A tribubble bongo, alternatively referred to as a Gungan bongo submarine, represented a bio-engineered submersible vehicle employed by the Gungans residing on Naboo.
Bongos were uniquely crafted Gungan watercraft, structured around a coral-esque framework found under the sea. The individualized construction process resulted in each bongo being distinct. Despite its robustness, the bongo's shell was susceptible to harm from certain Naboo marine life. The design of bongos drew inspiration from aquatic creatures, frequently mirroring the appearance of squids or related fauna. They included an electrical generator and a navigation apparatus. Capacity varied from a solitary occupant to numerous individuals. The larger, multi-passenger variants were known as heyblibbers.
Propulsion for the bongo was achieved via elongated tentacles situated at the rear of the craft. These appendages facilitated forward movement. The vessel also integrated repulsorlifts to enable passage through specialized docking bays within Gungan urban centers. A distinctive buoyancy mechanism was employed; upon submersion, dedicated reservoirs released oil, thereby augmenting the vehicle's density. Conversely, to ascend, the oil was reabsorbed.
Bongos were exceptionally adaptable, serving in diverse capacities ranging from passenger conveyance to freight transport. The Gungans modeled their starfighter designs on the bongo.
The Bongomeken Collective likely pioneered the initial bongo designs. Over millennia, this evolved into the Otoh Gunga Bongameken Cooperative. Sizes varied from compact, single-person vehicles to expansive heyblibbers intended for extended voyages.
Each bongo was uniquely constructed by hand. The process involved cultivating an organic, coral-like skeleton in dedicated underwater farms managed by Gungan designers. This skeletal structure constituted the bongo's outer shell, which was strong, but vulnerable to attacks from opee sea killer. Consequently, the bongo was susceptible to damage from the sea monsters inhabiting Naboo's aquatic environments.
While the Gungans possessed the capacity to produce much of the technology needed for bongo construction, they relied on the Naboo for electronics and specialized components, such as metal cargo containers. Gungan traders procured such items from the Naboo in exchange for foodstuffs and medicine.
Bongos exhibited remarkable adaptability, allowing them to be tailored for various functions. Cargo bongos featured cargo holds instead of passenger modules, while a Gungan Army transport bongo could carry about five armed passengers. Monobubble racing bongos were also produced, and bongo technology even enabled the Gungans to construct starships, which they used to colonize the Naboo moon Ohma-D'un.
The bongo's technology inspired Gungan engineers in Lamaredd to conceive of the gondola skimmersub, which was based on bongo designs. Due to the scarcity of locab plasma, a bongo component, in Lamaredd, the gondola utilized an alternative technology.
During the Invasion of Naboo, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, employing a Jedi mind trick, persuaded Boss Nass to permit their use of a bongo to traverse Naboo's core and reach Theed, with the aim of rescuing Queen Amidala. However, the bongo sustained damage from an opee sea killer, which briefly bit into the vehicle when capturing it to eat, only releasing it when it itself was devoured by a sando aqua monster, and ultimately lost power within the lair of a colo claw fish's. Upon reaching the channel at Theed, they were compelled to abandon the craft after parking it too close to the current of one of Theed's waterfalls.
During the Galactic Civil War, a Gungan piloted a bongo to accompany a Star Tours StarSpeeder 1000 to a Rebel hangar situated on Naboo. Mirroring the experience of the Jedi, he was ambushed by an opee sea killer and was rescued by a sando aqua monster.
Initial design concepts for the Gungan bongo resembled a diving bell of organic appearance before Doug Chiang conceived of the squid-like propeller assembly. An unused concept for a large underwater passenger transport featured the manta-like silhouette. When the Episode I story changed so that the passenger transport was written out, the manta shape was incorporated into the bongo's look.