Zabrak
Zabraks are a proud, confident and strong humanoid species found in the Star Wars universe.
They’re easily recognizable by their horns and most have a facial tattoo.
They are one of the first spacefaring species, have 8 colonies and can be found all over the galaxy.
Their homeworld is the harsh planet named Iridonia, which I can’t imagine living on since one side is covered with ice and the other side is a rocky desert.
Since I already made a page about my favorite species, Twi’leks, I decided to make one about my husbands too.
I hope that this will give you a better insight in this species and maybe even help you if you like to roleplay.
Appearance & personality.
The first things that you’ll notice about a Zabrak are the horns protruding from their head. These horns start to grow when they’re 1 to 2 years of age and grow until their puberty.
The horn pattern is different for every Zabrak family, clan and/or subspecies.
Large and shapely horns are seen as a sign of beauty among the traditional Zabraks.
The skin coloration varies for every subspecies and has a variety of colors like white, red, tan, brown, black and red but can also have a blue or purple hue.
Hair growth and eye color vary from subspecies to subspecies too.
Zabraks have a a wider eye color variety then humans and theirs also include yellow, red, orange and even purple.
They don’t have any facial hair, not even eyelashes or eyebrows (except for those who are part human) and only about 50% grow hair.
Some see hairgrowth as something that makes them less of a Zabrak, some clans will even cast out children who grow hair, but others see it as enhancing the beauty of their horns.
Another thing you’ll notice are is their facial tattoo. They got these during their rite of passage and it can symbolize things like their clan, their family lineage, their place of birth and their personalities.
In traditional clans Zabraks have the same tattoo but sometimes they get personalized markings.
In less traditional clans Zabraks are allowed to design their own tattoo.
Their height varies between 1.6 to 2.1 meters (5.2 to 6.9 ft).
Zabraks have 2 hearts and are quickly immune to medicines. Which makes it necessary to give them a much higher dose of anesthesia during operations.
Personality
Zabraks are a species with a strong sense of self-assuredness, which make them seem very single-minded to others.
They’re confident, strong, dedicated, focused and proud and believe that nothing is impossible.
Those born on Iridonia are often more war-like which is probably caused by the harsh climate.
Iridonia
It’s a harsh world which has brought forth a tough species since only the strong can survive there.
Iridonia doesn’t stay spin like most planets do and is therefore stuck with a day and a night side. Due to this most of the Zabraks live at the equator, which is actually a nice place to live because it always has a moderate temperature.
The Zabraks, better known as Iridonians when they come from their home world instead of one of the colonies, use “galactic standard time” to measure the time.
The day and night sides of planets are uninhabitable due to either the cold or the heat. The night side is being used for harvesting, the harvesters can only be set out for a maximum of 100 km (62 miles) or they will freeze, and the edge of the day side is being used for farming.
Iridonia is covered with mountains, canyons and acid pools.
One of these acid pools is known as the Great Acid Sea, which houses some of the largest and most fearsome amphibious creatures of the galaxy.
Culture & Society
Zabraks are a tough and fierce species, especially those from Iridonia, and warrior training, which includes martial-arts, is a important part of their culture. This training, which is for both males and females, starts when they are young. 
The rites of passage
The rites of passage, known as “Res Selenoren” (=The Challenges) are the most important things in life to a traditional Zabrak and consist of a mental, physical and a social challenge.
Each rite of passage is different and designed by the parents to bring out the strengths and weaknesses of the youth.
The rites of passage are done when the youth is found to be ready by the parents, which is normally when (s)he is somewhere between 13 and 15. They are very private and only discussed between the parents and youth.
The father takes care of the rites of his sons and the mother of her daughters.
Once they pass the rites of passage, they’re seen as adults and full clan members. With the rights, privileges and responsibilities that come with it.
The rites of passage take place somewhere in the 3 months before the “Rising Festival” with the social challenge taking place during it.
The “Rising Festival” is a yearly ceremony that celebrates the youths who passed their rites of passage. These youths will all be honored and receive their facial tattoo if they haven’t have gotten it yet.
It’s also a event for the entire clan to participate in since it also features hunts, contests and other events and entertainment and food and drink.
The first 2 rites of passage are rarely failed but if they are failed then they can be redone as often as necessary in the 3 month period before the Rising Festival”. They can’t be same though so the parents must make new challenges.
If the rites of passage are failed then the youth will never be seen as a adult and the youth will bring shame and dishonor to the clan and instead of getting a facial clan tattoo, the youth will have it scarred into their face.
They will also always have the prefix “ke” is to their name, which signifies their eternal youth status.
The rites of passage can be refused but those who do can no longer stay with their clan after the “Rising Festival”. They will be respected as a adult though.
The law of hospitality.
According to the law of hospitality is every visitor, who is staying at at a Zabraks home, their responsibility and have to be treated as a family member for their entire stay.
This responsibility goes so far that the host would sacrifice their life to save that of their guests.
Naming
Most traditional Zabraks use the clan’s name as last name and get a unique first name at birth but sometimes this is reversed.
Less traditional Zabraks, mostly those who live in the colonies, use the human custom of having the family name as last name and having a unique name as birth. Married Zabrak females often take their husbands last name.
Some Zabraks only use 1 name, which can be their clan’s or own name.
Zabrak use a large variety of names but most traditional ones use the following letters : K, H, M, T, and E.
Clans
A clan, called a “Jhere” on Iridonia but generally called a “Ru”, is a large group of normally 100-500 families which are all (distantly) related in blood.
They can have few 100 to a few 1000 members depending on the size of the families.
Family structure is similar to that of humans but only immediate family and slightly more distant blood relatives such as grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins are seen as being from the same family. Others are seen as being another family.
Clans are ruled by a council of elders with 1 of those, chosen by the elders, being the leader. The leader is responsible for taking care of the clan and enforcing the laws. It’s a lifelong position unless the leader doesn’t take care of his/her duties and then the elders will sometimes even assassinate the leader if (s)he wont to try to improve.
During clan wars everybody, except for children, pregnant females, mothers or single parents with children below 3 and those to disabled to fight, are expected to fight. It’s extremely dishonorable if you don’t.
Professions
Zabraks are a flexible species which will follow whatever profession they want. These professions include laborer, business owner, pilot, mercenary, soldier, entertainer, doctor but also smuggler or bounty hunter for example.
History
Zabraks are 1 of the earliest spacefaring species in the galaxy which is probably due to their harsh planet and their belief that nothing is impossible.
They have had many colonies outside of their home system since early in their history. Some of these are the planet Irida and Elom. They currently have 8 colonies in 5 systems.
They came across the “Republic” early in their history and have played a large role in Galactic affairs.
When the “Galactic Empire” came to be, the strong-willed nature of the Zabraks tried to keep the Imperials from taking over their worlds. But with various actions of the Imperials against the Zabraks, like destroying their industrial base and eventually garrisoning all their worlds and raising taxes to drive them to near poverty, they were made a unwilling and oppressed part of the Empire.
Once the Empire was defeated after the “Battle of Endor” the Zabraks joined the New Republic.
Why my husband likes Zabraks
- He likes their Gothic-like tribal tattoos.
- He likes their horns.
- He likes their toughness.
- He likes the equilibrium skill they have in the MMO Star Wars Galaxies.
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