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The O'reenians were the inhabitants of the planet O'reen in the Unknown Regions; although originally Humans, they eventually evolved into a distinct sentient species of near-Humans. The species appeared similar to Humans physically with the exception of orange-hued skin. Their society and culture, on the other hand, were unique in that the O'reenians were divided into several distinct castes based upon military service. O'reenians who served in the military for six or more years were granted the rights and privileges of citizenship, while those who did not were relegated to menial occupations of the sort generally carried out by droids on worlds more technologically advanced than O'reen. Only slaves occupied a social position below non-citizens. A military dictator known as the Magnus ruled the O'reenian government and commanded its military. The system made O'reenian society highly regimented and disciplined, with an emphasis on martial prowess. Indeed, even O'reenian scientists wore sidearms while at work.

Although they were descended from colonists sent to O'reen by the Galactic Republic in the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War, the location of their homeworld in the Unknown Regions kept the O'reenians isolated and self-sufficient for millennia. Through several chance encounters with offworlders, the O'reenians realized that their technology had fallen behind that of the rest of the galaxy, and the government implemented a policy of raiding nearby star systems to take weapons and devices that O'reenian researchers could then reverse-engineer. These missions, normally carried out by pilots in the O'reenian Star Corps, afforded the species a sense of protection against what they perceived as outside threats. Government policies of the Galactic Republic and the O'reenians alike regularly maintained that keeping the species isolated was the most beneficial course of action; nevertheless, during the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Magnus adopted a policy of potentially taking advantage of the conflict to expand O'reen's sphere of influence.