Kaminoan

Kaminoans possessed a lanky, towering physique with pale skin, classifying them as humanoids. Their heads, characterized by an elongated shape, rested upon extended neck bones that afforded them limited movement. They featured large, almond-shaped black eyes containing white pupils, enabling them to perceive the ultraviolet spectrum. Male Kaminoans exhibited fin-like crests on their heads, whereas females were entirely bald and adorned unique crescent-shaped head ornaments. Their lengthy, delicate limbs facilitated a graceful, gliding gait, and their small feet were adapted to both the firm seabeds of their homeworld and, later, solid flooring. Kaminoans reached maturity at the age of 11.

Generally, Kaminoans showed little outward display of emotion or individuality. They regarded the clone troopers as their greatest accomplishment. Kaminoans were also isolationist in nature, concerning themselves with outsiders only when it was advantageous. This behavior stemmed from the great flood that reshaped their home planet of Kamino; they decided it was less risky to modify their genetic code and their world than to seek assistance from the Galactic Republic. While they managed to prosper, this left them with a lingering distrust when offered assistance from offworld. Despite this, Kaminoans did not necessarily consider themselves superior; they simply viewed other planets as distractions. Many even believed that everything they required was already present on Kamino.

In general, the Kaminoans were driven by scientific reason. Nevertheless, they frequently made pilgrimages to the submerged ruins of their ancient cities. Both historical and modern Kaminoan settlements were defined by their domed architectural style.

The Kaminoans, who came from the planet Kamino situated beyond the Outer Rim Territories in Wild Space, which was considered extragalactic, were originally a land-based people, though their connection to the ocean and water remained strong. Their homeworld was experiencing the end of a long ice age. The landforms and mountains of Kamino were unable to contain the water from the melting ice, and this major flood event compelled the Kaminoans to adapt their way of life. Initially, the species relocated to higher elevations, but eventually, they needed to construct elevated cities to evade the rising ocean. They built large spires and towers, which were linked to the ground that became the seafloor. These towering structures replaced older wattle-and-daub buildings.

To travel between cities, Kaminoans rode on the backs of aiwhas. Although they could have sought help from the Galactic Republic, the Kaminoans performed calculations and decided it was safer to act independently, as they feared colonization, resource depletion, and cultural alteration. The Kaminoans also preserved land-based species and adapted themselves, their flora, and their fauna to thrive on the transformed planet. Their new cities were fully enclosed, which allowed the Kaminoans to survive strong winds and rainstorms, and became home to the land-bound plants and animals they were able to save.

While Kamino remained largely unknown, the Kaminoans' proficiency in engineering and genetic engineering was rumored in certain circles of the underworld. They also operated a cloning facility on Bora Vio for a period, but they eventually abandoned it, leaving the clones created there behind. Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas learned of the species and traveled to Kamino to commission the creation of a Grand Army of the Republic. Although they had created clone armies before, Sifo-Dyas' proposal was a bold one, but the species ultimately adapted to it and fulfilled the request. However, the Sith assumed control of the project when Darth Tyranus compensated the Pyke Syndicate to destroy Sifo-Dyas' T-6 shuttle, resulting in the death of the Jedi Master. Tyranus also contracted bounty hunter Jango Fett to serve as the genetic source for the army. While it took ten years for the troops to mature, the army of clone troopers was finally ready to be introduced to the Republic.

Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi arrived on Kamino while tracking Fett, due to the bounty hunter's involvement in the plot to assassinate Senator Amidala, and met with the Kaminoan Prime Minister, Lama Su, as the Kaminoans believed Kenobi had arrived to finally check on the Grand Army. Shortly after the Republic learned of the army, the Galactic Senate granted Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, secretly the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, the emergency powers necessary to deploy the Kamino's clone army, under the guise of this power being needed to combat the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The clone troopers saw their first deployment under their Jedi Generals in the First Battle of Geonosis, the opening engagement of the Clone Wars.

The creation of the clone army placed the Kaminoans in galactic history, and they also gained representation in the Republic when Halle Burtoni traded her efforts in clone production into a seat in the Galactic Senate. However, as the sole producers of the clone army, Kamino became a prime target for Confederate attack.

In 21 BBY, the Confederacy did launch an assault on the world, but the Battle of Kamino concluded with a Republic victory. Following the battle, Clone Captain Rex expressed his belief that the Separatists would not attack the planet in the near future, and Echo and Fives were promoted to ARC troopers. During these clones' promotion ceremony in one of Tipoca City's hangars, several Kaminoans were nearby. Later in the war, Fives returned to Kamino after Tup mysteriously killed Jedi General Tiplar during the Battle of Ringo Vinda. This was because Tup's behavioral modification biochip, a secret device implanted in clones believed to only be a defense against rogue Jedi, malfunctioned and caused a premature execution of Order 66.

Kaminoan Nala Se attempted to conceal the chips from the Jedi Order, but Fives managed to reveal it to Jedi Master Shaak Ti. However, Fives was eventually killed and failed to warn the Jedi about the true nature of the chips: they were to be used by Chancellor Palpatine to force all clones to kill their Jedi officers. Palpatine gave physical evidence of his plans, the extracted chips of Fives and Tup, to Nala Se. They were sent to Tyranus, and the Sith were now able to destroy all traces of the truth.

Palpatine ultimately issued Order 66 and eradicated the Jedi Order, allowing him to transform the Republic into the First Galactic Empire. Although the Kaminoans sought to continue their relationship with the Republic's successor, Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin informed Lama Su that Emperor Palpatine no longer supported their cloning production as he had during the Clone Wars. After learning of the Empire's training program for enlisted soldiers under Vice Admiral Edmon Rampart, Lama Su became concerned that his clones were in danger of becoming obsolete. Therefore, he believed that the future of Kaminoans hinged on providing the Empire with a new type of clone that was superior to the original Jango Fett genotype, which continued to degrade in the aftermath of the war. On Coruscant, Halle Burtoni—who suspected the Empire would turn on her people and saw Su as an arrogant individual for trying to work with the Empire—lost her position in the Imperial Senate after growing too intrusive into Imperial affairs, learning that Rampart was taking Senate-approved funds for Kamino for other programs.

Eventually, the cloning facilities on Kamino were shut down by the Empire, which only withdrew clone troopers, clone cadets, clone embryos, material, and any Kaminoan deemed "essential," such as Nala Se. With that done, the Empire then destroyed every known Kaminoan facility and city on the planet, including Tipoca City. The Kaminoan population were forcibly interned and deported prior, with the few survivors scattered across the stars. The Empire then withdrew from Kamino, focusing its future cloning operations within Mount Tantiss on Wayland. Pressed into Imperial service, Se was brought to the facility to help with its projects. In part through the efforts of a reluctant to help Burtoni, the truth of Kamino's destruction was revealed by Senator Riyo Chuchi, but Palpatine blamed the attack on Rampart and his clones alone, using it to help push through the Imperial Defense Recruitment Bill.

Later in the Imperial Era, the pirate Hondo Ohnaka noted that he saw fewer Kaminoans in the galaxy. Some Kaminoans went on to join the Alliance to Restore the Republic, but the amorality they showed in medical matters, combined with the role they had played in the rise of the Empire, created a difficult relationship between them and their fellow Rebels. With the Empire having claimed the Kaminoan cloning technology and secured a monopoly over its use, Sidious's Sith Eternal cult used Kaminoan cloning technology and Strand-Casting in an effort to create cloned bodies for Palpatine, thereby ensuring he could pass his spirit into a new form if he died and rule forever.

During the High Republic Era, one such Kaminoan walked the streets of Bri-Phrang City on Eriadu when the planet was trapped inside the Occlusion Zone.

One of the clones kept in the abandoned cloning facility on Bora Vio was a Kaminoan.

The Kaminoan Kan Be was a crime lord during the Cold War between the First Order and New Republic. He joined forces with First Order Security Bureau agent Terex during the mission to Megalox Beta.

The design of the Kaminoans was inspired by the aliens from Steven Spielberg's film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which were themselves based on the "grey alien" of folklore.