Stenax The Stenax were a fierce , ill - tempered , brooding , and violent race from the planet of Stenos . They fanatically followed the dictates of their god , Vol . They were responsible for the Stenax Massacres , which killed countless millions . Despite their violence , the Stenax remained a very spiritual people . History . The Stenax homeworld , Stenos , was once known as Maldont and was part of Xim ' s empire . Stenaxes were among the empire ' s enslaved species . Stenos was a planet of pinnacles and plateaus , where the winged Stenax built most of their structures . Several hundred years before the Battle of Yavin , a series of earthquakes and volcanic disturbances shook the planet . One quake buried the stone idol believed by the Stenax to be the worldly avatar of their god , Vol , and the Stenax refused to fly until the idol was found . The Stenos capital city later became a crowded haven for criminals from various worlds . The Stenax lived among these people but all but ignored them . Shortly after the Battle of Yavin , the Vol statue was uncovered by Rebels , including Luke Skywalker . Rik Duel tricked them into finding it , only to reveal he had done so to hand it over to the planet ' s Imperial governor , Quorl Matrin . The Stenax , willing to fly again once Vol had been uncovered , believed Matrin had stolen the idol and attacked and killed the governor and his stormtroopers . For the next few years , the Stenax returned to flying to and from the old high structures of the planet , and virtually ignored any offworlders . Though , many Stenax did emigrate to a number of other planets , especially in the Gordian Reach . Ten months after the Battle of Endor , the native Stenax population massacred the Imperials garrisoned on Stenos , as well as all non - Stenaxes in what was only the beginning of what would be called the Stenax Massacres . On many planets throughout the Gordian Reach and beyond , the Stenaxes brutally killed non - Stenaxes and Imperials in a series of surprise attacks . The New Republic finally brought an end to the massacres place monitoring posts in orbit around Stenos to prevent any future campaigns by the Stenax . Biology and appearance . The reptilian Stenaxes were considered a fearsome sight . Two to two and a half meters tall and thickly muscled , they had gargoyle - like faces and a row of bony spikes running across their shoulders . Three sharp claws punctuated each foot and five each hand , with additional spikes lining the backs of their calf muscles . Stenaxes had scaly , purple - gray skin and white eyes with minuscule pupils . Their ears and brows were up - swept at several angles , due to thick muscular cords lining their facial features . Two such cords hung down far below the mouth like stalactites . Completely hairless , they had a wide , spine - shaped protrusion running over the head , from their eyes to the top of their neck . This protrusion housed their Kleti gland , which allowed them to home in on objects on the ground when flying at extreme heights . Few offworlders know the details of their biology . However , according to hieroglyphs found in the ruins of the abandoned city of Farruz , they could live as long as 270 standard years , remaining in good health until 220 . Whether such longevity was a result of their physiology or some other influence is a source of debate , for few winged species came close to such a lifespan . Stenax were known to occasionally visit Zeltros . Behind the scenes . The Stenax were created by Mary Jo Duffy , Kerry Gammill , and Tom Palmer .