Chiss Species | Star Wars: The Old Republic

The Chiss are a proud and highly intelligent species, valuing a knack for strategy and subterfuge over brute force. Although isolated in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy within their so-called “Chiss Ascendency,” the Chiss were singled out by the Empire as potential servants and allies because of their outsider status and their relative lack of moral qualms.
🔗 Written guide: swtorista.com/articles/chiss/
It is not that Chiss are by nature evil, but that they value pragmatism and efficiency and recognize both those qualities reflected in the Empire. While as a nonhuman, non-Sith species, Chiss are regarded as second-class citizens within the Empire, the Chiss Ascendancy is permitted self-governance and supporters of a more diverse Empire often use the Chiss as an example of what the Empire can accomplish by welcoming other species. A few rare Chiss have even achieved official rank in the Imperial military and Imperial Intelligence.
TOPICS
Chiss Classes
Chiss Appearance
Chiss Naming
Chiss Ruling Family Names
Chiss Generic Name
Chiss Traditional Name Examples
Chiss Name Generator
Chiss Notable Chiss
Chiss Lore
Chiss The Chiss
Chiss Imperial Alliance
Chiss Ascendancy
Chiss Ruling Families
Chiss Culture
Chiss Personality
Chiss Expansion
Chiss Aging
Chiss Homeworld
Chiss Descendance
Chiss Untouched by War
Chiss Force-Sensitive Chiss
Chiss Expansionary Defense Force
Chiss Xenophobia
Chiss Language
Chiss Opportunity for All
Aristocra Saganu
Dazh Ranos
SOURCES
📖 A majority of this lore comes directly from the various Star Wars books and in-game resources and have been compiled here to help you learn about this Star Wars species when creating your own character or project.
swtorista.com/articles/chiss/
- Star Wars: Force and Destiny Core Rulebook
- Star Wars: The Old Republic Lore Codex
- Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
- Star Wars Ultimate Alien Anthology
- Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia
- Star Wars Legacy Era Campaign Guide
- Star Wars The New Essential Guide to Alien Species
- Star Wars: The Essential Atlas
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[@Varindran]

Given that chiss force users are usually exiled I feel Inquisitor is a great fit. The Inq being a young Exiled Chiss then forced into Slavery then advancing all the way to a Dark Council member is i feel a great story progression.

[@ladycyanide4952]

not every chiss force user though. young female force users are used as navigators (the Skywalkers) untill they lose their ability of using their forsight (due to lack of training in the force)

[@DarthAxolotl]

I thought chiss lost their ability to use the force by their mid teens (and only girls could be force sensitive)

[@jacobclark9615]

@@DarthAxolotl yea but that may have something to do with their environment you also have to keep in mind that swtor is technically in legends where we did see a chiss Jedi.

[@ProfessorEllenAnders]

I play as Chiss Sith Warrior I thought it was also a good fit

[@moviemaniacdjp]

My Assassin is Chiss. He is now Darth Occlus of the Dark Council.

[@rebellyanmagic6409]

I love that if you play a Force user Chiss in the Copero Flashpoint, Saganu tells you that you're the exception to their society's rules regarding Force users

[@brysonrivers2373]

Thank you I have been wondering what happens if you play a force sensitive chiss

[@rebellyanmagic6409]

@@brysonrivers2373 IIRC it's the only Chiss-specific dialogue you get if you aren't playing a Chiss Imperial Agent. And if you pick the dark side option in the Flashpoint, Saganu sends you a letter praising you for your loyalty and being a shining example of what the Chiss aspire to be.

[@Swtorista]

Neat!!

[@jaysgamingcorner8539]

The first Imperial Agent I ever created is a Chiss male. The voice and story seem like such a natural fit that I just couldn't resist.

[@HunhowsShadowStalker]

Drinking game: Every time a Chiss shouts *_"FOR HOUSE INROKINI!!"_* take a sip. Be sure to have your country's emergency number nearby. I do not claim responsibility for any alcohol poisoning.

[@deadlyasasin123]

Seriously! That was irritating af to listen repeatedly

[@daniellogan-scott5968]

A Chiss is loyal to the Chiss and any apparent loyalty to Empire or Republic is a ruse. This can make role-playing interesting.

[@SaltySam34]

I played as a Chiss for my first time going through the agent story and it works so well! Admiral Yularen remarked to Thrawn that he would be a good ISB agent, and that’s kinda what inspired me to give the class a go as a Chiss.

[@innerg1367]

My favorite species. I have 9 chiss

[@timbaugh4034]

I have at least 5 Chiss characters. My Sith Inquisitor and Bounty Hunter are my favorite.

[@JabezFuutonSpecialis]

I hope you do one of these lore videos for humans. I know that's exceedingly rare considering everyone irl is human but I think lore-wise that few if any species has affected the Star Wars Galaxy as much as our species and I wished someone would try to tackle such a task

[@Swtorista]

Hey! I probably won't make a video, but I put together a very small written guide for them. swtorista.com/articles/human/

[@Aviriia]

28:54 Best chiss ever!

[@gamacichi]

One of the coolest things I like about playing a Chiss Imperial Agent is that there are some Chiss specific dialogue options in both the main story as well as some companion conversations.

[@salgarcia8021]

Saw it on feed. Click,liked, comment for the algorithm gods. Ty for the great work.

[@Swtorista]

🥳

[@Briansgate]

I love Chiss! Chiss was my first race, and still my favorite. This series has been neat. And as always, thanks for everything, Swtorista.

[@MannyXVIII]

Great job on that Chiss Name list btw. PS: I am sure that Senior Captain Lakinda was only given a bad memory for names so Zahn didn't have to come up with another bridge crew worth of names :'D

[@daniellogan-scott5968]

lol. Good point.

[@FriendlyKat]

6:50 Heyyy! That’s my character! Nice! I learned a lot from this video. I didn’t know the chias hated force sensitives to that extreme! Thanks for the hard work and very informative video!

[@BN-xq7lm]

Imperial Agent is just the natural choice here.

[@gokuthehedgehog100]

As a Chiss Jedi Knight, this video puts a smile on my face.

[@streunekatze8205]

favourite part about chiss: they are blue

[@jamethlawthon5602]

I can't help but make all of my characters blue dorks. It's part of why Agent is my favorite storyline since being Chiss makes perfect sense there.

[@helle4948]

Thank for this excellent in depth video! \o/ I'm pleased to see my two favorite characters' screenshots made it into it as well.

[@PleiadianDreams]

SWTORISTA, big fan of your work, stay awesome, thanks in advance. Bleep !

[@ErelasInglor]

Well put together video and very informative, thank you!!

[@nonamegiven202]

Yeah I got a Chiss Sith Assassin myself, fun making the lore and that class backstory fit together, but I'm thinking of making a Jedi Shadow soon mixing the logic of the Chiss and Jedi seems like it could be fun. I just need to pick up Ranos first, though that's 5 more Galactic Seasons tokens i need there. ;)

[@moviemaniacdjp]

I've been looking forward to this

[@TheAdamSmasherMultiverse]

Love these deep dives so much

[@Swtorista]

they were long but fun to make, glad you are enjoying them!

[@ty-fighter9969]

I am loving these lore videos! I’ve always felt the community was lacking a bit when it comes to digestible lore content specific to the era & I can’t imagine anyone better for fixing that. I’d love to see this expanded once the races are covered. Maybe character profiles next for companions next? You could be like our SWTOR professor Oak & teach the newbies about all the companions they’re collecting they might not have done the class for. I’m sure plenty of us are redoing class stories right now & would be happy to send in relevant footage to help out. I know I am & would be.

[@maxpayne930]

It is intresting to me that Chiss homeworld is called Force in Serbian : )

[@nick_alderman]

I have a Chiss Smuggler and Bounty Hunter (Brother and Sister...)

[@BruceRylan]

Great info!

[@okidokidraws]

You'd think that growing up in a cold environment like humans had to in the ice age the Chiss would have beards also for warmth.

[@MannyXVIII]

if you are also sourcing from the new books it is also not uncommon for chiss to call each other by their cornames after an initial introduction with the full name usually going like this: A: I am Mitth'raw'nuruodo, are you Ufsa'mak'ro? B: I am he. (Samakro was Thrawn's first officer upon the spring hawk, the chiss heavy cruiser that Thrawn served most of his carrer in the Chiss Ascendency on)

[@sofaking1627]

I absolutely love the OG Chiss eyes.

[@katerinaFM]

I wonder if the Chiss made a deal to send exiled force sensitive chiss to the empire during their negotiations?

[@Ryversongfan]

Pink hair on chiss is cool

[@GhostWarrior334]

This guide is great, just recently starting RPing a Chiss Sith. Although I am curious how a force sensitive Chiss Alliance Commander somehow makes their people proud like what is said in the flashpoint.

[@daniellogan-scott5968]

That statement about making the Chiss proud as the Alliance Commander fits perfectly into my role-play. The Chiss are loyal to the Chiss. As I mentioned in a comment, any attachment to Republic, Empire, or even Alliance is a ruse. The members of the Alliance serve the Alliance commander, but unbeknownst to them, the Alliance commander serves the Ascendancy.

[@phyreblade]

I suddenly have some ideas about creating a new Jedi Consular, actually. So many good stories swirling in my head after watching your breakdown, and thank you for the inspiration!

[@Swtorista]

Cheers!! I'm glad you enjoyed this series!

[@laverniustucker8198]

First like, comment, and view. Keep up the good work and stay safe as always.

[@jmjedi923]

I just made a chiss with warrior, this is kind of cool to learn about lore

[@petevan7752]

Smurfs in space!!! Love your content Sworista. thanks

[@MannyXVIII]

I see you are basing your knowledge on legends material, which may mostly makes sense when it comes to swtor also being legends iirc. While the EU was great and still is, I must say that the now 6 new thrawn books by Timothy Zahn (the same that make the EU books about Thrawn) are a marvel of information about the chiss, especially the latter 3 Thrawn Ascendancy books which solely play in the Chiss Ascendancy. A major difference is the politics and name origin. Now the Mitth are the ruling family that adopted thrawn, the nuru where his original family raw his given name and odo an honorary title given to thrawn. All that said, probably one of the most infulencial families of the time of swtor would have beenthe Stybla who rules as the single ruling family and they later stepped down and pathed the way for a multi-family government the Ascendancy with Senators called Syndics and alot of political nuances explained or hinted in the books.

[@daniellogan-scott5968]

I'm glad you made this point. I was debating whether to make the point regarding Thrawn's naming, but then I saw your comment which meant I did not need to do so. The reason I was debating whether to comment or not was because I did not want to seem petty as she put so much work into the video, but on the other hand it's best to keep the information as correct as possible.

[@Swtorista]

Yes! Mostly focusing on EU as best as I could and older source materials.

[@gramrairerr743]

hey swtorista have you done a video on a look back to old content, features, equipment and items that are no longer around as a historical look at how these things changed and affected the game into what it is now and how we play it as a community? for instance i have facial scars on my character that no longer exist in character creation (for instance those facial scars allow me to have a unique rp experience if i decide to do that)

[@astreanightfang2622]

oh i am so making a chiss sith inquisitor after watching this, origin as a slave ties in well with exile from the ascendancy

[@VictorDude98]

Well actually Chiss can grow beards, but one of the artists making comics was bad at drawing beards, so he just didn't. And now we're kinda stuck with this. Though there is a Chiss character in SWTOR that has a mustache.

[@silver4831]

Aren't they hairless below the head? Swear I read this.

[@james739123]

My main Imperial Agent is a Chiss, Kene'vell'dern, of a small house under the larger ruling houses, he prefers people call him Kene as 'Nevelld' doesn't sound right to him or anyone and notes that some humans prefer to be referred to by their surname, serving as a special sniper in the chiss police force and noted for his skills in infiltration, he was assigned to Imperial intelligence by the ascendency as an inside man to report to the chiss on chiss-sith relations, seeing the evil the sith empire can cause first hand such as Darth Jadus, the brain-washing and many other atrocities, and despite his warning his superiors on allying with them, he knew the dangers on staying complacent in the chiss's pragmatic dogma and sith's rampant want for destruction, joining the republic as a double agent, that became set in stone one he joined my other main characters in the alliance

[@DarthAxolotl]

Interesting, that story has a lot of parallels with the story of thrawn. Also nevelld is a great name lol.

[@james739123]

@@DarthAxolotl thanks but I still prefer Kene when referring to him, I feel Thrawn would admire him for his willingness to challenge the status quo, but Kene would hate Thrawn for his snootyness and reliance on manipulating others for his benefit

[@DarthAxolotl]

@@james739123 I more meant how both were put into imperial factions to get insight. However thats an interesting look into their personalities

[@GG1315]

Hey swtorista are there more species videos planned or were just doing the legacy ones because well i kinda wanna see Cathar next, please respond and thank you for your time.

[@Swtorista]

Just legacy for now :)

[@GG1315]

@@Swtorista aight thanks for clarifying

[@daniellogan-scott5968]

"I've never seen aliens as people before. Not like Chiss are people. I've always thought of them as something lesser, something closer perhaps to highly intelligent animals. Some friendly, some harmless, some dangerous. I suppose you've always seen them for what they are?" "You mean as people? Not really. I see the people, certainly. But their personhood is seldom at the top of my thoughts." "Then how do you see them?" "As possible allies. Possible enemies. Assets." ―Commodore Ar'alani and Senior Commander Thrawn discuss the personhood of non-Chiss sentient beings.[

[@DarthAxolotl]

Thats one of my favourite quotes from the new thrawn trilogy, if not my favourite

[@RoninMidzu]

Back in the days of old I made my first Toon was a Female Chiss Imperial Agent Sniper (Volane). Than after some time, she had commited her her Force wielding brother (Volander) to the Jedi Academy so the Ascendancy would not execute him. ))) P.S.: She had a romantic interaction with Aristocra Saganu which might have helped my Force User brother to evade his fate...and then you know the rest. )))

[@agent_star]

i thought the chiss kinda sprung themselves on the empire? I remember reading something in game that they just rocked up to the dark council outta nowhere and said "Yo lets be allied" and the empire was kinda taken aback and said yes mostly out of shock and surprise?

[@Swtorista]

I mean they certainly were surprised! But I think the sith moved first.

[@NKVD-ix6vc]

The imperial agent male voice remainders me of thrwan

[@DarthAxolotl]

Nuruodo isn't a family, Nuru was thrawns name until he was given odo at the end as a reward. So Thrawns name started as Mitth'Raw'Nuru. Family Mitth, given name Raw, last name Nuru. Although this may have been different in EU

[@wargamesmaster]

My Chiss was a Republic Trooper.

[@xxxxx414]

So if i subscribe for one month i don't need to buy the chiss if i want to play Chiss imperial agent? And what about the other species like the Twi'lek for example? And can i keep the species if i have bought them for 1.5 million credits even if my subscription runs out?

[@MannyXVIII]

you don't lose what you buy, so if you unlocked the chiss via the legacy unlock during the subscription you will keep that unlock. Also, after your month of sub runs out you will retain a special middle ground between free to play players and subscribers, called preferred. furthermore you will keep the expansions at the time of your subscriptions when going into preferred status. as for the other questions I don't know.

[@Swtorista]

If you buy them, you keep the unlocks forever! If you create em while you can, you keep the created ones forever!

[@DragonxFlutter]

This gives me bad flashbacks. I remember hearing that die-hard Chiss fanboys were _PPPPPPPPPISSED_ over the Chiss being in SWTOR. For no good reason, from my perspective. They hated how they were a player race which allowed tons to be everywhere, they hated how they were available to Republic players, they hated how their territory apparently stretches all the way to Hoth. I think they were just turds looking for an excuse to hate on a game that's popular to hate on. SWTOR is so far removed from the books that introduced the Chiss that they're basically a new species with an old name. A _lot_ can change in 3,000 years.

[@jotakuplays1536]

I’m making a female chiss imperial agent. She’s going to be a bad ass and full dark side waifu.

[@iangahm8047]

Force sensitive chiss in cannon at least are hailed as a savior

[@daniellogan-scott5968]

A common debate in philosophy dating back to the ancient Greeks is what is humanity's defining quality. Today, people lean towards the quality of human emotion, but for the Greeks it was the power of rational thought. I find this a good place to start when trying to understand the Chiss. Let's pretend rational thought could be placed on a scale from one to ten with the average human at five. Thrawn would be an eight or nine whereas the average Chiss would be a seven. Yes, there are humans who can operate at Chiss levels, but they would be above average humans. We often see Thrawn challenging his human subordinates, like Eli Vanto, to encourage them to reach those higher levels and thus become more Chiss-like in their approach to problems. If we see rational thought as the defining characteristic of humanity, then would it not stand to reason that a more rational human is a more perfect human? Would we not conclude that people driven by undisciplined emotion to be closer to animals than humans? This would explain why the Chiss see other species as children and themselves as the adults in the galactic room. Final point in this TLDR, when we see "stupid" Chiss in the Thrawn novels, they are usually victims of their own ambitions or they tend to use twisted logic. The reasoning is still there, but it is often convoluted or based on a faulty premise. I'm thinking primarily of Captain Roscu from Thrawn Ascendancy Lesser Evil. She is not stupid, but often makes foolish choices and yet reason prevails in the end and she joins Thrawn against the Grysk.

[@danielw.8356]

They never should of got rid of the restrictions on races. It made sense with lore and etc. Makes it hard for me to play SWTOR when I see a Mirialan Sith

[@renuvatio9986]

I think its been awhile if I pimp out a legacy and then transfer one of them to another server don't they have all of the legacy things unlocked I know housing and housing items are if you use cartel for the housing unlocks decorations don't matter

[@Swtorista]

yep if you transfer a character you make a copy of many things on the new server, species included!

[@sallbackk1283]

How come I can never find good stuff on the GTN

[@MannyXVIII]

I feel like I unintenionally skipped over so many parts of the expansion, I never even heard about the chiss companion until she was available to buy her for though who missed her. Would love to know the story behind her. I bet she is the source of much of the things you said about force-sensitive chiss in the old republic era.

[@Swtorista]

I've got her story up on my channel if you want to learn about Master Ranks! She's very much an obscure companion.

[@MannyXVIII]

@@Swtorista sounds good, heading there now.

[@stevecheese1788]

Is this series still ongoing?

[@Swtorista]

I've made all the ones I want to make right now, only missing Togruta, Nautolan, Cathar :)

[@stevecheese1788]

@@Swtorista can't wait i love this series

[@jockjammer3443]

um...no. not quite.The Sith empire realized quickly that the Chiss ascendency could become a threat due to their Charric weapon technology that could not be blocked by a lightsabre as well as their incredibly organized and well structured systems opf culture and goverment. To engage the Chiss in a war would have meant great losses and years of material costs for the empire. the Chiss Ascendency was for all practical reasons a losing war. Thusly it was decided to ally with the Chiss to prevent them from attacking and at the same time allow the Sith to research their tech.The Chiss were not "servants" of the empire,but it's only ally. A willing ally. Chiss CEDF forces learned more from the sith than they learned in return.

[@Daehawk]

Hmmm I gained legendary status years ago and have a maxed Chiss agent...yet Chiss is locked in the creation screen for any sith or jedi i try to make

[@Swtorista]

Hm! I wonder if you maybe made a token character chiss starting at level 60 or 70? those dont count as unlocking

[@MarioKaiba]

When you started making these videos, I was fighting back the urge to beg you to allow Chadmiral Thraun be a part of the Chiss video. However... I regret it now. No one will get to see his meme-worthy face because I was trying to be a decent person...

[@ty-fighter9969]

So Chiss are Batman. Rad.

[@kawaiivenus8177]

I am a Chiss Male

[@MardenZengar]

Why does your voice sounds so much like vette?

[@kmac169]

I'm going to piss many off when I say I absolutely hate the Star Wars books (and comics) and couldn't stand the Prawn ones at all (never taking book suggestions from friends ever again). Yeah they weren't as bad as the dumpster fire of writing that are the greater majority of the books, but they still weren't good at all. The only reason I wanted to make Chiss characters is I found the blue skin, red eyes, and dark hair aesthetic appealing. Kind of like the Mirialans with their green skin and dark green facial tattoos.

[@nolanhewitt2563]

i stil wish you can use your name in the game and not just use an anagram of it im not that good with fictional made up names