The Acolyte: Who is Bazil?

Episode 4 of The Acolyte introduced an adorable new Star Wars character in the shape of Bazil — here’s everything we know about the diminutive alien.

New Star Wars series The Acolyte has teased many mysteries, most notably the identity of Mae’s master, though most fans think they’ve figured that one out.

While the show has also featured intriguing new Star Wars characters like Osha (Amandla Stenberg), Sol (Lee Jung-jae), Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva), and Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss).

The Acolyte Episode 4 also saw the debut of Bazil — here’s what we know about the cute critter, starting out with his species.

The Acolyte: What is Bazil?

Bazil is a Tynnan who works as a tracker for the Jedi in Episode 4 of The Acolyte.

Bazil accompanies them to the planet of Khofar, where he’s charged with the task of locating Wookiee Jedi Kelnacca.

Looking like a cross between a mole and an otter, Bazil has a huge snout to sniff out his targets, while he dons a visor to help focus on his mission.

Disney/Lucasfilm

Speaking to StarWars.com about his appearance, creature & droid FX creative supervisor Neal Scanlan says: “Bazil was very sensory, so he would obviously smell and hear things probably better than using his eyesight. The idea of having goggles was that he would then sort of go inwardly and become the tracker.”

As for how cute he is, Scanlan says that’s entirely intentional: “We spoke about those kinds of things. We thought about how we could include some of these things that were not only, you know, cute and lovable and adorable, but also showed signs of a bigger sort of character makeup.

“A character like this is much more engaging. What qualities are [fans of all ages] going to see in him that they would identify with? That will only work if they feel like there’s an element that they could give him a cuddle or that he’s friendly. You know, it’s an important part of, I think, the Star Wars world.”

Who plays Bazil?

Bazil is played by actor Hassan Taj. The Acolyte isn’t the performer’s first role in the Star Wars timeline, either, as Taj previously operated R2-D2 in The Rise of Skywalker, and JV-P12 in the Solo movie.

Bazil isn’t the first Tynnan to appear in the Star Wars Universe, either, as the aliens first popped up in 1979 novel ‘Han Solo’s Revenge.’

For more Star Wars, check out everything we know about the Andor Season 2 release date and Tales of the Jedi Season 2. While you can head here to read about the surprise character cameo in Episode 4 of The Acolyte.