Stennes Shifter / Legends The Stennes Shifters were a sentient , Near - Human species native to the planet of Stennaros . They were biological offshoots of the Stennes and resembled their kin in appearance , with ashen - gray skin riddled with dark veins and small knobs , a slight body , heavy - lidded eyes , and gaunt cheeks that gave them a skull - like visage . Yet the Shifters had several unique abilities that set them apart from their mainline cousins , all of which were rooted in an innate sensitivity to the Force . Foremost was their ability to pass unseen using a form of telepathy . A Stennes Shifter could use this talent to disappear into a crowd . Shifters also were able to feed on the Force expended by beings around them . Such abilities earned the Stennes Shifters the alternate name of Force - eaters . Environmental pressures shunted the Stennes Shifters along a different developmental path from their baseline cousins ; their extra capacities to hide and sap Force energy helped the Shifters as both hunters and prey in their homeworld ' s ecosystem . However , such abilities also made the Shifters seem frightening and suspicious to both the mainline Stennes and to outsiders . Thus , the Shifters constantly found themselves persecuted , hunted , and — when discovered — killed . As offworlders took to eradicating the Shifters — including the Jedi Order in one particularly bloody conflict circa 5000 BBY — the planet became pocked with artillery craters in attacks that killed Stennes Shifters and standard Stennes alike . The Stennes turned on their Shifter kin , forcing them to flee their own homeworld or to use their natural powers to escape detection and assimilate into society . Over time , the Shifter population fell ; by the days of the Galactic Empire , they were numbered at no more than several million , and the Shifters were regarded as little more than legend by many in the galaxy . Coupled with their indistinguishable appearance from mainline Stennes , such anonymity allowed some Shifters to blend into galactic society . Those who capitalized on their powers of misperception found work in fringe occupations , such as thieves , spies , or informants . Biology and appearance . The Stennes Shifters were a species of sentient , mammalian Near - Human s native to the planet of Stennaros . They were closely related to the Stennes species , from whom they evolved . Like standard Stennes , Shifters were generally quite thin , with a humanoid body of two arms , two legs , a torso , and a head in the same general proportions as a Human . Their hands featured five digits apiece , each capped by a fingernail . Shifters stood between 1 . 3 and 1 . 7 meters tall . The Shifter visage was composed of two eyes , a nose , a mouth , and rounded ears on the sides of the head . Members of the species had no noticeable lips , and their black eyes were recessed into the skull and rimmed by dark circles . Coupled with their pale , gray skin , their features made Shifters appear to outsiders like morose ghosts with skull - like faces . In at least some Shifters , yellowish blotches and dark , purplish veins marbled the rough skin . Although their physiology gave no indication of special abilities , Stennes Shifters possessed a form of telepathy that allowed them to cloud the perceptions of others and thus allow the Shifter to go unnoticed . Those familiar with the ability often mistook it for shape - shifting , but it altered only the observer ' s perceptions , not the Shifter ' s physical form . The power only worked in situations when multiple entities were present ; a Shifter could not pass unnoticed without a crowd in the area , and the ability was most potent in crowds of 100 beings or more . Members of the Hutt species and artificial optic devices , such as cameras and droid photoreceptors , could not be fooled by the Shifters ' power . Scientists speculated that the Stennes Shifter ' s mind - clouding was a manifestation of the Force , and , indeed , all Shifters were Force - sensitive . Rumors made them " Force vampires , " able to sap others of the Force energy that flowed through them . Such stories had some basis in fact , as Shifters indeed could gain power from Force - users around them . However , the faculty only allowed a Shifter to absorb " expended " Force energy , that channeled within the vicinity of a Stennes Shifter . The Shifter then could absorb the exuded energy for his or her own use — but not tap into unused Force potential . Those conscious of a Shifter ' s attempt to absorb such Force power could willfully resist the Shifter ' s absorption . These abilities earned the Shifters an alternate name : Force - eaters . Society and culture . Within the confines of their home star system , Stennes Shifters exhibited the same affable nature and cultural advancement as baseline Stennes . However , they suffered from two layers of persecution . For one , non - Stennes distrusted the Shifters , fearful of their capabilities to pass unnoticed and to sap away the strength of others . Such prejudices were mostly unwarranted ; while some Shifters did live as hunters and killers , such persecution forced many others to keep constant watch for aggressors . Secondly , even baseline Stennes turned against the Shifters in their species ' history , attempting to eradicate the Shifters from the population of their mutual homeworld , Stennaros . Thus most Shifters lived inconspicuous lives , attempting to escape undue attention by laying low , pretending to be regular Stennes , and using their natural gifts of camouflage . Shifters could wear standard humanoid clothing , such as shirts , trousers , boots , and belts . Some members of the species received cybernetic implants . Shifters could wield standard weapons , such as blasters . History . The Stennes Shifters evolved on the planet of Stennaros , separating from the mainline Stennes during the ancient history of the Galactic Republic . Unlike their baseline counterparts , the Shifters evolved their capacity to alter the perceptions of others as a technique both to evade predators on their homeworld and to obtain prey of their own . As the Stennes sector was colonized from afar and new settlers spread throughout it , prejudices against the Shifters spread . Outsiders took to hunting Shifters for sport or from fear . Stennaros itself became the target of pogroms to wipe out the Shifters , and violent campaigns left its surface pocked with craters from artillery strikes . In one incident , approximately 5 , 000 years before the Battle of Yavin , the Shifters faced the Jedi Order in a conflict , which convinced the Jedi that the Shifters were a dangerous threat . Prejudices against the Shifters ran so deep that mainline Stennes suffered as well . Eventually , the non - Shifter Stennes turned on their kin . The Stennes adopted xenophobic programs to detect Shifters in the general population and then eradicate them . Thousands of persecuted Shifters considered themselves to have lost a homeworld . By the time of the Galactic Civil War , Stennaros had fallen within the bounds of the Har Worlds sector of the Expansion Region , but the Stennes Shifters nearly had been wiped out . Records of the species ' early history were lost over the millennia so that , by the time of the Galactic Empire , the remaining data was difficult to understand . Imperial estimates suggested that as few as a thousand Shifters — and no more than several million — remained in the galaxy . Nevertheless , Imperial interest in the Shifters remained ; the Imperial Liaison Officer of Sentientology Studies , Major Vontenn , ordered the Human sentientologist Obo Rin to research the Stennes Shifters and add an entry on them to the scientist ' s work - in - progress , the " Catalog of Intelligent Life in the Galaxy " . Stennes Shifters in the galaxy . Although some Stennes Shifters attempted to pass as baseline Stennes on their home planet , other Shifters took the attitude that they had no homeworld of which to speak . Instead , these Shifters immigrated to other worlds , where they used their natural talents in careers as informants , spies , and thieves . Nevertheless , Shifters at large had to keep on their guard , since Humans and other species considered them untrustworthy at best , deadly at worst . While most non - Stennes dismissed the Shifters as legends with no basis in fact , those who encountered the so - called Force vampires reacted with occasional intrigue but , more often , terror . Trinto Duaba was a Stennes Shifter active during the Galactic Civil War . He enjoyed disappearing into crowds and observing others — without himself being observed . Duaba wore a hooded cloak to mask his features , and he sported cybernetic implants in his temples . He earned his living by identifying anyone wanted by the Galactic Empire and then informing the police or bringing the wanted person in himself . Duaba was present at Chalmun ' s Spaceport Cantina on the planet Tatooine in 0 BBY when the Human Jedi Master Obi - Wan Kenobi hired the services of the Human smuggler Han Solo and and his Wookiee first mate , Chewbacca . He patronized the cantina again later that year when the Empire declared a curfew on the planet . Duaba was forthright about his species with at least one individual : he talked at length with the Shi ' ido Senior Anthropologist Vandolae about the Stennes Shifters . The information later reached the Imperial sentientologist Obo Rin . Behind the scenes . Special effects artist Rick Baker designed what would eventually become the Stennes Shifters as a Halloween mask . With its monstrous appearance and electrical terminals on its temples , Baker intended for the mask to represent Frankenstein ' s monster . When director George Lucas hired Baker to create creatures for use during additional photography for in Los Angeles , he and his team created several new alien masks to populate closeup shots for the Mos Eisley cantina sequence of the film . Baker added his Halloween mask in an effort to fill out the roster . The character went by the name " Terminal Man " during the film ' s production , both due to the terminally - ill look and the electric terminals on his head . Other nicknames included " Veiny " and " Future Man . " One of the other Los Angeles - based special effects artists made a copy of the Terminal Man mask , and added a mustache and hair for use as another cantina extra . The characters ' scenes were shot on January 24 and 25 , 1977 . One of these two masks was reused for the cantina scene in the 1978 telefilm " The Star Wars Holiday Special " . In 1995 , the game company Decipher , Inc . , provided the first official name for the hairless Terminal Man on a card for their " Star Wars " Customizable Card Game . The company dubbed him Trinto Duaba and made him a Stennes Shifter . Decipher ' s use of the word " Stennes " was a misspelling , but it has since been accepted into canon . The card ' s lore was the first indication of the Shifters ' Force - absorption ability . Author Pablo Hidalgo expanded on Decipher ' s work to provide the first detailed background information on Stennes Shifters in his article " Shape - shifters , " which was published in the " Star Wars Adventure Journal 12 " in 1997 . The article provides rules to use Shifters in West End Games ' ; while they are average in most respects , they can use game mechanics to absorb Force points expended by those around them . Finally , the toy company Hasbro released an action figure of Trinto Duaba in 2008 , pairing him with Dice Ibegon , another cantina character from " A New Hope " . Hasbro ' s toy was the first source to show a Shifter ' s full body . The mustachioed version of Terminal Man went unnamed in official " Star Wars " lore for years until Tom Spina , an artist with extensive experience repairing and duplicating props used in the " Star Wars " films , made a replica of the mask as a prize for an attendee of 2012 ' s Celebration VI fan convention . In a nod to the winner , Brandon Connors , the character was dubbed Braconnor Bakiska . Because Bakiska and the " Holiday Special " character only appear on screen briefly , the films do not make clear whether they are standard Stennes or Stennes Shifters . However , the article " , " by Tim Veekhoven and Kevin Beentjes , identifies the " Holiday Special " character as Duaba .