for the portable deep fryer, introduced with the release of "Chapter 9,"^[3]^[11] published on April 3, 2008.^[12]