A STAR WARS PAGE
A Guide To The Star Wars Planets
KAMINO
TOPOGRAPHY: Ocean, The
entire planet is covered by water
PROFILE: Purged from the otherwise complete Jedi Archives is all evidence of the mysterious world of Kamino. A lonely world beyond the Outer Rim and just south of the Rishi Maze, few could have predicted that Kamino would become a key contributor to a massive shift in political power in the waning days of the Republic. Kamino is a planet of tumultuous oceans and endless storms. Few features mark its surface, save for massive stilt-mounted cities wherein reside the planet's natural inhabitants, the Kaminoans. From Tipoca City, the planet's Prime Minister rules. Lama Su closely monitored the operations of Kamino's most prized export: clones. Though few are privy to such knowledge, the Kaminoans are reputed to be the best cloners in the galaxy. The Grand Army of the Republic, used during the Clone War, was hatched, grown and trained at the facilities on Kamino. To supply the army with armor and transport, the Kaminoans partnered with the neighboring Rothana system to develop advanced combat machinery.
Episode II
GEONOSIS
TOPOGRAPHY: A rocky planet
covered in strange geologic formations.
PROFILE: It is inhabited by the Geonosians, a race made up
of workers, warriors, flyers, and more. They are the creators of the battle
droids.
Episode II
TATOOINE
TOPOGRAPHY: Desert, baked by twin suns Tatoo I and Tatoo II.
PROFILE: Luke Skywalker grew up here, near Anchorhead, a
trade center for moisture farmers on the edge of the Dune Sea. Luke's father,
Anakin, spends his early childhood here as a slave in the dusty settlement of
Mos Espa-as seen in Episode I. (He and his mother, Shmi, toil away in a
junkyard owned by a mosquito-like alien named Watto.) Located in the remote
Outer Rim Territories, this frontier world was colonized only shortly before
Episode I, with most of the newcomers living in Mos Espa. (By the time Luke is
being raised here by his adoptive parents in Star Wars: Episode IV, Tatooine's
hot spot is Mos Eisley, seen in fresh detail in the enhanced footage added for
the '97 re-release.) Don't miss the palace of notorious gangster Jabba the
Hutt. (Incidentally, "the Hutt" isn't a mob moniker, as in, say,
Sammy the Bull, Kid him about this, though, and you run the risk of being
tossed to the Sarlacc, the sandpit monstrosity that gobbles up Boba Fett. There's
an entire race of Hutts.)
Episodes I, II IV and VI
NABOO
TOPOGRAPHY: Lacks conventional rocky crust; instead, planet
has a honeycomb structure, resulting in numerous marshes.
PROFILE: Never seen, written about, or heard of until
Episode I, Naboo has been described by Lucas as a "pleasant,
middle-of-the-road, happy Midwestern planet." Its sparse population
includes Queen Amidala and her subjects, largely concentrated in the showcase
capital city of Theed. Notable species include the undersea race known as the
Gungan.
Episodes
I and II
CORUSCANT
TOPOGRAPHY: Urban sprawl covers virtually the entire planet.
PROFILE: First seen briefly in a victory-celebration
montage inserted at the close of the Jedi and-and now in far greater detail in
Episode I-the planet Coruscant is believed to be the literal center of the
universe. Known as the Jewel of the Core Worlds, its universal-navigation
coordinates are, in fact, zero-zero-zero. This is the seat of the Republic; the
Galactic Senate convenes in the skyscraper-crammed Galactic City, as does the
legendary Jedi Council. Keep an eye out for Senate leader Chancellor Valorum
and Naboo representative Palpatine, who later declares himself Emperor. During
the Emperor's reign, Coruscant is temporarily re-christened the Imperial
Center.
Episodes I and II
YAVIN 4
TOPOGRAPHY: Jungle.
PROFILE: The fourth moon of Yavin, or Yavin 4, is the
mysterious tropical world that the Alliance uses as a staging area for its
assault on the first Death Star. (The planet Yavin itself is an uninhabitable,
Jupiter-like gas giant.) That conflict, which comes to be known as the Battle
of Yavin, is so pivotal that it marks Year Zero for the entire Star Wars
saga-Episode I, for instance, takes place circa 32 BBY (Before the Battle of
Yavin).
Episode IV
ALDERAAN
TOPOGRAPHY: Paradise
PROFILE: Pacifist center of culture and education. Home to
Republican leader Bail Organa and his adopted daughter, Princess Leia. It's
gentle Alderaan that winds up being obliterated by the first Death Star in the
original Star Wars, as Leia looks on in horror. The asteroid field left behind
by the planet's demise is known as the Graveyard, and is maintained as a
galactic memorial.
Episode IV
HOTH
TOPOGRAPHY: Arctic wasteland.
PROFILE: What's the best we can tell you about Hoth, the
barren ice planet where the Empire famously strikes back? This snowball is so isolated;
it's not even listed on some navigational charts-one reason why the Alliance
chooses to set up camp here after moving on from Yavin 4. Be on alert for
wampas, those abominable creatures that nearly turn Luke into a frozen entrée.
Episode V
DAGOBAH
TOPOGRAPHY: Muck, muck, and more muck.
PROFILE: Curmudgeonly local Yoda would of course insist that
there's more to this swamp world than meets the eye-feel the Force, Yoda word
has it that there is some vestigial dark-side power acting as camouflage on
Dagobah, and that's what enables Yoda to hole up here safely while the rest of
the Jedi Knights are being wiped out by the Empire.
Episode V and VI
BESPIN
TOPOGRAPHY: Gas giant wrapped by cloud layer.
PROFILE: Surprisingly for a ball of gas, Bespin boasts
sentient life: Its atmosphere is home to Cloud City, the floating mining colony
(run for a time by Lando Calrissian) and site of Luke Skywalker's discovery
that he is Darth Vader's son. Visitors will want to stick to the upper levels
of its nearly 400 stories-where the casinos and resort hotels are. And watch
your step-get sloppy drunk here, and you could wind up flash-frozen in a block
of carbonite.
Episode V
ENDOR
TOPOGRAPHY: Heavily wooded.
PROFILE: Populated by the Ewoks, the forest world of Endor
is actually one of nine moons that orbit a planet of the same name (it's
sometimes called the Forest Moon or Sanctuary Moon). Famous as the site of the
Empire-crushing Battle of Endor, in which the second Death Star is destroyed,
this is a must-see if you can't get enough of the furry little critters. But
if, dare we say it, you've had more than enough, there's always the chance that
you'll see one of them getting snacked on by the beastly Gorax.
Episode VI
The Phantom Menace | Attack of the
Clones | Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: A New Hope | The Empire Strikes
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