In the expansive “Star Wars” Legends, some Wookiee Jedi have been given elaborate backstories, playing significant roles in their narratives. Others linger in the shadows, mentioned fleetingly or appearing in the background of a comic panel or role-playing game artwork. Regardless of their prominence, several have gained a special place in the hearts of fans, even if they no longer hold a place in the official canon. Here, we explore ten notable Wookiee Jedi, presented in the order of their appearance in the timeline, either before or after the Battle of Yavin (BBY or ABY).

The earliest known Wookiee Jedi, Ruhr, made his debut in the Dark Horse Comics series “Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi – Force Storm.” Set in 25,793 BBY, the series delves into the origins of the Jedi, long before the familiar conflict between the dark and light sides of the Force. “Force Storm” chronicles the Je’daii Order, the Jedi’s predecessors, and includes a Wookiee named Ruhr.

Je’daii Temple Masters were recognized for their exceptional command of the Force, with only nine holding the title at any given time. Each Temple Master was responsible for one of the Great Temples of Tython. Ruhr, alongside his fellow Temple Masters, served on the Master’s Council, a body that foreshadowed the Jedi High Council introduced in the “Star Wars” Prequel Trilogy.

At the time, there were nine settled worlds within the Tython system, and Ruhr hailed from the planet Tython, which was home to the Je’daii Order. It’s on Tython where people first learned to harness the Force, though little is known about the Order’s earliest-known Wookiee member. Ruhr was trained in the Force on Tython (it’s unclear whether or not he was born there). Over time, he moved up the Jedi ranks to become a Je’daii Temple Master, which consisted of the Order’s highest-ranking members.

Je’daii Temple Masters achieved their rank after demonstrating a mastery of the Force. There were only ever nine Je’daii Temple Masters at one time, with each acting as a steward for the nine Great Temples of Tython. Ruhr, alongside his fellow Temple Masters, sat on the Master’s Council, a precursor to the Jedi High Council seen in the “Star Wars” Prequel Trilogy.

Lasting from around 500 to 1000 BBT, the High Republic Era is a period of time in “Star Wars” history regarded as the height of the Galactic Republic in terms of influence and prosperity. Much of the period is covered in the comic book and novel series “Star Wars: The High Republic,” which began publication after the Disney acquisition and is therefore canon. Yoda features, and he has many powerful peers, including a Wookiee Jedi named Arkoff.

While his birth year is unknown, Arkoff was already a Jedi Master by the time of the Great Hyperspace Disaster in 232 BBY. He’s considered old during the calamity, though he’s still in peak physical form. The Jedi relies on his Wookiee strength and size in battle, combining his physical prowess with his understanding of the Force. He carries a green lightsaber in combat and is stationed on the remote Outer Rim planet Banchii, which has a Jedi outpost. Arkoff and his fellow Jedi on Banchii aid the refugees displaced by the Great Hyperspace Disaster.

Arkoff attended the Valo Republic Fair in 231 BBY, the first event of its kind in a generation. Prior to his arrival, the Drengir (a sentient race of carnivorous plants) launched an attack on Banchii, diverting the Wookiee’s attention. Later, when Arkoff is onboard the Ataraxia, a Nameless (aka Shrikarai, a species that preys on the Living Force) escapes. He throws himself at the beast and deals with it, but he loses his leg in the fight, requiring amputation via lightsaber. He ends up getting a cybernetic leg and is no less formidable after the encounter.

The first Wookiee Jedi to appear in live-action did so in “The Acolyte,” and his name is Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo). While “The Acolyte” is his first appearance in a TV series, Kelnacca shows up in numerous comics, significantly expanding his backstory. He was born on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk around 380 BBY, placing him in the High Republic Era. He eventually attained the rank of Jedi Master and took part in aid efforts following the fall of Starlight Beacon to Nihil marauders.

Kelnacca also helped in the mission to stop the progress of the blight (a plague that corrupts whole planets) on Kashyyyk, and later fought the Drengir, which are strong in the dark side of the Force. Kelnacca carries a green lightsaber, which has an elongated hilt to accommodate his massive size, and he typically wears Jedi robes common during the era. He also wears a distinctive topknot and has tattoos on his shorn scalp.

In “The Acolyte,” Kelnacca is among a group of Jedi stationed on Brendok in 148 BBY. Their mission is to investigate the lifeforms present on the planet, and they discover a coven of witches. Following the death of Yarzion Vell, his Padawan, Kelnacca happily accepted a posting on the Outer Rim planet Khofar, entering what was effectively self exile. Years later, the Stranger/Qimir (Manny Jacinto) found Kelnacca on the planet and killed him. His body was later discovered by Mae (Amandla Stenberg). 

Burryaga Agaburry, who joined the Jedi Order sometime before 232 BBY, is another canon Wookiee Jedi from the High Republic Era. His master is a human Jedi named Nib Assek, who takes him to aid the Hetzal system during the Great Hyperspace Disaster. Burryaga is instrumental in saving numerous survivors by sensing that several are aboard the starship fragments hurtling towards the planet. The following year, Burryaga and his master fought off a Nihil attack at the Republic Fair.

Later, Burryaga lost his master to a Nameless on the Starlight Beacon and nearly died himself. He was promoted to the rank of Jedi Knight soon afterwards, but he couldn’t really enjoy the honor, as Burryaga was deeply impacted by the death of Nib Assek. The loss even impacted his willingness to go on several missions in the months after the fall of Starlight Beacon. He eventually recovered from this, but the tragedy cut him deeply and stayed with Burryaga throughout his life.

While he’s a formidable fighter, Burryaga is also very sensitive. Part of this is a byproduct of being so attuned to the Force, which gives him powerful empathic abilities, but it’s also down to his personality. He doesn’t do well in crowds, for example. That being said, underestimate him at your peril — Burryaga knows when it’s time to get gritty and he is more than handy with his blue lightsaber, which is fitted with a physical cross guard.

“Jedi Academy” is a series of non-canon novels for kids set in 196 BBY. They introduce a Wookiee Jedi, though not much is known about her. Kitmum is responsible for teaching physical education at the Jedi Academy on Coruscant, so she maintains the physical health of the Padawans, primarily through sports that share more than a passing similarity to common Earth activities, as the above picture indicates.

Kitmum tests her students by pushing them to their physical limits — which seems almost unfair, seeing as she’s a Wookiee. Like pretty much every other Wookiee, Kitmum cannot speak Galactic Basic and is limited to the common Wookiee language of Shyriiwook, so her students often have difficulty understanding her. This leads student protagonist Roan Novachez to create a comic to help convey whatever she is trying to say, as he understands the Wookiee language.

In addition to her physical education duties, Kitmum chaperones a field trip to Kashyyyk, taking her students to her homeworld. She explains everything as she escorts them around, but, of course, all her students hear are growls. It’s unclear which type of lightsaber Kitmum carries, as this isn’t mentioned in any of her “Jedi Academy” appearances.

The Wookiee Tyvokka was a Jedi High Council member who featured in Dark Horse Comics’ “Star Wars” #36 in 2001. This was the first issue of the Stark Hyperspace War story arc, which reveals how Council member Plo Koon came to be a Jedi Master — he was a Padawan to Tyvokka. It’s unclear when Tyvokka was born, but he was active in the decades leading up to the Battle of Yavin and was renowned for his precognitive abilities.

In 44 BBY, during a bacta shortage, Tyvokka took part in a diplomatic mission that aimed to help Stark Commercial Combine and the Trade Federation find a common ground. He later went to a summit on Troiken to deal with the matter, attending alongside Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The event didn’t go as planned and a fight broke out — one that proved fatal for the Wookiee Jedi. Tyvokka fought valiantly, but, sadly, he was caught in the chest with a blaster fired by an HKB-3 hunter-killer droid. As he lay dying in his former Padawan’s arms, Tyvokka revealed that he was extremely proud of Koon.

Tyvokka was an incredibly powerful Jedi, having the ability to sense the future due to his knowledge of the Force. He was also able to use the Force to destroy large objects, which required a great deal of skill and concentration. Tyvokka carried a curved-hilt yellow lightsaber with a handle made from wroshyr wood, which comes from the trees of the same name found on Kashyyyk.

“Living Force” is a role-playing game published by Wizards of the Coast that is part of “Star Wars” Legends. The game is set between 31 and 19 BBY and ties in with the storylines of “The Phantom Menace,” “Attack of the Clones,” and “Revenge of the Sith.” The game introduces Kirlocca (pictured above), a powerful Wookiee Jedi Master who teaches Padawans various lightsaber techniques in the decades leading to the end of the Galactic Republic.

He was trained at the academy on Almas and remained there for many years, passing his knowledge and skills onto the students. When the dark side of the Force began growing in power as Darth Sidious strengthened his control of the galaxy, Kirlocca was nearly killed by several of his fellow Jedi who fell to the dark side while on a mission in the Almas Wasteland. He barely escaped and spent the next ten years working against the growing threat looming over the galaxy. Sadly, Kirlocca was killed during the Clone Wars around the same time as another Wookiee Jedi from the period: Vorlocca.

Like Kirlocca, Vorlocca fought during the Clone Wars. In approximately 20 BBY, he was among several Jedi tasked with keeping Dark Jedi and the Believers — a Sith cult — from entering the Almas Sith Fortress. Many died during the ensuing battle with the minions of enslaver Phylus Mon, including Vorlocca. In a gruesome turn of events, Mon’s men dragged Vorlocca’s lifeless body into the fortress and tossed it to some gundarks, which devoured the Wookiee’s corpse. Unlike Kirlocca, Vorlocca is featured only minimally in “Living Force,” appearing only in a single campaign: “A Mon Alone.”

Of the handful of Wookiee Jedi from canon, Gungi is one of the most well-known, thanks to appearing in a fan-favorite episode of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” set in 20 BBY. In “The Gathering,” Gungi is one of several Jedi younglings who travel to Ilum to find a kyber crystal. This is a rite of passage for all younglings, as they must find their crystal and construct their first lightsaber. It’s an essential part of the Jedi experience, with the crystal determining the color of the blade their lightsaber will emit (Gungi’s ends up being green).

The younglings began work on their lightsabers on the way back to Coruscant with the aid of Professor Huyang, but things went sideways when their ship was attacked by the pirate Hondo Ohnaka, who wanted to steal the crystals so he could sell them on the black market. They managed to fight the pirates off, but Ahsoka Tano — their guide on the trip — was captured. After finishing their lightsabers, the younglings joined forces with Dug Preigo and launched an assault on Hondo’s base, rescuing Ahsoka. Later, Gungi and the younglings helped Ahsoka in a fight against General Grievous’ forces.

Gungi was one of the survivors of Order 66, though he was only a Padawan when the Emperor started the Great Jedi Purge. He was later captured by droids of the Vanguard Axis and was supposed to be sold, but he was saved by Omega (a female clone of Jango Fett). He then arrived on Kashyyyk alongside Clone Force 99 and eventually joined Yanna’s tribe, remaining on his homeworld throughout the Imperial period as its protector.

Lowbacca is the most recent Wookiee Jedi in the Legends timeline, having been born on Kashyyyk in 4 ABY. Known as “Lowie” to his family and friends, he is the nephew of Chewbacca. Lowie is the only Jedi in the Chewbacca family tree, having studied under Jedi Master Luke Skywalker at his Jedi Praxeum academy on Yavin 4. Lowie first appeared in “Young Jedi Knights: Heirs of the Force,” a Legends novel by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta. The “Young Jedi Knights” series consists of more than a dozen books published in the 1990s. Lowie is featured throughout the books and is a fan-favorite character, though it’s unlikely he’ll make the leap into canon, given the direction Disney has steered the franchise.

Lowie began his Jedi training when he was 19 in 23 ABY, learning to communicate via a translator droid named M-TD. The little drone made it possible for Lowie to communicate with other Jedi unfamiliar with Shyriiwook. Lowie went on to take part in numerous fights against dangerous threats associated with the dark side of the Force. In 40 ABY, he became embroiled in the Second Galactic Civil War, participating in some vital battles toward the end of the conflict. He wielded a lightsaber with a bronze blade, a unique weapon. He had a close relationship with Jacen Solo (son of Han Solo and Leia Organa) due to their shared sense of humor, but they became fierce enemies when Jacen became Darth Caedus and decided to lay waste to Kashyyyk.