Who Is She? Revisiting Ahsoka Tano’s Origins in ‘Star Wars’ Lore

Every day brings us closer to the premiere of the new Star Wars series about Ahsoka Tano. The first two of Ahsoka‘s eight episodes are set to be released on August 23, with a new episode dropping each week thereafter.

While Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) already made her live-action debut in the second season of The Mandalorian (and appeared in one episode in The Book of Boba Fett), this new series will give her the chance to lead her own story, as she investigates an emerging threat to the galaxy after the fall of the Empire. One thing you can be sure of, though, is that the threat in question includes Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Still, the character of Ahsoka goes way back in the Star Wars universe, where she was animated long before she became a live-action character. She appeared for the first time in the animated series The Clone Wars, where she is Anakin Skywalker’s padawan and follows him through the battles of the Clan Wars. She returns in Star Wars Rebels as a member of the Rebel Alliance—where she crosses paths with Thrawn for the first time—and also in the miniseries Tales of the Jedi.

So as we wait for the premiere of Ahsoka—which features Hayden Christensen returning to the role of Anakin Skywalker, something that will forever make me scream-cry-shake—let’s take this opportunity to examine her character more closely, starting with her origins in the lore of Star Wars.

So what species is Ahsoka Tano, exactly?

Ahsoka is part of the Togruta species, hailing originally from the planet Shili, located in the Expansion Region of the galaxy—for those of you well-versed in Star Wars geography, that’s between the Inner and Mid Rims. The Togruta also had a colony on the planet Kiros, located in the same area of the galaxy.

Togruta are a humanoid species, and their most distinctive physical trait—besides their skin, which ranges in color from orange to yellow to help camouflage them from their ancestral predators—are the large formations on their head, which grow with the Togruta until they reach the age of maturity. 

These formations include two sort of cone-like horns called montrals, and three tails going downwards, called lekku—a particular appendage that the Togruta share with the Twi’leks and the males of the Ozrelanso, even though of course the lekku appear different from species to species.

(featured image: Disney+)