Knobby white spider

"Finally, by dissecting one of the knobby spiders, our arachnid specialist discovered that the creature's body core was made primarily of calcified wood, the same as the trees. The knobby spiders are part of gnarltrees' life cycle!"

―Halka Four-Den speaks about a knobby white spider on Dagobah^[5]

The Knobby white spider was a large landspeeder-sized^[5] arachnid-like immature spore form of the gnarltree native to the swamp world of Dagobah.^[1] In addition to the very large ones, there were also some smaller, knee-height ones; Luke Skywalker ended up facing a number of these in his training.^[6]

Biology and appearance[]

Knobby White Spider BTS — A knobby white spider in the swamps of Dagobah

One of the most bizarre organisms on Dagobah, the knobby white spider was in fact a mobile root that was part of the gnarltree's life cycle,^[7] that developed in bud colonies on their roots.^[1] Composed primarily of calcified wood,^[5] during the period of active adolescence^[1] it would break free of its parent tree to roam the swamps and devour animals^[7] for five to seven years.^[3] During this period it was vulnerable to bogwings, jubba birds,^[7] and others.^[1] After gathering enough nutrients,^[5] the spider would find a clear spot to anchor its legs, and if it survived that period, eventually it would be gradually enveloped by chrysalis-like bark^[7] and its legs would transform into roots^[5] that allow the spider to grow into a towering tree^[7] within three months.^[3]

The spiders had a large, lumpy body with a bloated, bulbous head, eight gnarled legs,^[5] and eight eyes that could see in all directions at once.^[3] They had one large stinger on the underbelly used to capture and sedate its prey,^[8] and smaller stingers near the end of each leg to immobilize the target.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

RMQ-KnobbyWhiteSpider — Ralph McQuarrie's illustration of Luke Skywalker facing a knobby white spider.

The knobby white spiders first appeared in the Star Wars Legends continuity in the 1995 novel Darksaber, written by Kevin J. Anderson,^[9] and were first pictured in the 1995 reference book The Illustrated Star Wars Universe, written by Kevin J. Anderson and illustrated by Ralph McQuarrie.^[5] The artwork was based on a sketch made in February 1979 for the The Empire Strikes Back.^[10] In the Star Wars canon continuity, the artwork of the knobby white spider inspired three other creatures:^[11] the spice spider of Taul,^[12] the krykna, a spider-like creature found on Atollon,^[13] and the knobby white ice spider of Maldo Kreis.^[14]