Bog rats were a non-sentient species of quadruped native to the planet Bogano. They had hardened, wrinkled white skin, with some possessing red skin on their backs and upper legs, that was somewhat resistant to lightsaber blades.
The creatures' face consisted of a single large red eye above a mouth with a feeler on each side. Behind the feelers, three small spikes protruded from the bog rat's chin on each side. Each of a bog rat's limbs ended in a four fingered hand with long talons capable of digging. They also possessed a long tail at the end of their body.
Bog rats were simple predators that fed on smaller creatures like boglings and in turn were preyed upon by their natural enemy, the oggdo. Bog rats' poor eyesight made them ideal prey for oggdos. Hyper-aggressive and territorial, bog rats often hunted in packs in order to surround their foes. This allowed them to pose a threat to larger creatures like humans. When fighting, they would pretend to retreat and burrow underground before suddenly attacking.
They were also known to gradually form mutualistic relationships with their predatory neighbours, the splox. Splox would disturb bogling nests, luring them to the surface to be eaten by bog rats. With the adults taken care of, splox would then burrow into the nests and consume the bogling eggs, undisturbed.
In 14 BBY, bog rats were a common pest on Bogano and could be found in the areas surrounding the Bogano Vault built by the Zeffo species. When former Padawan Cal Kestis was brought to Bogano by the former Jedi Cere Junda, he encountered hostile bog rats while trying to reach the Vault. Two of these bog rats were in the abandoned Hermit's Abode of the Jedi Eno Cordova and when Kestis entered the structure via a pipe, one of the bog rats attacked a bogling that emerged from a burrow inside the abode. Kestis's droid companion, BD-1, leapt down and attacked the bog rat. This allowed the bogling to escape, but resulted in the bog rat hurling BD-1 across the room and damaging the droid's scomp link and leg. Kestis then killed the two bog rats and repaired BD-1's leg.
When Kestis and BD-1 were captured by criminal group known as the Haxion Brood, there were a number of captive bog rats held on board the brood's asteroid space station Ordo Eris, where they were used in gladiatorial matches. While escaping from imprisonment on the station, Kestis passed a cell holding two live bog rats, and another with three bog rat corpses. Numerous bog rat corpses were also dropped through large chutes in the station alongside various other animal remains. When Kestis and BD-1 entered a gladiatorial arena on the station, a pair of bog rats were released alongside bane back spiders and splox to fight them, although Kestis successfully slew everything sent against him and escaped.
Bog rats first appeared in the 2019 video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, developed by Respawn Entertainment. In-game, they are enemies that the player can encounter on Bogano. The purpose of the bog rat was to be a simple, basic enemy. The design team went through a wide array of designs before settling on a mix of a prairie dog and a one-eyed, shelled caterpillar. Bog rat concept art was done by artist Jean-Francois Rey.
- The Art of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- "Species From A to Z" — Star Wars - The Official Magazine 114