The great Twi’lek mix-up

I’ve explored the idea of Reenactorisms—the acceptance and perpetuation of an innaccuracy—several times before, but it is worth pointing out that these are not limited to fan creations: official resources can still fall into the pit.
Work on this month’s Style Guide post got me thinking about a key confusion in the depiction of the Twi’lek species: males have ears, but what do females have? The past 20+ years of visual sources suggest they all have cones where their ears should be, but prior to the release of The Phantom Menace in 1999, Twi’lek females most definitely had ears! We can trace the source of this confusing inconsistency by noting the examples of ‘cone’ or ‘ear’ as they appeared in order of release.

1983: Oola—the first depiction of a female Twi’lek—is green. The cones on Oola’s headdress are clearly white, and are also clearly part of the headdress, not protruding from within it.

January 1995: art development/pre-production begins on Episode I

November 1995: the Essential Guide to Characters uses a black-and-white image of Oola

December 1995: Oola’s tale in Tales From Jabba’s Palace states “Metal knobs on the headpiece protruded through leather into her delicate ears”.

March 1996: X-Wing Rogue Squadron #6 introduces Koyi Kamad, who has ears. (For what it’s worth, she also has Bib Fortuna-style forehead bumps and an extended crania).

March 1997: Lyn Me—the female Twi’lek added to the Return of the Jedi Special Edition—wears headwraps which appear flat, suggesting she also has ears.

June 26-September 30, 1997: filming of Episode I

March 1998: a female Twi’lek technician (possibly Koyi?) in Rogue Squadron: Masquerade has ears.

February 1998: a background female Twi’lek  in Shadows of the Empire: Evolution has ears.

July 1998: a probable female Twi’lek in Tales of the Jedi: Redemption #1 has ears

October and November 1998: Koyi’s depictions in Rogue Squadron: Mandatory Retirement continue to include ears.

May 1999: all female Twi’leks seen in The Phantom Menace—Ann and Tann Gella; Shakka, Orn Free Taa’s unnamed aide, and Pampy—have ear-cones matching their skin color, as will the other female Twi’leks (Aayla Secura, Koyi Mateil) seen in the subsequent Prequels.

July 1999: TPM ½ has a Twi’lek in Mos Espa with ears

March 2000: a female has a headpiece but no cones, so conceivably ears beneath (sorry, I didn’t record the source!)

May 2000: Emissaries to Malastare shows a pair of what I think are supposed to be Twi’leks (?)with ears, on an in-universe magazine cover.

June 2000: Republic #19 Aayla Secura appears on the cover and in a vision with brass domes over her ears

July 2000: Republic #20 shows us another vision of Aayla Secura, still with narrow brass domes over her ears.

August 2000: in Republic #21 we visit Ryloth and finally meet Aayla Secura in person, who—along with all the other female Twi’leks in this issue—suddenly has wide ear cones. When she reappears in Republic #32 (July 2001) and all (but one) future appearances, it is with cones.

August 2001: Jon Foster’s cover to Republic #33—said to be the image that inspired GeorgeLucas to add Aayla Secura to Episode II—shows ears, not cones.

September 2005: Rogue Leader comic is a post-Prequels outlier, including a pink female with ears (and weirdly shaped cranium)

December 2008: the ‘Force Healing’ card from the SWGalaxies Trading Card Game shows a purple female with ears.

This rare late coneless example comes from FFG’s Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook (2014!)

With the few exceptions noted here—all of which are from ‘lower tier’ comic, card game, or RPG materials—it seems that every post-Episode I appearance of a female Twi’lek includes ear-cones protruding from within the wearer’s headdress. This suggests that someone in the development of Episode I did Not do their research, and thus a reenactorism was created. Unfortunately, we are now at the point where the last 20 years have consistently depicted female Twi’leks as earless; to portray one with ears at this point would be called out as lazy or farby, when in reality it is just the result of good research!
(Male Twi’leks, on the other hand, have always been depicted with ears, so to create an impression of one with cones would definitely be lazy or farby).

In this way, The Mandalorian’s odd Twi’lek situation is actually correct…while they appear to be consistently using the same enormous post-Disney-shaped headpiece for their male and female Twi’lek characters, said headpiece does not have ear-cones, so when it is worn by Quin in S01E06 or the slave in the ‘Book of Boba Fett’ stinger (ignoring the chunky lekku), it is in line with how we would expect one to be depicted, pre-1999!

So there we have it. Which do you think is more accurate—an OG Twi’lek with ears, or a post-Prequels style with cones? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts on the perils of inconsistent primary sources!

ADDENDUM: Since writing this, the trailer for the ‘Book of Boba Fett‘ came out, and I spotted a pair of female Twi’leks… it seems like they’re really leaning into the coneless look, as well as moving (possibly?) away from the giant wide post-Disney lekku as above – both encouraging changes!

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