The Acolyte: Adorable Alien's Live-Action Canon Debut Is 45 Years in the Making — and Star Wars Fans Love It

stracerxx 5 months ago

Warning: Spoilers follow for Episode 4 of The Acolyte.

The Acolyte has enlisted a new character to its cute creatures club with the introduction of Bazil, a Tynnan tracker fans can't get enough of.

Episode 4 of The Acolyte featured a closer look at Mae's mysterious Master (aka Darth Teeth), a fleeting cameo from a Star Wars prequel character, and last but not least, the debut of an adorable acquaintance of the Jedi. Bazil, we learn, is an alien tracker who assists in finding Kelnacca in the jungles of Khofar.

Bazil is performed by Hassan Taj and designed by Creature & Droid FX Creative Supervisor Neal Scanlan. The character's charming features resemble those of beavers and otters, with a prominent snout to sniff and search for people or belongings and a visor to allow him to hone in on those scent-related tasks.

What qualities are [fans of all ages] going to see in him that they would identify with?

The clever creature also has a deep Star Wars history as he is a Tynnan, an alien species that dates back to Brian Daly's 1979 novel Han Solo's Revenge, meaning their live-action canon debut is 45 years in the making. Scanlan shared his insights on creating the character with StarWars.com — and yes, the cuteness was intentional.

"We thought about how we could include some of these things that were not only, you know, cute and lovable and adorable, but also showed signs of a bigger sort of character makeup. A character like this is much more engaging," Scanlan said. "What qualities are [fans of all ages] going to see in him that they would identify with? That will only work if they feel like there's an element that they could give him a cuddle or that he's friendly. You know, it's an important part of, I think, the Star Wars world."

Shortly after Bazil snuffled onto the scene, Star Wars fans took to X/Twitter to share memes and merriment in response to the character's grand arrival. He earned his status as a firm fan-favorite very quickly, with the majority of people seemingly in agreement that Bazil must be protected at all costs from this point on.

Bazil isn't the only creation to have stolen people's hearts, as people expressed equal admiration for Osha's pocket-sized pal Pip after the show's two-episode premiere and with four episodes of The Acolyte remaining, who knows what other charismatic creatures and delightful droids we might meet along the way.

IGN awarded Episode 4 of The Acolyte its best score of the season so far, with a 7/10 review that praised the latest installment for picking up the pace with a story that gave way for "more Jedi, more creatures, and most of the main characters colliding" while also pulling out "a tremendous cliffhanger ending" at the midway point.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter here.

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