Taris/Legends

"To be honest, Mission, Taris would rate pretty low. The prejudice, the rich spoiling themselves while the poor are crushed beneath them. Not a pretty picture."

- Carth Onasi to Mission Vao

Taris was an urban planet in the Outer Rim Territories, the place of several key events in the Jedi Civil War, including the Battle of Taris, and the target of a massive planetary bombardment which severely damaged the reputation of Darth Malak's Sith Empire. Over the next few millennia the planet managed to rebuild and recover, though never to the extent of its former glory.

History
"TARIS: We received a dreadful welcome when T3 droids working in the starport made off with our baggage. Lowest possible recommendation."

- Trampeta's Star Guide

Circa 4,300 BBY Taris was situated on a hyperspace transport hub not far from the Perlemian Trade Route, and was called the "Coruscant of the Outer Rim". Taris was a city world, whose grandeur was once said to rival the galactic capital Coruscant itself. However, the planet's landmass was not completely covered with an urban sprawl, and some surface water was present, so, from space, Taris looked quite different from both Coruscant and another ecumenopolis, Nar Shaddaa.

In 4,156 BBY, the planet suffered a civil war. The war resulted in non-Humans being banished from the Upper City and Middle City to the Lower City of Taris, as well as the first Outcast being banished to the Undercity. It was believed the swoop bikes first originated on Taris, where swoop racing captured the imagination of the galaxy circa 4,000 BBY. Using an intricate system of hyperspace beacons, Taris race organizers would broadcast the results of the swoop races throughout the galaxy which eventually gave rise to a huge and profitable gambling operation. Taris remained a hub for swoop racing for decades, despite opposition from the Hutts and other criminal organizations.

In 4,086 BBY Taris also received an extremely harsh review in Trampeta's Star Guide, being given the lowest possible recommendation. T3 droids working in one of Taris's starports actually stole the authors' baggage. While probably not having any influence on the development of the planet itself, it was nonetheless a reflection of the process of decay that Taris was undergoing.

In 3,966 BBY Taris had a seat in the Galactic Senate but would not last long.

Around the year 3,964 BBY, during the Mandalorian Wars, Captain Saul Karath commanded the Republic fleet that protected Taris. After fugitive Padawan Zayne Carrick escaped from the Taris Academy twice, massive rioting spilled out across the world, causing the Dantooine Enclave to withdraw the Jedi presence from Taris and for the Republic to abandon it before the Mandalorians. In 3,960 BBY when the Mandalorians were defeated they persuibly abandoned the planet.

Formerly an important galactic presence, at the time of the Jedi Civil War, (3,959 BBY), the world was decaying rapidly, with much of the once-magnificent metropolis having fallen into ruin and disrepair after over a single century of prosperity.

During the Jedi Civil War
"Wipe this pathetic planet from the face of the galaxy!"

- Darth Malak



Though Taris held a Republic military presence, it had not been viewed with any military importance since the first First Battle of Taris. This changed when the Republic ship Endar Spire arrived above the planet.

On board the Endar Spire were several important members of the Republic; Carth Onasi, Bastila Shan, and an amnesiac Revan (whose true identity was unknown to himself and everyone on the ship, except for Bastila). Their intention in arriving at Taris was unknown, but the ship was soon ambushed and boarded by Sith forces. Bastila was forced to leave in an escape pod; Carth Onasi and Revan followed her some time later, moments before the ship exploded.



Bastila's pod landed outside the Undercity; the Black Vulkars were the first to reach her, capturing her (at least they thought so) and putting her as a slave and a prize for the swoop racing champion. Revan and Carth landed in the Upper City; cooperating with Mission Vao and her Wookiee friend Zaalbar, they managed to discover what happened to Bastila. Revan participated in the swoop race, and a prototype engine accelerator developed by the Hidden Beks allowed him to win. Brejik, however, accused Revan of cheating and refused to release Bastila, but she easily broke out of her cell herself, using the Force, and helped Revan to eliminate Brejik and his Vulkar guards.

After having rescued Bastila from the Vulkars, Revan met another stroke of luck when the Mandalorian bounty hunter Canderous Ordo approached him to discuss a possible way to escape from Taris. Canderous provided a heavily modified utility droid, T3-M4 to help Revan break into the Sith military base and steal the bypass codes to the Sith blockade. The pair then went on to meet with Davik Kang, the local crimelord, with the intention of stealing the Ebon Hawk from him.

Revan and Canderous were able to defeat Davik and his bodyguard Calo Nord and secure the Ebon Hawk for themselves. After gathering together their party, they were able to make it off-world in the nick of time--for in orbit above Taris, Darth Malak decided he would not wait any longer to find Bastila, and ordered his fleet to open fire on the surface of the planet.



Shortly after their escape, Taris's cities were annihilated during the Sith's orbital bombardment. Though it was believed the Outcasts in the Undercity and some of the Lower City citizen's might have somehow survived the orbital bombardment, the vast majority of the inhabitants on the world's surface were killed, save for Revan, his comrades, and the notorious bounty hunter Calo Nord.

Rehabilitation
Many millennia following the planet's devastation, Taris was finally resettled by Human colonists. These settlers were famed for their ship-building. The settlers rebuilt some of the planet's former cities, though much of the surface was left in ruins. Historians attempted to excavate ruins across the planet, looking for proof that the swoop bike originated on Taris. It is unknown if the Human colonists made any attempt to restore the oceanic environment.

By 3 ABY, much of the planet had been rebuilt, but the scar left on the planet by Darth Malak would never go away. Taris escaped the notice of the Yuuzhan Vong and emerged from the war unscathed.

As of 40 ABY, the famed bounty hunter Boba Fett owned a private residence on Taris. He had once taken a bounty down in the Undercity and had bad memories of the experience. He returned to the planet to research the possible whereabouts of Taun We, and unknowingly met his granddaughter.

Infrastructure and business
The city of Taris was usually divided into four levels: the Upper City, the Middle City, the Lower City and the Undercity.

The Upper City
"The upper city has got some nice shops and all, but it's boring."

- Mission Vao

The Upper City was a beautiful area inhabited by rich and powerful people, dwelling in the highest reaches of the towering skyscrapers that dominated the planet's landscape. Here, the privileged classes surrounded themselves with the trappings of prosperity, oblivious to the suffering and oppression of those forced to dwell far below them. Access to the Upper City was restricted to non-Humans, although notable non-Humans found in the Upper City included a Twi'lek droid merchant Janice Nall, Ajuur the Hutt, and a Rodian duelist named Twitch.

At some point prior to or during the Mandalorian Wars, the Jedi Order established a satellite training academy on Taris, ostensibly as a means of preparing its students for the more rigorous duties of patrolling the Outer Rim. Such was the mutually-beneficial relationship between the Jedi and the Tarisian authorities that the planetary constabulary sought in vain for even more Jedi to be stationed there. The pressing threat of the Mandalorians, however, rendered this wish untenable, with all enclave graduates earmarked for front-line combat duty. It is presumed that the academy&mdash;under the leadership of headmaster Lucien Draay&mdash;was either destroyed or abandoned at some point during or after the year 3,964 BBY, before the later Sith occupation.

The Upper City featured a cantina famous for its dueling ring owned by Ajuur the Hutt, and Zelka Forn's medical facility, which possessed a reputation for being able to heal all diseases but the infamous rakghoul plague. During the Second Sith War, a Sith military base was also established in the Upper City, and its roads were heavily patrolled by Sith troopers.

The Middle City
The Middle City was the most populous level of Taris. It contained the middle class and working citizens of the planet's Human population. After the second escape of fugitive Jedi Zayne Carrick, massive riots rocked the Middle City, causing extensive damage.

The Lower City


The Lower City was home to the poor people not born into the privileged classes of society, and aliens were common there, as this was the only area where they were legally allowed to live. A popular lower city attraction was Javyar's Cantina run by Javyar. Here, another Hutt named Zax placed bounties and rewarded successful bounty hunters on behalf of his de facto boss, Davik Kang. Control over the Lower City streets was the subject of rivalry between swoop gangs&mdash;gangs whose pilots competed in swoop racing, a popular sport on Taris and some other planets (among them Tatooine and Manaan) since 4,000 BBY. The most notable swoop gangs were the Hidden Beks, led by Gadon Thek, and the Black Vulkars, led by Gadon's adopted son Brejik, who was characterized by Mission Vao as a traitor because he was a former Hidden Bek. Mission and Gadon believed Brejik to be responsible for the ongoing street war between the Beks and the Vulkars. Descending into the slums of the Lower City, the signs of urban decay became undeniable. Filth and refuse littered the streets, and burned out vehicles and shattered windows served as stark reminders of the violent wars of the swoop gangs fighting for control. Denizens of the Lower City struggled to survive amidst the urban wasteland.

The Undercity


"Anyone who wants me to go down there again can pay triple."

- Boba Fett

The Undercity, a village on the ground level beneath the immense skyscrapers of Taris, was a dark, wild area inhabited by the Outcasts&mdash;people whose predecessors were banished from the city for their crimes. The Outcasts never saw the sky in their miserable lives, and nobody hoped that their lives would ever turn for the better&hellip;except Rukil, an old man who was considered crazy by the rest of the village because of his stories about the Promised Land, a self-sufficient colony built long before the founding of the Undercity. Nobody believed in these stories, and most villagers considered them tales created with the purpose of giving people false hope. According to one account, though, the amnesiac Revan assisted Rukil in discovering the location of the Promised Land, allowing a great number of the Undercity's people to travel there. Having said that, many Outcasts died from starvation and disease, and the rakghouls killed even more.



The wilderness around the Undercity village was extremely dangerous because of rakghouls, semi-humanoid beasts that could infect Humans with the rakghoul disease. The Outcasts had to keep infected people isolated from the rest of the society because they would inevitably mutate into rakghouls.

Circa 4,000 BBY, Taris became a base of smuggling operations for the Exchange and its representative, the local crimelord Davik Kang. Davik was quick to send his personal bounty hunters&mdash;among them such notable figures as Calo Nord and Canderous Ordo&mdash;to deal with those who could not pay what they owed him.

Fauna

 * Rakghoul
 * Feathered dog
 * Tach

Behind the scenes
The name of the planet "Taris" may have been inspired or derived from the French city of Paris, given the similarity of the names and the fact of Taris as predominantly a planetwide city with a "cultured" sector (being the Upper City).

The class system imposed by the dominant Humanocentric Tarisian Humans on the alien population of the planet seems to be reminiscent of the real-world Apartheid system imposed in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. In both situations, different races or species were kept segregated from each other with one group having access to privileges (in this case the Rights of Sentience) and the better of living conditions while the rest being denied these on grounds of looking different or coming from another species.

In Taris, the planet's alien population was confined to the crime-filled ghettos of the Lower City whereas the Tarisian Humans resided in the more affluent and richer Upper and Middle Cities. Under Apartheid, South Africa's non-white population were required by law to live in townships which often had little electricity or running water.

The story concept of two classes of citizen, one living in better physical conditions than the other, is also a classic thematic element in science-fiction -- see, for example, H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" and the Eloi and Morlocks of that novel, or Phillip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep?" (filmed as Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" and featuring humans opposed to replicants).

Appearances

 * Shadows and Light
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 0: Crossroads
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Commencement
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Flashpoint
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 9: Flashpoint Interlude: Homecoming
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Reunion
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Days of Fear
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 16: Nights of Anger, Part 1
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 17: Nights of Anger, Part 2
 * The Taris Holofeed: Invasion Edition
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Knights of Suffering
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 25: Vector, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
 * Bloodlines

Notes and references
Taris