Mud yak

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"That was a load of mud-yak swill! Isn't there anyone on this rock who knows how to tell a story?"
―Ibess the Qua — 20?cb=20250116042720 ▶️ (file info)[3]

A mud yak, or mud-yak, was a type of hairy horned mammal that lived in the swamps and marshes on the planet Ossus. They were timid creatures with prodigious horns and were the origin of the phrase "load of mud-yak swill."

Description

Herbivores native to the planet Ossus,[1] mud yaks,[4] also known as mud-yaks,[3] were a type of hairy and horned[1] ruminant[2] mammal that lived in swamps and marshes. They traveled in herds[1] and grazed on river roots, which they dug up using prodigious horns that sloped downward from the tops of their skulls.[2] Mud yaks grew to be three meters (9 feet, 11 inches) in length with brown hair and short tusks. Although timid, mud yaks would defend themselves with their long horns if provoked.[1]

History

The phrase "load of mud-yak swill" was used[3] by around 3 ABY[5] to mean something was not good or not believable. Ibess the Qua, a member of the Rokana Raiders, invoked the phrase[3] around 3 ABY,[5] when he was disappointed in the caliber of stories his fellow raiders were telling at the tavern in their base in the Sayma Nebula.[3] In 9 ABY,[6] the Jedi Luke Skywalker briefly stepped on one of the creature's backs while training with the youngling Grogu at Skywalker's Jedi Temple on Ossus.[7]

Behind the scenes

Mud yaks first appeared in "Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger," the sixth episode of the live-action Disney+ series Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett,[7] which was released on February 2, 2022.[8] The audio descriptions of the episode described them as a "yak-like animal"[9] but they were first identified as mud yaks in the 2023 junior novelization of the series written by Joe Schreiber.[4] The alternate spelling of "mud-yak" was introduced in the "A Pirate's Fortune" expansion for Massive Entertainment video game Star Wars Outlaws,[3] which released on May 15, 2025.[10] Yaks are a species of long-haired domesticated cattle found in Asia.[11]

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 StarWars.com NYCC 2025: All the News and Reveals from the Lucasfilm Publishing Panel on StarWars.com (backup link)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Star Wars Outlaws
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Book of Boba Fett Junior Novel
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Premium-Era-real Visit a Galaxy Far, Far Away with our Star Wars liveblog direct from San Diego Comic-Con 2024! on Popverse: "We're beginning our journey three years after the Battle of Yavin" (backup link archived on January 22, 2025) dates the events of Star Wars Outlaws to 3 ABY. Per narrative director Navid Khavari's comments, the game's "A Pirate's Fortune" DLC chronologically occurs immediately after the end of Outlaws's main events, meaning the DLC must have taken place around that year.
  6. ↑ Star Wars: Timelines places the present day events of Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett in 9 ABY.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Book of Boba Fett logo Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett — "Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger"
  8. ↑ D23-Logo Everything New You Can Stream on Disney+ in February 2022 on D23.com (backup link)
  9. ↑ The Book of Boba Fett logo Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett — "Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger" (Audio description from Disney+)
  10. ↑ StarWars.com Steal a Look at Star Wars Outlaws: A Pirate's Fortune, Available May 15 on StarWars.com (backup link)
  11. ↑ Premium-Era-real Yak: Wild Ox of Asia, Himalayas & Tibet on Encyclopædia Britannica (backup link archived on September 11, 2025)