Tatooine

"Well, if there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from."

- Luke Skywalker, to C-3PO

Tatooine was a desert planet located in the Outer Rim Territories. The planet was part of a binary star system. Due to the lack of surface water, many residents of the planet instead drew water from the atmosphere via moisture farms.

Tatooine was the homeworld of Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, and his son Luke Skywalker. Anakin's former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, also resided on the planet after the Clone Wars ended, going by the name Ben Kenobi. The Hutt Clan maintained a presence on Tatooine as well, with Jabba the Hutt owning a palace in the desert.

Tatooine gained the notice of the Empire during the Galactic Civil War when an escape pod carrying two droids in possession of top-secret information launched from the starship Tantive IV and landed on the sandy Outer Rim world.

Description
"What a desolate place this is."

- C-3PO

Tatooine was a planet located in the Outer Rim, a region of the galaxy far removed from its core. It had three moons, Ghomrassen, Guermessa and Chenini. Due to Tatooine orbiting its two suns, Tatoo I and Tatoo II, the planet was oppressed by a scorching climate. The whole planet was covered in harsh deserts, and only a small part of its northern hemisphere could sustain intelligent life. The planet was filled with many natural hazards including sudden sandstorms and carnivorous krayt dragons. Due to the absence of surface water, those who lived on Tatooine had to draw moisture through the dry air.

The Clone Wars
"Be careful, Ion. The Hutts are the only law that matters on Tatooine."

- Chairman Papanoida, to his son Ion

In the last decades of the Galactic Republic, Tatooine was home to a Human slave named Shmi Skywalker and her son, the young Anakin. Nine years later, Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo escaped the capture of her homeworld by the Trade Federation, and she took refuge on Tatooine with her companions and protectors, including the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Skywalkers befriended Amidala's party, and the young slave ended up participating in a podrace to help his new friends obtain a new T-14 hyperdrive generator for their damaged starship. After discovering that Anakin Skywalker would make an exceptional recruit for the Jedi Order, Master Qui-Gon Jinn managed to obtain his freedom, and the Queen's party left Tatooine with the boy. After participating in numerous adventures, including the Invasion of Naboo, the former Tatooinian slave joined the Jedi Order under Kenobi's tutelage.

Ten years later, Tatooine hosted another major event in the saga of the Skywalker family. Anakin Skywalker, now a gifted but unruly Jedi student, sensed that his mother, who had stayed on Tatooine and gotten married, was in terrible pain. Skywalker returned to the desert world in the company of Amidala, who was now a senator of the Republic and the young Jedi's secret lover. It transpired that Shmi Skywalker had been captured by Tusken Raiders and was detained in one of their camps. When Skywalker finally discovered his mother's location, he arrived too late, and she died in his arms from the consequences of the Tuskens' mistreatments. Enraged, the young Jedi slaughtered the entire Tusken tribe. That act of brutality, which took place on Tatooine, would later have serious consequences, as it was the first step of Anakin Skywalker's fall to evil. Shortly after the incident, the Clone Wars broke out, and the tortured Tatooinian Jedi became a major player of that pan-galactic conflict.

Three years after the start of the war, Skywalker fell to the dark side and joined the Sith, old adversaries of the Jedi who had long planned to take over the galaxy. The Galactic Empire, a new regime established to replace the Republic, started to hunt all Jedi. Skywalker's former master Obi-Wan Kenobi went into hiding on Tatooine, bringing the infant son of the fallen Jedi with him. On the desert expanses of Tatooine, Kenobi hoped that he could keep young Luke from his father's evil influence. Kenobi entrusted the boy to Shmi's stepson, Owen Lars, and his wife Beru.

The long years
"It was the worst drought anyone could remember. The moisture farmers could barely gather enough water from their vaporators to keep themselves alive, let alone to trade in town for food and supplies. Especially with Jabba's thugs collecting "water taxes". Rumor was that the bloated gangster took lavish baths all throughout the day. Lest he perspire in the heat. But I didn't believe that rumor. I'd met Jabba. Jabba had never bathed in his life.""

- An excerpt from The Journals of Ben Kenobi

In the years following Emperor Palpatine's formation of his New Order, the Great Drought of Tatooine scorched the world's surface, impoverishing the many moisture farmers of a reliable source of income to procure food and other basic supplies. The situation was not helped by Jabba's thugs collecting 'water taxes' from the many towns and isolated settlements across the planet. Often resorting to threats and brute force to acquire enough water for the crime lord. With Obi-Wan Kenobi witnessing the suffering of the population, he disabled the weapons of the thugs, allowing the populace to chase them off. Later, a young Luke Skywalker would attempt to confront the thugs, but was ultimately rescued by Obi-Wan after falling unconscious in a brief scuffle. With the legacy of the Jedi safe, Obi-Wan vowed never to return to town again, while a week later the drought finally ended, and Jabba vowed revenge on the man who had stolen his water, to no avail.

Galactic Civil War
Nineteen years later, shortly after the theft of the Death Star plans in the Galactic Civil War, the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO landed on Tatooine's surface in an escape pod after their CR90 corvette the Tantive IV was captured by the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer ''Devastator. ''With the droids carrying the technical readouts to the battlestation, a task force was sent to the planet in order to capture the two droids. Upon coming in contact with a Jawa sandcrawler, the two were abducted and later sold to Owen Lars of the Lars moisture farm, with Artoo being chosen after another astromech droid, R5-D4 broke down. Later that day, Luke Skywalker, unknowingly Anakin Skywalker's son came across a recorded message of Princess Leia pleading for the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi against the Galactic Empire. Intrigued, if only because Artoo later ran away, forcing Luke and C-3PO to retrieve him, the two were attacked by native Tusken Raiders. Being saved by Kenobi after he imitated the cry of a krayt dragon, Luke Skywalker learned that he was a Jedi while Kenobi offered to train him. Refusing and heading home, Skywalker came across the remains of the sandcrawler that originally sold the two droids to his family. Realizing that it was the work of Imperial forces and that they may have traced the droids back to his house, Luke rushed back only to find the moisture farm burned to the ground, with his charred parents lying outside in the sun. Agreeing to go with Ben Kenobi to Mos Eisley, they hired the services of smuggler Han Solo and his partner, Chewbacca to transport them offworld to Alderaan. Barely escaping an intense firefight with multiple sandtroopers, the two escaped Tatooine and several Star Destroyers into hyperspace.

Four years later, the notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett would deliver Han Solo, now frozen in carbonite to the crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure where he would serve as a wall decoration. Attempting to rescue Solo, the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO would infiltrate Jabba's Palace disguised as servants after Luke Skywalker "gifted" them to the crime lord. Arriving at the palace not long after, Luke Skywalker attempted to bargain with Jabba for his friends life, only to be refused and dropped into a rancor pit. After a struggle, Luke managed to kill the rancor, angering Jabba and sentencing him and Han Solo (who was freed by Leia Organa in the guise of a bounty hunter who had captured his friend, Chewbacca) to death in the Great Pit of Carkoon, while Leia would become one of Jabba's many entertainers. Later and about to be executed, R2-D2 would fire Luke's lightsaber at him from Jabba's sail barge, allowing Luke, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian who had been disguised as a guard to make their escape. After an intense shootout, Jabba would be killed by Leia who strangled him with the chain used to keep her hostage, Boba Fett would be killed after being knocked into the sarlacc, while Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian and the two droids would manage to escape the planet once more.

New days for Tatooine
"I know that things are changing. Not just in the galaxy, but here at home, too. The Hutts still haven't shaken out who's next up to fill Jabba's throne—if you can call that flat slab of his a throne. Seems like this might be a new day for Tatooine."

- Cobb Vanth

After the Battle of Endor, a Jawa sandcrawler managed to pick the wreckage from Jabba's sail barge, including Boba Fett's set of Mandalorian armor. Also during this time, numerous crime syndicates attempted to build legitimacy as mining companies, with one such company being the Red Key Company who was afraid that the New Republic would eventually stamp out their operations on the planet.

Inhabitants
"Tatooine is sparsely populated. If the trace was correct, I will find them quickly, Master."

- Darth Maul, to Darth Sidious

There existed only a few port cities on Tatooine, including Mos Espa and Mos Eisley. Beside those cities, which attracted many criminals, most settlers of Tatooine operate moisture farms in the expanse of the desert.

Non-canon appearances

 * William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace: Star Wars Part the First
 * Disney Infinity 3.0
 * Epic Yarns: A New Hope
 * Epic Yarns: Return of the Jedi