Star Wars: Why Do Jawas' Eyes Glow?
When "Star Wars" arrived in theaters in 1977, moviegoers were transported to a fantastical galaxy far, far away full of new worlds, incredible technology, and, of course, fascinating creatures. The film that later became known as "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope" wastes no time introducing viewers to its many alien races, from Tusken Raiders to Rodians. Among these are the junk vendors of Tatooine, the Jawas. They spend their days traveling across the sandy planet selling their mechanical wares in various settlements and sifting through trash piles to replenish their inventory.
At this point, Jawas are unmistakable. They're small in stature with brown robes, hidden faces, and glowing eyes — or at least that's what it looks like. In reality, the eyes of Jawas don't glow. According to Ann Margaret Lewis and Helen Keier's reference book, "The New Essential Guide to Alien Species," they wear orange gemstones in the fabric of their face coverings that essentially work like rudimentary sunglasses. These stones protect their eyes from the harsh Tatooine sunlight, allowing them to spend time outside without fear of harming their retinas.
Even though they're typically seen on Tatooine, Jawas have made their way to different planets in the "Star Wars" galaxy. Naturally, they've adjusted their eyewear accordingly.
Offworld Jawas display the Jawas' adaptive capabilities
Throughout their "Star Wars" franchise appearances, Jawas predominantly appear on Tatooine. They sell the Lars family some droids, wander around Mos Eisley seeking out people in need of their trinkets and treasures, and bother Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) in her hangar from time to time. One named Teeka (Leilani Shiu) is even responsible for giving Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) a model T-16 Skyhopper, which he gifts to Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely) during their first meeting. In all of these instances, they look pretty much the same — orange eyes and all.
However, Season 1 of the Disney+ hit "The Mandalorian" takes the Jawas in a new visual direction. Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) encounters a group of them not on Tatooine, but Arvala-7. These ones still don tattered robes with hoods, ride around in a towering Sandcrawler, and scrounge for sellable scrap, but they look slightly different. Their clothes are brownish-gray rather than reddish-brown, and their eyes glow red instead of orange. It seems they simply adapted to their new surroundings and opted to cover their eyes with a different kind of gem — or perhaps, red is the true color of a Jawa's eye.
Though it has been decades since their "Star Wars" franchise introduction, mystery still surrounds the Jawas and their true canonical appearance. Maybe someday we'll know more about their culture and what they look like beneath their hoods and behind their glowing gemstone glasses.