Star Wars Universe Roleplaying Game

Yam’rii

The Yam’rii—known to many as the Huk—are towering, predatory insectoids from the forest world of Huk in Wild Space. To most of the galaxy, their name is synonymous with brutality: chitin-armored mantis forms striding across conquered worlds, harvesting resources and populations with cold efficiency. Their triangular heads, huge forward-facing eyes, and raptorial forelimbs give them an unmistakably predatory silhouette, and stories of Yam’rii feasting on meat and even the eggs of other sentient species have fueled their terrifying reputation for generations.

Yet the reality of the Yam’rii is more complicated than simple savagery. Their society prizes strength, cunning, and calculated dominance, but it also values order, structure, and long-term advantage. The planetary government of Huk has historically pursued ruthless expansion into neighboring sectors—most infamously into the Kalee system—driving slave-taking campaigns and resource plunder that devastated entire cultures. These actions brought the Yam’rii into direct conflict with the Kaleesh and ultimately drew the intervention of the Republic and the Jedi, leaving scars that echo through galactic history and forged the path of the warlord who later became General Grievous.

Despite their reputation as merciless conquerors, not all Yam’rii are slavers and raiders. Some have chosen a different path: serving as diplomats, merchants, enforcers, or bounty hunters who navigate galactic law instead of shredding it. Their keen eyes, precise movements, and alien perspective can make them shrewd negotiators and terrifyingly efficient professionals. Even so, prejudice follows them—most species assume any Yam’rii is one hungry step away from violence.

In day-to-day life, Yam’rii culture orbits around hierarchy and survival. Those who display strength—physical, intellectual, or strategic—rise quickly, while those who show weakness risk exploitation or being discarded. Their homeworld’s dense forests and dangerous ecosystems honed them into relentless ambush predators: patient, observant, and explosively lethal at close range. Their long-reaching upper limbs and natural claws make them deadly even without weapons, and their chitinous exoskeleton turns aside blows that would cripple softer species.

Yam’rii who leave Huk often do so with a purpose: profit, revenge, obligation, or simple predatory curiosity about the wider galaxy. Whether acting as hired muscle, elite scouts, or silent executioners for crime syndicates and warlords, they rarely go unnoticed. Those rare individuals who genuinely try to integrate into galactic civilization must constantly fight against both their own instincts and the galaxy’s expectation that a Yam’rii can only ever be a monster.

For players, choosing a Yam’rii means embracing a species caught between primal predation and the thin veneer of civilization. They are unsettling, powerful, and unforgettable—towering mantis-like beings whose very presence changes the tone of every room they enter.

Home Planet: Huk, a dense forest world in Wild Space known for its predatory ecology and expansionist history.
Physical Description: Yam’rii are tall, insectoid beings that resemble giant praying mantises. Standing between 1.9 and 2.3 meters on average, they possess long, segmented bodies protected by a hardened chitinous carapace. Their triangular heads sit atop elongated necks, with large forward-facing compound eyes that grant excellent depth perception and a distinctly predatory stare. Their upper limbs are long, multi-jointed, and end in sharp, clawed appendages designed for seizing prey and delivering powerful slashing strikes.

Their overall build is lean but deceptively strong, with spindly-looking limbs packed with coiled power. The carapace ranges in color from green to brown, sometimes mottled or patterned to blend with the forests of Huk. Their lower limbs are digitigrade, giving them a slightly hunched, stalking posture when they move at speed. Although they are roughly comparable to humanoids in mass—averaging around 75 kilograms—their proportions and movements are deeply alien, making many other species instinctively wary in their presence.

Average Height: A typical Yam’rii adult stands around 2 meters tall.
Average Weight: A typical Yam’rii adult weighs about 75 kilograms.
Age of Adulthood: Yam’rii reach adulthood around 10 years of age and can live 80 years or more under favorable conditions.

Personality & Customs: To outsiders, Yam’rii seem ruthless, predatory, and disturbingly comfortable with violence. Their cultural history of conquest, enslavement, and resource plunder has cemented the stereotype of the Yam’rii as brutal meat- and egg-eaters who see other species as either useful tools or future prey. This is not entirely unfair—on Huk, strength and domination are core values, and weakness is often punished swiftly and harshly.

However, Yam’rii do not see themselves as mindless monsters. They value discipline, hierarchy, and clear chains of authority. Strength, in their view, can take many forms: raw physical power, strategic brilliance, economic leverage, or political manipulation. A Yam’rii diplomat who outmaneuvers a rival without drawing a weapon is respected just as much as a warrior who tears through enemies on the battlefield. Their society rewards those who think three steps ahead and view every encounter as part of a larger game of predation and survival.

Socially, Yam’rii interaction is shaped by body language, claw positioning, head tilts, and subtle carapace clicks that other species often misread as threatening—even when the Yam’rii is attempting to be polite. Many speak Basic with a harsh, chittering, almost ghostly tone that can make even friendly conversation feel ominous. Those who choose to work within galactic law—merchants, bounty hunters, negotiators—often do so out of practicality rather than remorse, seeing cooperation as another kind of hunt where the prize is influence, credits, or information.

Languages: Yam’rii speak their own hissing, clicking tongue as well as Sy Bisti, the common trade language in their region. Many also learn to speak Basic, though their voices sound harsh and ghostly to most listeners.

Example Names: Kitik Keed'kak, Rek, Sylar Saris.