One of the more fun parts of any Star Wars movie is seeing the new aliens that have been created to fill out the world. Now, we have our first look at a brand new alien species native the planet where Rey found Luke Skywalker. Back during the D23 Expo we were introduced to the little furry porgs that dwell among the cliffs of Ahch-To. However, it turns out that's not the only alien species living on the planet. A much larger and less furry alien hangs around the Jedi Temple. At the moment, these aliens are being called simply Caretakers. Check them out in the image below.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson tells Entertainment Weekly that these alien caretakers are a sort of alien order of nuns who oversee the Jedi Temple on the planet. According to Johnson...
They're kind of these sort of fish-bird type aliens who live on the island. They've been there for thousands of years, and they essentially keep up the structures on the island.
The most interesting thing about the caretakers may be that, according to Rian Johnson, they're actually not particularly happy with the fact that Luke Skywalker is on the island. They can, and apparently do, communicate with Luke to some extent, in what Johnson calls a "blubbery sort of Scottish fish talk," but for the most part, they merely tolerate the Jedi's presence on the island. We're guessing that's been awkward, as Luke has, as far as we know, been living on the planet for years.
The aliens are described as being amphibious creatures who were likely drawn out of the oceans of the planet by the power of the Jedi Temple itself. The Force is connected to life, and so it would make some sense that life is drawn to it. Exactly what turned them into a pseudo-religious order is not clear. While the image above shows the caretakers to be fairly large, they apparently have skinny bird-like legs.
We're starting to feel sorry for Luke Skywalker. When Rey arrives on the planet at the end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens you get the impression that there isn't any sentient life on the planet except him. Life had been exceptionally lonely. Now, as it turns out, there are aliens capable of communicating with the lone Jedi, but they all sort of wish he'd go away. Apparently, life has not been easy for Luke these last few years.
If the Jedi Temple draws life to it then we won't be surprised if there are actually many more aliens where these have come from. We'll have to wait and see when Star Wars: The Last Jedi arrives December 15.
