Last week I posted my 5 Favorite Animals in Star Wars. I explained that I excluded certain creatures that may qualify as animals because, in my mind, they are great examples of “monsters.” Monsters being creatures that elicit terror and fear, and whose main goal is to probably kill or eat you. So here, in all their terrifying glory, are my five favorite monsters in Star Wars:

• The Rancor. The Rancor, from Return of the Jedi, was probably the scariest monster from the Original Trilogy for me. It’s appropriately scary-ugly and horrifying; but at least one person loved this monstrosity: Malakili, the Rancor-keeper, who wept after Luke killed it. He’s still one of my favorite minor characters in all of Star Wars, proving that someone’s reviled monster is someone else’s beloved pet.

These three beasts (yes, I’m cheating and counting them as one) were unleashed on Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme on Geonosis in Attack of the Clones. They’re all deadly in their own way, but I’m particularly fond of the Acklay. He has a weird screech, and gave me the disgusting-insect-shivers.

• Bor Gullet. Bor Gullet from Rogue One is one of the most appalling creatures ever created in Star Wars. Not only is he quite gross to look at, he’s a kind of mindflayer–he wraps his tentacles around someone’s head and looks into their minds; the result is often madness. Bodhi Rook was lucky to escape with his mind fairly intact.

• The Krayt Dragon. The Krayt Dragon from The Mandalorian was an awesome sight to see. Tatooine’s famous dragon gave me definite Dune-vibes, more worm than dragon, but still bad-ass. I hadn’t known that Krayt Dragons harbor a huge pearl inside them, but it kind of makes sense: oysters grow pearls from the irritation of sand in their bodies. This guy lives in sand, and probably ingests a desert’s worth on a regular basis. A dragon’s treasure inside the dragon. Clever.

• The Zillo Beast. The Zillo Beast makes an appearance in Clone Wars (Season Two, Episodes 18 & 19). I felt sorry for this guy–he was accidentally disturbed in his resting place under the earth during the Battle of Malastare, subdued and brought to Coruscant to study, whereupon he escaped and rampaged through the city. The Jedi were forced to kill the beast. The tragedy of King Kong in the Star Wars universe.

Honorable Mentions:

• The Wampa. The Wampa holds the honor of being the first Star Wars monster I ever encountered (in the theater, when I was 10, so yeah, scary!). I never figured out how he stuck Luke upside down from his cave ceiling, his feet frozen solid in ice.
• The Exogorth. This is the space slug that lives in the asteroid in The Empire Strikes Back. “This is no cave.” Surprise! Talk about being in the belly of the beast.
• Rathtars. Han and Chewie are transporting several of these very cranky monsters when we first see them in The Force Awakens. You just know that they’re going to escape somehow and cause all manner of problems. But they did give our friends a chance to escape Kanjiklub and the Guavian Death Gang. Silver linings, people.

I could have put down the giant spiders from Rebels (Krykna) or the Mandalorian, but I hate spiders. Hate, hate, hate spiders. I guess from a terror point of view, they work great as monsters, but I don’t think they’re cool in any way. In fact, I don’t like to think about them. Ever. So no. No picture, either, or I’ll have nightmares.

What’s your favorite monster? Comment below and we’ll talk about it!

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