Gungans are a group of sentient amphibious humanoids native to the planet of Naboo.
Background
The Gungans originally had an uneasy relationship with the Naboo, the human colonists on the planet. Many Naboo looked down upon the Gungans, thinking them as primitive. The Gungans in turn tried to avoid any contact with the surface-dwellers.
This would eventually change with the Battle of Naboo, when first the Jedi and then Padmé Amidala tried to convince the Gungans that the droid armies of the Trade Federation would destroy them as they would the humans of Naboo. The Gungans agreed, particularly when Padmé humbly showed herself to be their equals, rather than a superior to them. The Gungans, having a strong army, promptly aided Padmé, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, and Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi by distracting the Trade Federation's droid army. The Gungans held their own for a great deal of the battle, using their shield generators, electrical "boomas" (grenade-like orbs that are powerful enough to short-out droids), energy shields, catapults, and atlatls. Though their forces were eventually routed and captured in the battle, the Gungans gave the Jedi and Padmé's guards time to capture Theed Palace, while young Anakin Skywalker destroyed the Droid Control Ship powering the droids, causing all the Battle Droids to shut down. Afterwards, the people of Naboo acknowledged the Gungans as equals, with their species being represented in the Galactic Senate by Jar Jar Binks.
The Gungans were once again called into action during the Clone Wars during the Battle of Mon Cala and General Grievous' attempt to invade Naboo, during which they showed themselves again to be powerful warriors; they helped to procure a Repeblic victory on Mon Cala, and are such powerful warriors that they were able to injure, subdue, and capture Grievous, albeit with great effort.
They and the Naboo were later annexed into the folds of the Galactic Empire, and though part of the Empire, Emperor Palpatine was content to leave them mostly alone, as the terror he inspired by threatening to destroy Naboo, his own homeworld, was enough to keep them in line.
It is likely that when the Galactic Civil War ended, the Gungans and the rest of Naboo, joined in the New Republic. However, it is known that the Gungans banished Jar Jar Binks once again, this time for good, for his role in Palpatine's rise to power as Emperor, forcing the former Gungan senator to perform as a clown to make a living.
Gungans on Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki
Gungan on StarWars.com (backup link on Archive.org)
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