Modal Nodes
Surprisingly, the most memorable aliens from the cantina didn't get immortalized as action figures until 1996. The swinging cantina band consisted of large-headed aliens built by Doug Beswick. They weren't present during principal photography, instead added during the reshoots that filled out the scene. Known simply as "Band Member," the aliens were going to be given the proper species name of Sicmoo, which appears to be a simple rearrangement of the word "music." In the Holiday Special, the band leader is referred to by name as Babarine.
The proper alien name of Bith and the bandleader's name, Figrin D'an, came from Galaxy Guide 1. The names of the bandmembers were fleshed out in Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina.
Tonnika Sisters
The Tonnika twins weren't exactly twins. Their production nickname was "Space Girls," though their fashion sense of wearing their underwear on the outside led to a less-than flattering (and somewhat unprintable) nickname. They were played by two local extras that were not related, and did not look alike at all.
But in 1989, when Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope filled in this pair's backstory, it established that the girls were identical. The artwork accompanying the article was cheated -- it was based on production photography of the cantina extras, but only one of the girls was illustrated. The artwork was reversed and duplicated, creating a mirror image.
This presented a problem when it came using photography of these extras. They clearly weren't identical, despite what their backstory claimed. Timothy Zahn resolved this discrepancy with his short story in the Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina anthology.
In "Hammertong," Zahn reveals that the non-identical girls in the cantina that day weren't the real Tonnika sisters. The real twins were doing time in some prison for one of their many capers. The women posing as them were actually undercover Mistryl shadow warriors.
The Duros
Though Star Wars fans now know these social aliens as Duros, on set they were simply called Goggle-Eyes. Realized as inarticulate slip-on masks built by Phil Tippett, only one of the two Duros seen in the cantina was fitted with alien gloves, producing quite the size disparity in the aliens' hands.
The Duros backstory was established by author Troy Denning in Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races, who detailed their long history of spacefaring that rivals that of the Corellians.
During the production of Episode I, the Neimoidians were to be computer-generated, but when George Lucas decided to realize them instead as animatronic masks, he pointed at some classic trilogy photography of the original Goggle-Eyes and declared them Neimoidians.
Of course, the Duros backstory had already been developed, so the resulting Neimoidians ended up with a history that intertwines with the Duros and the aliens that resulted had enough superficial differences to the original Duros to allow both backstories to be preserved.
Kitik Keed'kak
One of the most elaborate puppets on set is hardly seen in the finished movie. Identified only as "Praying Mantis," this giant green insect was operated by Jack Purvis, the same actor who played the chief Jawa, chief Ugnaught, and Teebo the Ewok in the classic trilogy. It was part of principal photography, and was on set in London. It was named Kitik Keed'kak in the Decipher Customizable Card Game.
Reegesk
This sniveling little rodent wore robes much like a Jawa, but the lack of true binocular vision on its pointed head clearly indicates it is not meant to be an un-hooded representative of that species. In addition to the rodent in the cantina, a rather tall member of this same species walks across frame as Luke is selling his landspeeder.
Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races establishes this species as a Ranat, a ravenous race of vermin. The specific alien seen in the cantina is Reegesk, as revealed in Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina. During production, the alien was known simply as "Rodent" or "Rat Face." John Mollo's costume sketches suggest it was to wear a face-mask at some point. It's early proper name was Aceatta, but that name never saw print.
Dice Ibegon
This serpentine alien is seen next to Lak Sivrak, the Shistavanen Wolfman. Part of the booth-based reshoots, on set this puppet was referred to as "Snake Head." It was going to have a proper character name of Nake, but years later, it became a female Florn Lamproid named Dice Ibegon in Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina.
Elis Helrot
Another booth-based reshoot alien, this walking skeleton with the anguished face was based on original illustrations by Ralph McQuarrie. It was nicknamed "Skull Head," and was to have the proper name of Kull. In 1989, its species name was established as the Givin in Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races, an alien race of mathematicians who could hermetically seal their external skeletons to survive exposure to vacuum. The particular Givin seen in A New Hope was named Elis Helrot, a slave-trader, according to the Customizable Card Game.
