Coruscant

Coruscant
Universe Star Wars
Planet type Urban (planetwide ecumenopolis)[1]
Moon(s) 4[1]
Oceans None
Notable races Human
Notable people Roughly 2 trillion (68% Human, 32% other)[1]
Created by George Lucas
Genre Science fiction

Coruscant /ˈkɒrəsɑːnt/[2] is a planet in the fictional Star Wars universe. It first appeared onscreen in the 1997 Special Edition of Return of the Jedi, but was first mentioned in Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel Heir to the Empire. A city occupying an entire planet, it was renamed Imperial Center during the reign of the Galactic Empire (as depicted in the original films) and Yuuzhan'tar during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion (as depicted in the New Jedi Order novel series). The demonym and adjective form of the planet name is Coruscanti.

Coruscant is, at various times, the capital of the Old Republic, the Galactic Empire, the New Republic, the Yuuzhan Vong Empire and the Galactic Alliance. Not only is Coruscant central to all these governing bodies, it is the navigational center of the galaxy, given that its hyperspace coordinates are (0,0,0). Due to its location and large population, roughly 2 trillion sentients, the galaxy's main trade routes — Perlemian Trade Route, Hydian Way, Corellian Run and Corellian Trade Spine — go through Coruscant, making it the richest and most influential world in the Star Wars galaxy. Coruscant is the sixth planet out of 11 planets in the Coruscant solar system, and has four moons; Centax-1, Centax-2, Centax-3, and Hesperidium.

The Galactic Standard Calendar was the standard measurement of time in the Star Wars galaxy. It centered on the Coruscant tropical year. The Coruscant solar cycle was 368 days long; with a day consisting of 360 NET degrees (or 24 standard hours).[3] Numerous epochs were used to determine calendar eras. The most recent of these calendar eras used the Battle of Yavin (i.e. the destruction of the first Death Star) as its epoch, or "year zero": BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin), and ABY (After the Battle of Yavin).[4] The earliest date in the Star Wars expanded universe as a whole is 13,000,000,000 BBY, which serves as the year the universe was created.

Etymology and naming

The word itself originates in the late 15th century from the Latin coruscant- 'vibrating, glittering', from the verb coruscare. It is described in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as a poetic and literary adjective meaning 'glittering; sparkling'.[5] The word "coruscant" is also a French adjective which means glittering, sparkling and, as a literary adjective, can be used to describe a decadent and overcomplicated language, decorum or community.

Early concepts

The concept of a city planet in the Star Wars universe originated with the initial drafts of Star Wars, when author George Lucas included a planet called Alderaan which was a city-planet and the capital planet of the galaxy.[6] In Lucas's 1975 draft, Adventures of the Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars, the capital planet of Alderaan is described as a floating city in the clouds, "suspended in a sea of cirrus methane".[7][8] This concept was illustrated in early sketches commissioned by Lucas from conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie, and the design very closely resembles Cloud City, the floating city that featured in The Empire Strikes Back.[9] In Lucas's third draft, the Imperial City of Alderaan has become the home world of the Sith Lords, and Darth Vader holds Princess Leia captive here. Lucas continued to hone his script, aided by screenwriters Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz; names of planets and characters were revised and the narrative was improved, and by the fourth draft, scenes on the Imperial capital planet had been moved to a space station called the Death Star and the name of Alderaan was now given to the peaceful world destroyed by the Empire.[10]

The Empire's homeworld, Had Abaddon, came up in early drafts of Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi. The entire planet was to be a sprawling city. However, concluding that the realization of such a city was impossible at the time, the creators abandoned the idea.

The Empire's homeworld first appeared in the expanded universe and was called Coruscant for the first time in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire. Coruscant was first seen on screen in the 1997 Special Edition release of Return of the Jedi, and the X-Wing series of computer games. Coruscant was then seen (major appearance) in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. There is a speeder chase through the skies of Coruscant in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones that eventually leads to a nightclub in the bowels of Coruscant's Uscru Entertainment District. Coruscant is seen in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith as part of the opening battle scene. The planet's cityscape is then prominently featured throughout much of the movie, with Chancellor Palpatine's office as well as the Senate building being the primary two settings on Coruscant.

In various novels, characters aligned with the Empire refer to Coruscant as "Imperial Center". Within the stories, this is explained as an administrative renaming undertaken to emphasize the differences between the Old Republic and the Empire.

Coruscant was in some early sources called "Jhantor" in homage to Isaac Asimov's Trantor.

Design

Production artwork produced by Ralph McQuarrie for Return of the Jedi had included some unrealised designs for the imperial capital, Had Abaddon. During production of The Phantom Menace, it was decided that scenes would be set on the capital planet, now called Coruscant, and artist Doug Chiang was tasked with designing the imperial city, and he turned to McQuarrie's original concept art.[11] The appearance of the cityscape has been described as a "retro-futuristic metropolis", and the streams of floating vehicles travelling between soaring skyscrapers is thought to have been partly inspired by Fritz Lang's 1927 film, Metropolis.[12][13]

In Attack of the Clones, the depiction of Coruscant was expanded greatly. Chiang created a more urban, apocalyptic environment for the street-level, taking inspiration from Ridley Scott's 1982 film Blade Runner.[14]

History within the Star Wars universe

Coruscant is a prominent location in both the Star Wars film series and the expanded universe media that has been produced. Within the narrative of the films, Coruscant-based locations such as the Jedi Temple and Jedi Archives act as the home for the Jedi and in plot terms are frequently used for exposition or to drive other elements of the plot.

James Luceno's novel Labyrinth of Evil introduces a deserted manufacturing area known as 'The Works' as the meeting place for Sith Lords Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus. Another area of Coruscant shown is Coco Town (short for "collective commerce"). Coco Town is the site of Dex's Diner in Attack of the Clones. Another notable area of Coruscant is 500 Republica, an area where the crème de la crème, such as politicians and diplomats, gather. In Revenge of the Sith, a theatre in 500 Republica is where Chancellor Palpatine holds a meeting with Anakin Skywalker, while watching an opera.

Coruscant is also the location of an additional sequence added to later versions of Return of the Jedi. In a montage scene, upon hearing of the death of Emperor Palpatine, citizens are seen celebrating with fireworks and by pulling down his statues.

Legends

With the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the originating 1977 film Star Wars were rebranded as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise in April 2014.[15][16][17]

In the Dark Empire graphic novel, set after the original film trilogy, Coruscant is ravaged by battles between warring Imperial factions.

In The New Jedi Order series, Coruscant is the capital world of the New Republic until the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong overwhelm the Republic defenses in three attack waves, led by Warmaster Tsavong Lah, and take over the planet. After surrendering, the Yuuzhan Vong agreed to help the Alliance rebuild Coruscant. The new Coruscant is a combination of technology and organic life, to represent the peace between the Galactic Alliance and the Yuuzhan Vong.

Since the formation of the Republic, there were at least seven urbanized worlds to rival Coruscant economically or politically, including ¨Alsakan¨, ¨Nar Shaddaa¨, ¨Empress Teta¨, ¨Taris¨, ¨Eriadu¨, ¨Denon¨ and ¨Muunilinst¨.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Carey, C. R. etc. Coruscant and the Core Worlds. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2003. P. 7.
  2. ↑ Before The Phantom Menace was produced, the "sc" had a hard pronunciation, like a "sk", in various Star Wars merchandise; see the Thrawn Trilogy audiobooks for one example.
  3. ↑ Template:WizardsCite
  4. ↑ The New Essential Chronology
  5. ↑ See also Princeton WordNet
  6. ↑ Rinzler 2008, pp. 351-400.
  7. ↑ Hearn 2005, pp. 86-87.
  8. ↑ Bouzereau 1998, pp. 67-68.
  9. ↑ "An Annotated Guide to The Star Wars Portfolio by Ralph McQuarrie | StarWars.com". StarWars.com. 14 January 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  10. ↑ Hearn 2005, p. 99.
  11. ↑ Hearn 2005, p. 193.
  12. ↑ Lamster, Mark. Architecture and Film. Princeton Architectural Press. ISBN 9781568988375. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "The Cinema Behind Star Wars: Metropolis". StarWars.com. Lucasfilm. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  14. ↑ Cotta Vaz, Mark (2002). The Art of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the clones (1. ed. ed.). New York: Ballantine Publ. Group. ISBN 9780345431257.
  15. ↑ "Disney and Random House announce relaunch of Star Wars Adult Fiction line". StarWars.com. April 25, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  16. ↑ McMilian, Graeme (April 25, 2014). "Lucasfilm Unveils New Plans for Star Wars Expanded Universe". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  17. ↑ "The Legendary Star Wars Expanded Universe Turns a New Page". StarWars.com. April 25, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
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