Talk:List of references to Earth in Star Wars

Earth References
I have a fairly long list of all of the Star Wars characters who have been given Earth names. Would it be appropriate for your Earth References page? -LtNOWIS 06:21, 24 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * Sure! I might cut it down to just Earth surnames, though, if the list gets too big.  A lot of characters have Earth first names.  &mdash; Silly Dan  14:18, 24 Nov 2005 (UTC)

I've been thinking about these Earth references for a while myself. You might also want to consider the use of the term "parsec," which is based on the diameter of Earth's orbit around the sun. Supposedly the Earth and Sol don't exist in the SW galaxy, Book of Imperial Shuttle Plans notwithstanding, so why would they still use parsecs? And the New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels has a number of corporate logos that have English words or at least English lettering. The CEC logo is a good example. If this was an error, they'd have fixed it for the New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology (which came out over a year later), but they didn't. Also, in the Corellian Trilogy (can't remember which book specifically) Han Solo mentioned knowing a recipe for a drink called a "Mutant Zombie Cooler." The word "zombie" has a unique cultural etymology, which suggests the existance of substantially similar mythology in the history of the SW galaxy. &mdash;Darth Culator  (talk)  16:23, 24 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * Yes, parsec and English lettering could be mentioned (X-wings are an even better example), but I wouldn't count Mutant Zombie Coolers unless someone else mentioned voodoo, or the recipe included rum and apricot brandy. (What else would you call the shambling undead, even if the Sith animated them?) &mdash; Silly Dan  16:53, 24 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * Logos obviously aren't in English. They're supposed to be "translated" from Basic. Like this: http://starwars.wikicities.com/wiki/Image:CSAPoster.JPG. And I would consider the X a symbol, not a letter in the case of X-Wings. For example, B-Wings look nothing like a B, and Y-Wings remind me nothing of a Y. And I agree about the zombies, don't forget Korriban zombies. But I would guess parsecs do belong in that list (I reckon a Star Wars parsec would be the diameter of Coruscant's orbit around its star, like a standard day or standard year is based on Coruscant). --Master Starkeiller 16:58, 24 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * You're right about A-Wings and B-Wings, but Y-wings are clearly Y-ish. You've got the middle part (cockpit) and the two arms branching off (engines). Speaking of English use for no reason, though: Knight Hammer.  &mdash; Silly Dan  19:54, 24 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * I would consider that a translation too. --Master Starkeiller 20:18, 24 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * I disagree, as the pun doesn't work in most languages (Marteau de la Nuit becoming Marteau des Chevaliers isn't a joke in French, for example.) Anyway, it's a user subpage, and shouldn't be taken too seriously. 8)  &mdash; Silly Dan  20:29, 24 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I mean like a translated pun. It's hard when you got to translate a pun, but you gotta do it when it's in a book. You might change the words somehow, but you must make it work. Like the way they translated Voldemort's name in different editions of the Harry Potter books. --Master Starkeiller 12:13, 26 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * Your Earth References page is awesome, Silly Dan :-) I hope you don't mind that I added some entries without posting them here first. It probably deserves to be a page in its own right, rather than a user sub-page. --Azizlight 06:44, 27 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * More so than my version of the very-POVish List of goofy creations. Btw, might I ask if A and B-wings look more like their Aurabesh counterparts, rather than in English? -- Riffsyphon1024 06:50, 27 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * Does Tatooine = Tataouine count? --Azizlight 07:08, 27 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * Yes it would. -- Riffsyphon1024 07:10, 27 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * I wouldn't count any measurements or other mundane English words (most words have origins intimately tied with Earthly situations). However, you might want to add ships named after Earthly mythology, such as the Chimaera, Basilisk, Gorgon, Hydra, and Manticore.  jSarek 11:34, 27 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * There's a frigate called Antares Six (seen in Dark Empire) as well. And Antares system. Kriffin' weird that ships and systems in the GFFA have the same name as a star in the Milky Way... Well, there's only a limited amount of words to use in the universe, I suppose :P --Tinwe 12:10, 27 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * Captain Wankle definitely deserves a mention somewhere :-) --Azizlight 14:36, 28 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * I think he goes under names, as it might be an alternate spelling of "Wankel", as in German engineer Felix Wankel, and no one in the comic comments on his name (though this may be because he was commanding a Star Destroyer's worth of Stormtroopers, and Bungo just had a few spare packets of blue sauce.) &mdash; Silly Dan  17:17, 28 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * It might also be a play on wank, which is why it is so funny :-) --Azizlight 04:01, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * But not "wanker"? -- Riffsyphon1024 04:20, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * In my defense, I knew that. 8) &mdash; Silly Dan  04:27, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * I wrote a blog about it recently, but a lot of Americans didn't seem to get it ;-) I guess it's a British/Australian thing.--Azizlight 04:31, 30 Nov 2005 (UTC)
 * Don't forget Thule. Kuralyov 19:08, 1 Dec 2005 (UTC)
 * Don't forget the dinosaurs of Trammis III. Thanos6 04:44, 2 Dec 2005 (UTC)
 * Here's a big one: Kyle Katarn, Jan Ors, and Meck Odom all use e-mail (and call it such) in Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire. Kuralyov 20:17, 2 Dec 2005 (UTC)
 * The article on Tholian says it also exists in Star Trek. Should we add this? -- Riffsyphon1024 06:05, 8 Dec 2005 (UTC)
 * Definitely. Good catch!  &mdash; Silly Dan  13:36, 8 Dec 2005 (UTC)
 * How about adding Yoda and Revan to the name list both are Earth names? Yoda Ahmish and Revan Middle Eastern. Seriously though it's surprising how many of those made up sounding names are real! - HavetStorm

I would love to know how a lightyear is based upon the orbit of Earth. Esplin 04:03, 5 Jan 2006 (UTC)
 * It's not. Parsec is. Whoever added that didn't realize that lightyears are simply the distance light travels in one year. -- Riffsyphon1024 04:13, 5 Jan 2006 (UTC)
 * Of course I knew that, Riff! 8) What I meant was that the Earth takes exactly one year to orbit the Sun (by definition), and a light year is defined as the distance light can travel in that time.  So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view.  Mind you, we have no proof the Star Wars light year and parsec aren't based on Coruscant's or Corellia's year and orbital diameter.... &mdash; Silly Dan  04:16, 5 Jan 2006 (UTC)
 * Or, that there are supposed to be translated from some weird stuff based on Coruscant's stats. The smart Tolkien translation thing has the answer for everything. --Master Starkeiller 12:47, 5 Jan 2006 (UTC)

Hang on. I'm cofused. Is Earth in a galaxy far, far away or not. General Nai Has anyone notuced that the Lord of the Rings link goes to endor? Obi-two-knobi 17:58, 12 July 2006 (UTC) Why? 24.3.89.183 14:13, 16 July 2006 (UTC) I've added the Oort Cloud to the list of astronomical references. It was mentioned somewhere within the second novel of the Black Fleet Crisis.
 * No, Earth is right over here. It's Star Wars that's set in a galaxy far, far away. 8) &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 21:14, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
 * It's supposed to. &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 21:14, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Read the Endor article. &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 14:15, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Good catch. It's not the same Oort cloud as our Oort cloud, obviously, but it's funny to have the real-world astronomer it was named after references. &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 14:15, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Translations?

 * Many of these examples, of course, could be the result of clever, multi-layered, Tolkien-style "translations" from Galactic Basic Standard to English.

I thought it had been established that Basic was English. - Sikon [ Talk ] 13:39, 11 Dec 2005 (UTC)
 * Can't be, as English evolved on an island in the North Sea, while Basic evolved in outer space millennia earlier. Maybe English, by an astounding coincidence, sounds exactly like Basic, but that would be silly.  &mdash; Silly Dan  01:42, 12 Dec 2005 (UTC)
 * And how silly it is to have humans evolved on Coruscant? It's a fictional universe, face it. - Sikon [ Talk ] 06:22, 12 Dec 2005 (UTC)
 * It is a fictional universe ruled by the principle of realism. It's supposed to be realistic to the point it can convince you it is real. Otherwise, we wouldn't need continuity, canon, retcons etc, we'd just say, "Hey, it's an imaginary universe". All the fun lies in making it look like it isn't even though it is. So Basic is a language we've never heard and has nothing to do with English. --Master Starkeiller 10:54, 12 Dec 2005 (UTC)
 * You mean it's not real? What?  My worldview is shattered!  8) Seriously, a lot of these Earth references are things which may lead to odd results if we pretended that both the Star Wars galaxy and the real world were, well, real.  Of course Star Wars is fictional, and of course pretending otherwise leads to silly results.  That's the whole point of this list.  &mdash; Silly Dan  12:40, 12 Dec 2005 (UTC)
 * Why did I put that Westron link there? To prove that it doesn't lead to odd results if we pretend Star Wars is real. No sir, it doesn't. It's been done before. --Master Starkeiller 12:46, 12 Dec 2005 (UTC)
 * That's very true. Humans evolving independently on a world that, while similar in some ways to Earth is overtly dissimilar in others, would be a massive coincidence. But given the sheer vastness of the universe, such a coincidence is not outside the realm of possibility. Nor is the two indepently evolved human races developing identical languages an impossibility. For that matter, two entirely unrelated languages, created at different times in different galaxies, having identical sentence structures and alphabets with directly corresponding letters, to the point that puns (notoriously hard to translate) can be carried over with no difficulty...that's very low on the probability scale too. Red XIV 04:26, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

English got invented on an island? For canon's sake, maybe in-universe they were taught Basic by alien visitors, likely ET's. Who knows? And maybe humans had time-travel problems that took them from a future earth to a past galaxy far far away.--24.22.212.250 03:11, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I hope this topic is not too old. Just to say if English was really English in the SW universe we needed all the other languages that influenced the evolution of English, such as French, Latin, German, Italian,... And there are not many examples. Klow 09:00, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Greek Alphabet Referances

 * Star Wars is full of names using letters of the Greek Alphabet, for example almost all of the Republic Commando squads use a letter as their squad name. Maybe this should be included. DarthMaul431 03:03, 6 Jan 2006 (UTC)
 * I've thought about it...that might just be another translation thing. (Maybe Delta Squad was really named according to whatever the fourth letter of the Mando'a alphabet is.)  &mdash; Silly Dan  05:29, 15 Jan 2006 (UTC)
 * My take on it is that the Greek alphabet and the Roman Alphabet are interlinked somehow in GFFA history, as perhaps an ancient writen form/forms of Basic (which would explain the direct letter-for-letter translation), with Aurebesh being to them what modern Roman characters are to us. We know both alphabets exist in some sense thanks to all the letter references in ship names - why else would they call something an X-wing? - and the aforementioned appearances of Greek letters in unit names. CooperTFN 05:49, 15 Jan 2006 (UTC)
 * Well, there are also hebrew letters in the Black Fleet Crisis books--Erl 01:35, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Encylopedia Galactica is from (and is a rather prominant part of) Foundation, and was just referenced by Adams in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Kuralyov 23:53, 16 Jan 2006 (UTC)
 * True, but we had a Trantor reference on the list already. 8)  (Actually, I seem to recall an interview with Douglas Adams where he claimed he hadn't read the Foundation series, as the only Asimov he had read didn't leave a good impression on him, so the term Encylopedia Galactica was a coincidence.) The term was also used by Carl Sagan in Cosmos.  &mdash; Silly Dan  02:48, 17 Jan 2006 (UTC)
 * "Immigrated species: Mice", nice "Hitchhiker's" referance.

Basic...
I thought we went past that argument on Talk:Galactic Basic Standard... - Sikon [ Talk ] 03:34, 13 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Oh, sorry, I wasn't watching that page. However, there's a possible counterarguement, claiming that Basic != English, buried in Abel G. Peña's essay here. &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 03:45, 13 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Judging from whar is written there, it appears that the word "consecrated" may not have existed in Basic, but this doesn't make it any less English. We don't expect the names of Earth concepts to exist in the GFFA. We don't expect the words "cardinal", "pope", "mass" (in the religious sense) etc. to exist in the GFFA, even if Basic is indeed English. - Sikon [ Talk ] 13:34, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Chicken
Should this be added to one of the lists of animals as re arguments here?-- The Erl of the  talk  What I do 00:25, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
 * If "chicken-walker" is known in-universe, then we could place chicken in the list. -- Riffsyphon1024 19:52, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

E.T.
If it so happens that E.T.s' species is represented in the SW universe then there is a definite canonical link to Earth .TK867 07:25, 31 May 2006 (UTC) I saw that, but I think that the E.T. link is by far the strongest, most blatant link between the universes. I think it should be mentioned at the top of the page, in the "Non-Canonical Appearences of Earth in SW" entry. I think the E.T. is certainly more noteworthy then non-canon (albeit cool) comic book stories. In the movie "E.T.," E.T. himself reacts to a boy in a Yoda costume, saying "Home!! Home!! Home!!" The only problem is that the costume's existence (and the SW action figures that Elliot shows him earlier in the film) establishes that SW is a fictional universe on Earth. Still, I think the E.T. link should be mentioned in the top entry, and should at least have a single paragraph devoted to it. Promus Kaa 03:39, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I think this should definately be mentioned. It's possible that E.T.'s species, who are known to have had advanced inter-galactic travel, possibly fled to the Milky Way galaxy to flee the rise of the Galactic Empire. The sequel book of the E.T. film has E.T.'s people mention the "Former World," possibly the world they called home while in the SW universe. Promus Kaa
 * It is mentioned already. Check a bit lower on the page. &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 03:03, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Ok but what about the other Humans? What if they're just like humans,they're just a species that looks exactly like another. Also it should it be noted that Steven Spielberg,the director of ET is goods friends with George Lucas and they both work on movies together.--Darth Scott 16:46, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I see. I guess it would make some sense to put some more info in ch. 1, then. &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 03:42, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Remember ET's species apparantly have the technology to travel between universes as well as galaxies, so maybe they left the star wars galaxy and came to another universe where it was just fiction. It's pretty far fetched, but it's not impossible. (Although I strongly suspect that ET was just added to that scene as a joke)

Cool! If you'd like, I'll add in the E.T. stuff that you can then approve. I've read the E.T. book and studied the movie and other stuff pretty extensively, so I think it's safe to say that I'm qualified for the job. I'll write it up tomorrow. :D Promus Kaa 05:50, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks! I moved it to the end of the section though, in an attempt to be vaguely chronological in-universe: Alien Exodus is millennia BBY, Christmas in the Stars is apparently OT era, "Into the Great Unknown" goes from an alternate NR era to the 1930s, and E.T. is in the 1980s.  Of course, Alien Exodus has time travel flashbacks taking place in the 2400s... I don't know, does this placement make sense to you?  And can anyone expand on the Christmas Album? &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 20:43, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

I simply put it at the top, because it's the strongest link, and the link that borders the closest to canon then any of the other links. However, I think it's fine where it is right now, too, it doesn't really matter. I'm glad you like it, and you're very welcome!! :D Promus Kaa 02:40, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

In response to the fact that Star Wars is fictional in ET's universe, perhaps some supernatural FORCE implanted the idea into the head of Star Wars' creator in that universe. I mean, weirder things have happened, right? PS-Don't put that in the article, I was just brainstorming. --24.22.212.250 03:09, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

Language

 * The word damn was said by more characters in KOTOR and KOTOR II than just HK-47. "Hell" was also said a few times in these games.--Darth Oblivion 17:56, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

Geese

 * G2 droids are nicknamed "goose droids." This nickname is used in-universe, implying that there are geese in the Star Wars Universe.--Darth Oblivion 00:49, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Good catch! Added. &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 00:56, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Fashion?
Hey, those styles ruled. :D lol Promus Kaa 04:01, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Here's an interesting one -Can a correlation be made between those '70s sideburns all the male characters were sporting in the Original Trilogy? How about some of the costumes? I know some of the Zeltron males (Bahb, Marruc, Rahuhl, Jahn) looked like they stepped off a dancefloor in the mid-80s, and Dash Rendar is a victim of the post-Road Warrior dress code for tough male heroes popular in the '90s ala. Cable from the X-Men.Tocneppil 07:31, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Ew, I don't want to think about the styles they had then. -- Riffsyphon1024 07:35, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Speculation
I've always thought, mostly due to the presence of humans, that the narration in the opening crawl might be coming from the perspective of somewhere other than present-day Earth. If that was the case, they could be talking about the Milky Way in our relative future (or past, perhaps.) Could this be possible? Archaeoptryx 12:24, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
 * This possibility has been discussed but it is generally disregarded since the Galaxy is "far, far, away" from our own. -- Riffsyphon1024 02:29, 29 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I like the idea that the Star Wars stories are the myths of our decendents hundreds of thousands or more years in the future who have lost all knoweledge and evidence of their origins and history, and have instead come up with stories about their ancestors living in this mythical lost galaxy where they used fanciful technology (since a lot of Star Wars technology is not really possible in this physical universe as we know it) and held the long-lost ability to use a metaphysical force. 6-Oct-2006

Worms
In "Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords," Kreia mentions that Atton's guilt "squirms within you like a worm," implying (like the geese reference above) that there are worms in the Star Wars universe. :D Promus Kaa 01:14, 17 August 2006 (UTC) True...but there's also lots of types of ducks and geese, and all the other kinds of animals on the list...lol. Anyway, I just wanted to mention it!! :D --Promus Kaa 05:18, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Considering the number of creatures on Earth which are called worms, I'm not sure if that's specific enough to count. &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 01:16, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
 * There are also several Star Wars creatures called worms, such as Boneworms.--Darth Oblivion 18:25, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Kittens!
Darth Vader calls Princess Leia a 'Steel Kitten' when she attacks him with Luke's lightsaber in the "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" comics.Tocneppil 03:02, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Haha! (Of course, we have cats listed already.) &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 14:43, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Ranks and Titles
There are at least two military ranks mentioned in the films that are also a military ranks in the real world: General (General Kenobi; General Solo), Admiral (Admiral Ackbar). These Ranks seem to have nearly the same meaning as ours. There are also a lot of titles, that are used in a very similar way to those in our world. Here are some:

Crews: Captain (Captain Solo), First Mate (Ben Kenobi says Chewbacca is first Mate on the Millenium Falcon).

Aristocrates: Lord (Lord Vader), Princess (Princess Leia Organa), Emperor (emperor Palpatine), and of course: Knight (Jedi Knight)

Politicians: Senator (Senator Palpatine), Chancellor (Chancellor Valorum)

Some others from Expanded Universe: Doctor (Dr. Evazan), other military ranks. (I think a full list is as endless as a real-world list of titles and ranks)

It might be possible that these are only translated titles (translated from Basic to Earth languages). And that they are used similar to terms like Master (Jedi Master as well as "Master" of a Droid (Master Luke)), smuggler, bounty hunter, and others, which describe the status of a person, compared to Earth norms, best. But note that there are titles which weren't translated! "Padawan", for example, could easily be translated with "learner", "trainee" or "pupil" (although "Jedi Pupil" sounds dumb). Others are "Moff", "Hutt" and maybe "Darth".--Teak Hoken84.173.1.91 02:23, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I, for one, don't think we need put in every single English word as a reference. &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 03:40, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Military tables of organisation bear a lot of similarities, especially in Ground Forces and Security Forces, with terms such as Squad, Section, Platoon, Company, Regiment and Battalion all appearing to have a similar value to their real-world companions. In Space and in the Air there are similiarities with Flights, Squadrons and Wings, although Red Wing and other such formations appear to be much larger than their real-world companions (either Space Forces are pretty small, or a Wing is equivalent to a USAF Numbered Air Force). Naval Forces in Star Wars use some similar terms such as Fleet and Task Force, but other ones like the Imperial "Line" don't have a maritime equivalent. The Imperials also use the term Legion, which is somewhat equivalent to a modern Brigade (Brigades are now about as large and important as Divisional formations used to be), and Corps, although the size of a Corps is not stated anywhere I've read and they're not really maneuver units anymore in the real world. Another difference is in the Grand Army of the Republic, Corps are numbered and have a specialty included in their name, such as the 7th Sky Corps, whereas Corps today are merely Command and Administration divisions of an Armed Force (or in the case of the US Marines, a separate branch of the Military).
 * I think we're better off treating names for organizational units within a military heirarchy as translation conventions rather than specific Earth references (though it is true that the tables of military organization are modelled on real-world tables.) &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 03:48, 5 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Agreed, but I figured I'd just detail the similarities. Maybe I should chuck some of the Rank and Unit similarities on the article. Maybe I should work out what my password is first, since I forgot.
 * Maybe: I'm just worried about this page expanding to include really basic things like "People in the GFFA wore pants, much like on Earth." 8) The rank and unit similarities are somewhere between the existence of pants and the existence of cats, dogs, and aliens named "Carl" on the "significant references" scale, but I don't know if they're worth including. Any other opinions on this? &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 01:30, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Character Names
Shouldn't someone put those in alphabetical order?? -- Promus Kaa ( Rebel Merchant ) 20:53, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
 * They should be already: check the comments in that section's code. &mdash;Silly Dan (talk) 20:58, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

The Muppet Show
I think the Star Wars Muppet Show Episode should have an entry on this page, especially as Mark Hamill plays both himself and Luke as 2 seperate but related people and in it he, C-3PO and R2-D2 quite clearly crash on Earth.--80.176.233.172 07:24, 7 January 2007 (UTC) Yes I know there's a page for it, as there is for the story where indiana jones finds the Falcon, what i meant was there should be a mention of it but not a fully detailed one.--Emtrey 23:27, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
 * See The Muppet Show. -- Riffsyphon1024 07:25, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Confirmation
I'd like so much to have a definitive link between our galaxy and the GFFA. It'd be great if someone from LucasArts, SW.com or other official source could confirm a real link, saying for example the Children of the Greent Planet are not just an easter egg and that they're really a part of the canon universe. After all, the movies are G-Canon, so why wouldn't they be G-Canon as well? Other precise indications I'd like to know is when, and where does the story take place... Maybe we'll know one day. I'd really like to. Klow 12:04, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Etymological Link
I noticed that the Core Worlds have names like Coruscaunt, Correlia, Correa, etc. (Except for that last one...pun intended) Does this count as a link to an Earth language?