Korriban is located in the Outer Rim Territories within Sith Space.  The surface is rocky and dusty, filled with caverns and deserts.  Korriban has a long history as a place of the Dark Side of the Force and has affected the planet in turn.  Creatures like the terentateks, shyracks, tuk’ata, hssiss, wraids, and the pelko bug are some of the most hostile and dangerous creatures in the galaxy.

History

The original occupants of Korriban were the Sith species who considered it their homeworld.  Then sometime during the expansion of the Infinite Empire, Korriban was invaded by the Rakata in order to acquire slaves for the construction of Rakatan projects.  Eventually, Korriban was freed from the Rakata by the Sith King Adas.  However, Adas died in battle and his kingdom crumbled.  His Sith abandoned the newly conquered planet and relocated to Ziost. Fallen Jedi who fled from the Battle of Corbos around 6,900 BBY arrived on Korriban.  The planet was occupied by the Sith people who had subsisted since the departing of the Rakata.  The fallen Jedi Masters quickly elevated themselves to a god-like status.  After many generations, the Sith people and the fallen Jedi interbred and soon became known simply as Sith.  The existence of these peoples was unknown to the Republic until the rise of Naga Sadow.

Due to the increasing amount of Dark Side energy focusing on the planet, the planet became more and more hostile and dangerous.  Sith Lords constructed palaces and tombs in honor of past Dark Lords.  These buildings were soon discovered by Gav and Jori Daragon, hyperspace explorers who found Korriban.  The event started what would soon be known as the Great Hyperspace War. Once this Sith were defeated in this war, Korriban was lost to the galaxy for a millennia. 

Dark Jedi who had survived the conclusion of the Exar Kun War found Korriban and created the new settlement of Dreshdae and a new Sith Academy.  Soon, other organizations found their way to Korriban, such as Czerka Corporation.  Revan and Malak visited Dreshdae in order to find the Star Map located in one of the tombs.  Revan revisited the planet after losing his memory to relocate the Star Map and killed the Sith Academy’s leader, Uthar Wynn.  The Academy fell into chaos after Wynn’s death.  The Sith Order itself collapsed after the death of Darth Malak shortly afterwards.

The Republic sent a task force to Korriban a few years after the fall of Darth Malak to find any potential rising Sith Lords who could replace Darth Malak and rebuild a new Sith Empire.  The Republic found no such threat; the planet was lifeless and deserted.  They did however find evidence that some Sith had escaped the civil war on the planet and travelled to the far reaches of the galaxy. 

With no one to protect the tombs, grave robbers soon plundered the ancient secrets of the Sith hidden there.  The spirits of ancient Sith who lived there littered the very ground of the planet, protecting what little remained of the old Sith Academy.

Hundreds of years later, the Great War emerged and the Sith Empire reclaimed its symbolic world.  They build another Sith Academy where Darth Bane would eventually train to become a Sith Lord.  The Sith being trained on Korriban would later become part of the Brotherhood of Darkness. 

Over the next three millennia, Korriban would once again become a graveyard world.  The Commerce Guild took control of the desolate planet before the beginning of the Clone Wars, where it would soon become the site of the Battle of Korriban that had a devastating amount of casualties for the Republic.

After the formation of the Galactic Empire, Emperor Palpatine visited the ancient Sith tombs in order to gain a deeper knowledge of the Dark Side.  His mission failed, as the ancient spirits who laid rest there did not approve of the Emperor’s Empire.  The Emperor was severely wounded, but he was saved by Jeng Droga, who brought him to an Imperial Center to recover.

A tomb was erected for Darth Sidious after his death by the dark side spirits inhabiting the planet.  The tomb was originally intended for Darth Vader, but his sudden turn before his death nullified Vader’s dark spirit. Palpatine’s clone body attempted to regain his spirit from the tomb, despite the spirit’s warning.  Palpatine’s ploy failed, and he remained inside his makeshift tomb for the rest of eternity.

A cult rose up from the ashes of Korriban who called themselves the Disciples of Ragnos. It was led by the Dark Jedi Tavion Axmis. Their purpose was to resurrect the Sith Lord Marka Ragnos, but it was found and then stopped by a Jedi Knight called Jaden Korr.  In the Battle of Korriban, Korr defeated the spirit of Marka Ragnos who possessed Tavion Axmis’ body.  The cult was destroyed shortly after the defeat.

The New Jedi Order established some research centers on Korriban to discover and hide what Sith secrets remained.  The planet remained untouched during the Yuuzhan Vong War, but was taken control of by Darth Krayt.  Several prominent Sith Lords visited the planet, including Darth Caedus, in order to learn the secrets of the dark side from the spirits of the ancient Sith.  The dead Sith were usually uncooperative, as each Sith who asked them for help eventually fell.