Who Is That 'Star Wars 7' Alien Creature In JJ Abrams' UNICEF Video?

Yesterday morning we ran a piece on how Jim Henson's Creature Shop is not involved in Star Wars: Episode VII. Rumors of possible Henson involvement began when JJ Abrams posted a video from the Abu Dhabi set featuring an awesome-looking practical, puppeteered alien creature. We used the opportunity to take a trip through history and explore Jim Henson's involvement (or non-involvement) in the Star Wars films. When I was writing that piece, another question came up: Who or what is that Star Wars 7 alien creature we see in that video?

As Star Wars nerds, we must explore this question in much further detail than a reasonable person would expect. Join me on my journey to try to figure out the origins of this alien species in a galaxy far far away.

Darth Hound first noted that the character looks a little like Tera Sinube who appeared in the Clone Wars television series, which is all considered canon by Disney. Here is what that character looked like:

Here is a brief bio for Tera Sinube from Wookieepedia:

Tera Sinube was a male Cosian who served as a Jedi Master in the years leading up to and during the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The Cosia native[1] refrained from battle while many of his fellow Jedi actively participated in the war by leading the Grand Army of the Republic's clone troopers. Instead of engaging in field operations, he stayed on Coruscant and focused his talents on becoming an expert on the intricacies of the galactic capital's criminal underworld. During the war, Sinube had access to a detailed database that included the biographical information of many of the planet's criminals,[3] compiled from decades of research.

It is very unlikely that Sinube has been reduced to a marketplace dweller in these post-imperial times. Most agree that the new creature seems more like a cool background character in the desert marketplace. But maybe the Star Wars creature designers may be using Sinube' species for the new creature –

Cosians were a species of sentient bipeds who had beaked mouths, four-fingered hands, hair, and a long, muscular tail ending with a tuft of hair. They were capable of speaking Basic.

One fan theory making the rounds in the fan communities is that the creature is a H'drachi, a creature that has only been seen in the Star Wars expanded universe comic books. Above is a look at the creature and below a short bio from Wookieepedia:

The H'drachi were a species of sentient, humanoid sapients indigenous to the Expansion Region planet M'haeli. Somewhat resembling cameloids, the H'drachi were highly in tune with the Force, with a high number of the species being Force-sensitive.

Again, the creature has some resemblance but is not a 100% match.

No, of course not.

Many people only read the headlines when it came to the LucasFilm announcement about how the company would be handling extended universe characters and stories in the new Star Wars canon.  LucasFilm never said it was getting rid of the extended universe; just that it would be selective about which elements will be used in the future. (Especially when it comes to the post Jedi stories.):

In order to give maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience, Star Wars Episodes VII-IX will not tell the same story told in the post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe. While the universe that readers knew is changing, it is not being discarded. Creators of new Star Wars entertainment have full access to the rich content of the Expanded Universe.

Remember, when Disney purchased Star Wars, one of the things mentioned was how excited Disney was to acquire a universe of 17,000 characters which they could use for future films, television shows, comic books, novels and theme park experiences.

So while its likely we will see new and exciting places and creatures in the new film, we might also see some creatures and places mentioned or shown in various expanded universe stories. And this is probably more true when it comes to background details that can add flavor to this world.

Feedback: Have any theories on other species or characters within the Star Wars universe that could be a match? Let us know!