Horax/Legends

Horaxes were large non-sentient, reptilian creatures native to the Outer Rim planet of Nelvaan. Their powerful muscular frames could grow over fifteen meters tall. Solitary and territorial, horaxes only gathered in pairs for mating purposes or to fight over territory. Nelvaanian locals used the scales of the horaxes' tails to make a special elixir, the scent of which could drive away horaxes for an entire year. During the Clone Wars, the horax population began to decline due to climate change caused by a local siphon generator operated by the Techno Union. In 19 BBY, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker killed a horax after being attacked, disrupting the initiation ritual of a young Nelvaanian boy in the process.
==Biology and appearance==
Horaxes were large reptiles native to the Outer Rim planet of Nelvaan. The quadrupedal creatures were capable of growing to heights of over fifteen meters, thanks to the low gravity of their homeworld. Their powerfully muscled frames were covered in thick, knobby, blue skin,The Clone Wars Campaign Guide and they had reddish-orange eyes. The mouth of the horax contained many very sharp teeth, the most prominent being the four enormous saber-like fangs that protruded from its maw. At the end of the beasts' snouts was a pair of shovel-like horns used to uproot entire trees and split open siltcrawler burrows, revealing entire hibernating colonies to be eaten. The tail of a horax was long and heavy, lined with sharp spurs, and concluded with a club made of dense bone. The tail was also covered in scales.
==Behavior==
The carnivorous horaxes were solitary creatures. They were also non-sentient and were very territorial, using their fangs, horns, and clubbed tails to fight each other for territory and only gathering in pairs to mate. They preyed upon siltcrawler colonies for food and were not able to fare well in extreme cold.
==History==
At some point, the Nelvaanian inhabitants of the horaxes' homeworld discovered that a special elixir could be made from horax tail scales, the scent of which would repel the massive beasts for an entire year. It eventually became a customary coming-of-age ritual for young Nelvaanian boys to venture out into the forests and bring back a scale from the tail of a horax, granting them a place among the highest warrior ranks. The Trandoshan hunter Qyzen Fess, who lived during the Cold War between the Republic and the Sith Empire, hunted several horaxes during his career. During the galaxy-spanning Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Separatist-aligned Techno Union built a laboratory that operated off a siphon generator that drained the vicinity of thermal energy. This plunged the planet into an ice age that caused many horaxes to die, reducing the population to scarcity.
Toward the end of the Clone Wars in 19 BBY,The New Essential Chronology Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker were sent to Nelvaan in search of the notorious General Grievous of the Separatist Droid Army. Upon arrival, Skywalker, Kenobi, and their clone trooper forces were attacked by a horax, resulting in the death of all the clones. However, Skywalker managed to kill the horax, though in the process disrupting the coming-of-age ritual of a young Nelvaanian boy. After being taken to the locals' village of Rokrul, Skywalker was sent to destroy the Techno Union base, as the Nelvaanian Shaman Orvos had determined that Skywalker was the Holt Kazed, or "Ghost Hand," of local legend. While traveling through a cave on the way to the base, Skywalker came upon some cave drawings, some of which depicted horaxes. Skywalker then experienced a Force vision of the future in which the paintings told the story of a Nelvaanian male with a powerful arm destroying enemies, one being a horax attacking his village.
==Behind the scenes==
The horax first appeared in the twenty-second chapter of the Star Wars: Clone Wars television series, which aired on March 22, 2005. The horax was first named in the audio commentary on the series' Volume Two DVD. Much of the creature was drawn by Mike Kim, though one piece of artwork in the DVD's still gallery misspelled the creature as "Horrax."
==Appearances==
*Star Wars: The Old Republic 
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==Sources==
* Star Wars: Clone Wars Volume Two 
*The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
*The Clone Wars Campaign Guide
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==Notes and references==
Category:Creatures of Nelvaan
Category:Predatory creatures
Category:Reptiles