Are porgs from Star Wars capable of causing fatal harm to a human or humanoid alien? This is a highly-debated topic in one of my circles and we cannot reach a conclusive answer.
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5You might choke to death on one...– DavidWCommented Jun 7, 2023 at 20:49
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2They're carnivorous, but only to small fishes and crustaceans– ValorumCommented Jun 7, 2023 at 21:15
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4That's no ordinary porg! That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on.– JoshCommented Jun 7, 2023 at 23:14
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2Out-of-universe, they’re based in many ways on real-world puffins — the size, general character, behaviour, ecology all line up, porgs just have their cuteness turned up to 12 — and despite a long history of human-puffin contact and conflict around the North Atlantic, we have no records ever of deaths caused by puffins, nor by their larger relatives in the auk family (guillemotes/murres, razorbills, and the sadly extinct great auk).– PLLCommented Jun 8, 2023 at 7:37
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2@PLL They are literally based on puffins, as the filmmakers weren't allowed to shoo the puffins out of the shot due to the rules of the nature preserve in which they were shooting. So porgs were invented to digitally cover up the interlopers.– R.M.Commented Jun 8, 2023 at 15:37
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2 Answers
Deadly is defined as capable of causing death, which means practically anything is deadly, which would imply a “yes.” However, in a realistic circumstance, I would say no.
While Porgs have sharp teeth, and are able to kill fish, a humanoid creature should have no issue punting them like a bag of flour.
Here is one of my conversations I had with Jake Lunt Davies, the designer of Porgs. I asked a few questions, and this was his response.
Me: “Could a Porg contract rabies? (Or space rabies)
Roughly how many Porgs exist? (Used to estimate how many you could have to face)
And in your personal opinion, could a group of Porgs ever mobilize an army of themselves?
Thank you again…”
Jake: “Rabies. I’m no disease expert but on Earth, rabies affects only mammals. Not sure what Porgs are but they are slightly more avian or monotreme. But maybe they could get space rabies…who knows!?”
Also from Jake:
There are thousands of Porgs on the island alone. Presumably there are other islands in the vicinity, so thousands upon thousands. But like the thousands of puffins upon which they are based, I don’t think they have the capacity to group together for a fatal attack.
That all being said, in the infinite world of possibilities, if 1000 Porgs were dropped on you, you very well could be crushed. However, it would be exceedingly rare to find yourself in that situation. Therefore, in a realistic circumstance, Porgs pose little to no threat whatsoever.
In my opinion: Porgs are not deadly.
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3I would say that they could be poisonous too, but I think we get to see the consumption of roast Porg on the screen (although, in the book, Chewie never gets his meal). Commented Jun 7, 2023 at 20:45
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1Hi, welcome to SF&F. You say "Porgs are not inherently violent;" do you have a reference for that? Maybe it's just the wrong season for them to swarm?– DavidWCommented Jun 7, 2023 at 20:53
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1And, of course, non-carnivorous animals can be deadly. Just look at horses, deer, elephants, and hippos. Commented Jun 7, 2023 at 22:21
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1@FuzzyBoots. Cows kill more people than sharks, people say.– ikegamiCommented Jun 8, 2023 at 14:49
This is something I talked about with my friends a while ago, so we reached out to the man who designed the Porgs for The Last Jedi, Jake Lunt Davies.
Q. Hey Jake, me and my friends are having an argument I was hoping you could settle. Do you think enough porgs could kill a person?
A. [That's] a crazy argument! They are carnivores and have very sharp pointed teeth for catching and eating fish. So technically yes, a rabidly deranged flock probably could tear you to pieces. But I don't imagine they hunt in packs so temperamentally I don't think they would ever would get it together to bring down a larger animal or human. I hope that helps!
I think it’s safe to say that if a group of porgs could kill someone that would make them theoretically deadly, but this would not be typical behavior from them.
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3Hi, welcome to SF&F. This seems very speculative. You don't imagine they hunt in packs, but do you have any evidence?– DavidWCommented Jun 7, 2023 at 20:54
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I honestly don’t have any evidence against them hunting in packs. It’s possible they could to bring down bigger fish but without evidence that’s as much speculation as saying they don’t hunt in packs– mfergieCommented Jun 7, 2023 at 20:57
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1Sadly, almost all of the animal group names were invented in the 14th century by one woman, so it's going to be hard to find an authoritative answer. :-D Commented Jun 8, 2023 at 15:07
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1@JanusBahsJacquet Wookieepedia says they're called a murder, citing "Tales from Wild Space: The Best Pet", a comic. I don't have access to this to see why they're called a murder though.– AndrewCommented Jun 8, 2023 at 20:06
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1Ah, well, at least there’s a reason for it then (even if not a readily available one)! @FuzzyBoots Berners likely did not invent most of the terms of venery in the Book of St Albans herself, since the practice of applying collective nouns to animals had been steadily rising for at least a century before her; but it is the first (and best) source we have that explicitly devotes attention to them. Commented Jun 8, 2023 at 20:14