Should You be Scared of Porgs?

Since making their debut in trailers and behind-the-scenes shots from The Last Jedi earlier this year, porgs have become a big deal. They’ve sent Twitter into meltdown, become the must-have toy this Christmas, and even inspired the most popular dish at FANDOM’s Comic-Con Fantasy Food Truck.

But are porgs a force for good? Or might they be evil? Recent reports are suggesting the latter, so we’ve been investigating…

Why Porgs Are Safe

The above video was created by Star Wars Explained.

Inspired by the puffins that Last Jedi writer-director Rian Johnson encountered while on Irish island Skellig, porgs are clearly cute. And they have similarities with their real-life, none-too-scary counterparts.

Lucasfilm’s Pablo Hidalgo describes them as follows: “Porgs are native to Ahch-To, and can be found dwelling along the cliffs of the island… they build nests, they can fly, their babies are called porglets.”

When asked if they are friendly, Hidalgo says: “Given how rarely their island has visitors, their curiosity outweighs any skittishness they may have.”

But, it isn’t that simple.

Why Porgs Are Scary

EW recently went behind-the-scenes on The Last Jedi, where they found out the following, somewhat disturbing information. The site claims that porgs are an invasive species who only look out for themselves, while “their mouths are full of sharp teeth.”

Star Wars star John Boyega — who plays Finn in the movies — is also bothered by the critters.

“I just remember doing some stuff and seeing a lot of porgs around,” Boyega tells EW. “And they are interesting, but for me, I had a love-hate relationship with them. They’re very, very cute, but when you put them in a bunch, in holes, on the Millennium Falcon, that’s when they start to become really, really freaky.”

So they’re freaky, frightening when grouped together, and could potentially attack with their razor-sharp teeth when provoked.

No wonder Chewbacca does this to a porg in the most recent TV spot.

And if that’s a porg feather sticking out of his mouth in this photo, we now understand why.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits UK screens on December 14 and US screens on December 15.