Coruscant – Star Wars Planets - Background and Importance
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Coruscant – Star Wars Planets – Background and Importance

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BY May 20, 2022

One of the most impressive and influential planets in the Star Wars Expanded Universe is Coruscant. Throughout its history, the location plays a massive role in many events fans know and love. Some in the galaxy believe the planet to be the original home of the human species. It’s not surprising that Coruscant’s layout, a planet covered in a massive city, draws inspiration from the Renaissance and other examples of human expansion. The massive skyscrapers and insanely large population make it seem like a human and alien paradise. As we learn throughout different adventures on this planet, things aren’t always what they seem here. As we continue to take time to explore one of the most important Star Wars Planets: Coruscant.

Star Wars Planets: Coruscant Climate and Landscape

star wars movies Image Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney

In the Core Worlds region of the galaxy lies Coruscant. The planet is seemingly built to host a wide array of species; no single feature of its climate favors aliens or humans one way or the other. The most notable feature of the planet’s exterior is its hazy clouds. The planet is surrounded by a relatively all-encompassing cloud that makes it tough to see entirely from space. One thing helps travelers spot the planet: city lights. The planet features a multi-level cityscape with buildings high enough to penetrate the planet’s troposphere. The buildings and various construction projects actually transformed the planet’s natural weather. The planet’s naturally cool, hostile climate changed as buildings and massive hordes of citizens moved into the city.

Because of the numerous levels of city buildings and dwellings, microclimates exist on Coruscant. The weather is often predictable because of this layered layout, but technology allowed for a weather-control system to keep things in check. After all of the city, infrastructure arose, the planet’s natural mountains and seas disappeared. It’s tough to say if this is a commentary on environmental destruction, but one cannot look to Coruscant as a place of sustainability. A single mountain peak on Coruscant hosts Monument Plaza, yet another site for urban activity.

Coruscant features an Earth-like 24 hour day and 365-day calendar. Although the planet is not central to the galaxy, its coordinates are 0-0-0 to imply cultural importance.

The Galactic City and its Inhabitants

The collective cityscape on Coruscant is known as Galactic City. Numbered levels of city blocks range from 1-5127. Anything below 5 cannot host living things. Each sector is divided by its vertical layer as well as various societal areas of business and governing. In the days of the Galactic Republic, for example, the Federal District hosted the Galactic Senate building and the office of the Supreme Chancellor. Within this district, the Jedi Temple also existed. By the rise of the Empire, the Federal District turned into a palace for the Imperial rulers. Self-piloted airspeeders help residents travel from place to place through air-roads and skytunnels. Although crashes were rare, defensive shields protected against out-of-control vehicles.

Major galactic institutions call Coruscant and Galactic City home. For this reason, a slew of species lived on the planet. Every industry from food manufacturing to droid research and even galactic banking ran out of Galactic City. Close to 70% of the inhabitants on Coruscant are humans with over one trillion people living on the planet. As one could imagine, inhabitants lived on levels of the city based on their status. Low levels crippled with crime were unimaginable to residents near the top of Galactic City. Likewise, upper-level air is far cleaner than lower levels, which suffer from factory and vehicular toxicity. For this reason, people visiting Coruscant often brought air supplies with them to breathe comfortably.

Star Wars Planets: Coruscant and the Clone Wars

star wars planets: coruscant Image Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney

It’s no surprise that the Clone Wars greatly impacted Galactic City. As the capital, political figures became targets for political violence. Although Coruscant always involved quite a bit of political tension, violence was often unimaginable in the Federal District. As the war raged on, the Senate decided to delegate emergency powers to Emperor Palpatine. The Chancellor immediately started using his own Red Guards and became problematic in his one-man power position. Interestingly, the often peacekeeping Jedi started taking charge of the military, marking a massive change in wartime policy. Although citizens and many Jedi were unaware, Palpatine worked to control the ebbs and flow of war to favor his plan for the Galactic Empire.

Coruscant began experiencing bombings of its power grids, the deregulation of banks, and military enhancements. The citizens of Coruscant started to see these negative changes as the doing of the Jedi. As the military faced losses, protesters demanded Jedi lose their power. Things were seemingly changing for the worst, but nobody knew how bad things on Coruscant, or across the galaxy, were about to get.

The Rise of an Empire

Citizens who turned on the Jedi simultaneously viewed Palpatine as a popular leader. For this reason, he retained power longer than allowed in the rules of the Senate. Throughout his reign, he worked to wear down Coruscant’s defenses and spread the city’s military thin across the Outer Rim. Finally, Chancellor Palpatine issued Order 66 which forced the programmed clone forces to turn against the Jedi. This was the plan all along, with the chips forcing the betrayal dating back to the production of clones on Kamino. Under the fake guise of a safety-minded restructuring, Palpatine announced he would become Emperor of the Galactic Empire.

Star Wars Planets: Coruscant in the Galactic Civil War Years

star wars planets: coruscant Image Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney

Palpatine, the new Emperor of the Empire, renamed Galactic City to Imperial City and began ridding the place of Jedi influence. The Jedi Temple became his home and all resources went to his desires and deeds. The once Renaissance-like artist design of the city disappeared as well. Palpatine opted for more block-like buildings and changed so much that even residents couldn’t recognize their home. This, and the destruction of the planet Alderaan by the Death Star, angered citizens quite deeply. Many protests and riots emerged but Imperial stormtroopers fired into crowds to quell uproar. Citizens began experiencing door-to-door inspections from that day.

As the Rebel Alliance began fighting back and winning, all starting with the Battle of Endor, the Emperor feared further defeat. By the time Rebels mobilized to destroy the DS2, both the Emperor and his apprentice, Darth Vader, died. Coruscant citizens celebrated by destroying all statues of the Emperor and fighting back against stormtroopers. A new republic was coming into power.

The New Republic Era on Coruscant

new republic era Image Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney

The Galactic Senate reformed on Chandrila, but Rebel resistance fighters and Imperial forces on Coruscant continued to wage a civil war. Grand Vizier Mas Amedda rose to control the Imperial forces, but the Imperial Navy refused to offer support to Coruscant’s war efforts. This fragmentation pointed to the decay of the Empire. Seeing defeat as all but certain, Amedda attempted to turn himself into Princess Leia Organa, who refused him. She would only accept the Empire’s full surrender.

Once the Battle of Jakku showed the Empire’s true defeat to the galaxy, Amedda was permitted to form a provisional government on Coruscant under supervision. Now that the Galactic Civil War concluded, the New Republic feared the ways that led to the Clone Wars and subsequent events. Coruscant joined the Republic and eventually entered the Centrist Faction of the Senate to help control fair and logical ruling of the galaxy.

Explore More Planets and People in the Star Wars Expanded Universe

Star Wars Planet Coruscant Image Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney

Coruscant is the setting for major events and moments all throughout the Skywalker Saga and beyond. It’s impossible to imagine the Star Wars Expanded Universe without this planet. Overall, it’s one of the most iconic environments in the entire show and sci-fi genre.

Comic Years is your go-to place to learn all there is to know about Star Wars. From the stories of influential characters like Darth Revan (click here if you need a reminder who that is) to other essential planets like Tatooine, we’ll keep you updated on everything. If you want to know more about a character or a planet, then let us know in the comments! Thanks for reading Comic Years for all things comics, movies, and pop culture.

Featured Image Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney

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Taylor is the Gaming Editor of Comic Years and a lifelong fan of video games. He holds two degrees in Political Communication and wrote a Master's Thesis on resistance movements, race, and the exploitation of college athletes. His wife and two Toy Australian Sheppards keep him sane.

          

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