Human (Star Wars)
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In George Lucas' fictional Star Wars universe, humans are the most numerous and dominant species, with apparently millions of major and minor colonies galaxywide.
By the time hyperdrive was invented, humans were already present on a few scattered worlds throughout the galaxy; according to the New Essential Chronology, the humans of Coruscant managed to send out a number of 'sleeper ships' between the fall of the Rakatan Infinite Empire and the invention of the hyperdrive.
Star Wars humans are mostly biologically identical to real-life humans.
Some Human characters include Anakin and Luke Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, Mace Windu, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Qui-Gon Jinn, Mara Jade, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Emperor Palpatine, Kyle Katarn, Jan Ors and Leia Organa.
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[edit] Origin
In the Star Wars mythology, the human homeworld, according to the New Essential Chronology, is generally believed to be Coruscant. However, there is actually no real consensus on the issue; according to releases from the official Starwars.com site, the ancient human homeworld has simply been lost to history, and no one is entirely sure what planet it is: several of the older known human-inhabited planets have competed over the claim, and apparently bloody wars have actually been fought over the matter without any actual results. For all anyone knows, none of the currently inhabited planets of the galaxy are the human homeworld; it could have been abandoned long ago, and Coruscant and other planets like it could just be colonies that forgot their origin (note that the humans on Corellia and Alderaan did still have records that showed that they were colonized from other human planets, and thus never claimed to be the human homeworld).
It is unlikely that any of these worlds have any connection with Earth (which is never seen or referred to in any Star Wars film or novel), assuming the phrase "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" is to be taken literally. The location of Earth—if it even exists in the Star Wars universe—is completely unknown, as is the time frame (relative to ours).
Star Wars humans live on many different worlds throughout the galaxy, with many populations living alongside extraterrestrials on other worlds, or together with several other species—something which is most common either on the cosmopolitian worlds at the core, or on the frontier at the Outer Rim of the galaxy, such as on Tatooine.
Other mostly human worlds include Corellia, Alderaan, and Naboo, although the latter is also home to an indigenous species, the Gungans.
[edit] Alien Exodus outline
In 1994, Canadian author Robert J. Sawyer was in talks with Lucasfilm to write a novel trilogy for Ace Books called Monsters and Aliens. The purpose of the trilogy would have been to outline the origins of the races that make up the Star Wars galaxy. The first novel would have been titled Alien Exodus and would have revealed how humans came to live in the Star Wars galaxy. However, the project was never completed. In the storyline of the novels, the origins of humans would be chronicled in excerpts from a scroll titled The Human Exodus. Since they were not published, the storyline is not considered canon.
Although Sawyer's storyline did not see publication in any form, in 2003 he posted the outline and two sample chapters for the first novel on his website.[1][2] In this outline Earth is subjugated by a totalitarian computer in the 25th century but a group of approximately 5000 humans escape on board a spacecraft named Oort Raider, a sublight ship designed for comet mining. The ship's goal is to establish a colony on a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri, but it encounters a wormhole en route. The wormhole takes the ship to a remote galaxy and then dissipates, stranding the ship there. The cosmic microwave background is found to be 7 kelvins instead of the modern value of 2.7 kelvins—they've been displaced to a point in time long, long ago. Fortunately, the ship emerged only half a light year from a G-class star orbited by an uninhabited Earthlike planet that the humans name Corellia after their captain Antonia Corelli.
A group of three Rodian hyperdrive ships arrive about the same time they do, however. The Rodians are slavers who were attracted by the wormhole's disintegration. The humans join forces with the Rodians' 15,000 Bith slaves to kill the Rodians, but Gamorrean reinforcements arrive and capture them all. There is a delay while the Rodians and Gammoreans decide how to divide the exotic human slaves between them, during which a Varlian hyperdrive ship arrives - they also detected the wormhole and now summarily claim the planet for the Varlian Empire. The Rodians and Gamorreans recognize that they are outclassed and offer all of the humans and Bith as tribute. The humans are taken by the Varlians to Forhilnor.
Five generations later, Dale's descendent, Cosmo Hender, is the leader of the Human slaves on the Varlian planet Forhilnor. Forhilnor's slaves include Humans, Bith, Ithorians, Kubaz, Ortolans, Kitonaks, Twi'leks, Mon Calamari, and Sullustans. The Varlians—giant insectoids who rule a large star empire—have Rodian and Gamorrean henchmen to oversee the slaves. The slaves are being forced to build a massive stone temple, which by this point has reached a height of one thousand meters. A secret council, consisting of the leaders of each slave species, plots to somehow gain freedom. The slave council note that all their people are weary, even more than can be explained by the hard work and short rations.
When Hender is temporarily taken from his regular job in the quarries to serve in the palace of the Varlian governor, Kaxa, he learns several important things. Firstly, his discovers that the Varlians have advanced technology and machinery which could easily complete the stone temple without the use of slave labor. Secondly, he hears about a plague called the Changa Bloodrot which nearly wiped out the Varlians centuries ago (a disaster which they believed to be divine retribution for failing to enslave the primitive Wookiees.) Most importantly, after the governor's daughter Delba teaches him to read, he comes across a book called "The Human Exodus", which tells of the origin of humanity in the galaxy. The story of humankind's escape from a previous group of oppressors inspires him.
When he rejoins his people, Hender sets in motion a plan to free the slaves. Hender makes it appear that several slaves who died of overwork really died of Changa Bloodrot. Of all the species on Forhilnor, only the Rodians would be immune to this plague — a fact which inspires the Rodians to put their own plan in motion to find a sample of the Bloodrot and spread it amongst the Varlians.
Governor Kaxa realizes that a plague outbreak could ruin his plan to seize control of the Imperial throne. He orders that his plan be put into effect quickly. It turns out that the temple was merely a means to keep the slaves occupied, while a crystal in the palace drained their Force energy. Kaxa is using this energy to physically move the Forhilnor system towards the center of the Empire, where he plans to seize power using his slaves as a ready-made army. The movement of the planet causes earthquakes on Forhilnor. When Hender rescues another slave from the rubble, it turns out that Hender has somehow developed the ability to tap into the Force, giving him telekinetic powers. The other slaves nickname him "Skywalker" for his ability to levitate.
Eventually, the plague spreads to the Varlians in the palace. While the mutated plague is not fatal, it causes the Varlian larvae to continue to grow without entering the pupal stage of their life cycle. Astute readers would recognize these giant Varlian larvae, who are petulant and selfish as only an overgrown child could be, as Hutts. Believing the slaves to be infected, a panicked Governor Kaxa sends them on board a fleet of ships to leave the planet. It is soon revealed that he has been tricked, and that the slaves themselves were never infected. As well, Hender and the other slaves managed to steal the Force crystal from the palace. Kaxa sends a fleet of Gamorrean warships against the escaping slave fleet. However, the slaves escape by flying their ships into the Bloodstars, a nearby star cluster. In order to make a path for their escape, Hender uses the Force to move the Bloodstars aside. Though the strain of using the Force to move the Bloodstars eventually kills Hender, the former slaves continue to their destination — the garden world of Corellia.
NOTE: The novel would have placed the Star Wars saga within the same fictional universe as two other George Lucas film projects, American Graffiti and THX 1138. Cosmo Hender and his ancestor, Dale Hender would have been descendants of Curt Henderson, the Richard Dreyfuss character in American Graffiti. The futuristic society the crew of the Oort Raider fled is obviously meant to be the one found in THX 1138.
[edit] Near-humans
Several species in the Star Wars universe appear to be very closely related to humans, as they share many physical traits. These are described as being "near human" and are said to have descended from humans that evolved along distinct lines on other worlds.[citation needed]
[edit] Chiss
The Chiss, a race that dwells in the Unknown Regions, are a humanoid people that have pale blue skin, black hair, and red reflective or fluorescent eyes. In all other aspects they are normal humans: they bleed red blood, and the cloning tanks used to clone human Imperial stormtroopers also worked on Chiss physiology.
Grand Admiral Thrawn is the most famous Chiss.
[edit] Mandalorian
The Mandalorians who dwelt on Mandalore were a warrior, honor-bound race of humanoids. They look exactly like humans except that they usually have darker hair and eyes. They have extremely potent regenerative abilities, and can see just as well in low-light and no-light settings as in regular light. Most mandalorians are culturally predisposed to be aggressive and competitive, none of it is genetic. The leader of the Mandalorians is called the Mandalore.
Boba Fett and Jango Fett are two of the most famous Mandalorians.
[edit] Miraluka
Miraluka appear to be fully human except for the fact that all Miraluka are born without eyes; they compensate for this by seeing through the Force.
Jerec and Visas Marr were both Miraluka.
[edit] Mirialan
The Mirialan are almost the same as humans but have purer eye colors, skin coloring not seen in normal humans, and often have tattoos covering their faces.
Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and her padawan, Barriss Offee are both Mirialans.
[edit] Sith
The Sith "race" is an interesting case, in that its ancestry includes a non-human extraterrestrial group that was genetically tampered with by a group of human Dark Jedi that settled on their homeworld, to escape from the Republic. The intermixing of human and Sith bloodlines, through the use of what became known as Sith Alchemy, created the Sith, with their characteristic Tan skin and white "beards". Due to their history of association with Dark Force users, the word "Sith" went on to be used by many Dark Side organizations not connected with the original Sith species.
[edit] Zeltron
The Zeltron are near humans and bear a similar appearance, save for their pink to red toned skins, which may or may not be a result of their sun's highly radioactive rays. They are a highly sexual race, and are famous for their many sculptures and paintings on the subject. They also have made great strides in the field of holograms and are responsible for the ones used at Hologram Fun World.
[edit] Others
Other near-human races mentioned in various books and comics include the Theelin, the Arkanian, the Chev, the Omwati, the Ubese, the Kiffar, the Anzati assassins, and the Echani. All these are mostly human in appearance, but have a few distinct defining characteristics.
The Duros and Quermians are the only other species in the Star Wars galaxy known to have a genetically distinct separate sub-species that arose from natural evolution, (the Neimodians and Xexto respectively).[citation needed]
