Star Wars: The Last Jedi and the porg designs went through a few rejects as you can imagine. But honestly they came from the concept of the puffins that already existed on the islands that were being used as Luke’s place of exile. The designers and the director wanted to make something from what nature had already provided and thus the idea of the porgs was born. They might not be the most universally hated creatures in the Star Wars franchise, but at this point they definitely don’t seem like they’re the most loved. The title of Most Hated might still go to Jar Jar Binks, though for different reasons depending on who you ask.
The porgs however are like plump little egg-shaped creatures have a resemblance to birds but have a lot more expression to their faces. They mimic just about anything and are every expressive creature that might be as close to being sentient as can be without actually crossing the line. After all they know enough to recognize one of their own roasting on a spit when Chewbacca goes to eat, and attempt to guilt him out of his meal. So they’re not completely unintelligent creatures since they do have some concept of their place in the world. But aside from that they’re really just little ovoid bodies with wings, legs, eyes and a mouth. It’s hard to know unless you really look if they have feathers or fur since the overall design seems to indicate both really. Considering that they live on the cliffs of islands where the weather could be quite harsh it would make sense to give them both. But it does make for a rather confusing design.
As of now the porgs are more of a gimmick to sell more merchandise it seems since they’re not much use in the story and are really not much of a plot point. It would seem that the film banked on them being lovable and cute more than anything and didn’t put a lot of development into the creatures. In short they’re a part of the scenery that got special attention because the design team managed to make them so adorable. Unlike the ewoks, who are given a lot of love and hate in alternating waves by fans, the porgs really don’t do anything except get in the way and nest where they’re not wanted, particularly in the Millennium Falcon. To say that this irks Chewbacca seems to be putting it mildly, but throughout the film the little creatures are allowed to persist and consistently get into the shot just to add a bit of cuteness and comedy to the film. To be honest they’re kind of a distraction really.
If porgs do become another mainstay of Star Wars it will likely be thanks to the toy industry if anything, since after leaving Ahch-To the creatures are not bound to be as prolific on other worlds, at least that’s the hope. If they are then you know that marketing did their job.
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