Coruscant


Coruscant is an ecumenopolis planet in the fictional Star Wars universe. It first appeared onscreen in the 1997 Special Edition of Return of the Jedi, but was first depicted and mentioned by name in Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel Heir to the Empire. Coruscant is a prominent location in both canon and 'Legends' 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.
Coruscant was historically referred to as Notron or Queen of the Core; was renamed Imperial Center during the reign of the Galactic Empire and Yuuzhan'tar during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. The planet's capital city was initially Galactic City ; under the Galactic Empire this was Imperial City, and was Republic City or the City Of Spires under the Galactic Republic. The planet was code-named Triple Zero during the Clone Wars. The demonym and adjective form of the planet name is Coruscanti.
Coruscant lies within the Coruscant Subsector of the Corusca Sector, located in the Core Worlds galactic quadrant region. Coruscant is the sixth planet out of 11 planets in the Coruscant System: Revisse, Platoril, Vandor-1, Vandor-2, Vandor-3, Coruscant, Muscave, Stentat, Improcco, Nabatu and Ulabos. Coruscant has four moons; Centax-1, Centax-2, Centax-3, and Hesperidium. Beyond the system's planets was the OboRin Comet Cluster, and in between Improcco and Nabatu was an asteroid belt. The sun was called Coruscant Prime, which the Star Wars galaxy places as XYZ coordinates 0-0-0 and the Standard Galactic Grid coordinates were L-9 for all in-universe hyperspace navigation, mapping systems, and astronomical observations.
Coruscant serves as the nexus of socio-economic, cultural, intellectual, political, military, and foreign policies activity within the Star Wars galaxy; at various times, it is the central administrative capital of these governing bodies: the Republic, the Galactic Empire, the New Republic, the Yuuzhan Vong Empire, the Galactic Federation Of Free Alliances, the Fel Empire, Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire, and the Galactic Federation Triumvate. The planet's strategic position relative to the galactic center, a population of 2 trillion sentients approx, and control over the galaxy's main trade routes and hyperspace lanes — Perlemian Trade Route, Hydian Way, Corellian Run and Corellian Trade Spine — that must converge and pass through Coruscant space, cemented its status as the richest and most influential habitable world in the Star Wars galaxy.

Etymology and naming

Within the story, the planet derived its name from a rare and valuable gemstone, the corusca gem. The lights of the planet-wide city, seen from space, were said to resemble the glittering of the gems.
In the real world, the word 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'. 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. 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". 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. 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 a peaceful world destroyed by the Empire.
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. Later, in the graphic novel Legacy 29: Vector, Part 10 the name Had Abbadon was given to a lost mythic planet in the Had Abbadon System of the Deep Core, which was covered by dry fields, was linked to the birth of the Jedi, was the location of a planned assassination attempt by Cade Skywalker on Darth Krayt, and was home to an Imperial.
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 ' series of computer games. Coruscant was then seen in '. There is a speeder chase through the skies of Coruscant in ' that eventually leads to a nightclub in the bowels of Coruscant's Uscru Entertainment District. Coruscant is seen in ' 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. 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.
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.

History within the ''Star Wars'' universe

;Labyrinth of Evil
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.
;Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Another area of Coruscant shown is Coco Town. 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.
;Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
In the beginning of the film, Separatist cyborg general Grievous has kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine and uses the Separatist fleet to help assault the capital and cover his escape. Together with the Republic's defense and interception, this known as the Battle of Coruscant. A theatre in 500 Republica is where Palpatine holds a meeting with Anakin Skywalker, while watching an opera, and entices him into allying with the Dark Side by telling him of the supposed Sith ability of resuscitation.
After a failed attempt by the Jedi to arrest Palpatine when he divulges to Skywalker his true identity as Darth Sidious, it is in the Republic Senate Building on Coruscant that Palpatine appoints himself Emperor of the first Galactic Empire.
;Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
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. This version of Coruscant was not reused for the prequel trilogy.
;Dark Empire
In the Dark Empire graphic novel's prologue, set after the original film trilogy, Coruscant is ravaged by battles between warring Imperial factions.
;The New Jedi Order: Star By Star
In The New Jedi Order series, Coruscant is the capital world of the New Republic until, in The New Jedi Order: Star by Star, the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong overwhelm the New Republic defenses in three attack waves, led by Warmaster Tsavong Lah, and take over the planet, destroying the New Republic and creating the theocratic Yuuzhan Vong Empire. 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 Federation Of Free Alliances and the Yuuzhan Vong.

''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.

Notable metropolitan areas

;Senate District
The Senate District was on the equator, and was home to the Ambassidorial Sector,, Embassy Mall, Skysitter Restaurant, Bonadan Embassy, Colocaur Heights, Champalan Embassy, the Collunm Commons District, the Coruscant Opera House, the Galactic Museum, the Heorem Complex, Judicial Plaza, the Legislative Borough, Senate Plaza, the Avenue Of The Core Founders, the Republic Executive Building, the Galactic Senate Building, Hospital Plaza, the Galactic Senate MedCenter, Novaplex, the Palace District, Quadrant A-89, Sector H-52, Sector I-33, the Uscru Boulevard, Westport and Xizor's Palace. It was the de facto capital of Coruscant, the Old Republic, the Galactic Empire, the New Republic, the Galactic Federation Of Free Alliances and the One Sith. It was constructed in 3996 BBY, bordered by the Financial District and the Sah'c District, was close to The Works, and went by the names Legislative District, Government District and Government Center.
;Alien Protection Zone
The walled Alien Protection Zone does not have a note to explain where on the planet it was, but it was likely to be on the equator. It was a segregated spot on the planet where all the aliens resided. Neighbourhoods there represented different species, and each resembled a different culture, making them feel homely, even if they were not. It was built in 19 BBY by the young Galactic Empire and opened by the New Republic in 6 ABY.
;Sah'c Town
Sah'c Town, also known as Sah'c District or Quadrant H-46, was an area on the Equator, named after and controlled by the wealthy Sah'c family. It was home of an emergency bunker where the chancellor of the Galactic Republic or New Republic ruled in case of an emergency. Sah'c Canyon was also there, which was the exit point of the Senate District's Heorem Skytunnel.