Cookie, whose real name was Strono Tuggs, was an Artiodac male with physical deformities who spent centuries working as the cook for Maz Kanata in her castle, a haven for pirate activity. As a young individual, he became fascinated with the culinary arts after watching cooking videos featuring the renowned chef Gormaanda, but his unusual physical appearance was a barrier to acceptance. Kanata provided his initial opportunity by employing him, and she valued him as a friend, respecting his privacy regarding his past.
After two decades of service at the castle, Tuggs' assistant chef, Robbs Ely, was murdered, and Tuggs was implicated in the crime. To dispel any suspicion falling on himself, Tuggs disposed of the body. He then embarked on an investigation into Ely's death, discovering that Ely's recipe book had been taken. Tuggs devised a scheme to unmask the killer, organizing a competition among four of his chefs, ostensibly to find Ely's replacement, but with the true intention of enticing the murderer to use a recipe from Ely's book, thus exposing themselves. In each stage of the competition, Tuggs, along with two kitchen BD-3000 luxury droids, Carly and J'Nell, evaluated the contestants and eliminated one. During the third round, Jom Jarusch, a chef who was a hybrid of Mon Calamari and Quarren, utilized a recipe that Tuggs recognized as Ely's. With his objective achieved, the head chef concluded the competition, awarding the position of sous chef to Damor Gregon, Jarusch's rival.
Tuggs, convinced that Jarusch was the perpetrator, searched him and found the stolen recipe book. However, the thief maintained that he had only stolen the book and was unaware of Ely's death. Subsequently, Tuggs and Jarusch were ambushed by J'Nell and Carly, who were the true murderers, resulting in the swift demise of the hybrid chef. After suffering multiple injuries and discovering that the droids had killed Ely to acquire the book for their ingredient databases to ensure customer safety, Tuggs eliminated the droids by disabling the kitchen's gravity and activating blasters embedded in the walls, targeting the droids. To honor Ely's memory, Tuggs distributed copies of his recipe book to culinary schools across the galaxy and to each chef in his kitchen.
Many years later, Tuggs was preparing food in Kanata's castle when Han Solo, an old acquaintance of the pirate, arrived with Rey, a scavenger, Finn, a former stormtrooper, and BB-8, an astromech droid. Shortly after their arrival, Tuggs and other castle inhabitants witnessed the First Order's Starkiller Base superweapon destroying the [Hosnian system](/article/hosnian_system], leading to an attack on Kanata's castle by First Order forces, which resulted in its destruction. Tuggs was known for his grumpy demeanor, which was often the subject of playful teasing by the castle's patrons who enjoyed his cooking.
Born on Artiod Minor, Strono Tuggs, the Artiodac, spent his childhood on the planet Takodana. His mother was a skilled cook famous within the family for her Topato stew. She taught her son to make this soup, nurturing his growing love for food. He discovered old cooking holovids that featured the legendary chef Gormaanda. These videos ignited a passion for cooking, leading him to dedicate his life to the culinary arts. He traveled across the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy, seeking new recipes and culinary challenges. His disfigured face, however, was a significant obstacle, overshadowing his culinary talents. His breakthrough came when he met Maz Kanata, a renowned smuggler and pirate, who hired him as head chef at her castle on his homeworld. A large space beneath the castle was transformed into a kitchen, where Tuggs installed remote-controlled sentry turrets from repurposed blasters. Within two decades of Tuggs' appointment, Robbs Ely, a Volpai, became the castle's sous chef. Despite Ely's fiery temper, they became friends due to their shared passion for cooking. Tuggs also befriended Kanata, who respected his privacy and kept his past a secret.
Two decades into his employment with Kanata, Tuggs and Ely had a disagreement over the preparation of bantha meat. Tuggs instructed that the meat be buttered and roasted with herbs, but Ely, believing the dish would be unpalatable, disregarded the order and prepared it with a sauce made from sikoroot, cenwick, and other herbs. Their argument escalated in the castle's kitchen until scrubbers intervened and separated them. Later that night, Tuggs found the sous chef murdered and suspended in his deep freezer, an area accessible only to the head chef. Realizing he was being framed, Tuggs disposed of the body by feeding it to one of Kanata's dungeon creatures, hoping the creature's escape would divert attention from any signs of his trespass. He then wandered the castle's less frequented corridors, eventually reaching Ely's room to search for evidence.
Tuggs discovered Ely's door locked but managed to decode the entry code using fingerprints on the keypad. The fingerprints contained Ely's sauce from the bantha roast, but since Ely had burned off his own fingerprints, Tuggs deduced that the prints belonged to the murderer. The room, usually tidy, was in disarray, and Ely's prized recipe book was missing from its safe. Tuggs also found a drop of dried blood and thin scrapes on the floor, indicating the use of a blade. Unaware of the approaching morning, Tuggs returned to his kitchen to find his staff preparing for the day. Suspecting that one of his staff had killed Ely to take his place, Tuggs assured everyone that everything was fine and began planning to catch the killer.
Over the next few hours, Tuggs persuaded the castle's majordomo to allow him to host a cooking competition to find a new sous chef, promising to broadcast the event to the castle's residents during an incoming storm. He informed his staff that one of them would replace Ely, who he claimed had mysteriously left. Four cooks applied for the position: Sama Macoy, a Devaronian; Relva Jace and Damor Gregon, both humans; and Jom Jarusch, a Mon Calamari/Quarren hybrid. The kitchen was transformed into a competition floor with all necessary equipment and ingredients, and the BD-3000 luxury droids Carly and J'Nell were selected as additional judges to sit with him on a lifter platform.
Tuggs started the competition with a breakfast round, observing each contestant's careful preparation. After the allotted time, the judges tasted each dish while Tuggs questioned the competitors about their qualifications for the sous chef position. Damor presented pikobi eggs and dianoga meat, which Tuggs enjoyed, but the droids criticized the lack of grulluck oil. Jarusch presented a spicy fruit tart, and Macoy a double-toasted seallia sandwich, which Tuggs favored. Jace produced a shank of mousta with charred fruit, which the judges deemed subpar due to its lack of salt, making him the first to be eliminated. Tuggs also concluded that Jace could not be the killer, as he would not have produced such a dish using Ely's cookbook. The second round tested the competitors' abilities under pressure. Tuggs activated remote-controlled sentry turrets to fire stun blasts as the contestants cooked. Jarusch and Gregon crawled to avoid the blasts, while Macoy endured the weak blasts for more cooking time. This backfired when the stunning effects caused her to mistime her soufflé, causing it to explode. She rushed a second dish, flash-fried zuchii with a tangy sauce, which the judges found inferior to Damor's fried sisofish with citrus salad and Jarusch's live zelrey wyrm, leading to her expulsion.
For the third round, Tuggs activated zero-gravity in the kitchen, causing contestants and ingredients to float while he and the other judges remained strapped in their seats. Jarusch gained an advantage due to his aquatic species' familiarity with three-dimensional movement. While Damor gathered fruit, Jarusch collected baby bantha ribs and awkwardly rubbed them with a butter sauce. Droplets of the sauce drifted to the judges, who each tasted a droplet. Tuggs recognized the recipe as Ely's, and with his objective achieved, he restored gravity. Before confronting the suspect, he announced Damor as the winner. When Damor questioned the situation, Tuggs ordered him out of the kitchen and approached Jarusch, intentionally stepping on a knife near the floored contestant. He lifted Jarusch and found the recipe book in his pocket, leading Jarusch to admit to stealing it but denying any involvement in Ely's death, expressing surprise at the news.
Tuggs began choking Jarusch but realized he could not be the murderer, as he had no fingerprints and could not have left prints on the keypad. Neither he nor the other contestants had been in the kitchen on the night of Ely's murder and would not have come into contact with the sauce. He realized that the only other people who would have seen the sauce other than himself and Ely were his fellow judges. As he released Jarusch, one of the droids struck Tuggs in the head with a rolling pin, disorienting him. While Tuggs recovered, the droids murdered Jarusch and attacked Tuggs with their blades. Tuggs dodged the first blows and questioned their motives. The droids revealed they wanted to analyze Ely's recipe book to update their databases and ensure ingredient safety. They believed killing Ely was the only way to access his secrets and fulfill their primary function of protecting the castle's diners.
As the droids spoke, J'Nell stabbed Tuggs between the ribs, causing a severe wound. He fought off Carly with a frying pan but was stabbed again by J'Nell in the shoulder. Gasping in pain, he tried to pull himself onto a table using a conduit, but it broke, releasing noxious gas into the room. As the droids closed in, Tuggs grabbed the table legs and reactivated zero-gravity, sending the droids floating toward the ceiling. As the service droids yelled threats, Tuggs concluded their logic circuits were corrupted and activated the sentry turrets. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the droids' screams as they were destroyed, restoring gravity only after they were reduced to burnt-out husks.
Following the dramatic conclusion of the contest, the castle security held a brief inquiry into the deaths. Tuggs' innocence was proven by cam droid recordings, and most were satisfied with the destruction of the droids. Knowing that his friend would have wanted his recipes to live on, Tuggs made copies of Ely's recipe book for his staff and sent copies to the Orto Culinary Academy. Once the kitchen was repaired, he and his team resumed cooking for the castle, a job Tuggs continued for centuries, challenging guests to bring exotic ingredients. When the crittermonger Bobbajo brought him a giant megalliform, the chef wrestled it into submission before turning it into a tasty meal.
By 34 ABY, Tuggs had been a fixture in Kanata's castle for centuries, with the main kitchen relocated to the ground floor next to the central area. After the First Order attacked Tuanul and Niima Outpost on Jakku, Tuggs was carrying gornt meat when Han Solo arrived. Solo, an old friend of Kanata's, had visited the castle before, but his companions Finn, Rey, and BB-8 were new, having just escaped from the First Order on Jakku. Tuggs passed the Hassk Varmik and headed toward the left side of the castle's entrance. Kanata recognized Solo and called out to him, drawing everyone's attention. After Solo greeted Kanata, things returned to normal, and Tuggs served the meat to guests near Grummgar.
Soon after Solo's arrival, many residents gathered in the courtyard to witness a mysterious light in the sky. Tuggs joined them, standing in the doorway to see the devastating ray of the Starkiller Base superweapon destroying the Hosnian system, home of the New Republic's Galactic Senate. A force of First Order stormtroopers and TIE/fo space superiority fighters then arrived on Takodana to capture BB-8 and the other fugitives, leading to an attack on and destruction of the castle. The Resistance arrived and drove off the First Order, but only after Rey was taken prisoner.
Following the castle's destruction, Tuggs left Takodana for Batuu to fulfill his dream of operating his own food transport. He established Tuggs' Grub aboard a modified Sienar-Chall Utilipede Transport, using his customized ship to serve dishes and collect ingredients across the galaxy. By 34 ABY, he frequently piloted his shuttle to Black Spire Outpost on Batuu and landed at Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo. His mobile kitchen and restaurant served an influx of spacers after the Resistance and First Order arrived on the planet.
Tuggs was a disfigured Artiodac with a normal red left eye and a bulging white right eye, making his face asymmetrical. He had pink and gray mottled skin, a flat nose, and legs of different lengths ending in misshapen feet. Tuggs was tall, standing 1.78 meters high, towering over most of the castle's residents. He was a skilled cook and butcher, although Ely considered himself superior in seasoning and sauce mixing. Over the years, Tuggs became more surly. His cooking was the subject of jokes, but they were made with affection due to his hard work, and it was wise not to criticize his meals too harshly.
His appearance was horrifying, causing nausea or fear. This often hindered his early career, potentially leading to resentment. However, Tuggs never embraced such an existence. After watching Gormaanda's holovids, he became obsessed with cooking. His job at Kanata's castle was his dream, and he worked hard to serve delicious dishes. He and Ely bonded over their love of cooking, remaining friends despite their professional arguments. Tuggs was saddened by Ely's death and focused on catching the killer, even choking Jarusch when he suspected him. He felt little sympathy for the droids as they were destroyed, despite knowing they had not always been murderers.
When trying to catch the killer, Tuggs devised a plan but overlooked the fact that none of the contestants could have been the culprit, missing the clues pointing to the real killers. During the competition, Tuggs felt sorry for the eliminated chefs and even complimented Jace on the dish that lost him the competition. After the competition, Tuggs decided to eliminate secrets in his kitchen, as Ely's secret recipes had led to his death. He shared Ely's cookbook, hoping his unique recipes would earn him a place among legendary chefs.
Tuggs enjoyed his work at Takodana Castle and hated the First Order after they destroyed it, calling them scum.
While working at Kanata's castle, Tuggs wore brown clothing covered by a stained leather apron. He wore boots on his misshapen feet and used a kitchen vibro-knife.
Strono Tuggs initially made his debut as a secondary, almost unnoticeable character in the movie Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. This film was first shown in North America on December 18, 2015. Aidan Cook played him, and Cook also portrayed Bobbajo in a different part of the same movie. However, the public got a sneak peek of the character seven months earlier through an exclusive article published on the Vanity Fair website. Although neither the film nor the article mentioned his name, the reference book Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary, written by Pablo Hidalgo and released alongside the movie, identified him as Tuggs. Further details about Tuggs emerged when he took center stage as the main character in the short story "A Recipe for Death," penned by Landry Q. Walker. This story was included in the 2016 anthology Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens: Volume I. Tuggs is also the in-universe creator of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook, expanding on his role within the narrative of the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge themed area. In 2020, a picture of Tuggs was incorporated into the loading area queue, specifically by the droid responsible for security checks on Star Tours: The Adventures Continue at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Ivan Manzella, the senior creature designer, initially conceived Tuggs' design, which reminded The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams of Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. This connection subsequently influenced the character's development, with Jake Lunt Davies, the creature concept designer, creating a costume design concept. Other concept art, as well as the final design, featured disfigurements and a hunched back.