It is safe to say that season two of The Mandalorian delivered on and exceeded every expectation, even squashing the big potential worry of fans that it would be too reliant on fan service/having too much going on and would not do justice to the core Mando story. It balanced these perfectly, using well-known characters excellently, including the phenomenal Ahsoka Tano.
A former Jedi who has managed to go from an annoyance to fans to completely adored, Ahsoka Tano is a Togruta, one of the many, many fascinating species in the Star Wars Galaxy, and one not many fans know a lot about. Togruta’s often get confused with Twi’leks, but stand on their own as a species with an interesting culture and many intriguing aspects.
10 Shili
The Galaxy in which Star Wars is set is vast, expansive, and largely unexplored in the mainstream side of the franchise when it comes to its true depths, with many planets a lot of fans have no idea about.
One such planet is Shili, a planet seen only once on-screen in the Star Wars universe, during the Clone Wars episode “The Gathering,” where viewers see a flashback of Plo Koon finding the young Ahsoka Tano on the planet, with Shili, located in the Expansion Region, being the Togruta homeworld.
9 Kiros
However, while the Togruta hail from Shili, that is not the only planet they inhabit; as The Clone Wars fans know, Togruta’s colonized another planet, Kiros, with around 50,000 hosted by the planet.
These colonists would eventually be subject to Count Dooku and the Separatists’ dastardly move, which sees them enslaved by Zygerrian slavers. The planet itself is full of waterfalls, valleys, and lush green grasslands, perfect for the Togruta.
8 Habitats
Both Kiros and Shili were great habitats for the Togruta, with the species having a natural habitat suited to the planets’ conditions, namely in their grasslands and mountains.
Elevated heights, amongst mountains and cliffs, are the ideal place of residence for the Togruta. Those colonists who were on Kiros resided on a cliff, building their colony based on their own biology, in search of beauty in their new home.
7 Purpose Of White Pigmentation
Another reason for the Togruta having a natural habitat like there’s relates to their white facial pigmentation, famously seen on the likes of Ahsoka and Shaak Ti, which helps protect them.
Amongst the grasslands and habitats the Togruta take up as a home, the white pigmentation on their face allows them to camouflage themselves, hiding from predators of the native planet. It is not just a cool look to go with their vibrant skin tones.
6 Lekku
At first glance, many fans will assume that Togrutas and Twi’leks are the same, or at the very least are related to each other. And while the latter may be true in each of their biological histories, they are not the same, at all, confusing people mainly due to their lekku.
The lekku are the head-tails seen on both species, as well as Ozrelanso’s. Twi’lek’s had two lekku, occasionally having four, while Togruta’s have three, two which fell over their chest, and one larger one at the back of their head. They grew naturally through the life of the Togruta, and the unique DNA of the Togruta determined an aspect of their biology shown clearly through Ahsoka in The Clone Wars, indicative of her internal growth.
5 Montrals
It is easy to assume when looking at the Togruta that the horn-esque appendages that stick out above the head of them are just more of the lekku, and are simply a biological difference from the likes of the Twi’lek; however, they are far more unique.
These are montrals, hollow horns that were actually an extrasensory organ of the Togruta. Montrals allowed them to sense physical movement around them, up to a scope of about 25 meters, helping to protect them against predators. These montrals were the inspiration for the architecture of the Kiros colony.
4 Akul Teeth
Akul-tooth headdresses were an aspect of Togruta culture in the Legends timeline, but the headdress exists within the on-screen canon, and it can be assumed they are the same thing until a piece of canon says otherwise.
In Legends, the Akul was a predator native to Shili, known as the only creature the Togruta feared. Any Togruta who killed an Akul themselves donned a headdress of Akul teeth, and this type of headdress is worn by Shaak Ti in the prequel trilogy and Clone Wars.
3 Facial Markings & Montrals Grow & Change
It is fairly obvious that the lekku on the Togruta grow over time, Ahsoka shows that very clearly through The Clone Wars, but it is not the only key aspect of the Togruta biology that alters over time.
Just like the lekku, their montrals grow over time. Perhaps more interesting, though, is that the facial markings of the Togruta can alter as the years go on too.
2 Marg Sabl
The marg sabl is a Togrutan flower which, every morning, opened its petals in a sunburst shape; however it later became much more thanks to Togruta Ahsoka Tano.
As a Jedi Commander in the Clone War, Ahsoka created a tactical maneuver called the marg sabl, deriving from the flower. The maneuver has the warships turn their hangar bay away from the enemy ships in order to allow the starfighters to be released unseen to prepare for an attack. Thrawn himself would later adopt the move, with it becoming one of his most famous.
1 Silka Beads
Togruta’s are a predominantly hairless species, having none on their head due to their aforementioned lekku and montrals. This isn’t of particular note in most cases, but it creates something of interest for those of the species that become Jedi.
Jedi Padawan’s don braids in their hair to show their rank within the Jedi Order, and since they are hairless, Togruta could not necessarily do this. Instead, Togruta had what were called silka beads. These beads took the place of the hair braid and can be seen on Ahsoka throughout The Clone Wars, and are also wielded by other hairless species’ such as Twi’leks.
