We now finally know what those amazing crystal foxes in Star Wars: The Last Jedi are officially called.
As part of EW's latest coverage of the new movie, it has been revealed that the creature from the mineral-rich world of Crait is known as a vulptex, with a pack of them being vulptices.
It was coined by Lucasfilm story group member Pablo Hidalgo from the Latin word for "fox" ("vulpes") and the creatures were designed by Aaron McBride.
"The idea is that these wonderful sort of feral creatures had lived on this planet and had consumed the planet's surface, and as such had become crystalline," explained Neal Scanlan, head of the Star Wars creature shop.
Their design had a very real-life inspiration too as they built a little suit for a dog and covered it in clear drinking straws.
"It was amazing to see him run around. It could run and jump, and it had this wonderful sort of movement to it. It had a great sound to it as well because all the little straws moved and flexed with the animal," Scanlan added.
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The dog was just for test purposes though as the creature shop built animatronic puppets that could perform in scenes with the actors, and Scanlan teased that they have an important role to play in The Last Jedi.
"They live within the burrows and within the tunnels beneath the planet. So there is a time where their ability to shine within the darkness should provide a guiding light to our heroes," he outlined.
Whether they'll be as loved as the Porgs remains to be seen though.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is released in UK cinemas on December 14 and US cinemas on December 15.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
