Are Rancors In ‘Star Wars’ Sentient?
Spoiler Alert for Bad Batch "Rampage"
In the most recent episode of The Bad Batch, “Rampage,” Clone Force 99 and Omega met a baby rancor. At the beginning of the episode, in order to find out information about the bounty hunter that seemed to be after them, or Omega at least, they were tasked with freeing Muchi, whom they came to find out was in fact a baby rancor. After they returned with the rancor, the Bad Batch were given some information about the bounty hunter in exchange. The rancor ended up leaving with Bib Fortuna on their way back to Jabba the Hutt.
At first, some fans thought that Muchi the rancor was the same one that Luke Skywalker fought and killed in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi. However, the name of the rancor that Luke fought was Pateesa. Jabba the Hutt apparently kept at least two, if not more, rancors to keep up with the demand of eating people who Jabba decided he did not want anymore. The big question that some fans have been asking since watching “Rampage” is, are rancors sentient? The answer is yes, in a certain way.
Rancors were a reptilian species, reptomammals to be exact, from the planet Dathomir. Dathomir was famously known for being the home of the Witches of Dathomir, a Force-using sect. Even though they were usually thought of as unintelligent beasts, rancors were actually semi-sentient, which meant that they were aware, but not quite as aware as a person. As seen in “Rampage,” rancors followed a pack hierarchy, and would obey whomever they saw as dominant over them, whether they be people or rancors. In “Rampage,” Wrecker “tamed” Muchi, allowing the squad to take him back to Cid’s.
Muchi was quite cute in animated form and as a younger rancor. However, as we had seen in Return of the Jedi, rancors are not cute creatures at all. They grew to be quite deadly and hideous, equipped with long claws and teeth. They were carnivorous and usually brown/brownish red, but could have other colors. According to Wookiepedia, rancors could be found outside of Dathormir on other planets such as Lehon, Ottethan, Carida, Corulag, and Felucia. The rancors on Dathomir, their main home, were supposedly stronger and more intelligent than the others.
Rancors were used for many things including mounts for the Witches of Dathomir, pets for crime lords like Jabba the Hutt, a source of food, and a source of entertainment for eating someone dropped into a pit. Other uses included Vonnda Ra of the Nightsisters using a stuffed rancor head as a chair. Hapan Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo used two trophy rancor teeth to create the hilts for her first and second lightsaber during her time as a Jedi trainee.
Some rancors were more sentient than others. In certain cases, rancors were known to be able to form and recite complex oral traditions. One Rancor with this ability was Tosh, a herd-mother that belonged to the Singing Mountain Clan on Dathomir. The rancors on Dathomir were also caring creatures that mourned family members when they died, and passed on oral histories of matriarchal herds. They hunted like animals, although most of the time they walked on two legs instead of four. Their skin was tough, making them great for battles (or a pair of boots). When the Witches of Dathomir tamed most of Dathomir’s rancor population, they also taught them how to make and use armor and bladed weapons.
Even though rancors were somewhat sentient, for the most part, they were pack/herd animals, and hunted humans or other animals. The exceptions of course were the rancors that the Witches tamed as mounts, and to help with other tasks. In The Bad Batch episode, we saw that rancors could understand hierarchy to a certain extent and would follow whoever was in charge, showing a degree of sentience even if they were not capable of speech.
Despite Muchi being kind of a cute young rancor, rancors were still fierce beasts that would not hesitate to kill anyone that got in their path. Since Wampa plush toys exist, it would not be long before we start to see Muchi plush toys too.
Source: Den of Geek, Wookieepedia