Since her debut in the animated Star Wars series, Ahsoka Tano has been a breakthrough character and a fan-favorite, but also a character that had a lot of impact on the plot of Star Wars and its characters. A former pupil of Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka eventually abandoned the Jedi due to the disagreements she had with them, but remained firmly on the side of good. She has made her live-action debut in The Mandalorian and has been a topic of debate ever since. In wake of her upcoming solo series, we are going to talk about Ahsoka Tano and her head tails.
Ahsoka Tano’s head-tails are called lekku and are long, fleshy appendages that protrude from the head of all Twi’leks, Togruta, and male Ozrelanso. They are completely organic and are a part of the physiology of certain races. They are usually longer, but were shortened for Ahsoka’s live-action appearances to make the stunts easier to perform.
This is going to be your ultimate guide to the physiology of Ahsoka Tano, focusing specifically on her head-tails, known as lekku. We’re going to explain what they are, what they are made of, but also why there is a difference in length in certain adaptations of the Star Wars lore. This is going to be your ultimate guide to this issue, as we are going to bring you all the information you need to know.
What are Ahsoka’s head-tails called?
Ahsoka Tano’s head-tails are officially called lekku. Lekku (lek singular) are long, fleshy appendages that protrude from the heads of all Twi’leks and Togrutas. The aforementioned species had two (occasionally four) lekku, while the latter sported three of them. They could also be seen on the heads of male Ozrelanso. Now, each species had a different story behind them, so we’ll just recap it in a few short paragraphs.
Among the Twi’leks, lekku were shapely prehensile arms that grew from the crown of their skulls. While Twi’leks normally had two lekku, certain individuals such as Orn Free Taa possessed four. The highly sensitive lekku could be used to grasp and hold objects. These organs were very sensitive to touch, and a damaged lek could cause severe damage to a Twi’lek: Squoxx died within an hour of having one of his lekku bitten off.
However, the loss of a lekku did not always result in a Twi’lek’s death: the Jedi Master Loden Greatstorm lived for some time after having his lekku cut off in Nihil captivity. Had he not died later in battle, Greatstorm would have been fitted with a prosthetic. In addition to their spoken language, Ryl, the Twi’leks could also communicate through subtle lekku gestures.
For example, the right lek tip raised meant “Hello,” the left lek tip dipped meant “Goodbye,” both lekku tips crossed twice meant “I love you,” and both lekku tips thrust into the speaker’s back meant “May the seasoning salt your wounds!” Despite the high sensitivity of these organs, some Twi’leks like Cham Syndulla tattooed their lekku. Some wore them simply hanging over their backs or falling across their chests, while others like Bib Fortuna tied them around their necks or shoulders for esthetic purposes.
The name “lekku” was also used to describe the striped head tails of the Togruta. However, this species had three such appendages: two lekku at the front that fell across the chest, and a thicker lek centered at the posterior base of the skull. As seen in Governor Gupat Roshti, the lekku of male Togruta were shorter than those of females.
The color of a Togruta’s lekku was determined by his DNA and they grew with the maturity of the wearer. In youth, the head tails extended only slightly beyond the collarbones, but could reach below the waist in adulthood. The loss of a lek, as with Selda the bartender, was not a crippling injury, but the appendages did not grow back afterwards.
In male Ozrelanso, the lekku were tentacles that grew on the sides of the skull.
What are Ahsoka’s head-tails made of?
As we have established, Ahsoka’s head-tails are purely organic and are made out of flesh. They’re not a wig or anything similar; it’s just what her race looks like and there’s nothing more to that question. There really isn’t anything we can add to this issue, really.
Why are Ahsoka’s head-tails shorter in live-action?
Most people knew Ahsoka Tano from the animated series and while she grew there, her head-tails also grew longer. When it was first announced that Ahsoka Tano would make an appearance in The Mandalorian, fans were thrilled to know that their heroine would finally be making her live-action debut. Now, Rosario Dawson did a great job (she had to have, since she’s getting her own series) and fans were pleased, save for on detail that confused most of them – her head-tails were significantly shorter.
Since The Mandalorian takes place long after the Clone Wars, it made absolutely no sense that Ahsoka’s head-tails would shorten; they should have been even longer. So, in order to clarify the answer, someone asked Lucasfilm’s concept designer Brian Matyas about the issue and this is what he said:
So, as you can see, this was a purely practical thing and although it did create a discrepancy in the continuity, we don’t think that much attention should be given to that fact.
How does Ahsoka’s “hair” work?
Now, Ahsoka Tano doesn’t really have hair, no. The lekku, or head-tails, aren’t really that. They’re just head protrusions, nothing else. They don’t really have the function of… hair. But, alongside the lekku, Ahsoka Tano does have another set of organs on her head – the montrals. We shall now discuss them here.
Montrals are hollow, cone-shaped horns that were part of the Togruta skulls. For them, montrals served as organs of hearing and catching other vibrations within a radius of up to 25 meters. The size of the montrals increased with time; in childhood and adolescence, they looked like appendages on their heads, but by adulthood they grew to normal dimensions. In the settlement on the planet Kyros, where the Togruta colonists lived, the buildings were built in the form of montrals.
Male Togruta possessed larger and more angular montrals than females. On the planet Kiros, the buildings of the Togruta colony under the leadership of Governor Gupat Roshti had the shape of Montrals. Among the Kessurians, the Montrals were located above their elongated ears and served to heighten their senses. This ability made them adept at spatial perception. Unlike the lekku, montrals are seen only on members of the Togruta and Kessurian races.
What is Ahsoka’s race called?
Togrutas were an intelligent humanoid species, characterized by their colorful skin tones, large montrals, head-tails, and white facial pigments. They came from the planet Shili, in the Expansion Region. Although Shili was their homeworld, they also had a colony of about 50,000 individuals on the planet Kiros and in the Expansion Region. Some well-known Togruta included Jedi Master Shaak Ti, Jedi Master Jora Malli, Supreme Chancellor Kirames Kaj, and Padawan Ahsoka Tano.
The Togrutas had mostly yellow to red skin, with white patterns on the face and other parts of the body. Their heads were crowned with a fleshy headdress with a striped pattern consisting of a pair of large horns, the montrals, as well as three tentacles called lekku, like the ones seen on Twi’leks.
The first two lekku could move, but the third, bigger and starting from the back of the skull, simply hung down. The montrals and the third lekku did not grow until adolescence. The montrals curved or even snaked then, and the third lekku reached the size of the other two.
The best-known Togrutas were Jedi Master Shaak Ti, as well as young Jedi Ahsoka Tano, trained by Anakin Skywalker himself. Ashla was a simple Initiate in the Jedi Temple. Auxi Kray Korbin and Niriian were two Togrutas within the New Republic. Under the Galactic Empire, many Togrutas were enslaved as on Cymoon 1, in the Alpha Weapons Factory. Early sketches for the Togruta Shaak Ti showed her wearing a red veil, which eventually became the ruddy complexion of the Togruta’s skin.
The habitats of the Togruta were usually in mountainous and high-altitude areas. An example of this was the Togruta immigrants in the colonies on Kiros, which were built on the cliffs. These houses were built in the pursuit of art and beauty. The Togruta spoke the basic Galactic standard and their native language, Togruti.
Members of this species, especially those of Shili, fiercely protected their world and the moons surrounding it, and considered the ground beneath their feet sacred. For this reason, many Togruta remained barefoot and wore only boots when off-world.
On Shili, a government of the Togruta was established, which could be led by a queen. A queen of the Togruta government on Shili was also given the titles of Regasa of Shili, Supreme Huntress of the United Tribes, and Sovereign of Togruta. The government consisted of the Togruta military and the Togruta Guard.
The Royal Togruta Fleet consisted of many Togruta warships, and the military forces were further augmented by the Intelligence and Security Councils. The Togruta maintained a royal court and the government employed the post of ambassador and several ministers. In contrast, the Togruta in the artisan colony on Kiros built their society without weapons, preferring instead to devote themselves to art and beauty rather than war.
Shili was known for producing notoriously melodramatic holovideos. One of the signs in Shili’s zodiac system was called Ai. Its qualities were wisdom, charisma, and extraordinary masculinity. The constellation representing this sign was formed of blue dwarf stars, and a being born under Ai also had the sign Genry on Coruscant.