An urban ecumenopolis on the Outer Rim, Taris was a world that reflected both positive and negative effects of planetary growth in the galaxy. While the planet was exceedingly prosperous for over a century, that same prosperity lead to dramatic wealth gaps and overpopulation, which would eventually develop into species-specific racism that made the planet a lesser entity in the Republic, in terms of political and social advancement.

Terrain and Wildlife

While the entirety of Taris’ landmass was covered with a megacity, a large ocean occupied much of the planet’s surface. While these oceans once served as kelp farms to feed the large population of Taris many centuries ago, the sudden influx of metropolis lead to pollution of the water, which poisoned the crops, causing food shortages across the planet. The city itself was divided into three levels, each of which represented and contained a different caste level of cultural affluence and/or struggle: the Upper and Middle levels, home to the Humanocentric nobility, the lower level, which housed the poorer caste of citizens, and the Undercity, which was infested with diseased human mutations known as rakghouls, and acted as a place of banishment for criminals, and home to their predecessors, who were entirely ignorant of the Tarisian upper levels, let alone the rest of the galaxy.

Civilization and History

Dominated by the rich upper class, the majority of which were humans, the Taris upper level was a canopy of decadence, and a venue for many anti-alien activists who wished to see other sentient species removed from the planet’s surface. In the lower levels, the poor classes, which were predominantly species other than humans, lived in relative indecency to the rest of the population. This trend began due to food shortages caused by a pollution of the planet’s agriculture, which acted as the center of self-sustenance for several millennia. Panicking, the nobility hoarded the remaining food rations for themselves, which acted as a catalyst for an uprising from the starving lower classes, and eventually erupting into a civil war. After the war, the nobles began banishing criminals to the undercity due to overpopulation in Tarisian prisons, and because most of the rebels had been of a non-human species, the nobility banished any and all aliens from the upper city, disallowing entry without a permit.

Mandalorian Wars – An Easy Target

Eventually, Taris became a member of the Galactic Republic, leading to the establishment of a Jedi Academy on the surface of the world, which would eventually house the Jedi Covenant. Even though they had joined the galactic community, however, the nobility’s racism and oppression continued. Crime soon became rampant in the lower levels, and swoop gangs operated uninhibited, with little, if any, action from the Tarisian government. Contracts with companies to employ lower city citizens under strain, the Tarisian authorities promised to resolve the gang issues with assistance from the local Jedi; a promise that soon became void after the Padawan Massacre of Taris. This caused a relocation of a local mining company, Lhosan Industries, leaving half the lower class unemployed. Tension finally broke into conflict over the massive discharge as riots broke into the Middle level of the city, and crime began dominating the planet. In the chaos that followed, the senator that represented Taris on the Republic Senate disappeared, the constable of the civil authority’s family was kidnapped, and the Jedi on the planet were recalled to Coruscant.

It was during this time, when Taris was caught defenseless and torn by internal strife, that the Mandalorians chose to invade. Finding little resistance to their military force, the Mandalorian Commander Cassus Fett occupied the planet and established a base of operations in the now-vacated Jedi Tower, choosing the planet as the first staging area for a direct attack at the Republic. After the occupation, many Tarisians, including lower city swoop gangs such as the Hidden Beks, formed a resistance movement, lead by Senator Gorawus, to combat the new Mandalorian invaders. By the time they had mobilized a sufficient strike force to take out Cassus Fett, the Mandalorian leader had already abandoned the Jedi Tower to take the fight to the Resistance, where he would push them into the Undercity.

Though details of the Resistance’s fate are sketchy, it is clear that Taris was recaptured by the Republic before the war with the Mandalorians had ended.

Jedi Civil War – Fire from the Skies

Taris held little importance to the Republic military in the years following the Mandalorian Wars, until it became a key staging area for the Republic during the later years of the Jedi Civil War. Because the Sith had conquered nearly every other Outer Rim planet, the Republic decided to make a stand on the surface of the planet, and the Endar Spire was dispatched for a reinforced garrison, carrying several pivotal figures in the galaxy, including Bastila Shan, a Jedi Knight with a unique ability for Battle Meditation, a technique in the Force that could sometimes be the deciding factor in a battle. Also onboard were Carth Onasi, and a former Darth Revan, who was currently suffering from amnesia and under the impression that he was a Republic soldier. Unfortunately, the Endar Spire was attacked by a Sith Warship, catching them unprepared with a vicious onslaught. Due to the fact that Bastila never received the opportunity to use her Battle Meditation, the Endar Spire was destroyed, Bastila, Revan and Carth narrowly escaping.

Desiring to capture or kill the young Shan, as she posed a threat to his war effort, Darth Malak ordered a swift occupation of the planet, and quarantine, disallowing anyone to leave while he searched for the Jedi Knight. As time progressed, and Bastila continued to elude him, Malak grew impatient and ordered the orbital bombardment of the entire planet, not even bothering to withdraw his troops from the surface. The resulting devastation was catastrophic as laser fire rained down on the cities below, skyscrapers exploding, and the entire infrastructure of the once-prosperous planet shattering around itself. Bastila, along with her new companions, Revan, Carth, T3-M4, Canderous, Mission, and Zaalbar, barely escaped Taris’ surface in time, but very few others survived beyond them.

Revival – From the Ashes

Many hundreds of years after Malak’s ruination of Taris, settlers brought life to the desolation once more, rebuilding a small portion of the city over a long period of time, and eventually establishing themselves as foremost authorities on shipbuilding. There are suggestions that a battle occurred on Taris in the last years of the Galactic Civil War, but little evidence or details of the battle remain. Taris’ known history comes to a close with the adventures of Boba Fett, who would spend time on the planet in his private residence, and search for bounties on its surface.