Gungans, an amphibious and sentient species, were the original inhabitants of the planet Naboo. These varied Gungan races possessed the ability to thrive both in water and on land, frequently establishing their homes in underwater cities like Otoh Gunga. Gungans were physically tall humanoids characterized by a lithe build, powerful leg muscles, robust bills, strong tongues, and numerous other adaptations suited for Naboo's aquatic environments. Their speech in Galactic Basic Standard was marked by distinctive accents. It was also uncommon to see Gungans away from Naboo.
Prior to the Trade Federation invasion, the Gungans maintained a strained relationship with the non-native human Naboo people. The invasion prompted the Gungans to unite with the Naboo in order to expel the Trade Federation from their shared homeworld. In the aftermath of the invasion, Jar Jar Binks ascended to the position of Junior Representative for the Gungan people within the Galactic Senate, serving alongside Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo.
The Gungans were a sentient amphibious species distinguished by their tall, humanoid forms, flexible bodies, and powerful leg muscles, all of which enabled them to flourish in the waters of Naboo. Despite their strong connection to water, Gungans didn't require it for survival and could inhabit areas far removed from it. Indeed, they transitioned between land and water with ease. While their natural habitat was the fresh waters of Naboo, they demonstrated the ability to endure saltwater environments, such as the seas of Mon Cala.
Gungan infants were born as tadpoles, developing limbs within mere months of hatching. As a result, young Gungans learned to walk at an early age, subsequent to mastering swimming with their legs. Possessing robust lungs, they could hold their breath for considerable durations. Their bodies generated a waterproof mucus that aided their movement through water, and they could project it over a substantial distance, even while submerged. Their skeletal structure was remarkably flexible, composed of cartilaginous material rather than rigid bone. The elongated Gungan face featured a resilient yet pliable bill used for digging and extracting food. Some Gungans, such as Roos Tarpals, exhibited whiskers on their bills, which signified maturity among their kind. They possessed lengthy, muscular tongues that allowed them to retrieve mollusks and smaller amphibians from the Naboo swamps, which they readily consumed raw.
The Gungan species included two distinct races: the slender Otolla, characterized by prominent bills and eyes positioned on short stalks, and the sturdier Ankura, whose eyes were hooded. The Gungan earlobes, known as haillu, were most pronounced in the Otolla.
The Gungan species originated on the Mid Rim world of Naboo, which they shared with a human civilization known as the Naboo that evolved from the Grizmallti colonists. The human-Gungan conflicts took place between the human colonists and the Gungans. Later, the various Gungan tribes were unified under Boss Gallo as a result of a Gungan tribal war. During the High Republic Era, a Gungan scientist named Thaddeus Wolk was a leading figure in theoretical hyperspace physics and taught Chancey Yarrow at the Academy of Carida until she was expelled for theorizing about the creation of an artificial gravity well projector, which she eventually designed for use by the Nihil. Wolk was assassinated on Coruscant before he could stop Yarrow from creating the gravity well projector.
By 32 BBY, the relationship between the Gungans and the Naboo remained strained, though open conflict had been absent for generations. The Trade Federation invasion of Naboo ultimately changed Gungan-Naboo relations. Jar Jar Binks, a Gungan exile, befriended Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo and persuaded her to seek the Gungans' assistance. Amidala successfully won over the Gungan leader Boss Nass, leading to an alliance between the two peoples to drive out the Trade Federation. In the Battle of Naboo, the Gungan Grand Army engaged the Federation's droid army outside Theed, enabling Amidala's forces to reclaim the capital and capture Viceroy Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation. Following the invasion, the Gungans gained the right to vote in the planet's elections, signifying improved relations with the Naboo.
During the Separatist Crisis, Jar Jar Binks represented the Gungan people in the Galactic Senate as their Junior Representative. He was instrumental in supporting legislation that led to the creation of the Grand Army of the Republic. Throughout the Clone Wars, the Gungans remained loyal to the Galactic Republic. Gungan forces participated in the Battle of Mon Cala, aiding Prince Lee-Char's Mon Calamari forces and Republic allies against Separatist forces and their Quarren allies.
As the Clone Wars intensified, growing tensions between the Gungans and the Naboo arose, fueled by rumors of a Gungan plot to assist a Separatist invasion of Naboo. Influenced by his pro-Separatist adviser Rish Loo, the reigning Boss Lyonie commanded the Gungan Grand Army to attack Theed in coordination with a Separatist Droid Army led by General Grievous. However, Binks, with the assistance of Senator Amidala and Anakin Skywalker, exposed Rish Loo's conspiracy. Before Lyonie could call off the attack, Rish Loo wounded him. Binks then impersonated Lyonie and ordered the Grand Army to cease their assault on Theed. Gungan forces under Roos Tarpals also played a role in capturing Grievous but were compelled to release him after Count Dooku threatened to kill Skywalker.
After the Battle of Endor, the Gungans discovered typhoon-strength storms across Naboo. These storms were caused by climate disruption array satellites deployed by the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Torment as part of Operation: Cinder, a secret Imperial plan to devastate Naboo and other worlds. A New Republic fleet intervened before the Imperials could render Naboo uninhabitable, destroying the Imperial forces and saving the planet.
Around 9 ABY, during a mission to rescue the Twi'lek Qin from a New Republic Correctional Transport, the criminal Migs Mayfeld mocked his associate Din Djarin, a Mandalorian bounty hunter and follower of the Way of the Mandalore who was required to keep his helmet on. Mayfeld sarcastically suggested that Djarin was a Gungan embarrassed to show his face, using an exaggerated voice.
While traversing an automated sidewalk in the New Republic senatorial complex on Hosnian Prime, Senator Leia Organa observed a Gungan engaged in a lively conversation via his comlink.
The Gungan government was structured around city-based clans and governments that reported to a High Council, which mediated disputes between cities. Gungan society was highly stratified, emphasizing peace, discouraging violence, and punishing even minor offenses like vandalism with physical penalties or exile. Each city maintained an army to defend its honor and assert its dominance over its territories.
Despite being sometimes regarded as primitive, the Gungans possessed advanced technology, including bubble projectors, bongo submarines, and weaponry. The Gungans favored technology that was linked to their planet's ecology. For instance, they utilized energy plasma extracted from their planet's crust to power their cities and weapons. The Gungans also domesticated animals for transportation and combat, such as the kaadu, the falumpaset, and the fambaa. Taming a kaadu and forming a bond with the animal was a rite of passage in Gungan culture. Fambaas were also essential to Gungan culture because they, like the Gungans, could easily move from land to water.
In contrast to their human counterparts, the Gungans were a proud warrior race and maintained a sizable Gungan Grand Army, which served as their standing defense force. It participated in the Battle of Naboo during the Trade Federation's occupation of the planet. During the Clone Wars, the Grand Army engaged Separatist forces on both Mon Cala and Naboo itself.
By the time of the Invasions of Naboo, the inhabitants of Otoh Gunga were known for producing a dessert so large that it required at least four hominids to consume and was capable of inducing a sugar coma.
The Gungan population had a low incidence of Force-sensitives, and no native traditions developed around it. Few Gungans ever joined the Jedi Order, and none were ever reported to have become Sith, despite the rumor that Jar Jar Binks was Darth Vader, though at least one Gungan, Roo-Roo Page was found to be Force-sensitive and was thus, a target of Darth Sidious for her Force potential. Culturally, the Gungans were attuned to the Living Force and possessed a practical understanding of it.
Gungans were rarely seen beyond Naboo, preferring to stay on their homeworld and support its ecosystems. Gungans who ventured abroad were typically exiles, banished from their society on Naboo due to the strict laws governing their people.
One well-known Gungan was Jar Jar Binks, a former outcast who united his people with the Naboo and later served as a Junior Representative in the Galactic Senate. Binks was later shunned by many adult Gungans and Naboo for his role in facilitating the rise of the Empire. Binks later worked as a professional clown, entertaining displaced refugee children. Other notable Gungans included the scientist Thaddeus Wolk, the warrior Roos Tarpals, the rulers of Otoh Gunga Boss Nass and his successor Lyonie, the shaak herder Peppi Bow, and the minister Rish Loo.
The Gungans were introduced in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, the initial entry in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
Early storyboards for the film depicted the Gungans being wiped out along with Otoh Gunga before the Battle of Naboo, preventing their participation in the battle. However, the story was changed because genocide was deemed too dark for the film. By allying with the Naboo in the ancient Sacred Place located in a forest, the Gungans reinforced the "symbiotic relationship" metaphor that director George Lucas envisioned for the prequel trilogy. This ties into the Force having a cosmic half and living half, which are interconnected. Nature is at its best when used for the mutual benefit of all living things. In the ancient forest, the Gungans and Naboo unite to defend their ways of life from a robotic army.