Gungan

Gungans are the amphibious species of Naboo — the underwater-city builders whose symbiont relationship with the human Naboo forms the political foundation of The Phantom Menace’s resolution. In the Black Series, the Gungan species is represented entirely by Jar Jar Binks, the most controversial character in Star Wars’ theatrical history and the subject of a critical reassessment that has been quietly ongoing for the better part of two decades. Two figures cover him: the Galaxy Collection TPM Deluxe and the Clone Wars 50th Anniversary release, making the Gungan entry one of the more technically accomplished small-species entries in the line.

Gungans in Star Wars

Gungans are native to Naboo — an amphibious species who built their primary civilisation in underwater cities beneath the planet’s vast seas, most notably Otoh Gunga, a bubble city of considerable size and sophistication. The relationship between the Gungans and the human Naboo is the species’ defining political context: they share a planet, they have historically been separate and frequently hostile, and The Phantom Menace’s climax depends on Padmé Amidala finally bridging that divide to form the alliance that liberates Naboo from Trade Federation occupation.

Gungans are physically distinctive — tall, with long ears called haillu, large eyes, a fin-like head structure, and a frog-like vocal physiology that gives their speech its characteristic extended vowels. They’re amphibious, comfortable in both water and on land, and their military technology reflects that dual capability. The Gungan Grand Army deploys energy shields, atlatls, and boomas — plasma-filled energy spheres used as projectile weapons — rather than conventional blasters, which gives the Naboo plains battle a specific visual identity distinct from the palace and generator sequences running simultaneously.

The Gungan civilisation has a longer history on Naboo than the human Naboo settlers, which is a detail The Phantom Menace gestures at without fully exploring. The political tension between the two peoples is the legacy of that history, and Boss Nass’s decision to ally with Padmé — the first human leader to treat Gungans as equals in his memory — is presented as a significant gesture on both sides.

Jar Jar Binks

Jar Jar Binks is the most discussed secondary character in Star Wars and one of the most contested creative decisions in blockbuster filmmaking. His introduction in The Phantom Menace as a Gungan exile attached to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan as a guide generated immediate and sustained negative reaction that shaped how the prequel trilogy was received and how Lucasfilm approached its subsequent productions.

The criticism is familiar: Jar Jar’s comic relief role, his physical comedy, his speech patterns, and his apparent incompetence made him the wrong tonal register for what audiences expected from Star Wars. The positive case for the character is less often stated but not without merit. His narrative function in The Phantom Menace is more significant than his reputation suggests — without Jar Jar, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan don’t reach the Gungan city, Padmé doesn’t reach the Gungan leadership, and the Naboo liberation doesn’t happen. He’s also the specific character whose political gratitude to Padmé leads him to propose the emergency powers vote in Attack of the Clones — a moment that connects the Gungan refugee to the galaxy-reshaping political manipulation at the prequel trilogy’s centre.

The internet theory that Jar Jar was originally intended as a Sith manipulator — a secret architect of events who appears clumsy but is genuinely powerful — has been widely discussed since 2015 and has never been confirmed or denied by Lucasfilm in a way that fully resolves it. What the theory correctly identifies is that the character as written has unusual plot influence for someone presented as comic relief, and that several of his scenes can be read as deliberate manipulation rather than accident. Whether this was intentional remains genuinely ambiguous.

His Clone Wars appearances strip the comedy back and use the character more seriously — a Gungan Senator navigating the Republic’s wartime politics, occasionally effective, occasionally out of his depth. The 50th Anniversary Clone Wars release reflects this configuration.

The TPM Deluxe Figure

The Galaxy Collection TPM Jar Jar Binks Deluxe is the definitive Black Series version of the character — the first Jar Jar Binks figure in the line at modern production quality, released as part of the TPM sub-line that covered the film’s principal cast. The Deluxe format gives him the accessories and scale that a basic figure couldn’t accommodate, and the specific TPM configuration covers his Phantom Menace appearance — the Gungan exile on Tatooine and Naboo, before his Senate career.

At 6-inch scale, the Gungan physiology creates one of the line’s more technically demanding alien figures. The ear structure, the extended limbs, the specific proportions that distinguish Gungans from standard humanoids — the Galaxy Collection production handles all of these accurately, and the figure sits naturally alongside the other TPM figures in the Invasion of Naboo and Duel of the Fates displays.

The Clone Wars Figure

The 50th Anniversary Clone Wars Jar Jar Binks covers his animated configuration — the Clone Wars Senator design, slightly stylised in the manner of that series’ aesthetic, and representing a different point in the character’s arc than the TPM Deluxe. For collectors building the Clone Wars display or the Coruscant Jedi Temple scene, this is the era-accurate version.

The two figures together tell the Gungan’s complete story in the franchise: the exile who stumbled into history and the senator who outlasted it.

All Gungan Figures in the Black Series

Check off the figures you own with the Black Series Checklist.

---

Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Species Index. Related: Invasion of Naboo | Duel of the Fates | Clone Wars Battles | Species Index.