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.
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. They had a strong aversion towards the radiation emitted by sensor beacons. They feasted primarily upon dokma.
Although they could be connected with through the Force, it was extremely difficult, as they were highly sensitive to negative emotions. They were not aggressive by nature, however their sensitivity to negative emotions could cause them to act aggressively towards those who displayed such emotions.
Sabine Wren used her blasters in a futile attempt to ward off an attacking krykna.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
When Ezra, Kanan, and Sabine traveled into the wilderness so that Sabine could train with the Darksaber, their speeder passed several krykna. 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.
The Gran hunter Ro Thran once captured a bull krykna for the Tyn Syndicate.
Ralph McQuarrie's art of the "knobby white spider" for the The Illustrated Star Wars Universe
The krykna are based on an artwork by Ralph McQuarrie of a Dagobah lifeform called the knobby white spider, based on a sketch made in February 1979 for the The Empire Strikes Back, which first appeared in Kevin J. Anderson's 1995 Star Wars Legends novel Darksaber and The Illustrated Star Wars Universe. This was also the basis for the spice spider and the knobby white ice spider.
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