The Noghri are a primitive humanoid species. They have steely gray skin, and are extremely skilled assassins due to their innate abilities at stealth and hand-to-hand combat. They are much like the Wookiee species culturally, in that they respect honor above all else.
They are natives of the planet Honoghr, which was ravaged by toxins from a Trade Federation core ship destroyed in a battle during the Clone Wars. Darth Vader visited the planet some time later under the guise of helping it recover from the ecological disaster, in return for most of the young males of the planet entering a bond of servitude as the personal assassins of Emperor Palpatine.
The Noghri remain in service to the Galactic Empire after the death of Palpatine. About five years after the death of the Emperor, Grand Admiral Thrawn orders the Noghri to kidnap the pregnant Leia Organa Solo. Realizing that neither she nor her children would be truly safe as long as the Noghri serve the Empire, she goes to Honoghr in order to convince the Noghri to leave the Empire's service. Through their acute sense of smell, the Noghri easily recognize Leia as the daughter of Lord Vader and she is able to use the fact that she was the daughter of Darth Vader to convince the Noghri that the Empire had been lying to them and has kept them in virtual slavery for many years. As a result, the Noghri turn against the Empire. Grand Admiral Thrawn dies when his Noghri bodyguard Rukh turns on him and stabs him.
Following the death of Thrawn, the Noghri came into the service of the New Republic. They help resettle the Noghri to other planets (including Wayland) to give Honoghr time to heal. Leia and her entire family become very highly respected figures in Noghri society. The Noghri save the Solo family from a Yuuzhan Vong strike force. Much like Chewbacca did with Han Solo, the Noghri always make sure Leia has bodyguards.
The Noghri appear extensively in the Thrawn trilogy of novels, written by Timothy Zahn, and are also playable in the Forces of Corruption Expansion for Star Wars Empire at War, armed with disrupter rifles.
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