During the era of 195 BBY, a male voorpak named Voorpee was temporarily residing at the Coruscant Jedi Academy, having been loaned from the Naboo Zoo. This planet's zoo sent the creature to the school so that the students could learn the responsibilities of pet ownership, as well as gain knowledge of the species' biology and habits. The pupils were encouraged to look after Voorpee at the academy's care center, providing him with his preferred diet of live insects and ensuring his soft fur remained clean.
Voorpee quickly gained popularity among the majority of the academy's students. However, he became a target for Cronah and Cyrus, two bullies who subjected the creature to torture by taking him on unauthorized "walks" and confining him within a school locker. Despite enduring this mistreatment, Voorpee was permitted to return to the academy in the subsequent year. Unfortunately, he was then used in a prank that resulted in the release of hundreds of voorpak clones during a school talent show.
A small, fuzzy species native to Naboo, the voorpak Voorpee, a male individual, was temporarily transferred from the Naboo Zoo to the Coruscant Jedi Academy on Coruscant, the Galactic Republic's capital planet, around 195 BBY. Voorpee joined the other students for the start of the school year as a class pet at the Jedi academy. The class-pet program was created by Gaiana, a Human student who had previously visited Naboo and been fascinated by the creatures, who was enthusiastic about caring for the voorpak. The Jedi Temple, the headquarters of the Jedi Order, housed the academy. There, Padawan learners trained under Jedi Master Yoda and other Jedi instructors.
The students at the academy were delighted by Voorpee and enjoyed taking care of him. The Padawan Observer, the school newspaper, featured an article about him. The article discussed how the class-pet program gave students the chance to learn about the diets and natural habitats of voorpaks while also studying Voorpee's behavior and mannerisms. Students were permitted to care for Voorpee at the school's care center, where one of the regular tasks was keeping his soft fur clean. Roan Novachez, a second-year student with a crush on Gaiana, frequently helped her care for the voorpak. Novachez grew to love the voorpak despite his fear of the insects that made up its diet.
Cronah and Cyrus, two Zabrak bullies in Gaiana and Novachez's class, saw Voorpee as nothing more than a source of amusement. These two had a history of bullying other students at the academy and extended their behavior to the defenseless animal. Cronah and Cyrus poked Voorpee with a pencil during the first semester of the school year, following a field trip to Hoth, which caused him to hiss and puff out his fur. The bullies then threatened to hide him in someone's locker. Novachez, who had argued with his regular group of friends, joined the two Zabraks in the second semester as they took Voorpee for a "walk." They put him on a leash and yanked him around, even though it was against school rules to take him out of the care center. Although Novachez did not actively bully the creature, he did nothing to stop it. Gaiana and Pasha, a Human male who had also been one of Novachez's friends, scolded them for taking Voorpee out, but their words had no effect.
Soon after, Voorpee vanished. Cronah and Cyrus had kidnapped him and placed him in Cyrus's locker. The kidnapping was quickly noticed and reported in The Padawan Observer, Vol. MXIII #8. Novachez became a suspect because of his changed behavior and previous association with the creature. He suggested that Gaiana might have been responsible, given her affection for Voorpee, mainly to impress Cronah and Cyrus. However, Novachez decided to try to save the voorpak after realizing they didn't care about his feelings and that Voorpee had been missing for about a week.
He used a Force power to sense a disturbance in Cronah's locker and discovered that the two bullies had carried out their threat. Novachez was aware of Cronah's locker combination, which was fortunate for Voorpee, and he freed the hungry voorpak from its confinement. However, Gaiana discovered him with the creature and blamed him for what had occurred. Novachez, not wanting to argue with her, admitted to Master Yoda that he was responsible for the theft. Yoda instructed Novachez to write the Naboo Zoo a letter of apology, but Cronah and Cyrus were later found out and given academic suspension for their part in the theft.
The Coruscant Jedi Academy was loaned Voorpee once more during the following school year after Novachez's class visited the Naboo Zoo on a field trip. Gaiana still adored the creature, but when Cronah saw her carrying him in one of the school's hallways, he made fun of her "new pet," which was actually a mocking reference to Novachez, who was walking with her. Novachez continued to spend time with the voorpak and felt that the creature was becoming more fond of him, and not just because he had been giving Voorpee extra treats.
Later that year, Cronah and Ronald Rinzler, a student at the school who fancied himself a politician, secretly involved Voorpee in an experiment. The two created numerous clones of Voorpee, which they then used to play pranks. Novachez was caring for Voorpee when he noticed that every time he left the voorpak in its cage, one of his friends would rush up to him to tell him that the creature had escaped and that they had seen it somewhere else in the school. Mr. Garfield, Novachez's personal Jedi Master, refused to listen to his student's explanation for the disturbances and instead gave him a lecture on keeping a closer eye on Voorpee.
Cronah and Rinzler were inspired by the success of their first prank to aim for greater heights, causing chaos at a school talent show. Novachez and Gaiana attempted to perform a talent act with Voorpee during the show. Despite their hard work training the voorpak and their expectation of a smooth act, the creature would not respond to any of their commands, such as "jump" or "roll over." Then, to their great humiliation, Voorpee jumped onto Gaiana and urinated on her head.
Novachez apologized to Gaiana, but he noticed a second voorpak interfering with Cyrus's hula-hoop act. The auditorium was soon overrun with hundreds of Voorpee clones, and Cyrus's arm was broken during the melee. Gaiana later took the clones with her to the Naboo Zoo during her spring break, but the zoo was unable to accept them all. She gave all but one of the remaining creatures to a Voorpak Rescue Organization, keeping the last as her personal pet. It wasn't until the end of the school year that Cronah and Rinzler were discovered to be the prank's masterminds.
Voorpee, who didn't actually respond to that name but did respond to cute noises, had a coat of soft orange-and-white fur. He could puff up his fur and hiss when angry, but he was otherwise a largely passive voorpak. Following his abuse at the hands of Cronah and Cyrus, who kept him in a locker for almost a week, Voorpee became somewhat worn out and weary. He had some intelligence and was able to learn tricks. Voorpee also cared for those who looked after him and gave him treats. His favorite food was live insects.
Voorpee appeared in Jedi Academy: Return of the Padawan (2014) and Jedi Academy: The Phantom Bully (2015), the second and third books in the Star Wars: Jedi Academy young-readers series by author and artist Jeffrey Brown. The titles offer a frequently humorous non-canon look at student life at a Jedi academy, drawing heavily on elements from Star Wars Legends.
Brown's experience with school class pets that ate insects served as inspiration for the Voorpee character. Like Roan Novachez, Brown is also somewhat phobic of insects. Brown confirmed that one or more school pets would appear in the series' follow-up story, The Phantom Bully, despite the bullying that Voorpee endured in Return of the Padawan. Voorpee himself, who made a comeback appearance to the school, turned out to be the new school pet.