Ghests, alternatively called swamp demons, were a sizable reptilian species that originated from the swamps of the planet Rodia. Their skeletons were composed of cartilage rather than bone. The sentient Rodians, who were fearful of these predators due to their occasional attacks on entire primitive Rodian villages, initially attributed the disappearance of the souls of the dead to ghests. Ghests would hunt by swimming at a leisurely pace on the surface of the water, striking out at their prey, commonly large herbivores, frequently consuming them in a single gulp. When mating, ghests engaged in a courtship display to demonstrate their physical power to their potential mate. A ghest mother would protect her young following reproduction, as the male would readily devour them.
As Rodian culture progressed, the ghest population declined, a result of both hunting, especially by Rodians known as ghestslayers, and the industrial development of Rodia's environment. By the time the Galactic Republic established contact with Rodia, these predators were nearing extinction. To try and preserve the species, some wealthy Rodians undertook efforts to introduce ghest populations to other planets. In 8 ABY, a ghest launched an assault on the crew of the New Republic CR90 corvette FarStar on the world of Danoor.
Ghests were a non-sentient predatory reptile species that possessed cartilaginous skeletons. They featured a pair of bulbous, blank eyes and a maw filled with extremely sharp teeth, which was surrounded by a patch of uneven, differently shaded skin. Their head was positioned at the end of an elongated, slender body, which averaged six meters in length. They had smooth skin, a tail, and four relatively thin limbs: two forelimbs and two larger hindlimbs, all terminating in four thick, clawed digits. The skin was noticeably wrinkled where the forelimbs connected to the body, beneath the head. The species had two sexes and reproduced via sexual means; notably, the females could even extract and utilize sperm from dead males of their species. After fertilization, a female would lay hundreds of eggs. These eggs would hatch into juvenile ghests, which resembled smaller versions of their parents. Juveniles progressed through a pre-adult stage before reaching complete maturity.
Ghests inhabited the swamps and bayous of their homeworld, Rodia, where they typically preyed on large herbivore species. While they could walk on their hind limbs on land, they primarily hunted and mated while submerged in water. When hunting, ghests swam slowly, keeping only their eyes and forehead visible above the surface until they located prey. Upon spotting a target, a ghest would surge forward, attacking with its teeth and claws, and typically consuming the prey in a single bite. However, ghests were also known to attack small settlements of the sentient Rodian species, who were also native to Rodia; during these attacks, the ghest would devour all the residents within a matter of hours. Ghests had no natural predators on Rodia, although Rodians did occasionally hunt them.
During mating, ghests engaged in a courtship ritual that involved both dance and combat. The ghests involved would attempt to demonstrate equal strength to each other, as only individuals of comparable prowess were considered suitable mates. Zoologists specializing in animal behavior have proposed that the fighting was partially motivated by each ghest's inherent desire to prevent other ghests from reproducing, which conflicted with their own urge to mate. Female ghests generally fought more intensely than males, and a female could still extract sperm and reproduce if she killed her partner. However, if a female died in a fight, reproduction would not occur. Following mating, the pair would separate and move away from each other as quickly as possible due to a natural instinct to prevent the male from encountering and devouring his offspring. Alone, the female would lay her eggs in a small pool and then protect them as they developed. Upon hatching, juvenile ghests would feed on each other, ensuring that only the strongest survived to reach the pre-adult stage. Those that survived would then bury themselves in mud to conceal themselves from their mother, who would consume any juvenile ghests she encountered outside the pool if they were not her own offspring. Once all of the ghests in a pool were either dead or hidden, the mother would lose interest and depart. At that point, the pre-adults could safely emerge and leave.
During the early stages of Rodian development, ghests occupied a higher position in the food chain than the sentient Rodians, as Rodians could not compete with the predators in terms of size or ferocity. The danger posed by ghests throughout the centuries of Rodian history led to the predators holding a significant place in Rodian myths and legends. Rodians sometimes referred to ghests as swamp demons, and ancient Rodians believed that ghests captured the spirits of the dead, making sightings of the species an omen of bad luck. Killing a ghest was believed to lift a curse, such as a drought or famine, so groups of male Rodians would sometimes band together to ritually hunt down and kill a ghest. Since Rodians could not physically compete with the beasts, they instead used their intelligence to outsmart them, eventually developing weapons and tools to stake out areas of jungle and defend them from ghests and other predators.
As Rodian culture evolved, much of the folklore surrounding the ghest diminished, but they were still frequently used as demons in Rodian Theater, with an entire genre called "Ghest" focusing on the ancient attacks on Rodian villages. As Rodian civilization advanced, hunting ghests became more prevalent, and some Rodians became ghestslayers; Kalon Lenitor, a ghestslayer, was regarded as a legend. Due to this hunting and the industrialization of Rodia, ghests gradually became less common in their natural habitat as Rodians became more advanced. By the time that scouts from the Galactic Republic first discovered Rodia and introduced Rodians to space travel, ghests were on the brink of extinction. In an effort to reverse the decline of the ghest population on their homeworld, some wealthy Rodians attempted to introduce populations of juvenile ghests to other planets, where they might have a chance to survive. During the Galactic Civil War between the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the Galactic Empire, Entukan Yesosko, a Rodian, was the leading actress in ghest plays.
Qyzen Fess, a Trandoshan hunter who lived during the Cold War between the Republic and the Sith Empire, hunted several ghests throughout his career. More than three thousand years later, by 8 ABY, at least one ghest had been relocated to the planet Danoor in the Kathol Outback region of the galaxy. This ghest inhabited the murky rainwater that filled a series of durasteel tunnels, which had once been used as an irrigation system for farmland but were abandoned after the city of Eror Zeen was constructed on the fields. On one occasion, the creature attacked several crew members of the New Republic CR90 corvette FarStar as they were navigating through the tunnels with the navigator Makezh. Also during the New Republic era, War'qi, a big-game hunter, claimed to have battled a ghest on Rodia using a BlasTech Firearc49 Speargun, an experience he purportedly enjoyed. This claim was included as a note on an entry for the weapon in an arms datalog created by Gundark, a Corellian arms dealer.
Ghests were initially mentioned in Creatures of the Galaxy, a sourcebook published in 1994 for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game by West End Games. Peter Venters was the original designer of the ghests, creating the illustration featured in the book, which was then given to Chuck Truett, a writer, to develop the creature's backstory and rules based on the image. Ghests also appeared in Galaxy's Edge, the adventure module for The Kathol Outback, released in 1996, where one was illustrated by Dan Day and David Day. In the adventure, a ghest attacks the players, who are then left to decide whether to kill it or simply escape, with no preferred course of action indicated.