The build-up to the next installment in the Star Wars universe, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, is starting to heat up. We’ve already seen a bunch of really cool trailers, now we’ve got a few new characters detailed, showing off what we can expect heading into a prequel for A New Hope.
The problem with prequels in science fiction movies and TV shows is usually that the team behind a prequel will feel the need to pump something new into a franchise, but when it comes to introducing new races of aliens or characters, there really is a need to tread carefully. Continuity is important, so stuff like Star Trek: Enterprise showing the Ferengi decades before the Federation ever encountered them was weird, the same can be said for a lot of the strange moments in episodes 1-3 of the Star Wars films, like completely changing how the force works.
Making Star Wars has detailed four new characters from the upcoming Rogue One, complete with biographies and what to expect of them.
The first is Moroff, a Gigorian mercenary that kind of looks like a Wampa that let his hair grow out. What’s interesting is that the Gigorians were obviously never featured in any canonical Star Wars story thus far, but were featured in an old, obscure role-playing magazine from 1994 called Star Wars Adventure Journal. Not kidding, that was the only appearance of a Gigorian prior. They really dug deep for that one.
The second is Rebel Commander Pao, who is a Drabata. Drabatas have not appeared anywhere else in the Star Wars universe, but really, it’s a big galaxy so it’s not like we’ve seen every alien before, right? Still kinda weird that Drabatas don’t appear in any of the films that take place later on the timeline, but there’s room for creativity here. Drabatas are amphibious beings, which should make them at least pals with the Mon Calmari.
The last two are classifications of Stormtroopers. The first is the Scarif Stormtrooper, who are made for patrolling beaches. Seriously, they are called Shoretroopers, much like the ones on Endor were Scouts and the ones on Hoth were Snowtroopers. At least there is a precedence here for Stormtroopers dressing for their climate. The last is a Hovertank Driver, which is sort of self-explanatory. If AT-ATs got their own brand of drivers, why not Hovertanks? Having this broad of an array of Stormtroopers at least keeps action figure collectors busy.
At the end of the day, none of these characters are going to break the Star Wars continuity, which is a good thing. Hail Disney for not ruining everyone’s favorite space opera.
(Via Making Star Wars)
