Rugger

Ruggers were a type of arboreal, herbivorous rodent native to the Forest Moon of Endor. Expert climbers, the agile creatures were hunted by many of the moon's predators, including the temptor, which used the furry heads of their long tongues to effectively bait the characteristically curious ruggers.

The sentient Yuzzum also hunted ruggers, using domesticated rakazzak beasts to try and catch the rodents when they hid in long grasses so that they could make roasted "rugger." Rugger song could be heard in the treetop villages of the sentient Ewok species—who made jerky from the rodents—as ruggers climbed through the settlements.

Biology and appearance[]

Ruggers were a type of herbivorous rodent that mostly fed on nuts. They had bushy green-and-white fur covering their bodies but heads and tails that were instead covered in shorter brown-and-white fur, bar a tuft of longer fur at the tip of the tail. A rugger's eyes were orange and positioned on either side of the head, with two large ears pointing back above the eyes and a mouth and blue snout located below.^[1]

Each of the creatures' four limbs were unfurred, showing their green-and-white skin, and ended in paws with three digits. The small claws on each digit and the suction cups on a rugger's paws allowed the creatures to spread evenly across vertical surfaces, adding to the agile rodents' incredible climbing abilities and extraordinary sense of balance. These traits had developed in response to the many predators that hunted ruggers.^[1]

Behavior[]

ST-ewokvillage — Ruggers could be heard singing as they climbed through Ewok villages.

Ruggers were arboreal in nature, spending most of their time in the trees of their homeworld, the Forest Moon of Endor,^[1] although they also hid within tall grasses.^[3] The creatures would sometimes sing when they climbed.^[2] They were one of the better-off lifeforms in the moon's ecosystem but existed at the bottom of the food chain, often needing to use their dexterity to try and avoid the many predators to whom they were very vulnerable.^[1]

However, ruggers were intrepid and characteristically curious creatures, and one type of predator—known as the temptor—made effective use of this. Temptors hunted by hiding inside trees or underground and poking out only the tip of their tongue, which resembled the furry head of a small rodent. Many reckless ruggers met their end after following the bait into the temptor's lair out of curiosity, discovering a large pair of voracious jaws instead of the small rodent they expected.^[1]

History[]

BordokRiders-Ewoks2024-3 — Asha Fahn and Meedro passed a rugger while on their way to rescue Wicket Warrick.

The Yuzzum, a sentient species native to the plains of Endor, loved eating roasted "rugger." In order to help them catch ruggers hiding in tall grasses, the Yuzzum domesticated and rode swift rakazzak beasts.^[3] They kept the captured ruggers in bags and then cooked them over large open fires.^[1] Rugger song could sometimes be heard as the creatures climbed through the treetop villages of the sentient Ewok species,^[2] who also ate ruggers in the form of jerky.^[4]

Shortly after the Galactic Empire arrived on Endor, the Ewok Wicket Wystri Warrick hoped he might find a nice rugger to make strips of jerky from when he left his home in Bright Tree Village on Endor to restock his food supplies from the forest; however, he instead caught two forest frogs.^[4]

Shortly after the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY,^[5] Warrick was kidnapped from the village by a group of Imperials who needed him to act as a guide. The Ewoks Asha Fahn and Meedro then set out on a bordok to chased down the Imperials and rescue Warrick. As they rode the bordok through the forest toward Endless Lake they passed a rugger sat in a tree holding a nut.^[6]

Behind the scenes[]

Rugger-Infinity — A rugger in *Disney Infinity 3.0*

In the current Star Wars canon, ruggers were first mentioned in the reference book Ultimate Star Wars,^[7] released on April 29, 2015.^[8] Later that year, on August 30,^[9] ruggers appeared in the Rise Against the Empire Play Set of the non-canon video game Disney Infinity 3.0.^[10] Ruggers' first canonical appearance was then in the third issue of the Star Wars: Ewoks comic book series, which was written by Steve Orlando, illustrated by Álvaro López and Laura Braga, and published by Marvel Comics^[6] on December 18, 2024.^[11]