On July 22nd, 2015, Star Wars: The Old Republic released it’s newest species: Togruta. Togrutas are an alien species that have head-tails similar to Twi’leks, but also have extra horns on their head called “montrals”. Their face coloration and head-tail texture also makes them unique from their more-famous counterpart. The new species is purchasable with Cartel Coins, and has multiple options you can choose from, including gender, colors, patterns and jewelry.

Some randomized female Togruta characters

How much do Togruta Cost?

Unlocking the Togruta species in SWTOR costs 600 Cartel Coins, which are coins bought with real money. This will cost you roughly $6 USD, but if you do not have any coins yet you will need to buy the 1,050 Cartel Coins pack which costs $10 USD and have some leftover. If you are a subscriber to the game, you are granted 500 Cartel Coins every month, and if you also attach an authorization key you will be granted an extra 100 coins per month… so, as long as you have an authorization key you will be able to get the Togruta species free with the cost of subscription. If you are a few coins short, you can earn Cartel Coins via achievements – some of them grant a CC reward.

If you buy the Togruta outright, your cost is roughly six dollars – it’s more than the cost of a latte but less than the cost of a movie ticket. If you are a brand new player and don’t have a lot of nostalgia for the species, I wouldn’t recommend buying it buy instead choose one of the beginner races. If you are a long-time player, I do suggest buying it if you are interested in leveling a new character – sometimes seeing a fresh face in a cutscene can give the game a new spin. If you already know about Togruta, and have dreamed about playing them in various games after seeing Shaak-ti and Ahsoka Tano, I highly recommend purchasing it and enjoy playing as a species with a heroic and lengthy history in Star Wars.

You can also buy the Togruta unlock from other players with credits on the GTN. The rough conversion for Cartel Coins is about 100 CC == 100k credits, so you’ll likely never find the unlock for less than 600k. The Togruta seem to be a popular species though, and it will be more likely that you will see them for 1mill – 3mill, depending on demand and which server you are on. Keep in mind if you are preferred or free-to-play, you will not be able to hold enough credits to purchase it straight out, you will have to either purchase credit escrows or work out a trade deal with another player. If you work out a deal with a friend and they have not yet purchased the Togruta unlock for you, you will need to wait 2 days after they buy it for the unbinding timer to wear off so they can trade it to you.

I’ve earned Cartel Coins through a combination of Subscriber-granted coins and subscription coins, so the dollar cost was not on my mind. However there is a lot of cosmetic items you can purchase with Cartel Coins and I didn’t want to waste them. I decided to purchase Togruta after reading about their interesting lore and exploring what new ideas they could bring to the classes , and listening to how excited some of my guildmates were. I was unsure if I would like how they looked, but I knew I liked how the NPCs in the game looked.

Where did Togruta even come from?

Togruta were first introduced to the world in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, as concept art by artists Dermot Power and Ian McCaig who designed her as a Jedi.

Although she had no lines, she was featured on promotional materials and even made into figurines and toys, and since she was not a key character, we can only assume it was because of her striking alien looks. She was then later featured as a hologram in Episode III, and then in The Clone Wars series, The Force Unleashed game, and various other Expanded Universe works. Shaak Ti is portrayed as a peacemaker, and a calm voice of reason.

The second well known Togruta was Ahsoka Tano, a spunky young Padawan training under a young Anakin Skywalker, who later becomes Darth Vader in his older years. Before that though, they fight together with Obi-Wan Kenobi during the clone wars. Her first appearance was made in the animated movie The Clone Wars, the first movie to come out after the end of the prequel trilogy. The Clone Wars was billed as a kids movie, and does not have as much depth as the original movies. Ahsoka Tanno’s character however was well received, and her storyline in the movie became more fleshed out the series of the same name. She was portrayed as headstrong and young, but capable and courageous.

Apart from these two characters, Togruta are very rarely seen in Star Wars works. In SWTOR, you will only meet a few other significant Togrutas. The characters you can meet in SWTOR include Bella Kiwiiks, a Jedi Council member, Ashara Zavros, one of the Sith Inquisitor’s companions, Doctor Synoda, a scientist on Taris, and Jedi Master Sumalee, a character in the Smuggler storyline. These characters do not carry a lot of their lore as Togruta with them into their storyline, they instead fill the role they were created to fill (in most cases, ‘alien character’) and could have been replaced with either a Twi’lek or a Nautolan without changing their story much. How interested you are in Togruta will likely rely on your experience with the above two famous Togruta from the movies… otherwise they might just be “Twi’leks with extra horns” to you!

My experience with Togruta has only come from Shaak Ti in Attack of the Clones. She was that mysterious alien in the background – tall, majestic, and clearly a Jedi. She was far from human, but also didn’t look too alien for me to want to play. She is as iconic to me as Luminara Unduli , though I didn’t know either of their names when I watched the movies, I definitely recognized them as being “Star Wars”. What drew me to Star Wars was never the movies themselves, but all the lore that surrounded them and made its ways into the games that were released afterwards. Playing as something uniquely “Star Wars” has definitely been enjoyable to me in the form of Mirialans and Twi’leks, and Togruta seemed similar. The Togrutas shown in SWTOR also look vastly different than the ones you can create yourself – they are smoother-skinned, have much longer montrals, and have a more streamlined look similar to Twi’lek. So if you have met one of these characters like Ashara Zavros and feel in love with the way they look… don’t get your hopes too up when heading to the character creator!

What do you get that is different than other species?

Apart from the lore you inherit when making a new character, Togruta also have some unique physical attributes. Like Twi’leks, they also have “head-tails”, but Togruta also have large horns called “montrals”. Also like the Twi’lek race, the have headpiece jewelry you can choose from. They have a very wide range of skin colors, unlike other species who are often restricted to similar shades of the same color. Their head-trails and montrals are very detailed in texture, and you can see all the small wrinkles of their skin. You can also choose the color of their skin and the color of their montrals, much like choosing a human’s skin and hair color.

Togruta also come with a race ability called “Storytelling”. It has no combat affect, but can be used for fun or for roleplay. It will cause your Togruta to gesture in front of them as if they are speaking to a crowd.

Togruta aren’t that unique looking, though their silhouette is very distinct due to their montrals. Because all SWTOR species must be fairly humanoid to fit in with cutscene mechanics, none of the species are particularly distinct. Togruta stand out the most due to the added mass on their head.

What is the customization like?

The Body Type, Head, and Eyes for Togruta are pretty standard. You can combine the other options to get a unique looking Togruta. The most common type of Togruta will likely look like Shaak Ti or Ahsoka Tano.

What customizations do they have?

Watch Vulkk’s cover (above) of the available Togruta customizations, or visit Dulfy’s screenshot guide of the available customizations for creating a Togruta.

A small selection of the available Togruta skin colors



Togruta Skin Color

The skin color covers the face and the body. It is the Togruta’s natural skin color, not paint. There is 19 different colors, including reds, blues, purples, yellows, greens and browns. I am really pleased with the amount of colors available, you can do much more than make the stereotypical Red/Blue or Orange/Red seen in most Star Wars media. I also like that you can choose either contrasting or complementary colors, you are not forced into any type of scheme like the other races and their hair colors.

When Togruta turn to the darkside, their skin becomes a paler shade, blending in more with their white face pattern. It doesn’t look particularly evil, because there is no “veins” showing like a human turning to the darkside. It instead can look very feminine or baby-colored, with the skin becoming a light version of its original… if you chose red, it will become baby pink!

A small selection of the available Togruta face patterns

Togruta Face Pattern

Togruta’s face patterns are very distinctive. They are part of their natural camouflage, not paint. They only come in the color white but you can choose from ten different patterns. The patterns combined with their montrals are what make Togruta distinctive from other alien designs. If you’ve seen Shaak Ti in the movie before, you’ll immediately recognize her “face pattern” when you get to it.

A small selection of the available montral colors

Togruta Montrals Color

You can choose the color of the stripes on your Togruta’s montrals and head-tails. You can not change the white color on them, like the face pattern. There are 19 Montral colors to choose from (same as the skin colors).

A small selection of the available montral patterns

Togruta Montrals (Montral Pattern)

You can choose the type of stripes on your Togruta’s montrals. I really like the patterns available – there are some that look very natural and ragged, some that are smooth and curved, and one that looks hand-painted. Their montrals have been praised for having a well-done texture (you can see the small wrinkles and folds of their skin) but have been criticized as being very stiff and not moving well with your character. I found the patterns to not be as high-quality as I thought they would be.

The three types of jewellery available, that also come in silver and gold.

Togruta Jewelry

There is two types of Togruta Jewelry, and three different metallic colors. One of the female types is similar to what Shaak Ti and Ahsoka wear. The choices feel very limited, and if you do not choose to wear jewelry the seam between the montrals and the face is very noticeable. I am not very happy with the options available for head jewellery, it does not feel like there are enough compared to the number of skin tones and patterns available. I would have preferred the jewelry was not part of the character, but instead a special head armor that only Togruta can wear.

Male vs Female Togruta

Male and female Togruta follow similar options as humans in SWTOR – they have different body types and face shapes.

I have heard a lot of comments about the male Togruta’s montrals looking “stumpy”. It seems a lot of people enjoy the female version, but not the male version. The male’s montrals and head-tails are a lot thicker and more prominent than the female’s slender montrals.

Can I play as Ahsoka Tano and Shaak Ti?

Yes you can make characters that look similar to them. Your character however, will be their own person and have their own story in the game, depending on what class you choose.