Gungan Gungans were an amphibious sentient species and the native inhabitants of the planet Naboo . The various different Gungan races could live on both water and land , but often made their home in underwater cities such as Otoh Gunga . Physically , Gungans were tall humanoid s with a flexible structure , strong leg muscles , strong bills , muscular tongues , and many other traits designed for living in the waters of Naboo . The Gungans had a tense and uneasy relationship with the predominantly human Naboo people until the Trade Federation invasion . As a result of the invasion , the Gungans joined forces with the Naboo to expel the Trade Federation from their homeworld . Following the invasion , Jar Jar Binks would become the Junior Representative of the Gungan people in the Galactic Senate , serving alongside Senator Padmé Amidala of the Naboo . Biology and appearance . The Gungans were a sentient amphibious species . They were tall humanoids with a flexible structure and strong leg muscles which allowed them to live in the waters of Naboo . Born as tadpoles , Gungan infants developed limbs within months of being hatched . Equipped with hardy lung s , they were capable of holding their breath for extended periods of time . Their skeletal structure was extremely flexible , as it was made of cartilaginous material rather than hard bone . The long Gungan face had a tough yet flexible bill for burrowing and rooting out food . Some Gungans , such as Roos Tarpals , had whiskers on their bills . These whiskers were signs of maturity among Gungans . They had long muscular tongues with which they could scoop mollusks and lesser amphibians from the Naboo swamps . There were two Gungan races : the lanky Otolla , who sported prominent bills and eye s set on short stalks , and the heavier Ankura , whose eyes were hooded . The Gungan earlobes , called haillu , were most prominent in the Otolla . These earlobes displayed their emotions . History . The Gungan species originated on the Mid Rim world of Naboo , which they shared with a human civilization known as the Naboo . Relations between the two species were tense until the Trade Federation invasion of Naboo . One Gungan exile named Jar Jar Binks befriended the Naboo Queen Padmé Amidala and convinced her to seek the help of the Gungans . Amidala succeeded in winning over the Gungan ruler Boss Nass and the two peoples formed an alliance to drive out the Trade Federation . During the Battle of Naboo , the Gungan Grand Army confronted the Federation ' s droid army outside Theed , which enabled Amidala ' s forces to seize back the capital and capture the Trade Federation ' s Viceroy Nute Gunray . During the Separatist Crisis , Jar Jar Binks served as the Junior Representative of the Gungan people in the Galactic Senate . He played an important role in supporting legislation which led to the creation of a Grand Army of the Republic . The Gungans remained loyal to the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars . Gungan forces took part in the Battle of Mon Cala and assisted Prince Lee - Char ' s Mon Calamari forces and Republic allies against Separatist forces and their Quarren allies . As the Clone Wars escalated , growing tensions between the Gungans and the Naboo were fueled by rumors that the Gungans were planning to aid a Separatist invasion of Naboo . Under the influence of his pro - Separatist adviser Rish Loo , the reigning Boss Lyonie ordered the Gungan Grand Army to march on Theed in a coordinated strike with a Separatist Droid Army led by General Grievous . However , Binks , with the help of Senator Amidala and Anakin Skywalker , succeeded in exposing Rish Loo ' s conspiracy . Binks then impersonated Lyonie and ordered the Grand Army to abort their assault on Theed . Gungan forces led by Roos Tarpals also played a role in capturing Grievous but were forced to release him after Count Dooku threatened to kill Skywalker . Following the Battle of Endor , the Gungans confirmed the presence of typhoon - strength storms all over Naboo . These storms were created by several climate disruption array satellite s deployed by the " Imperial " - class Star Destroyer " Torment " as part of , a secret Imperial plan to scour Naboo and several worlds . Before the Imperials could render Naboo uninhabitable , a New Republic fleet arrived and destroyed the Imperial forces ; saving the planet . While traveling on an automated sidewalk in the New Republic senatorial complex on Hosnian Prime , Senator Leia Organa spotted a Gungan having an animated conversation via his comlink . Society and culture . The Gungan government comprised city - based clans and city governments that answered to a High Council , which dealt with disputes between cities . Highly stratified , the society placed a high value on overall peace , shunned violence , and condemned even minor crimes such as vandalism with corporal punishments or exile . Each city maintained an army to defend its honor and bolster its pride in its own territories and dominions . Though sometimes dismissed as primitive , the Gungans had advanced technology , including bubble projectors , bongo submarines and weaponry . The Gungans preferred using technology that was related in some way to the ecology of their world . For example , they used energy plasma that was mined from their planet ' s crust to power their cities and their weapons . The Gungans also domesticated animals for use in transport and combat , such as the kaadu , the falumpaset and the fambaa . Unlike their human neighbors , the Gungans were a proud warrior race , and maintained a large Gungan Grand Army , which acted as the standing Gungan defense force . It participated in the Battle of Naboo during the Trade Federation ' s occupation of the planet . During the Clone Wars , the Grand Army saw action against Separatist forces on both Mon Cala and later Naboo itself . By the time of the Naboo invasions , the inhabitants of Otoh Gunga were reputed to produce a dessert that took at least four hominids to consume . This dessert was said to be capable of delivering one into a sugar coma . The rate of Force - sensitive s in the Gungan society was low , and no native traditions ever emerged . Few Gungans ever joined the Jedi Order , and none ever became Sith . Culturally , the Gungans were in tune with the Living Force and had a working understanding of it . Gungans in the galaxy . Gungans rarely left Naboo , preferring to remain on their homeworld and help its ecosystems thrive . The only Gungans seen abroad tended to be exiles , cast out from their society on Naboo by the strict , unforgiving laws that governed their people . One notable Gungan was Jar Jar Binks , a former outcast who brought his people and the Naboo together and later became a Junior Representative in the Galactic Senate . Later , Binks was ostracized by many adult Gungans and Naboo due to his role in aiding the rise of the Empire . Binks later found work as a professional clown entertaining displaced refugee children . Other noteworthy Gungans included the warrior Roos Tarpals , Otoh Gunga ' s ruler Boss Nass and his successor Lyonie , the shaak herder Peppi Bow , and the minister Rish Loo .