Wistie

"Watch out! Wisties!"

―An Imperial stormtrooper — 20?cb=20250116042720

Wisties, also known as fire sprites or firefolk, were a small, radiant, sentient species native to the Forest Moon of Endor. Like the Ewoks, with whom they shared their homeworld, the fairy-like flying Wisties were fierce defenders of their forests, and the two species were allies. Ewoks sometimes used pouches full of Wisties as a weapon against intruders, such as Imperial stormtroopers. They threw the pouches in the direction of a target; on impact, the sprites emerged and attacked the invaders.

Biology and appearance

"Firefolk! Get away from them!"

―An Imperial stormtrooper, under attack by Wisties emerged from an Ewok's pouch — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[3]

Wisties, also referred to as fire sprites or firefolk, were a tiny,^[3] orange-skinned,^[2] fairy-like,^[4] sentient species native to the Forest Moon of Endor. Bearing resemblance to a human sillouette,^[1] the unique creatures^[4] possessed a head, torso, two legs, and two arms, with the latter ending in three-fingered hands.^[3] While the phosphorescent fire sprites were the size of a bat, they appeared as moving flames. Their wings enabled them to fly,^[1] which they did while making buzzing, squeaking sounds.^[3]

Society and culture

"Fire sprites incoming!"

―An Imperial stormtrooper being burned by Wisties — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[3]

Maintaining good relations with the Ewoks,^[1] Wisties lived in the Endor forests and were fierce defenders of their home. They were capable of burning enemies by touching them.^[3]

History

Wearisome weapons

«Gah! Get away, will you! Shoo. Shoo.»
«What are you doing, Chirpa? Stop fooling around.»
«It's these stupid Wisties. Makrit should do something about them.»

―Chirpa and Ra-Lee, in Ewokese^[2]

In the year 1 BBY,^[5] the Ewoks Chirpa and Ra-Lee went hunting boar-wolves in the Endor forests. During the hunt, Chirpa was annoyed by a pair of Wisties flying around him. Viewing them as a nuisance, he shooed the Wisties away and stated that Makrit, shaman of their Ewok tribe, should do something about the creatures.^[2]

When the Forest Moon was later occupied by the Galactic Empire during the Battle of Endor^[3] in 4 ABY,^[6] Wisties and Ewoks joined forces to defend their shared homeworld against Imperial stormtroopers. In battle, Ewoks sometimes used pouches full of Wisties as a weapon, throwing them in the direction of a target. Upon impact, the sprites emerged as swarms, both disrupting and burning the target.^[3] Wisties were also the subject of the term "Wistie tale," which referred to a made-up story. As a young Ewok, Wicket Wystri Warrick believed that the legendary creature Kroolok was a Wistie tale fabricated to scare woklings.^[7]

Arson and arenas

"We closed up the den and set it alight. We returned its horrors to the loam. The fires reached up to the highest clouds, as Wisties danced in the embers."

―Wicket Wystri Warrick^[8]

Shortly after the Battle of Endor, a group of Imperials returned to Endor in order to reclaim an Imperial weapons cache on the moon; however, it had been turned into a den by the Gorax known as the Great Devourer. The Imperials slew the Great Devourer but were themselves bested by Warrick and his allies and forced to leave empty handed. Warrick and the Ewoks Asha Fahn and Meedro then discussed what should be done with the cache, which contained various vehicles, and ultimately decided to seal the den and burn it. The fire created a tall column of smoke and Wisties came to dance in the cache's embers, which Warrick told his brother Widdle Warrick about afterwards.^[8]

In 9 ABY,^[9] the Ewok Pilbush used hand-crafted capsules of Wisties as weapons while operating as a Hunter at the Grand Arena on the Outer Rim planet Vespaara.^[10] Having looked up to the Ewoks who fought against the Empire during the Galactic Civil War,^[11] who used Wisties in combat,^[3]— Pilbush thoroughly enjoyed fighting with explosives such as Wistie capsules.^[11]

Behind the scenes

Milestones

Wisties were first mentioned in the current Star Wars canon in the "Guide to the Galaxy" section of the Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon magazine's thirty-eighth issue, published by De Agostini^[4] around September 23, 2015.^[12] The creatures later made their first canonical appearance in Star Wars Battlefront II's "Ewok Hunt" game mode,^[3] released on April 18, 2018.^[13] They were originally introduced in the 1984 made-for-TV movie Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure,^[14] which is now considered a part of the Star Wars Legends continuity.^[13]

In the video game Star Wars: Hunters, the Wistie made its appearance following the release of Pilbush as one of the playable characters to the game^[11] on September 24, 2024.^[15] The species is part of the Ewok's ability kit, which is a throwable Wistie capsule that grants opponents both slowness and damage over time when standing on the area of effect.^[10]

Star Wars Battlefront II

"I wanted the Ewoks to have a ranged, non-lethal way to damage and disperse a group of enemies. I asked Lucasfilm if we could have something made by the shaman, like a pouch of herbs or powder. [Lucasfilm's suggestion to include Wisties instead] was a perfect fit, so a lot of credit to the team at Lucasfilm for solving that gameplay need."

―Manuel Llanes, game design director at EA DICE^[16]

The suggestion to include Wisties in Star Wars Battlefront II came from Lucasfilm in order to solve the gameplay need for Ewok abilities, which was originally considered to be a pouch of herbs or powder made by the shaman.^[16] The game mode depicts stormtroopers being hunted by Ewoks in the Endor forests on the night after the Battle of Endor, trying to survive until their extraction by an Imperial shuttle.^[3]

The ability to throw Wistie pouches was also made available for the "Ewok Hunter," a reinforcement unit for the Rebel Alliance, which was added to the game with a later update. Star Wars Battlefront II additionally features in-game challenges called "Thleek siz" and "Firefolk attack," which require throwing fifteen Wistie pouches as an Ewok and defeating fifty enemies using Wistie pouches, respectively.^[3] According to the Legends 2001 reference book Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide, the name for the former challenge means "Throw fire" in Ewokese.^[17]