INFO: The Kel Dors, sometimes referred to as Kel Dorians, were a species hailing from the technological planet Dorin. They required masks to protect them when in oxygen-rich atmospheres. They were also known for their unique Force-using tradition, the Baran Do Sages.
One famous Kel Dor was the Jedi Master Plo Koon, who was a member of a famous Kel Dor Jedi family. Sha Koon, the Jedi Knight, was Plo Koon's niece.
RACE: Kel Dor
HEIGHT: 1.8 Meters Tall
SKIN: Ranges from peach to crimson red
DISTINCTION: Protective masks when in oxygen-rich atmospheres.
LANGUAGE: Kel Dorian, Galactic Basic
HOMEWORLD:Dorin was a dark and dusty planet in the Expansion Region. It was the homeworld of the Kel Dors, with an atmosphere of a unique gas and helium.
The planet was situated between two black holes, making access to the planet limited, while space travel for the natives was highly dangerous. Dorin's atmosphere contained very little oxygen, and barely supported life. This atmosphere mix affected the evolution of the Kel Dor, requiring them to wear antiox breath masks to filter out oxygen while offworld. Kel Dor society and industry largely revolved around technology. Although most Kel Dors are regarded as highly altruistic to the welfare of other beings, their justice system was strict and swift to potential criminals and lawbreakers.
The planet was home of the Baran Do, a Force cult predating the Jedi. Dorin joined the Galactic Republic in 5,975 BBY, and had direct representation in the Galactic Senate. Because so many Jedi came from Dorin, the Republic funded the construction of an enclave on the planet. The atmosphere limited the regular students to Kel Dor, although many Jedi of other species visited the enclave to learn from the Kel Dor masters. While its isolation allowed the planet to remain unharmed by the Old Sith Wars, nearly all Jedi at the enclave on Dorin were killed by Sith assassins following the Jedi Civil War.
During the Clone Wars , General Grevious led a attack on Dorin, but the Galactic Republic defeated his forces. Dorin later joined the New Republic, and the Baran Do engaged in contact and exchange with the New Jedi Order. Jedi Master Plo Koon, his uncle, and his niece, Sha Koon, were all from Dorin. In 43.5 ABY, Luke and Ben Skywalker travelled to Dorin to consult the Baran Do and their involvement in Jacen Solo's fall to the dark side.
Early in the reign of the Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire, Dorin was blockaded by the Imperial Navy. The Sith then ordered that the best and brightest of Kel Dor offer their service to the Empire, or their people would suffer. As a result many Kel Dor entered the Imperial service, though the blockade remained in place. A secret route onto the world, called the Dorin Run, was discovered by smugglers, though it lay so close to the black holes, that all but the most reckless considered it too dangerous to use.
BIOLOGY AND APPEARANCE:The Kel Dors were a tall race, typically of the same height and weight as Humans. Their skin ranged in color from peach to a crimson red. Most had dark, black eyes, although some were born with silver irises, a mark that was often seen as an affinity for the Force.
Kel Dors were, as a whole, considered an unattractive species due to their strange facial structure. Their noses were described as falling short of becoming a beak, with a gaping opening that descended to the mouth, a toothless chasm with drooping fleshly strands. In place of teeth, Kel Dor had an upper and lower hard-palate, visible only when they pulled their lips back. Framing their head were extrasensory organs which terminated in small black tusks.
Due to Dorin having a unique atmosphere composed of helium and a gas unique to their world, the Kel Dors were forced to wear an antiox breath mask and protective goggles whenever in atmospheres of a different composition. This equipment protected them from carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen, which were fatal to a Kel Dor. The breathing mask also helped to amplify the Kel Dor's voice, as they must shout to produce any sound when out of their native atmosphere. Without their protective goggles, Kel Dors were considered effectively blind when away from Dorin. They are also able to survive in the vacuum of space for a short time though it is unknown exactly how long they can withstand it.
The Kel Dors also had heightened reflexes, a result of the extrasensory organs in their heads. As a species, they were thought to be typically quick and wise, but of a weaker constitution, when compared to other species. Kel Dors were also said to communicate with their minds using a form of telepathy. This form of telepathy was thought to be a force technique known only among the masters of the Baran Do order, but was later exposed to be a lie spread by the Baran Do sages.
CULTURE AND HISTORY:The Kel Dors were aware of, and used the Force long before they joined the Galactic Republic and the Jedi. This proud Force tradition was known as the Baran Do Sages. The Baran Do Sages often acted as advisers to rich and powerful Kel Dor families. Initially, their powers centered on weather-prediction, but as the Baran Do Sages learned more about the Force, they realized they had an affinity for detecting, and subsequently preventing, dangerous events. Wars and disasters were often averted simply by the insight of a Baran Do Sage. After joining the Republic, the Baran Do Sages dwindled in power and number, due to the Jedi's greater knowledge of the Force, and their taking of Force-sensitive infants. Those Kel Dors who were even aware of their existence considered them to be eccentric wizards. Some traditional families still sent Force-sensitive children to learn from them though. Because of their obscurity, the sages managed to escape the Jedi Purges, for the most part, unscathed.
Kel Dors were noted for their simple approach to justice, and they typically saw moral issues in black and white. On the one hand, the Kel Dor were noted for their hospitality, they would never turn away a stranger in need. Yet, Kel Dors were not averse to taking the law into their own hands, and had no compunctions about putting to death a thief who was merely stealing to feed himself.
Naming TraditionsKel Dor surnames, like Human surnames, were based on ancient family trades or jobs, or even a description of a particularly famous Kel Dor in the family. The Koon family name, for example meant 'explorer'.
Kel Dor given names were based, loosely, on the sounds generated by Dorin's unique atmospheric phenomena. This tradition was highly popular among the Kel Dors, and the upper classes considered it bad luck to name a child away from Dorin. Kel Dor names tended to be short, usually monosyllabic, due to an ancient superstition about the "wind spirits" of Dorin. Upon hearing the sustained wind-sound of a long name, so the story went, the wind spirits would have mistaken the child for one of their own, and carried him or her off to be raised as a wind-child. No one believed in this myth for thousands of years, but the effect it had on Kel Dor naming conventions remained.
The tradition of using the sounds of atmospheric phenomena meant that Kel Dor given names appeared to have almost no meaning to an outsider, but another Kel Dor who had heard the sound in question and could identify the phenomenon would understand the significance and meaning of the name.
APPEARANCES:Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 45: Destroyer, Part 1
Timeline 1: Treaty of Coruscant
Timeline 2: The Mandalorian Blockade is Broken
Timeline 3: The Return of the Mandalorians
Timeline 4: The Empire Changes Strategy
Timeline 5: The Battle of Bothawui
Star Wars: The Old Republic, Threat of Peace Act 1: Treaty of Coruscant
Star Wars: The Old Republic, Threat of Peace Act 2: New Galactic Order
Star Wars: The Old Republic
"The Secret of Tet-Ami" - Star Wars Tales 13
"Yaddle's Tale: The One Below" - Star Wars Tales 6
The Sith in the Shadow
Jedi Apprentice: The Only Witness
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan: Last Stand on Ord Mantell
Jedi Council: Acts of War
Cloak of Deception
Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
Star Wars: Obi-Wan
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Episode I: Obi-Wan Kenobi (Appears in flashback(s))
Star Wars: Episode I Jedi Power Battles
Star Wars Republic: Emissaries to Malastare
Star Wars Republic: The Hunt for Aurra Sing
Star Wars Republic: Darkness
Star Wars Republic: The Stark Hyperspace War
Star Wars Republic: The Devaronian Version (Appears in flashback(s))
Star Wars Republic: Rite of Passage
Star Wars: Zam Wesell
Practice Makes Perfect
Activists Deface Jedi Temple Lobby—HoloNet News Vol. 531 51
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones / novel / comic
Machines of War
Star Wars Republic 53: Blast Radius
Jedi: Shaak Ti
"One Battle" - Clone Wars Adventures: Volume 3
"Means and Ends" - Clone Wars Adventures: Volume 6
Star Wars Republic 61: Dead Ends
Star Wars Republic 62: No Man's Land
Star Wars: General Grievous
Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 21"
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "The Hidden Enemy" (Appears in flashback(s))
Star Wars: The Clone Wars film / junior novelization
Star Wars The Clone Wars 6: Slaves of the Republic - Chapter 6: Escape from Kadavo
Star Wars The Clone Wars Volume 1: Shipyards of Doom
Star Wars The Clone Wars Volume 2: Crash Course
The Clone Wars: Shakedown
HoloNet News — A Galaxy Divided (Mentioned only)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Rising Malevolence"
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Shadow of Malevolence"
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Destroy Malevolence"
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Dooku Captured"
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "The Gungan General"
Star Wars The Clone Wars: In Service of the Republic
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Holocron Heist"
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Children of the Force" (Mentioned only)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Senate Spy" (Appears in flashback(s))
Star Wars The Clone Wars 10: Hero of the Confederacy, Part 1
Star Wars The Clone Wars 11: Hero of the Confederacy, Part 2 (Appears in hologram)
Star Wars Republic: The Dreadnaughts of Rendili
Star Wars: Obsession
Sithisis
Reversal of Fortune
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith junior novelization (Appears in hologram)
Star Wars Republic: Into the Unknown (Appears in flashback(s))
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
Star Wars Purge: Seconds to Die
Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight (Mentioned only)
Outcast
Star Wars Legacy: Trust Issues
Star Wars Legacy: Claws of the Dragon
Star Wars Legacy 20: Indomitable, Part 1
SOURCES:Alien Anthology
Ultimate Alien Anthology
The New Essential Guide to Alien Species
Star Wars: Power of the Jedi
The Kel Dor: What a Gas Preview of the Revised and Expanded Core Rulebook on Wizards.com (article)
Alien Adventures on Wizards.com (article)
"A Mon Alone" (Mentioned only)
Order 66: Destroy All Jedi
Threats of the Galaxy
Rebellion Era Campaign Guide
A99 aquata breather in the Databank
Krayt's Honor in the Databank
Plo Koon in the Databank
I would like to thank Wookieepedia for this info.
