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- "Well, I admire anyone who can crawl their way out of the sewer. Especially a sewer as putrid as Corellia."
- ―Dryden Vos, to Han Solo
Corellia was a planet located in the galaxy's Core Worlds known for its ace pilots and large starships. The planet's vast shipyards produced many vessels over hundreds of years, including starfighters and Star Destroyers for the Galactic Empire as well as other famous models, such as the YT-1300 light freighter.
It was the homeworld of Han Solo, Qi'ra,[4] Wedge Antilles, Crix Madine, BoShek,[25] the Besalisk Gadren,[21] the Executive Records Officer Winshur Bratt,[20] the bounty hunters Dengar[26] and Mercurial Swift,[27] and the Jedi younglings Kalifa[28] and Petro.[29]
Description
Corellia was located in the Corellian sector[2] in the Core Worlds. It had a temperate climate and was covered in forests, jungles, and urban centers.[1] The official planetary colors of Corellia were blue and gold.[6] One major city was Coronet City (also the planet's capital), which was home to shipyards that, during the Imperial Era, produced TIE fighters and Star Destroyers for the Galactic Empire.[10] The shipyards were one of Corellia's most prominent characteristics in addition to being known for producing capable pilots.[30] Corellia also manufactured the YT-1300 light freighter, including the Millennium Falcon.[31]
The planet's human inhabitants were called Corellians[21] and were known for their wanderlust.[1] Besides humans, Corellia was also inhabited by several alien species including Barbadelans,[10] Besalisks,[21] Czerialans, Grindalids,[10] Kel Dor, Pa'lowicks, Rodians, Sullustans,[4] Twi'leks, and Ugors.[10] In addition, Corellia was also home to several native creatures including Corellian hounds[1] and fleek eels.[18] The politics of Corellia were often dangerous and sometimes drew blood, with different politicians vying for new positions and engaging in shady deals.[6]
History
Early history
- "There's so much history on Corellia! Too bad it's such an awful place."
- ―DK-RA-43 in the Galactic Explorer's Guide
An ancient Core World,[1] Corellia was the homeworld of natives known for their wanderlust. In the time before they explored the stars, Corellians embarked on ocean voyages to satisfy that wanderlust,[18] traversing the seas to discover new continents and catch vast quantities of fish.[2] After the advent of space travel, Corellian royalty sponsored exploration and colonization efforts that helped expand galactic civilization by furthering the frontiers of the Old Republic in its youth.[18] Corellian colonists settled on thousands of worlds, and its hyperspace scouts paved many of the galaxy's major hyperspace routes, making Corellia an important planet in the Galactic Republic.[8]
The planet became known through the galaxy for the Corellian people's wanderlust and its massive shipyards.[1] Eventually, the ancient Corellian royalty, which included Prince-Admiral Jonashe Solo, faded away and the throne stood vacant for many years.[3] In the millennia leading up to the Imperial Era, Corellia's key role in the expansion of galactic civilization[1] decreased and power shifted to younger, more vibrant planets. The once influential world gained a reputation as a polluted planet with extensive poverty and crime.[8] With its importance in galactic affairs reduced, Corellia was nonetheless recognized for its historic significance.[18]
High Republic Era
- "Help us stop the Nihil. Help us save Corellia. If this planet falls to the Nihil, who knows what planet will be next, and you may have your gripes with the Republic, but that's nothing compared to the brutality and horror that life will become under the Nihil. Come to the shipyard! Come now! Fight for Corellia! Fight for the galaxy! Fight for light and life!"
- ―Alys Ongwa
The population came to show isolationist tendencies during the High Republic Era, leading to the creation of the satirical song Corellia for Corellians. The Nihil launched an infiltration of the Corellian government to help with the destruction of Starlight Beacon, but the infiltrators were defeated by a force of Jedi.[6] Nevertheless, the infiltration set the stage for a Corellian civil war in 229 BBY.[32] The massacre at the Greens effectively wiped out the Nihil presence on Corellia.[33]
Twilight of the Republic
The bounty hunter Cad Bane was involved in an incident on Corellia that he later said was humiliating.[34] Senator Garm Bel Iblis represented Corellia in the Galactic Senate by the end of the Clone Wars, but he was one of several senators who grew opposed to Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine's governance.[35]
Age of the Empire
- "I don't like the Empire […] because it's what I ran away from on Corellia. It's a machine that turns people and places into credits, leaving the grass dead and the air polluted and the sea empty."
- ―Midnight, on the Galactic Empire's effect on Corellia
When the Galactic Empire came to power, Corellia's shipyards were transformed into Imperial facilities,[18] and though Corellia was a faded industrial world, it was used to build TIE fighters and Star Destroyers for the Imperial Navy. Many impoverished Corellian commoners sought to escape their homeworld for a better life.[1] By 13 BBY,[36] the Corellian Security Forces including its emigration officers had become an extension of the Imperial security forces on Corellia with Patrol Troopers assisting in policing matters.[18]
Several crime syndicates including Lady Proxima's White Worms operated in the coastal Coronet City.[37] The White Worms used local street urchins called scrumrats as vermin-catchers, pick-pockets, errand runners, and crime operatives.[38] Two notable scrumrats were Han and Qi'ra who sought to escape the White Worms and Corellia by going offworld.[10] The Unbroken Clan had a palace located on Corellia where the Grand Leader resided.[15]
After escaping the Den of the White Worms, Han and Qi'ra tried to escape through Coronet City Spaceport by bribing an emigration officer. However, Qi'ra was recaptured and sold to Sarkin Enneb. Han managed to travel offworld and join the Carida Academy as an Imperial cadet with the hopes of becoming a pilot. Due to his insubordination, however, Solo was reassigned to the Imperial Army and became a Swamp trooper on Mimban. Meanwhile, Qi'ra became the chief lieutenant to Dryden Vos in the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate.[10]
Around 10 BBY, Nakano Lash's crew undertook a mission to Corellia.[32] Also around ten years before the Battle of Yavin,[39] an organization known as the Corellian Resistance operated on the planet, fighting against the Empire. One of their members, Miru Nadrinakar, attempted to warn them of an upcoming crackdown.[40] Smuggler Sana Starros made use of a crash pad on Corellia that she stocked with supplies, including tea,[41] in 3 ABY.[42]
Rise of the New Republic
Following the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, the bounty hunter Dengar tried to offer Mercurial Swift the opportunity to work in a partnership. However, the younger bounty hunter refused and the two men fought. Dengar warned Swift that the New Republic, the successor to the Alliance to Restore the Republic, would be imposing bounties on bounty hunters and that bounty hunters needed to form a union to work together. However, Swift ignored his advice.[9]
In 5 ABY, the dark side cult Acolytes of the Beyond recruited a low-class Corellian Pantoran girl named Kiza. The Acolytes worshiped the Sith and the dark side.[27] That year, the Acolytes staged an attack on Coronet City so that Kiza and a boy named Oblivion could infiltrate the Peace and Security Headquarters and steal a lightsaber from the archives beneath the prison. In the process, Kiza killed numerous Peace and Security officers while Oblivion severed detective Erno's blaster hand.[43]
In the months leading up to the Battle of Jakku, there was closer cooperation between the New Republic and Corellian law enforcement. Coronet City Peace and Security began linking its records to the growing New Republic database. This allowed Norra Wexley and her team to track down the bounty hunter Swift.[27]
First Order
The First Order established a presence on Corellia, beginning a planetary occupation and nationalizing the Corellian Engineering Corporation. After the Battle of Crait, the Resistance launched a mission to Corellia.[20] Around the time of the mission to Batuu, the smuggler Hondo Ohnaka led a raid against a First Order cargo train, using the Millennium Falcon to steal a shipment of coaxium from the train and deliver it to the Resistance.[24] By 35 ABY,[44] the Corellian Merchants' Guild was an influential guild in Thieves' Quarter on the planet Kijimi.[45] Following the Battle of Exegol, Corellia was in open rebellion against the First Order.[46]
Behind the scenes
Corellia has appeared in several spin-off media, including both Star Wars Legends and canon works, before making its first onscreen appearance in the 2018 Star Wars Anthology film Solo: A Star Wars Story.[10]
In the DVD commentary of Solo, set decorate Lee Sandales revealed that the film's crew pictured Corellia as the Star Wars version of Venice, Italy, specifically an "industrial" Venice. Filming of Corellia scenes took place in Southampton, England, most notably at Fawley Power Station[47]. Additionally, during the film's development, Lucasfilm design supervisor James Clyne was asked by the filmmakers to design a complete map of Corellia for the chase scene. Clyne did so, and he drew designs for other locations too, such as the Death Star and Cloud City.[48]
Appearances
Non-canon appearances
LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars — "Escape with Chewbacca"- LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars — "The Chase with Han"
"Corellian Run" — LEGO Star Wars 58- LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation (Mentioned only)
- "The Turbulent Trip" — LEGO Star Wars 87
