What The Jawas In The Mandalorian Look Like Under Their Hood
When you think about it, it's sort of amazing that the Star Wars universe still has unplumbed depths and unsolved mysteries. With a four-decade head start and one of the most impassioned, pedantic fan bases in the world of pop culture, you'd think that every inch of the far, far away galaxy would have been mapped. But here we are, 43 years later, with dozens of unanswered Star Wars questions burning holes in our brains. Questions like "What the hell is Yoda, anyway?" and "Do Rebels get PTO for Life Day?" and "Why wouldn't you want droids in your cantina when all they do is help and provide comic relief?"
Most importantly, what do Jawas look like? Since they were first introduced in Episode IV, Tatooine's jibbering, miniature scrap enthusiasts have never been seen sans robe. That wouldn't be a huge deal — most Star Wars characters keep their clothes on most of the time, with the notable exception of Kylo Ren's unsolicited display of his double wide pecs in The Last Jedi. The thing is, the Jawas' sandy duds keep their collective countenance severely unviewable. In-universe, there are plenty of explanations for the species' lack of face time. Wookieepedia cites reasoning like protection from the suns, moisture retention, and attempts to "dissipate their body heat" — you know, like how most people cover themselves in full-length garments to cool down.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, Jawa faces have become a niche nerdy point of fascination, a detail of a beloved fantasy world held just outside of fans' reach. While we have yet to see an onscreen depiction of a bunch of nuded up, bare-skinned Jawas shaking what their mothers gave them, there have been scattered hints through the years.
Jawas: Hiding their faces more successfully than Mando since '77
As with all things Star Wars, what is and isn't canonical remains gooey in a post-Disney-buyout world. Here's what we know for sure.
In some preliminary sketches, Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie presented an idea of what Jawas looked like in their skivvies. They were, for all intents and purposes, little dudes wearing big goggles. Unlike Jawa garments, these sketches probably don't hold a lot of water. McQuarrie's work was iconic and amazing, but it also included stuff like stormtroopers with lightsabers and a Chewbacca that leaned more "wide-eyed chupacabra" than "objectively huggable sasquatch."
In the novelization of the first Star Wars movie, Jawas are described as gaunt and rodent-like, but also as having possibly evolved from humans. Again, not a terribly reliable source — the book has Chewie receiving a medal at the end of the Battle of Yavin instead of standing in front of a room full of strangers, howling awkwardly.
Maybe the closest we've come to an actual glimpse under those Jawa robes comes, like so many good things in life, from action figures. Peek under the hood of a Kenner Jawa figurine and you'll see that under all of those vision-obscuring clothes are... more vision-obscuring clothes. Yes, Jawas, it seems, are the tribal Tobias Funkes of a galaxy far, far away.
Of course, if you ask Mando what a Jawa looks like, he'll be able to give you a straightforward answer based on his experience in episode 2 of the first season: "flammable."