The Zao tenj were a race of Human beings from far beyond the Yuuzhan Vong galaxy. It was not the fact that aliens from beyond the Yuuzhan Vong galaxy had been found that confounded the then-Dark Lord, Darth Wyyrlok. It was that these aliens–were Humans.
The Zao tenj were among the few alien species known to originate outside the Galaxy (the only known others being the Kwa, Silentium, Abominor and the Zuuzhan Vong). The Zao tenj perfectly resembled Humans, though they were taller and more heavily built than the average Human.
The Zao tenj were a coalition of humans from their own galaxy whose technological innovations were bio-mechanically engineered, which gave them a distinct advantage in battle over their Sith counterparts. Additionally, the Zao tenj deeply respected pain to the point of masochism, and strove to improve their physical capabilities through near-fatal training techniques.
Notably, the Zao tenj were not significantly affected by the Force. This confounded the Sith Lord Darth Raith when he first encountered Zao tenj ground troops on Sith'ika.
Physical characteristics[]
My Master stood up to one. The Zao tenj was tall, muscular, and human. Human in every way, except… he was just, so large.
—An unknown refugee
The Zao tenj were a humanoid species—initially leading some to believe that they were a Human offshoot race—but there were differences between Humans and Zao tenj. The Zao tenj were much taller and had heavier builds than the average Human, though this could be a result of selective breeding. Zao tenj also had a longer life span than the average Human, ranging from two to three times that of a Human's.
The Zao tenj almost always had black hair, unless dyed, and in lesser amounts on both the head and body than Humans, but on occasion, some Zao tenj were known to have particularly long hair. In other cases, they were also completely bald.
The most common skin tones among the Zao tenj was fair, with a high number of others being dark. Another major physical characteristic was that the Zao tenj had crimson-red blood. Thus further annotating a biological connection between the Zao tenj, and Humans.
Zao tenj nervous systems were very conductive, they could absorb immense amounts of pain that would normally kill a Human being.
Perhaps the most notable trait of the Zao tenj was that they were, like the Yuuzhan Vong, almost completely outside the Force as the Jedi knew it. Unless being looked for by a master of the Force, they could not be sensed, and were almost completely unaffected by Force powers (but could be affected by the Force indirectly; a stone thrown at a Zao tenj with telekinesis would still hurt him, for example. However, they were affected normally by at least one Force power, that of Force Lightning, which raised questions about the true nature of their Force immunity.