Ollopom

"These flat, colorful herbivores are native to the swamps of Naboo. Although they are technically rodents, they more closely resemble aquatic lifeforms or even plants—with small purple beaks, bright pink head tendrils, and low-hanging, fluked tails."

―Ardis San Tekka, in her journal^[1]

Ollopoms were short, gentle non-sentient herbivores native to the swamps of the planet Naboo. A species of rodent, they were often mistaken for pom petals, a plant that was part of their diet. An ollopom named Ollie was owned by the Ithorian Dok-Ondar on the Outer Rim world of Batuu, given to him as a gift by the pirate Hondo Ohnaka. The Amani Bina included Ollie in her interactive book, Bina's Guide to the Creatures of Batuu, and creature enthusiast Ardis San Tekka wrote on entry on ollopoms for her journal.

Biology and appearance

"They float atop the water using six clawed, paddlelike legs, and their light brown eyes astutely study their surroundings, making careful note of any nearby predators. Ollopoms feed on pom petals, along with other swamp-dwelling plants. They use the teeth attached to their undersides to graze on floating flora."

―Ardis San Tekka^[1]

Ollopoms were a non-sentient species of short and gentle herbivorous rodent found in the Gungan swamps of the planet Naboo.^[6] They were sometimes mistaken for plants,^[3] such as the pom petal, which they ate^[4] along with other swamp-dwelling plants.^[1] This was due to their large, flat heads that resembled the leaves of some aquatic plants, as well as their fur and a series of long,^[5] pink,^[1] bloom-like hair tendrils.^[5] Their underside featured gnawing teeth and a purple beak, used for eating floating flora; three pairs of clawed limbs that operated more as paddles, used to float atop the water;^[1] green fur;^[4] and a long fluked tail. Their eyes, used to astutely study their surroundings for nearby predators, were light brown, while their skin was pink and yellow-green with purple spots.^[1]

History

In 34 ABY,^[7] during the war between the First Order and the Resistance,^[5] the Ithorian collector Dok-Ondar kept a pet ollopom named Ollie in a small tank in his store, Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities, in Black Spire Outpost on the planet Batuu. Ollie was given to Dok-Ondar as a gift from the pirate Hondo Ohnaka, who found Ollie in unmarked cargo.^[3] Dok-Ondar had Ollie displayed in a cylindrical glass container filled with water and pom petal plants for his patrons to see.^[5]

The Amani female Bina, who ran the local Creature Stall in Black Spire Outpost, included Ollie in her interactive work, Bina's Guide to the Creatures of Batuu, which her workers handed out to younglings nine years old or younger free of charge.^[8] Historian Eloc Throno also included a mention and picture of Ollie in his book about Batuu, the Traveler's Guide to Batuu.^[6] After the defeat of the clone of Darth Sidious in 35 ABY,^[9] the creature enthusiast Ardis San Tekka included an entry on ollopoms in her journal detailing her adventures seeking out non-sentient creatures across the galaxy with the droid B8-T5.^[1]

Behind the scenes

"I live in Disneyland, so I remember sending you a picture from Dok-Ondar's in Galaxy's Edge at the ollopom—the little frog creature is in a, um, he's in a container in Dok-Ondar's—and just asking, um, 'Hey, do you have this subaquatic visual of him?'"

―S.T. Bende, to artist Iris Compiet^[10]

Ollopoms were first mentioned in the current Star Wars canon in the D23 article "Creatures, Droids, and Aliens: Meet the Fantastical Figures of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge," published on May 29, 2019. The article revealed the ollopom's then-upcoming appearance as a prop in Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities, one of the retail locations in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, a theme park land that opened at Disneyland Park and Disney's Hollywood Studios in 2019.^[2] Ollopoms were originally created for the Legends continuity and first appeared in the 1999 video game Star Wars Episode I: The Gungan Frontier.^[11]

Ollopoms received an entry in the 2024 reference book Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1: Creatures of the Galaxy, written by S.T. Bende and illustrated by Iris Compiet.^[1] When starting work on the book in 2022, Bende and editor Sammy Holland compiled a list of roughly 400 species for possible inclusion in the book in a spreadsheet. The final 130, which included ollopoms, were drafted into the reference book, with the rodent's entry making it through further cuts made after the first draft. Bende sent Compiet a photo of the Ollie prop in Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities in Disneyland and inquired as to whether or not the artist possessed a subaquatic angle of the creature. Compiet's illustrations of the various creatures, including ollopoms, for the book—which started production in 2023—were done with acrylic, gouache, and watercolor paints. Preferring to create the work with traditional techniques, the artist wanted to reflect the drawings San Tekka would have drawn in-universe for her journal. Every creature in Star Wars Bestiary had several sketches made for them, the final selections of which were approved by the Lucasfilm Story Group.^[10]