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Stennes Shifter

For other uses, see Stennes (disambiguation).

Stennes Shifter

Homeworld	Stennaros
Skin color	Gray
Hair color	None
Famous members	Trinto Duaba

[Source]

"There are millions of Stennes . . . but a rare few are Stennes Shifters. We are the privileged, for we can shade the eyes. We can shade your mind."

―Trinto Duaba^[src]

Stennes Shifters were a Force-sensitive sentient species from Stennaros and an offshoot of the Near-Human Stennes species.

1 Biology and appearance
2 Society and culture
3 History
4 Appearances
5 Sources
- 5.1 In other languages

Biology and appearanceEdit

"Some find it offensive, some find it alluring, some find it frightening. It is merely a survival technique. To avoid predators. To aid in hunting."

―Trinto Duaba^[src]

Stennes Shifters had the same appearance of those of the mainline Stennes species, and it was only their strange abilities that set them apart as a separate species. They possessed many of the features of humanoid beings, yet their skin was an ashen gray color, and their bodies were slight and thin. Their faces in particular had a skull-like appearance. Their eyes were sunken and heavy-lidded. Small knobs and thin lines covered their bald scalps, while their cheeks were gaunt.

The Shifters had several unique abilities that set them apart from their mainline cousins, all of which were rooted in an innate sensitivity to the Force. Foremost was their ability to remain unseen, known as shifting. Though it was not certain that this ability used the Force, it was known that it was a form of telepathy. A Stennes Shifter could use this ability to remain unseen when in public, disappearing into crowds and forcing others not to notice them. The larger the crowd, the more able a Shifter was to disappear. Shifting did not work on species such as Hutts, who were immune to telepathy, nor on mechanical observers such as droids or holocams.

Shifters were also able to feed on the Force around them, tapping into the unused power of Force-sensitive beings nearby. Furthermore, if the Force was used in their vicinity, the Shifter was able to tap into this altered flow of the Force, and could absorb the expended energy. These abilities gained the Stennes Shifters the alternate name of Force-eaters.

At least one Shifter claimed that their abilities evolved as simple survival techniques, just as any other species would. Though xenobiologists were unable to determine the biological source of this ability, they were only able to examine mainline Stennes, and therefore the Shifters' true biology and abilities remained the stuff of legends and conjecture.

Society and cultureEdit

Throughout the history of the Shifters, they constantly found themselves persecuted and hunted for their abilities, even by their fellow Stennes. They were unwelcome even on their own homeworld, unless their natural abilities allowed them to escape detection and assimilate into society.

They were regarded as little more than legends by many in the galaxy, and coupled with their indistinguishable appearance from mainline Stennes, this allowed some Shifters to blend into galactic society. Those who could not, however, fell into fringe occupations and became thieves, spies, or informants.

HistoryEdit

"As civilization spread throughout the Stennes sector, we either became prized commodities, or hunted. That is the way with humans, near or otherwise. But we are not easy prey. How can you hunt what you cannot see? Or rather, how can you hunt what you cannot help but not see?"

―Trinto Duaba^[src]

At some point in the history of the Stennes species, their biology evolved to create a separate offshoot of their stock, thereby forming the new species of Stennes Shifters. The Shifters, once their abilities were discovered, were immediately persecuted and killed. Due to their likenesses being comparable to regular Stennes, many of their mainline cousins were killed in foolhardy attempts to wipe out the Shifters. Circa 5,000 BBY, the Jedi Order perceived a threat from the Stennes Shifters and decimated their population in response. Their joint homeworld of Stennaros was covered with artillery craters and other damage of thousands of years of both natives and outsiders hunting the Shifters for various reasons.

It was known that the Galactic Republic did possess more information regarding the Shifters, but by the time of the reign of the Galactic Empire, those records were damaged or lost. The controversial sentientologist Obo Rin attempted to obtain information about the Shifters during his studies for the Empire, but was unable to discover more details.

By the time of the Battle of Yavin, the Shifter population in the galaxy was estimated to be between less than a thousand to several million. A Stennes Shifter named Trinto Duaba was seen in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina.