Ri'Dar: In the realm of Legends, these were sentient flying primates originating from the forested landscapes of the planet known as Dar'Or. Fully grown, they possessed a wingspan reaching three meters and a body length of approximately one meter, inclusive of their fur-covered tails. The Ri'Dar's evolutionary path led them from tree-dwelling creatures that developed skin flaps between their limbs, enabling gliding. As time progressed, these rudimentary flaps transformed into genuine wings, supported by elongated finger bones. To sustain their flight, Ri'Dar needed to consume food equivalent to half their body weight daily, typically consisting of insects, fruits, and fungi. On Dar'Or and other planets with low gravity, the Ri'Dar exhibited remarkable aerial agility. However, they were unable to fly in environments where gravity exceeded standard levels. The wider galaxy became aware of the Ri'Dar when their homeworld was converted into an Imperial preserve, not for the sake of Dar'Or's indigenous wildlife, but to protect a predatory avian species called the elix. This creature had been brought from a high-gravity planet facing imminent destruction due to an approaching supernova. The elix proved to be even more lethal predators on the low-gravity world of Dar'Or. The Ri'Dar, already vulnerable to the saber-toothed indola, had to rely on their speed and heightened senses to evade this new danger.
Within their homeworld, the Ri'Dar maintained a simple existence within the canopies of trees. Their technological advancements were limited to basic tools like wooden spears, bows, and similar implements. The typical Ri'Dar was naturally skittish and apprehensive, since their most effective defense was flying away from danger. Their focus was more on the present than the future, as they lacked confidence in their long-term prospects. This carefree attitude also resulted in a volatile temperament, with Ri'Dar capable of shifting from extreme anger to joy with little warning. Courtship rituals involved elaborate mating dances. Ri'Dar were more widespread than one might expect, as they would sometimes secretly board ships belonging to smugglers and hunters who came to Dar'Or in search of elix meat, which was considered valuable. They were often found in the company of smugglers, serving as pets, servants, or, on occasion, as fully integrated crew members.
The Ri'Dar, averaging one meter in height and length, were winged primates covered in soft, brown fur. While their bodies generally resembled a humanoid structure with a head, torso, and four limbs, their elongated wings and short legs distinguished them from many other species in the galaxy. The Ri'Dar's feet had toes that allowed them to grasp objects or hang upside down from branches. Their wings were shaped like triangular membranes, extending from the tip of the elongated little finger to the small toe, and along the sides of the body and arms. At the wing's apex, Ri'Dar had between four and eight clawed digits, with six being the most common configuration. With an average wingspan of three meters, this body plan made them swift and agile aerobats on planets with less than one standard gravity, and skilled gliders on worlds with stronger gravitational pull. The bushy tail, long, wide, and flat, acted as an airfoil rudder to aid in flight maneuvers.
Despite having a relatively small cranium and sloped forehead, Ri'Dar were fully sentient, with brains comparable to those of many other intelligent species. Each Ri'Dar had a prominent brow ridge over two large eyes that glowed in various shades of red. Their pupils appeared as slits when contracted but as dark disks when dilated. The species' face was hairless and expressive, with a small, flat nose and strong jaws, the lower of which protruded slightly. Two large, pointed ears stood erect on either side of the head. Together, these features gave the Ri'Dar keen senses of sight, smell, and hearing. Their long-distance vision was particularly acute.
Ri'Dar were omnivores who ate fruits, fungi, and flying insects, preferring vegetation whenever possible. Their metabolism was so active that they needed to consume half their body weight each day for basic nourishment. The species reproduced sexually, with females giving birth to litters of young numbering five or more after mating. Youths grew quickly, reaching maturity in just a few weeks.
To outsiders, Ri'Dar seemed to be defined by two primary traits: hyperactivity and paranoia. These characteristics reinforced each other, causing them to frantically rush about due to the belief that death lurked around every corner, which made basic needs and urges the only impulses worth acting upon. Consequently, Ri'Dar lived in the moment with little regard for the future. Similarly, the flighty primates were prone to unpredictable mood swings, as their minds reacted intensely to stimuli. Ri'Dar society tended to be conservative, avoiding innovation and change as potentially dangerous unknowns, and preferring to ignore problems rather than actively solve them. Only immediate danger spurred them to action, usually to flee rather than fight. Questioning Ri'Dar about their edginess and timidity often confirmed their suspicions that the questioner was hiding something and should be avoided. Even close friends were not fully trusted.
Nevertheless, hyperactivity and fearfulness served as defense mechanisms against the constant dangers posed by the predators of Dar'Or, the Ri'Dar homeworld. For most of their history, the main threat came from the saber-toothed indola, also known as the sabertooth tree sloth. This carnivore was adept at raiding Ri'Dar warrens, targeting the young. During an indola attack, adults would raise an alarm, and all able-bodied members would flee. However, the warning often came too late to save the children; some attacks wiped out entire communities of young. After the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Ri'Dar also faced the elix, a species of bird introduced from offworld. These predators traveled in flocks, attacking airborne Ri'Dar en masse, skeletonizing adults in seconds. While adults could escape the slow-moving indola by flying, they were no match for the swift elix, making escape from an avian attack difficult. Instead, Ri'Dar had to use their keen senses to detect elix attacks early and reduce their exposure by confining open-air movement to the night, when the diurnal birds were inactive.
Ri'Dar lived in communities called warrens, social groups consisting of clusters of family nests built from local materials using simple stone-based technology. Warrens were located in the middle levels of the canopy of Dar'Or's vast forests of waza trees, each tree forming its own warren. Several trees, in turn, formed a city, housing up to a thousand inhabitants.
These settlements were the backdrop for Ri'Dar life, which, due to their high metabolisms, involved a lot of eating, sometimes leading non-Ri'Dar to view them as gluttons. Mating occurred within these communities, preceded by species-specific mating dances. Ri'Dar raised their offspring for a few weeks, after which the children were considered full members of the group and expected to fend for themselves with spears, bows, and arrows. When resting, Ri'Dar sometimes hung upside down, grasping a perch with their feet.
Ri'Dar could learn to speak Basic, though some had an accent that made /S/ sounds into long hisses. On Dar'Or, they wore little clothing, only simple adornments like necklaces. Those who left their homeworld sometimes adopted clothing common among spacefarers.
The Ri'Dar evolved on Dar'Or, a low-gravity planet in the Dar'Or system. They descended from non-winged primates with lanky limbs and prehensile tails that lived in the trees. Over time, the waza tree ecosystem fostered the development of wings, allowing the ancestral Ri'Dar to better access fruits, berries, nuts, and fungi. From arboreal climbers, they became aerial gliders, and then true fliers. Their tails flattened into ailerons for better steering. Simultaneously, the presence of the saber-toothed indola encouraged brain evolution. They mastered the use of tools, using spears and arrows to defend their warrens.
After being visited by travelers from beyond the system around 3959 BBY, Dar'Or and its system became part of the Jospro sector in the Outer Rim Territories. From 3,959 to 3956 BBY, during the Jedi Civil War, the world was part of Darth Revan's Sith Empire, but from 1004 to 1000 BBY, during the New Sith Wars, it was controlled by the Galactic Republic. The Ri'Dar homeworld fell into Separatist space during the Clone Wars, and was labeled OM973 on Imperial star-charts during the Galactic Empire. At some point in the late Galactic Republic or early Galactic Empire, the Ri'Dar's environment changed drastically when offworld ecologists relocated the predatory elix bird to Dar'Or to save it from extinction when its own world's star went supernova. The bird's home planet had a gravity 1.1 times standard. As a result of Dar'Or's relatively low gravity, they became even more adept at flying and killing prey in midair. The Ri'Dar soon learned that the birds considered them food.
The dual threat of the indola and elix severely reduced the Ri'Dar population on Dar'Or. They only avoided extinction due to their high birth rate, shifting their hunting and gathering to night, when the elix was less active. Meanwhile, the Empire designated Dar'Or an Imperial Species Preservation Zone, limiting travel to and from the planet. Nevertheless, elix meat was a delicacy, and indola were in demand among animal collectors, so smugglers secretly visited Dar'Or to capture them. Spacers speculated that the Empire's concern for preservation was a cover, and that the true reason for the blockade was different. Whatever the truth, the Imperial sentientologist Obo Rin included an entry on the Ri'Dar in his Catalog of Intelligent Life in the Galaxy, commissioned by the Sith Lord Darth Vader to detail species of interest to the Empire. Emperor Palpatine kept a datacard with information about Ri'Dar mating dances in his storehouse in Mount Tantiss on Wayland. By 137 ABY, the Ri'Dar homeworld was in territory controlled by the Sith Lord Darth Krayt as part of his Galactic Empire.
Despite their timidity and seclusion, Ri'Dar eagerly left their homeworld to explore when given the opportunity. Once smugglers began trading in elix and indola, some Ri'Dar escaped Dar'Or on visitors' freighters, usually as pets or servants. More rarely, they proved useful and became full crew members.
Over time, the number of Ri'Dar in the galaxy grew. However, after the novelty wore off, many freighter crews abandoned their Ri'Dar passengers at port, forcing them to find their own way. Other problems included their inability to fly on worlds with standard gravity or higher and their homesickness.
Because their first contacts were often criminals, many Ri'Dar took on criminal occupations. In 8 ABY, one such Ri'Dar managed a gambling hall in the Underworld of Coruscant. When Luke Skywalker asked about Han Solo, the Ri'Dar showed him security tapes for a bribe, identifying Solo's sabacc opponent as a Drackmarian named Omogg for another handout. Other Ri'Dar used their keen senses as snipers. Churhee's Riflemen accepted Ri'Dar members due to their superb long-range vision.
The Ri'Dar were introduced to Star Wars continuity in the 1989 sourcebook Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races, by Troy Denning for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, published by West End Games. The book included game statistics for Ri'Dar characters, showing them as agile and perceptive but slightly handicapped in intelligence and machine-using abilities. The species' description was expanded and modified in 1994 with the second edition, revised by Chuck Truett. In the new version, they retained their high dexterity and deficiency in machine use, but suffered severely in intelligence and strength, with penalties in stressful situations and a smaller pool of resources for character creation. Truett's revision also corrected an error in Denning's description: the first edition suggested all Ri'Dar had six digits per limb, but the illustration showed a Ri'Dar with only five. Truett stipulated that while six was the most common number of digits, Ri'Dar could have fewer or more.
The species has been used sparingly by other Star Wars authors. A Ri'Dar character appears in The Courtship of Princess Leia (1994) by Dave Wolverton, which spells the species' name Ri'dar. Specter of the Past (1997) by Timothy Zahn mentions the species and suggests Imperial interest in Dar'Or was related to the Ri'Dar themselves.