The universe of Star Wars, a space opera media franchise, features a broad variety of different alien creatures. These aliens can be sentient or non-sentient, serving as species for characters, setting pieces, plot devices, and background elements. The diversity of alien species in Star Wars is considered to be a strong point of the franchise. The creatures are designed to be believable, recognizable, and often endearing—in this way, many creatures from Star Wars have become well known in popular culture.
