Mammon Hoole Mammon Hoole , also known as ( Indeterminate ) Hoole after he dropped his first name , was a male Shi ' ido from Sh ' shuun . As a renowned geneticist and an alumnus of the Chandrilan Academy of Sciences , he joined the Ministry of Science of the Galactic Republic along with his colleague and fellow Shi ' ido Borborygmus Gog . Initially , the two were employed by the Republic to counter the bioweapon s of the enemy Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars . However , they ended up conducting experiments on the ability to control life at the secret request of Chancellor Palpatine . Those experiments eventually led to the birth of Trioculus , a three - eyed mutant . When Palpatine replaced the Republic by his own Galactic Empire , Hoole and his colleague sided with the new regime . The self - anointed Emperor Palpatine awarded them a laboratory on Kiva , where the Shi ' idos were tasked with taking their experiments one step further . However , the massive generators used in the lab ended up wiping out every life form on Kiva . Contary to his colleague , Hoole had a moral awakening , and he decided to leave the Empire ' s service . Although he had done his best to try and avoid the disaster , Hoole was made the sole responsible for the Kivan genocide , which led him to forsake his first name and find a new career . Upon graduating in sentientology from the Galactic Research Academy on Koaan , Hoole started traveling the galaxy as a wandering anthropologist , visiting such planets as Tatooine and Arzid . After the Empire destroyed the planet of Alderaan , Hoole fostered the Alderaanian children Zak and Tash Arranda , of whom he was a distant relative by marriage . Together , Hoole and the Arrandas went on a number of adventures that ultimately forced the Shi ' ido scientist to confront both his past and his former colleague . Eventually , Palpatine and his Empire fell , giving way to a New Republic . At the height of that new government , Senior Anthropologist Mammon Hoole sent his notes and data to Ann Margaret Lewis , who wrote " The Essential Guide to Alien Species " on their basis . Biography . Early life and education . Mammon Hoole was born on Sh ' shuun , a jungle - covered planet located in the Unknown Regions , when the Galactic Republic was still the ruling government of the galaxy . He belonged to the Shi ' ido , a species of long - lived humanoids that had the uncanny ability to change shape at will . He had at least one sibling , Moloch , who later married a Human female from Alderaan named Beryl . Because the Shi ' ido believed all their relatives were part of their close family , Hoole went on to accept his new Alderaanian kinsmen as if they were one of his own . During his school time on his homeworld , Hoole stood out as a serious and excellent student . Eventually , he left Sh ' shuun and embarked on a scientific career . He attended the Chandrilan Academy of Sciences , where he befriended a fellow Shi ' ido named Borborygmus Gog . The two shared a great enthusiasm and a sense of ambition in their research , and they ended up graduating together . After the academy , the two changelings parted ways for some time . While Gog went on to infiltrate the secretive cloners who dwelled on the planets Khomm and Kamino , Hoole decided to study among the famous geneticists of Ithor and Lur . Working for Palpatine . By his own admission , Hoole regarded himself as a brilliant mind , and he craved for fame in the field of genetics ; he was no longer satisfied with mere cloning ventures and wished to tamper with the creation of life itself . It was Hoole ' s scientific pride that ultimately led him to a four - year period of his life he would later regret . Researching abiogenesis . In the fifth month of the year 22 BBY , a war erupted between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems , a separatist union led by a former Jedi Master , the Count Dooku of Serenno . Since the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic were made of clone troopers grown on Kamino , the conflict was referred to as the Clone Wars . Around 20 BBY , the Confederacy had started using clone - killing bioweapon s . In response , Supreme Chancellor Palpatine , leader of the Republic , set up a new research project in which Mammon Hoole and his former colleague Borborygmus Gog got reunited . Under the watchful eye of Sly Moore , Palpatine ' s Umbaran aide , the two Shi ' ido were initially tasked with helping the Republic ' s Ministry of Science develop countermeasures to the Confederacy ' s attacks . However , their unique discoveries quickly aroused the interest of the Chancellor in person . At the latter ' s request , Hoole and Gog were committed to conducting experiments in abiogenesis , the spontaneous generation of life , and not the mere replication of it . Moore provided the scientists with a subject for their experiments , a submissive Human female from Bordal named Niobi . The challenge of creating life was so exciting and ambitious that Hoole and his colleague remained unconcerned about the moral and ethical considerations . However , their initial experiments went wrong , resulting in the birth of multi - headed homunculi with deformed limbs . Ultimately , Hoole and Gog eliminated most abnormalities and produced a single viable specimen . The child , however , was still a mutant and bore a third eye on the forehead , which earned him the name of Trioculus . Almost immediately , the newborn child and his mother were spirited away by order of Sarcev Quest , one of Palpatine ' s protégés . In their pride , the Shi ' ido scientists blamed their failure on Niobi and started using themselves as test subjects for further experiments . They even dared to cross their Shi ' ido gene s with those of a Clawdite , another species of changeling from the planet Zolan , which enhanced their natural shapechanging skills to an unprecedented level . The Kivan genocide . Following the slaughter of the Confederacy leaders in 19 BBY , the Clone Wars ended , having left very deep wounds all over the galaxy . Palpatine , who was in fact a powerful Sith Lord known as Darth Sidious , destroyed the Republic from within and replaced it with his authoritarian Galactic Empire . Hoole and Gog were finished with what they considered " basic " experiments and found themselves in need of a larger laboratory . The newly - anointed Galactic Emperor then offered them a huge private laboratory on the world of Kiva , where they could explore the secrets of life in death more freely . At the time , Hoole did not suspect how evil the Emperor was — nor did most of the galactic community — and he was too thrilled about the new possibilities to get bogged down in political ethics , which is why he accepted Palpatine ' s gift . In their laboratory , the geneticists understood that they needed to gather a vast amount of power to create life out of the thin air . In order to achieve that , they built massive generators that could concentrate an entire star ' s energy into a very small test tube . Unbeknownst to Hoole , the whole process would inevitably lead would to the destruction of all life on Kiva . While Gog was supposed to make sure the experiments stayed within safe limits , he lied to Hoole and convinced him they would cause no harm . However , the Shi ' ido lost control of their experiments and , instead of producing life as expected , they released a burst of energy that wiped out every living organism on Kiva and leaving its inhabitants as disembodied wraiths . Hoole did attempt to broadcast a warning message , the deadly energy wave disrupted the transmission before it could reach the Kivans . Only Hoole and Gog managed to escape the disaster in extremis . Because of the accident that killed millions of Kivans , Hoole experienced a shocking moral awakening . Although Gog was clearly responsible for what had happened on Kiva , Hoole was too proud to lay the blame on anyone else than himself , considering that he should have detected his partner ' s duplicity . Disgusted with his life and with the Empire , he decided to leave the Emperor ' s service for good , after four years of dangerous experiments . Gog , however , remained with the Empire and implemented Project Starscream , which was aimed at creating an army of supersoldiers . The Imperials placed the blame for the Kivan genocide on Hoole , thus purposely destroying his reputation and protecting Gog at the same time . While the latter ' s responsibility for the massacre was erased of all the records , the Empire spread the word that a Shi ' ido named Mammon had exterminated out an entire civilization . Haunted by the horrors that had taken place back on Kiva , Hoole was forced into exile . In an atempt to bury his past , he also decided to forsake his first name , which had become that of a planet - killer condemned by everyone in the galaxy , even the Emperor . Wandering anthropologist . Around 16 BBY , Hoole had started a new life and enrolled at the Galactic Research Academy on Koaan . At the end of his period of formation , he became a professor of anthropology , dedicating himself to recording the customs and mores of many species across the Known Universe . Now bearing the title of Senior Anthropologist , Hoole simply wandered the galaxy for some time , using his species ' uncanny shape - changing abilities to infiltrate several alien cultures . He notably visited the sun - scorched planet Tatooine , where he studied the Jawa and Ghorfa societies . During his stay there , Hoole got accepted into the Nkik clan of Jawas by posing as one of its members , and he even took temporary residence in the palace of the local crime lord Jabba the Hutt . A detailed account of his Tatooinian sojourn was published under the name of " ( Indeterminate ) Hoole . " During most of his years as an anthropologist , Hoole usually worked alone , or with his custom made research assistant , DV - 9 . Only when studying species that he could not mimic did he take on an assistant . Sadly , some of these assistants were eaten by Arachnor s on Arzid . One such assistant to meet this fate was Chlar Kotchmin . Traveling with the Arrandas . In 0 BBY , the Imperial Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin chose to demonstrate the full power of the Death Star , a brand new moon - sized battlestation equipped with a planet - killing superlaser , on Alderaan , homeworld of his sister - in - law Beryl and her relatives , the couple Kalf and Milessa Arranda . Their two children , Tash and Zak Arranda , had been on a field trip off - planet when the Death Star ' s superlaser hit the surface of Alderaan , and had become orphans . Being their closest relative alive , Hoole became their caregiver . He kept the children on his starship , the " Lightrunner " , where he and DV - 9 taught them as Hoole attended to different parts of the galaxy for his studies . He continued his work until the trio angered key representatives of the Empire by meddling in the affairs of Borborygmus Gog ' s Project Starscream , and a bounty was put on their heads . Unable to continue their research , the three settled into a home in an undisclosed location , possibly New Alderaan . At his home - based laboratory , Hoole began compiling the notes and data he had collected into a book . With the threat of Imperial discovery easing , Tash and Zak went off to college . When the data was compiled , Hoole sent it to professional writer Ann Margaret Lewis who , after completing the text , sent it to a publisher on Coruscant . Realizing the importance of such a book , the publisher immediately published it , and the reference book , entitled " The Essential Guide to Alien Species " , became available on most planets . Personality and traits . When interacting with his adopted niece and nephew , Hoole would often assume a very Human - looking shape with a few distinctively alien features such as extra - long fingers and dark gray skin . Most of the time , Hoole could hide his feelings , keeping a stern and unreadable face . When angered , his gaze was sharp and cold . Skills and abilities . Even for a Shi ' ido , Mammon Hoole was a particularly skilled shapeshifter . Legends even told of him taking on the shape of a Whaladon once . Behind the scenes . Mammon Hoole was first mentioned in the 1995 reference book " The Illustrated Star Wars Universe " , in which he was used as the in - universe author of the Tatooine chapter . In that book , he was formally referred to as " ( Indeterminate ) Hoole . " His character was expanded upon in " Galaxy of Fear " , a series of young readers novels of the teen - horror genre written by John Whitman , which starred the Shi ' ido scientist and his young wards . In 2001 and 2006 respectively , Hoole was used once again as the in - universe narrator in both editions of " The Essential Guide to Alien Species " . In 2009 , author Adrick Tolliver reused Hoole and his wards in " Death in the Slave Pits of Lorrd " , a piece of short fiction that appeared on StarWars . com . The story took the form of an essay written by Tash Arranda and edited by DV - 9 , featuring hand - made drawings by Pablo Hidalgo . In " " , the sixth book in the series , Hoole revealed that he had started working for the Empire " almost twenty years ago " from current time . According to " The Essential Reader ' s Companion " , the " Galaxy of Fear " series took place between 6 and 18 months after the Battle of Yavin , which occurred in 0 BBY . This placed the beginning of Hoole ' s work with the Empire around 20 BBY . However , the 2005 movie showed that the Empire was not founded until 19 BBY , one year later . In " Aliens in the Empire " , an online supplement to the 96th and 97th issues of the " Star Wars Insider " magazine , author Abel G . Peña retconned Hoole ' s early activities as taking place during Palpatine ' s last mandate as Chancellor of the Republic .