Mimphs were diminutive beings, possessing semi-sentience, indigenous to the Forest Moon of Endor. Although lacking full sentience, they demonstrated intelligence and could understand and utilize language to interact with sentient species like the Ewoks. Their capabilities extended to tool manipulation and the construction of villages, and groups of mimphs could even successfully hunt prey significantly larger than themselves.
In the year 3 ABY, a mimph group originating from a community situated near Bright Tree Village managed to capture the Ewok Wicket Wystri Warrick, subsequently displaying him in their village. When a fearsome hanadak went on a destructive rampage through the village, Warrick bravely confronted and defeated the beast, thereby saving the mimph residents. Later, when the Snow King caused Endor to be covered in a blanket of snow and ice, the village became buried, necessitating the mimphs' use of shovels to clear away the heavy snowfall until the King was ultimately defeated.
Mimphs were small creatures exhibiting semi-sentience, with adult individuals reaching approximately ankle-height when compared to an Ewok. They possessed a bipedal stance, walking on two legs, and had two hands each featuring three fingers. Distinguishing features included elongated, forked ears; a flattened, heart-shaped tail; and a mouth filled with white teeth. Their bodies were primarily covered in pink fur, while the lower portion of their face and the interior of their ears were white. Their eyes, mostly white with black pupils and pink eyelids, were positioned beneath eyebrows that could be either white or black. A pair of whiskers extended from each side of their small, red nose. Despite having relatively slender limbs, their heads were proportionally large, roughly the size of their torso. Some mimphs were observed to develop white facial hair. Ewoks perceived mimph voices as being high-pitched.
Mimphs made their homes in villages, which included dwellings crafted from sturdy plant matter secured around stalks of tall, thick grass by bindings at the top and bottom. Mimph houses often featured a brown exterior with green roofs and balconies, and a single circular opening served as the entrance. Larger structures, sharing similar colors and designs, were frequently built atop tree trunks. Mimph attire mirrored their homes in design; a typical outfit consisted of a tan bodysuit with integrated feet, adorned with a horizontal yellow stripe across the chest. Some outfits also featured a red diamond centered on the stomach. Mimphs displayed a variety of headgear, including a horned helmet worn by Masher.
Despite their relatively small size compared to other species, mimphs were known as formidable hunters, often cooperating in groups to capture larger animals. Their limited cognitive abilities did not hinder their capacity to outsmart sentient adversaries. They could communicate with these adversaries if they shared a common language. They were skilled hunters, utilizing rope and large, wheeled vehicles to facilitate the transport of their captured prey. Mimph children received care from their mothers, and many mimphs owned and used snow shovels, which they employed to maintain their villages during the winter season. Exhibiting a fascination with larger beings, mimphs were known to exhibit their captives for the amusement of the community.
The mimph species originated on the Forest Moon of Endor, a moon characterized by diverse landscapes, where they established villages and engaged in hunting larger animals for sustenance. By the time 3 ABY arrived, one such village had been established near a river in close proximity to the Ewoks residing in Bright Tree Village.
During that year, the village served as the home for mimphs named Smasher, Thrasher, and Masher. These three mimphs, along with another individual, discovered the young Ewok Wicket Wystri Warrick lying unconscious on the banks of the nearby river. Warrick, who had been engaged in a battle against a formidable beast known as a hanadak in an attempt to obtain a fang for his Belt of Honor, awoke to find the four mimphs standing over him. Restrained with the mimphs' rope and placed on a wheeled vehicle, Warrick was unable to escape. The mimphs declared their intention to return him to their village. Upon arrival, the mimphs regarded Warrick as a giant in comparison to themselves. The immense Ewok also posed a threat; a simple sneeze from the outsider was enough to destroy several of the village's tiny structures. The mimph leaders kept the Ewok tied up behind a curtain that overlooked the settlement. As the residents cheered and shouted to see the Ewok, Masher introduced Warrick as "the monstrous; the fearsome: Wicket!" The curtain was drawn back, and the entire village stared at the giant Ewok in horror. As the crowd gazed, mimph mothers shielded their children's eyes, and Masher asked Warrick to put on a show by roaring. The Ewok, however, refused, and instead mumbled the expletive "kvark" to himself. As the mimphs cheered on, repeating the word, the hanadak heard the commotion and entered the village. The beast tore through the area and destroyed buildings with its feet and hands. The four mimphs who had captured Warrick leaped onto the hanadak's leg in a futile attempt to slow the beast down. Warrick, concerned for the mimphs' safety, tore free of his bonds.
The hanadak continued its rampage, swatting the four mimphs into the air, but they were caught by Warrick, who set them down gently and grabbed the curtain that the mimphs had used to hide him. After climbing a tall tree, Warrick leaped onto the hanadak's shoulders and, using the curtain as a blindfold, led the hanadak toward the river where the mimphs had kidnapped him. Warrick leaped to safety as the hanadak fell in to the water and was dropped over a waterfall. The Ewok then expressed to the mimphs his disappointment in having failed to acquire a hanadak fang for his Belt of Honor. The four mimphs, grateful for the Ewok's help in defeating the creature, considered the matter and granted the Ewok a tooth from Thrasher, who had lost it in a fight.
Later in 3 ABY, the weather on Endor underwent an unusual shift, becoming unusually cold and snowy during the summer season. As a result, the mimph village found itself buried under a thick layer of snow. The mimphs were compelled to utilize shovels to remove the accumulated snow, which, in certain areas, reached a depth equivalent to a mimph's height. Teebo, an Ewok who had recently cast a weather-altering spell, believed that he was responsible for the unseasonal snow. Consequently, he, along with his companions Warrick, Latara, and the Princess Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka, embarked on a journey to the Sun King's palace, the residence of the powerful being known as the Sun King, to provide an explanation for the situation. During their journey to the palace, the Ewoks witnessed the mimphs diligently clearing the snow from their village, an event that amplified Teebo's feelings of guilt. Upon discovering that the magical artifact known as the season scepter had been stolen by the Sun King's brother, the Snow King, the Ewoks traveled to the Snow Palace. There, they successfully defeated the Snow King and persuaded him to restore Endor to its summer season. The severe and unnatural winter came to an end, and the entire region of Endor, including the mimph village, was restored to its summer conditions.
On another occasion during that same year, a group of mimphs found themselves under attack by a hairy, bipedal creature. Just as the beast was about to hurl two houses filled with mimphs into its gaping maw, the Ewoks Wicket W. Warrick and Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka descended on a skin glider and rescued the mimphs from the predator's grasp.
The mimphs made their initial appearance in the second season of the Ewoks television series, featuring as part of the show's opening credits animation sequence. They were given their first starring role in the narrative of "Gone With the Mimphs," which was the ninth episode of the season. Linda Woolverton wrote the episode, which was initially broadcast on October 18, 1986. Mimphs made a brief appearance in the season's thirteenth episode, "The Season Scepter," which was written by Bob Carrau and aired on November 1, 1986. Both episodes depict mimphs with a dark-red covering on their heads, and also portray some as having a pair of horns. While neither episode clarifies whether these coverings and horns are a form of headgear or a part of the mimphs' natural anatomy, this article assumes the former. No source has clarified when the events of the opening credits take place; this article assumes they must occur after Wicket W. Warrick meets the mimphs in "Gone With the Mimphs," but the placement of the beast attack on the mimphs is otherwise arbitrary.
The article "A Star Wars CELibration," which was published in the 1995 magazine Star Wars Insider 27 and which provides plot summaries for all Star Wars: Ewoks and Star Wars: Droids episodes, capitalizes the M in "Mimph." However, the 2008 reference book The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, which establishes that the creatures are semi-sentient and native to Endor, does not. This article assumes that the more recent Encyclopedia is correct.