Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races

The first edition of Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races is a supplement to Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game written by Troy Denning and published by West End Games in 1989. It was revised into a second edition in 1994.

From an in-universe perspective, the book purports to consist of excerpts from the Catalog of Intelligent Life in the Galaxy by an Imperial sentientologist named Obo Rin, who was commissioned by Darth Vader to catalog the intelligent species of the galaxy. The introduction consisted of Imperial communiqués giving an in-universe look at the production of the Catalog.

While many of these species did appear in the original trilogy, some were invented for the game. The background information for several of the alien races who had appeared on screen was also invented for the game. Many of the new species and backgrounds were used in later works in the Star Wars Legends continuity with little modification. However, some retcons were needed to bring Galaxy Guide 4 in line with the prequel-era Star Wars Legends continuity. The most common retcons necessary are those where a species described as having its first contact with the Galactic Empire are shown in later works to have some contact with the Galactic Republic. Since the text depicts Obo Rin as a source with an Imperial bias, these retcons usually blame inaccuracies on deliberate Imperial propaganda and misinformation.

Text and facts from the “Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.