Wotwots are the dominant species of planet Wotwot. They grow to nearly the size of a Volkswagen Beetle and have nearly the same shape as an upside-down one, with lumpy skin the color and texture of a potato. A Wotwot is supported by six long, stringy tentacles that sprout from its underside. Its body and head are one and contain two beady eyes and a small mouth in the front. They have been compared to giant rutabagas but insist that rutabagas look like them, not the other way around.
Wotwots enjoy keeping things in compartments, as they always know where to find said things. They do not worry about elbow room as they have no elbows. Wotwots also have no malls on their home planet and avoid them when travelling abroad, finding more spiritual fulfillment and convenience in mail order. They enjoy wearing gold-and-red knitted socks.
When the Wotwot race first made contact with the stars, it came with mixed results. Wotwots tend to be very set in their ways and to believe from childhood that everything of their planet and culture is the best. They will criticize the design and function of nearly every piece of technology they encounter. Before long they had begun a tradition of hiding somewhere, such as the Erlenmeyer Asteroid Field, and making rude comments about the spaceships that pass by. This, and travelling in groups, keeps their self-esteem up.
Many of the Wotwots’ tendencies were frowned upon by the Lirgonians of planet Lirg, the first race they communicated with, and vice-versa. Their compartmentalizing led to them being tagged as neat freaks, and their avoidance of malls as “too snooty to be seen at a food court.” They considered the Wotwots petty and cruel and as having no sense of aesthetics, and spread the view that they were the worst prom dates in the universe, not only because of their personalities but for being singularly unattractive creatures. One glance, to hear the Lirgonians tell it, was often enough to cause massive internal injuries and acute psychological distress. Due to miscommunication in these early days the Lirgonians believed the Wotwots intended to subjugate the universe, or at least the part of the universe that contained Lirgonians. Unwilling to find common ground with their newfound rivals, the Wotwots' extensive criticisms and arguments eventually led in part to the outbreak of the Lirg-Wotwot War.
The Wotwot discovery of planet Earth went more smoothly. Fascinated by its culture, especially the Beat poets such as Jack Kerouac and Gary Snyder, they assimilated much of it into their own.