Highlights
- Alderaan, once a peaceful planet, was tragically destroyed by the Empire, leaving behind nothing but rubble and corpses.
- Geonosis is a deadly desert planet known for its Separatist stronghold, dangerous factories, and menacing insect-like Geonosians.
- Jakku, a hopeless desert world, became the site of the Battle of Jakku and is littered with wreckage from Imperial Star Destroyers.
The Star Wars universe consists of hundreds of thousands of unique planets, seen across various forms of media. From iconic movies to graphic novels and Disney’s multiple television series, fans have been introduced to many varied worlds for more than 45 years. From forested planets to icy worlds, each location has its own flora and fauna, alien species, and unique languages.
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Some planets are famous, or infamous, for being the site of key galactic events and battles. Others are barely known or able to be investigated due to their dangerous and deadly environments. With many planets posing a threat to those who live or travel there, due to hostile weather conditions and threatening locals, there are a certain few that truly stand out as locations that should be most definitely avoided.
10 Alderaan
Destroyed by the Empire
A Core World, Alderaan was a peaceful and beautiful planet, with a highly-developed scene of arts and culture. Its natural beauty was notable, with plentiful water and lush green spaces. In fact, it was known as the “Planet of Beauty”, its majestic mountains reminiscent of the Swiss Alps, as seen in movies like The Sound of Music (1965).
Whilst pre-Empire, this planet would have been paradise, things went south fast when Palpatine took control. At the time of the Empire, this was a planet to avoid at all costs. It unfortunately became targeted by the Empire and completely obliterated by its weapon, the Death Star. The whole planet and its many inhabitants died in a single blast from the space station, having no time to escape, leaving behind nothing but floating rocks in space.
9 Geonosis
A Deadly Desert
A key Separatist-occupied world, Geonosis is arid and unsafe to live in. The insect-like Geonosians are controlled by their queen Karina, as seen in the “Return to Geonosis” story arc in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. They present a huge threat to the Jedi, even being able to kidnap Jedi Master Luminara Unduli. Their deadly “brain worms” became a massive crisis, taking control of many clones and even Luminara’s Padawan, Barriss.
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Geonosis is most well-known as a Separatist stronghold, and it produced its droid armies from vast factories. The dangerous factories posed a huge threat to Anakin and Padmé when they tried to rescue Obi-Wan. The Separatists’ massive battle force killed many Jedi in the planet’s infamous Petranaki Arena, and caused many casualties over the course of the Clone Wars. Geonosis is certainly not a friendly or safe world to live in due to its legacy, inhabitants and its harsh environment.
8 Kadavo
A Slave World
First seen in The Clone Wars series, this world was under the control of the slave kingdom, Zygerria. Under their queen, Miraj, it was used to “process” slaves. If it wasn’t bad enough living on Zygerria as a slave, disobeying their masters led to them being ‘processed’ here in terrible conditions and torture.
Obi-Wan found himself here when Miraj tempted Anakin, an ex-slave himself, into working with her by putting his friends in danger, as slaves. The actual planet itself was largely inhospitable, barren, and volcanic, with a thick, smog-filled atmosphere. It was an ugly world, made more ugly by what the Zygerrians did there.
7 Tatooine
A Wretched Hive of Scum & Villainy
The iconic planet with its twin suns and desert landscape makes for one of the galaxy’s harshest planets to live on. Life is hard for moisture farmers like Cliegg Lars and his family since there’s so little water. The planet is famous for being the Skywalker’s homeworld. If the harsh suns weren’t bad enough, the constant threat of Tusekn Raiders certainly is.
Aside from the difficult conditions, Tatooine is ruled over by the infamous Hutt clan, who thrive on a culture of crime and smuggling. The planet is also notoriously famous for its slave culture which sadly benefits many, including the Hutts. Tatooine also serves as a hideout for some of the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals, such as Asajj Ventress and Doctor Evazan, and the treacherous sport of Podracing, which is bet on. Obi-Wan famously calls the Mos Eisley spaceport “a hive of scum and villainy” for good reason.
6 Maldo Kreis
An Arachnophobia’s Nightmare
First appearing in The Mandalorian Season Two, the planet of Maldo Kreis is a cold and desolate world. The surface is covered in ice, and huge canyons and caves reach deep into the heart of this frozen planet. Although the caves contain hot water baths, they’re also home to some of the most frightening creatures seen in the Star Wars universe.
The scary ‘knobby white ice spiders’ inhabit the vast caverns, which the Mandalorian must fight off whilst protecting Grogu and ‘Frog Lady’. The spiders can lay many eggs at one time, and the characters find themselves fleeing from hundreds of terrifying arachnids. This is an unwelcoming planet, and one to avoid, especially by arachnophobes.
5 Jakku
A Hopeless Desert
Remote and desolate, Jakku is another arid desert world with little resources and industry. Surprisingly, this seemingly worthless planet was the site where the Galactic Civil War concluded, in the “Battle of Jakku”. The Empire’s eventual defeat resulted in the mass wreckage of Imperial Star Destroyers littering the planet’s surface, which attracted many scavengers years later.
Life is tough for scavengers like Rey, who was forced to survive by herself, gathering what valuable scrap she could in order to receive “food portions”. Though the planet became pivotal in the defeat of the Empire, even Luke Skywalker agrees the planet is “pretty much nowhere” when Rey reveals to him where she’s from.
4 Hoth
A Deathly Snow Planet Inhabited By Wampas
This bitterly freezing planet is one of the most inhospitable in the entire Star Wars galaxy. It’s home to dangerous animals like the Wampa and suffers frequent snowstorms and blizzards. The Rebel Alliance chose Hoth as their new base since it had an asteroid field for added security, and due to its remote location.
However, a testament to Hoth’s dangerous conditions is the situation Luke Skywalker finds himself in; after being attacked by the Wampa, he almost dies in the extreme cold. Even the native Tauntauns can die if out in a blizzard for too long. Merciless and desolate, Hoth is not a good place to live.
3 Umbara
Void of Sunlight
Umbara is a very dark and gloomy world since it receives no sunlight directly onto its surface. First seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, it became the stage of one of the wars’ most difficult and tragic battles. It was the scene for fallen Jedi dual-wielder General Krell’s dark deeds against the clones, as seen in the “Umbara” story arc.
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Many clones lost their lives here, and the planet’s inhabitants are threatening and unfriendly. Even its bioluminescent flora poses great risk to those nearby, being aggressive and dangerous. The planet is full of perils on every side; with no light shining on this gloomy world, Umbara is definitely not a good place to live.
2 Mustafar
A Volcanic Hellscape
Located in the Outer Rim, this planet is a dangerous world to inhabit. Aside from mining complexes, the planet has a strong crime scene, home to syndicates like the “Black Sun”. The continuous lava flows and volcanic eruptions render Mustafar a very inhospitable planet to live on.
If that wasn’t dangerous enough, the planet has strong ties to the Sith, being where Darth Vader’s castle is located. Mustafar can indeed be seen as Star Wars’ version of the “Land of Shadow”, Mordor, from The Lord of the Rings. Mordor is where the Dark Lord Sauron resides in his tower, “Barad-dûr”. Similarly, Darth Vader’s castle bears a very similar resemblance to Sauron’s own tower.
1 Lotho Minor
The Junk World
A deadly, junk-ridden world, Lotho Minor is infamous as a galactic dumping ground, quickly making it one of the most inhospitable places to live. Mountains of the galaxy’s trash cover the planet’s surface. The atmosphere is dreadfully hot and stormy, with acid rain. The planet is shrouded in horrendous-smelling fog, with dangerous toxic sludge spread across vast areas.
Lotho Minor is notable for being the location where Darth Maul ended up, after his apparent defeat by Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace. Living below the surface, the Sith Lord, broken in body and mind, survived there for over a decade. Eventually, his brother Savage discovered him after making a treacherous journey across the planet. This is by far one of the galaxy’s most desolate and deadly worlds, containing more trash than fellow junk planet Raxus Prime as seen in the 2002 video game Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
