It would be easy to dismiss the porgs as so much Disney marketing. After all, the cuddly toys based on the avian characters have been in stores since well before Star Wars: The Last Jedi opened. But it would be a mistake to assume the only creatures in the galaxy far, far away that are more emo than Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) represent mere opportunities for merchandising. The birds with the big Keane painting eyes that come to roost in the Millennium Falcon are a nod to the wildlife that find a home on Skellig Michael, the remote island (the site, appropriately enough, of an ancient monastery), that serves as Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) reclusive home.

As a bird habitat, Skellig Michael is home to a large population of gannets—27,000 thousand pairs—as well as the storm petrel, the smallest seabird in Europe. But it was the clownish puffins that inspired the porg. Penguin coloring; large, colorful beaks; and sad eyes render the little birds irresistible. At least, Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson thought so when he came up for the idea of the porgs.

And he’s not wrong. Of all the things to love about the movie—including Chewbacca’s pained reaction to the birds as they invade his ship—the porgs rank up there, adding charm and comic relief to an intense adventure. –Pam Grady