Malani was a female Ewok from the forest moon of Endor. She was the daughter of Warok and Batcheela and the younger sister of Teebo.
When she was just a wokling, Malani and the rest of the children of Bright Tree Village were kidnapped by a band of Duloks led by King Vulgarr, who wanted to make a meal of them. Through the efforts of her father, brother, and other warriors from the village, Malani and the woklings were saved. Later, she helped Princess Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka, the boys and the female villagers to protect the village against Captain Krag and his gang's attack.
Malani as a wokling
As she got older, Malani received a somewhat oversized hood at the Festival of Hoods as part of her status, but insisted on keeping it. She also developed a crush on Wicket W. Warrick. Nevertheless, she was often cast out by the adolescent Ewoks in her brother's circle of friends and forced to play with the very young Ewoks, which she did not enjoy, as they were too young for her.
She once ran away after she overheard Wicket insulting her. Wicket went after her and brought her back to the village, apologizing for hurting her feelings. Their friendship improved enough for them to work together both rebuilding Wicket's grandfather's battle wagon and destroying it to stop the Duloks who stole it. Malani would later be a victim during the stranglethorn crisis, later saved by Kneesaa, Wicket and the Tromes. She was also among the woklings who went with Wicket and his friends into Horville's Hut of Horrors. Wicket would finally learn of Malani's feelings for him sometime later, when he was interested in another girl, Chirita.
In the first season of Ewoks, Malani was voiced by Alyson Court and during the second season by Jeanne Reynolds.
Malani was one of six 8-inch plush woklings made by Kenner based upon the six woklings seen in Return of the Jedi. While the character names of Malani, Nippet, and Wiley were established prior in the Star Wars: Ewoks television series, the other three—Mookiee, Leeni, and Gwig—have yet to be attributed to their respective characters seen in Return of the Jedi.
- Droids\Ewoks
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- Castaways of Endor on Hyperspace
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia