Will the porgs have any real purpose in Star Wars: The Last Jedi aside from being friends with Chewbacca?
By Andi Ortiz
Star Wars is known for its adorable creatures. The latest are the porgs, but will they do anything besides befriend Chewbacca?
In the Star Wars universe, there is an incredibly diverse array of creatures. This December, the galaxy will introduce a new, seemingly lovable breed: the Porgs.
By the looks of them, Porgs seem to be a bird-meets-guinea-pig hybrid, with big innocent eyes. They first popped up in the latest trailer for The Last Jedi, screaming alongside Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon.
For peak Porg, start at 1:32:
The response was instantaneous. GIFs were made, merchandise was pre-ordered and the Ewoks likely experienced the same nervousness R2-D2 did when BB-8 joined the party. Fans love the porgs, and are ready to embrace them — but seriously, how do they fit into this story?
According to Empire magazine, porgs aren’t just a one-off. They’ll actually have a history and a legacy in the Star Wars universe. The magazine chatted (with an extra tip of the hat to CBR) with the head of the Star Wars Creature Workshop, Neal Scanlan, who revealed the Porgs are native to the island Luke Skywalker is on.
As for the one we meet in the trailer, “That porg in particular shows some very Wookiee traits in the way he’s coloured; his patterning is very similar to Chewie’s” says Scanlan. As a result, the two will become friends (which is only fair; Chewie just lost Han. He could use an emotional support animal).
More than that, he added that Porgs are actually the ancestors of other races, including the Caretakers. Scanlan described them as “an extrapolation from the porgs [that] have bird-like feet, but they’re a further developed race.”
But for The Last Jedi specifically, their role is still unclear. Will we see more than just that porgs in particular? Who knows. Could they be similar to Ewoks – a cute but deadly creature? That’d be fun.
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For now, they’re just kind of … there. Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters on Dec. 15, 2017.