Porg

Biology and appearance

These birds, known as porgs, were a non-sentient species. Their build was stout, featuring a pair of stubby wings, flat, beakless visages, and a duo of webbed appendages for feet. They demonstrated a capacity for rapid terrestrial locomotion and an aptitude for squeezing into confined spaces.

A sexually dimorphic nature was evident in porgs; the males exhibited a slight size advantage over the females, further distinguished by orange-colored plumage encircling their eyes. Possessing brown irises and black pupils, their eyes provided stereoscopic vision, with telescopic capabilities aiding in the capture of fish. Both sexes sported dense feather coverings, displaying white hues on the body and face, transitioning to gray or brown on the wings and back. This coloration afforded them effective natural camouflage. Despite their seemingly substantial appearance, they were surprisingly lightweight, owing to a robust outer layer of waterproof feathers coupled with a fluffy insulating underlayer, an adaptation favoring colder climates.

Evidently, porgs grasped certain linguistic elements. Upon overhearing Rey addressing Chewbacca as "Chewie," they misinterpreted it as "chewy," prompting speculation about Chewbacca's potential as sustenance or food.

Behavior

These exceedingly inquisitive, cliff-dwelling entities populated the islands of Ahch-To, a planet. Their offspring, termed "porglets," emerged in pairs. Porgs manifested roosting habits, constructing nests along the island's cliff faces. They gathered pliable materials for nest construction and exhibited an attraction to lustrous objects. Nests were fashioned from substances like hair, fibers, or grasses, adorned with shiny trinkets they had procured. Both parents participated in nest maintenance. Porgs possessed the ability to execute controlled plunges into the sea, where they secured fish for sustenance or to provision their otherwise-helpless young; they also pursued crustaceans.

Water held a special appeal for porgs, serving both as a source of hydration and a medium for recreation; they also enjoyed sampling novel flavors. Both wild and domesticated porgs displayed an unusual captivation with human artifacts. Shiny items also held a particular allure for them. Unrestrained curiosity could lead to considerable disruption. Their vocalizations spanned a spectrum from burbles to squeaks to melodic utterances. Contentment was expressed through a distinctive crooning melody. Notwithstanding their inquisitive disposition, they could maintain complete silence when necessary and exhibit shyness when threatened. Porgs relished being caressed and scratched, particularly behind their ears. A collective of porgs was designated a "murder."

History

Porgs originated as seabirds on Ahch-To. Some species considered them palatable, leading to instances of hunting by the resident Lanai and visitors to Ahch-To alike. During the First Order-Resistance War, when Jedi Master Luke Skywalker discarded his lightsaber from a cliff, a pair of porgs scrutinized the weapon. These avian creatures nearly triggered the lightsaber before Rey startled them. Shortly after, another porg observed the Jedi Master spearfishing from a cliff on the island with curiosity. Rey found the porgs useful in her Jedi training when she used the Force to catch one in the air to retrieve the lightsaber it had taken. Seeing that the porg's flock was visibly fascinated by her power, Rey promised them all "a turn." While on Ahch-To, the Wookiee Chewbacca prepared two porgs for a meal. Several of the birds stared at him before he could eat, but Chewbacca scared them away. When Chewbacca arrived on Ahch-To, he considered porgs as a tasty snack, but found it difficult to kill the winged creatures when the pack turned their sad eyes on him.

A pair of porgs, unable to find blue moss for their young twins, took wiring of the same color from the Millennium Falcon, hindering repairs that were being performed by Chewbacca and R2-D2. Chewbacca followed the porgs to their nest and tried to trade the blue wiring for a blanket, but was refused. Chewbacca soon realized the porgs' situation and, convinced by R2, braved strong winds to harvest the moss from the high tree. The parents returned the wiring to Chewbacca to show their gratitude, marking his first amicable relationship with porgs.

Later, at least four porgs boarded the Millennium Falcon and built a nest. One of them went with Chewbacca during the Battle of Crait. Despite initially disliking the porgs, Chewbacca grew to like them and became their friend. These stowaways eventually spread their species far from their home planet.

General Leia Organa boarded the Millennium Falcon and saw a number of the creatures roosting there, prompting her to ask Chewbacca when the ship had become a birdcage.

Among the porgs that lived on the Millennium Falcon were the Porg Stowaway, Puffy, and Snappy.

In 34 ABY, porgs were brought to the planet Batuu and sold as pets in the Creature Stall at Black Spire Outpost. According to author and explorer Eloc Throno, porgs were brought to Batuu when a light freighter arrived in the spacesport. Oga's Cantina served a deep orange-fruity drink from Ahch-To called a Cliff Dweller in mugs shaped like porgs.

In 35 ABY, a pair of porgs watched as Rey tried to destroy Kylo Ren's TIE whisper and her lightsaber on Ahch-To.

Behind the scenes

Porgs were created for the 2017 movie Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi. Writer/director Rian Johnson came up with the idea, creating them to digitally hide the large number of real puffins on Skellig Michael, the filming location for Ahch-To. Creature concept designer Jake Lunt Davies said that Johnson "was looking at how can he work with [the puffins]. You can't remove them. You physically can't get rid of them. And digitally removing them is an issue and a lot of work, so let's just roll with it, play with it. And so I think he thought, 'Well, that's great, let's have our own indigenous species. Porgs were first shown in behind-the-scenes footage from The Last Jedi at the D23 Expo in July 2017. They were officially named in a StarWars.com interview with Lucasfilm Story Group creative executive Pablo Hidalgo. Hidalgo, along with fellow Story Group member Leland Chee, reasoned that the birds seen flying on Ahch-To at the end of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens were also porgs, retroactively stating that their first appearance was in that film.

During the concept stage of The Last Jedi, creature designer Jake Lunt Davies looked at a variety of influences, taking ideas from birds, bats, flying squirrels, and aquatic creatures such as seals, otters, and beavers. Johnson approved a design based on a seal combined with a pug, similar to aquatic, flightless penguins. Porgs were made using different effects including puppets and CGI. About fifteen porgs were built, each for a specific moment in the film, a group of painted models, animatronic pieces, and 1 "hero" model. The creatures' squawks were created by manipulating a combination of recordings of doves, chickens, and turkeys. The recordings were pitched to create the birds' unique sounds. In addition, Skywalker Sound team member Ren Klyce sampled imitations of a turkey call performed by an intern named Nick Doctor to further develop the sound of the porgs. When ILM created the CG porgs, they made sure to match the movements made by on-set puppeteers. Concept art for the film showed that, in the scene where porgs inspect Skywalker's lightsaber, they considered having one of them activate the weapon just as another was looking down the shaft, killing it.

At the theme park attraction Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, porg items are sold at the out-of-universe Creature Stall. Souvenir porg mugs are included when you buy a Cliff Dweller at Oga's Cantina.