Jar Jar Binks is still arguably the most hated thing in the history of the Star Wars franchise. So far, the Disney era of Lucasfilm has yet to produce anything that even comes close to annoying fans nearly as much as the famed Gungan from The Phantom Menace. The Porgs, surprisingly, didn't get anywhere near it. However, it turns out that things could have been worse. As it happens, George Lucas originally wanted to give Jar Jar Binks his very own annoying sidekick. Luckily, the little guy never made it into the movie, but it came close to happening.

While George Lucas was developing Episode I, he at one point had the idea that Jar Jar Binks wouldn't be enough "comedic relief" all on his own. So, the man who created Star Wars thought up the idea of giving Jar Jar a pet. This pet would have been an alien species native to Naboo known as a Blarth. What Jar Jar's Blarth would have been named isn't known, but basically, it would have been a chubby alien with an almost pig-like body, very short legs, long tail and big, goofy mouth full of teeth and a long tongue.

The idea is that this Blarth would have accompanied Jar Jar Binks on his journey with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi and would have been like an annoying little space dog. Blarths, as would have been portrayed in The Phantom Menace, would have craved attention and, when they weren't getting enough of it, would have created situations to get more attention if they felt they were being ignored. A bit of concept art, which you can check out for yourself below as proof that this actually almost happened, depicts Jar Jar tripping over his Blarth, who appears to want his belly rubbed.

So, how close did this seemingly groan-worthy idea get to becoming a reality? Concept artist Terryl Whitlatch actually did some sketches of the Blarths, which were featured in The Art of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. So this goofy space dog did come somewhat close to actually creeping its way into the first Star Wars prequel. Why it ultimately was cut isn't totally clear, but it could have been for cost effectiveness, or maybe even George Lucas thought this would have just been too over the top.

However, that Phantom Menace book in which the Blarths were first featured isn't considered canon. But the Blarths themselves, surprisingly, did make their way into the official Star Wars canon. The Blarth was featured in the sourcebook Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, which was released in 2015. That said, they haven't shown up in any narrative, be it in a comic book, novel, movie or animated series in the new Star Wars canon. At least not yet, but never say never. You can check out some sketches of Jar Jar's scrapped sidekick for yourself below. This news comes to us courtesy of Comic Book Resources.