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A haunting quote from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is

"Many Bothans died to bring us this information."

I love how the actress portraying Rebel leader Mon Mothma looks as she delivers this line, as if she is remembering specific individuals that were lost. From what I can remember, this is the only mention of Bothans. I have only watched the films, so I don't know anything about their race beyond this quote. Do Bothans appear anywhere in the Star Wars films? Are they depicted in any group shots?

enter image description here

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    For the record, the many Bothans dying part happened in "Shadows of the Empire".
    – Omegacron
    Dec 29, 2014 at 15:26
  • Wait, all my life I had thought Greedo is a Bothan. What is he then? Jan 18, 2016 at 18:24
  • 1
    @thegreatjedi He's a Rodian!
    – 31eee384
    Jan 18, 2016 at 18:31
  • I hope you people realize than none of the expanded universe novels are canon, thus any race that is unidentified in Star Wars ep 7 is a potential Bothan.
    – user72855
    Oct 14, 2016 at 1:56
  • You can play as a Bothan spy in the original Battlefront II. May 7, 2020 at 3:14

3 Answers 3

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No, the Bothans first appeared in Heir to the Empire and therefore not in any of the movies.

But if you want to know what they look like, here is an image from Wookieepedia:

enter image description here

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Not that we know of

To my knowledge, there are not yet any confirmed Bothans in any Star Wars films. This is not likely to change with Rogue One, as detailed here.

However, we probably do have an idea of what Bothans look like in the new canon.

In the canon book Star Wars Rebels: Sabine My Rebel Sketchbook, we see a sketch of a Bothan by Sabine:

enter image description here

It’s not identified as a Bothan, but it bears such a resemblance to old Legends images of Bothans that it seems likely that that’s what it is.

enter image description here

Besides, we know that the illustrator looked up Bothans for the book:

Even if there wasn’t a canon reference, as an illustrator it is important to find references to draw from whether that’s looking up old creature guides to see what a Bothan might be like or looking in a fashion magazine for cool haircuts.

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Bothans do not appear in any of the movies. There is, however, a character that might be a Bothan in an episode of the animated series Star Wars: Droids. The problem with considering these characters to be Bothans is that Bothan appearance was not established until Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, and he even left that a little to the imagination. They would therefore have to be ret-conned as Bothans, which, given the recent changes in canon, is unlikely.

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    Just a note to anyone wandering by. @Richard meant "Heir To The Jedi", which he linked but confused the title when he wrote the comment. Heir To The Empire was the book by Timothy Zahn.
    – phantom42
    Dec 28, 2014 at 14:00
  • @phantom42 - thank you from saving me from about 30 minutes of hyperventilating! Dec 28, 2014 at 14:05

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