INFO: Balosars were humanoids with retractable antennapalps. They were indigenous to Balosar.
RACE: Balosar
HEIGHT: 1.6 Meters Tall
SKIN: Normal flesh
DISTINCTION: antennapalps
LANGUAGE: Balosur
HOMEWORLD:Balosar was a planet in the Core Worlds, and home to the Balosar species. It was a polluted, poverty-stricken world of grimy factories and downtrodden people, and a place where tourism was discouraged. Such an environment encouraged many of the native Balosars to become criminals.
Underground, protected from air pollution, were grown large crops of balo mushrooms, and extract of which was used to make death sticks. Death sticks were the primary rival of ryll on the spice market.
When the New Republic came to be, Balosar did not join it. About that time, the planet suffered a setback: air pollution infiltrated the underground balo farms, poisoning the crops and the stored spores. As a result, ryll was able to practically monopolize the drug world.
The planet was right on the path of the Yuuzhan Vong warpath. However, the invaders turned in a different direction, and the planet was spared during the conflict.
BIOLOGY AND APPEARANCE:The Balosar's antennapalps allowed them to listen into the subsonic range. Their antennapalps also gave the species a physical intuition, which the Jedi sometimes mistook for Force sensitivity. Their antennapalps could also sense surges in emotion and could detect danger. They used these abilities to help them survive on their crime-infested world.
Balosars were also resistant to toxin, despite their frail physiques. This immunity can be attributed to their planet's polluted atmosphere, giving them a high resistance. A Balosar reached adulthood at age 16. Average life expectancy for a Balosar was roughly 65 years.
CULTURE AND HISTORY:Balosars were commonly stereotyped as spineless, weak-willed, depressed, sarcastic, cynical, and selfish. However, they acquired these traits due to their planet's pollution. The Journal of Personality and Galactic Psychology did not indicate any sort of genetic link to these emotions.
Balosars often left their homeworld to look for a more prosperous place to live. Since many carried criminal records, they were perceived as self-absorbed individuals who had a difficult time determining right from wrong. Young Balosars were commonly sent to worlds with better education.
Death sticks were a devastating factor in Balosar society, where they addict users, forcing them to purchase more. Pollution is one of the causes of the heavy addiction to death sticks, but the Balosar's immunity to toxin allows them to consume them without much effect other than the life-long addiction. Some Balosars even entered the death stick business, where they would travel in hopes of finding potential customers.
During the reign of the Galactic Republic, illegal trade in death sticks became the greatest competition to the spice from Ryloth called ryll. The rivalry resulted in a hatred between the Balosars and Twi'leks.
By the time the New Republic was formed, Balosar's pollution seeped into the balo mushroom farms destroying the Balosar's economy. The Balosars had no choice but to join the Twi'lek's spice industry as low-level runners.
When the Yuuzhan Vong War occurred, the Balosars were not bound to treaties with the New Republic and were therefore not protected by its military. However, they escaped the Yuuzhan Vong's conquest and their planet remained as it always was throughout the invasion.
APPEARANCES:Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (First appearance)
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones comic
Boba Fett: Pursuit
Evasive Action: Recruitment
Rebel Force: Renegade
Star Wars Legacy: Claws of the Dragon
Millennium Falcon
SOURCES:Ultimate Alien Anthology
The New Essential Guide to Alien Species
"Rogues Gallery" - Star Wars Gamer 10
"Galactic Power Brokers" - Star Wars Gamer 10
Underworld Appendix: Swoops, Spice, and Wretched Rogues
"A Mon Alone"
Scum and Villainy
The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
Elan Sleazebaggano in the Databank
I would like to thank Wookieepedia for this info.
