The Bith were an intelligent and peace-loving sentient species that originated on the planet of Bith, their homeworld. Distinctive for their smooth, domed heads and their large, black, glass-like eyes that lacked eyelids and therefore couldn't produce tears, Bith often pursued careers as musicians, scientists, and engineers. Their auditory senses were highly developed, enabling them to isolate and differentiate individual sounds in their environment. Lacking external noses, Bith possessed specialized olfactory organs located beneath the skin folds of their faces, which they used for smelling.
Often viewed as "unconventional" by other species, the Bith were a sentient humanoid species primarily recognized by their prominent eyes, elevated cranial bone structure, and the absence of a noticeable nasal organ. These traits made them easily identifiable throughout the galaxy. Aside from these features, they shared similarities with other humanoids, including a torso with two [arms](/article/limb] and two legs, topped with a single head. Each Bith's large eyes featured expansive black pupils, enabling them to perceive a wide spectrum of light wavelengths, granting them exceptional vision.
A series of olfactory folds were located on a Bith's face, directly under the eyes. These folds were not for breathing however, as Bith absorbed air directly through their skin. In conjunction with lacking a nose, Bith also lacked any visually apparent auditory organs, but possessed very sensitive hearing, and were susceptible to pain from loud sounds. Despite being an exaggeration, popular fiction sometimes depicted sonic attacks causing Bith's heads to explode.
Bith society on their homeworld of Bith was structured around independent city-states, a system of governance that functioned effectively despite its inherent instability. The Nozho–Weogar War, which devastated their world, triggered a radical shift in Bith culture, leading to a division between those permanently confined to Bith and those scattered across the galaxy, unable to return.
As a result of the devastating consequences of the war, the Bith embraced pacifism, not as a cultural tradition, but as a consequence of their historical experience with conflict. Those Bith who were off-world experienced the loss of their home without it physically disappearing, and a cultural divide emerged between them and those who remained on the planet, who eventually succeeded in stabilizing their culture and government. Despite this division, all Bith use their species' civil war as a cautionary tale about the pointlessness of violence.
The Bith were a colonizing species who had spread and adapted to thrive on numerous worlds, but many of those unable to return to the quarantined world struggled to make a living after migrating to the Outer Rim. Due to species's strong history of adaptation, some of those struggling eventually became musicians. Those that did became well known in the field despite Bith possessing no greater innate talent for music than any other species. Nevertheless, due to misconceptions and exaggerations within the galactic community, the species quickly developed a reputation for its musical talent, in addition to its intelligence and peaceful nature.
By the time of the Galactic Civil War, the Bith who remained on their homeworld resided in domed cities that shielded them from the rapidly evolving flora and fauna that inhabited the still-ravaged environment. The majority of these cities were situated within the crags of mountain ranges, necessitating the use of subterranean engineering and advanced urban architectural techniques to expand either deeper into the mountains or higher into the air in order to alleviate the cramped conditions. While the cities were safe to live in and visit, most offworlders, including other Bith, found being on Bith harsh and depressing.
The Bith language was originally structured around symbolic and numerical elements; however, following the civil war, it became separated from its numerological aspects. Some Bith continued to use numerical words as a form of coded communication with other Bith. Due to the species' reliance on offworld trade for essential resources, all Bith also learned Galactic Basic Standard from a young age.
The planet Bith once held a prominent position in the Galactic Republic's Galactic Senate, with Bith traveling extensively, engaging in scientific and philosophical discussions, and contributing to the intellectual and economic prosperity of both their homeworld and the galaxy. On Bith itself, corruption became widespread, reaching levels comparable to those that the Republic would experience shortly before its downfall. This situation changed dramatically approximately three hundred years before the Galactic Civil War, when a civil war erupted between the city-states of Nozho and Weogar. During the brief conflict, both sides deployed biological, chemical, nuclear, and mutagenic weapons against each other, causing extensive damage to the planet's ecosystem and resulting in the deaths of the majority of Bith's population.
The surviving Bith governments established a planet-wide quarantine, preventing the return of the numerous off-world Bith who attempted to return home. Those who were unafflicted following the war scattered across the Outer Rim Territories, seeking employment and assistance for their home. With the species' financial resources focused on repairing the damage to Bith, offworld Bith colonies and outposts dissolved or were integrated into other communities. The quarantine led other species to believe that the Bith were plagued, and the planet Bith virtually disappeared from galactic life.
In the years that followed the civil war, the Bith maintained its voice in the Galactic Senate, but after spending centuries begging for financial support, they became disillusioned with the Republic, which by this time had grown corrupt. When the Separatist Crisis finally arose, the Confederacy of Independent Systems promised the Bith much needed supplies and aid, persuading them to secede from the corrupt Republic. Despite this, during the Gungan Representative Jar Jar Binks' speech in support of the Emergency Powers Act, two Bith conversed in the corridors outside the Galactic Senate Chamber. While the Bith did not provide military support for the Separatists in the ensuing Clone Wars, the species was heavily persecuted by a wrathful Galactic Empire that succeeded the Republic. This left the species no choice but to side with the Alliance to Restore the Republic, despite the Biths' general uneasiness at participating in another war.
The Bith were reminded of the terrible cost of such wars when the Empire destroyed the planet Alderaan in 0 BBY. Some Bith within the Alliance made use of their species' musical reputation to go undercover as musicians, as few people would see anything out of the ordinary about a Bith band playing at a cantina. Rebel Bith engineers also designed special musical instruments such as digital flutes, that could be used by Alliance spies to conceal recording equipment as part of their cover.