The Bothans are an alien species allied with the Rebellion. They serve as information specialists, using their highly-trained spies to gather data vital to the outcome of the Galactic Civil War. Many Bothan spies died to deliver data regarding the second Death Star to the Alliance, just before the Battle of Endor.

Bothans are a humanoid species characterized by stocky builds and fur-covered faces. The fur acts as an emotional indicator, as different moods trigger different rippling responses on a Bothan's fur.

Bothans hail from Bothawui, a cosmopolitan planet spared from the Galactic Civil War due to its neutrality. Bothans also have numerous colony worlds scattered throughout their small patch of indigenous space, like the planet Kothlis.

Bothans arrange themselves in family clans, and the apostrophe in their surname separates their immediate family name with their clan name. For instance, Borsk Fey'lya is of the clan Alya. Family is very important to Bothans, and clan loyalty is paramount; Bothans proudly display their clan sigils. Between clans, however, it is a different matter altogether. Bothan politics is known for subtle backstabbing maneuvers. While the Bothans aren't a violent people, their skills at character assassination are unparalleled.

Though the Bothans are spoken of in Return of the Jedi, they are not seen in the film. A popular speculation at the time was that the prune faced aliens present at the Rebel briefing were actually Bothans, but these in fact are Dressellians.

Bothans were first given a physical description in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire novel, which came out in 1991 from Bantam Books. Since that time, the Bothan look has varied widely from artist to artist. At times, they are almost simian. Other times, quite human-looking. Lately, they've been shown with extended muzzles that give them an almost equine appearance. Such diversity of appearance may be due to racial variations among the scattered Bothan clans.