 | |
| Jakku | |
| Continuity: | Star Wars |
| Category: | Planet |
| Galaxy: | Star Wars Galaxy |
| Region: | Western Regions [1] Inner Rim [1] |
| Residents: | Unkar's thugs [2] Luggabeasts [2] |
| Points of interest: | Kelvin Ravine; Niima Outpost; Tuanul |
| 1st appearance: | Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens |
Jakku is a fictional planet featured in the Star Wars multimedia franchise. It was one of the principal settings of the 2015 feature film Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
Description[]
Jakku is a harsh, arid desert planet populated mostly by traders, refugees, outlaws, scavengers and thieves. Jakku was once the site of an Imperial research center during the Galactic Civil War, and was also the location of one of the final conflicts of the war between the First Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance, which has come to be known as the Battle of Jakku. Decades later, wreckage from the battle could still be found strewn across the desert lands, including a downed Imperial Star Destroyer, a fallen AT-AT and the remains of several fighter ships including TIE fighters.
Native animal species that could be found on Jakku include Steelpeckers, which could be found trying to crack open the metal husk of wrecked vehicles, Luggabeasts, which were biomechanoid beasts of burden used by scavengers, the strange burrowing Nightwatcher worms, and the giant, eternally thirsty Happabores.
History[]
In the waning years of the first Galactic Civil War, Jakku was the sight of a final battle between the forces of the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the First Galactic Empire. Wreckage from the battle dotted the landscape of the planet for many years, including a downed Imperial Star Destroyer, several Imperial walkers and numerous snub fighters lost in the battle.
About a decade later, a young girl named Rey was brought to Jakku where she came under the care of the Crolute junkboss, Unkar Plutt. [3] She remained in the Niima Outpost region for most of her life, and lived inside the ruins of a fall AT-AT.
In the ensuing years, there developed a spiritual group who honored the ways of the Force, even though they were not Jedi. Several of these human followers established a colony on Jakku in the Kelvin Ravine. One of the more venerated residents of the Ravine was Lor San Tekka, who was an ally of the New Republic and a friend of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. Lor was in possession of a piece of a map that pointed the way towards where Skywalker had placed himself into exile. As the First Order rose in power, a Resistance faction formed within the Republic with Leia Organa assuming the role of a General. She sent her most daring pilot, Poe Dameron, to Jakku to find Lor San Tekka and recover the map.
The First Order learned about this mission and sent several transport ships and a shuttle craft to the Ravine to intercept the Resistance. Lor gave Poe Dameron the map, who secretly placed it inside his astromech droid, BB-8. A dark side Force user of the First Order named Kylo Ren interrogated Lor San Tekka. When Lor proved uncooperative, Kylo cut him down with his lightsaber. Poe tried to escape, but Ren captured him and had him brought back to the fleet. He gave orders to Captain Phasma and her Stormtrooper squadron to kill all of the remaining villagers. Most of the troopers obeyed without hesitation, but for one: FN-2187. It was his first time in battle, but something about seeing innocents being slaughtered enabled him to break his behavioral conditioning. As such, he refused to participate in the slaughter.
Returning to the fleet, FN-2187 decided to defect from the First Order. He rescued Poe Dameron, and together they stole a TIE fighter and returned to Jakku. Poe told FN-2187, whom he nicknamed Finn, that the map to Luke Skywalker was of vital importance to the resistance and was inside of BB-8, which was still on Jakku. The fighter crashed in the Goazan Badlands and Poe was believed to have been killed.
Finn made his way across the hot desert until he reached Niima Outpost. After begging for water from unsympathetic merchants, Finn finally availed himself at a trough, which was being used by a large Happabore (who nudged him away after Finn took three healthy gulps of water). He then took note of Rey who was being attacked by three thieves, and ran to help her, but Rey was more than capable of taking care of herself. Rey brought Finn back to her abode where he found BB-8. Finn lied to Rey, indicating that he was a member of the Resistance and that he needed to bring the droid (owned by a Resistance pilot named Poe Dameron) back to the group's base.
A contingent of First Order Stormtroopers landed on Jakku and began searching through Niima Outpost for the renegade Stormtrooper. Finn, Rey and BB-8 escaped by stealing an old freighter ship known as the Millennium Falcon. A squadron of TIE fighters were deployed to overtake the ship. Rey proved to be an exceptional pilot and evaded the pursuing fighters by threading the ship through the bowels of the Star Destroyer, before launching off into deep space. [4]
Points of interest[]
- Goazan Badlands
- The Goazan Badlands was a dry flatland region of Jakku, located some distance from Niima Outpost. It was known as dangerous terrain, where travelers ran the risk of slipping into the sinking fields to be lost forever. Around the year 34 ABY, a member of the Resistance named Poe Dameron and a refugee Stormtrooper named Finn crashed a First Order TIE fighter in the desert. Both men managed to survive, but the wrecked fighter sank beneath the sand. Finn believed Poe had died at this time, but he actually survived. Finn miraculously managed to walk unaided back to the closest population center outside of the Badlands.
- Kelvin Ravine
- The Kelvin Ravine was the home of a colony of human villagers, many of whom were followers of the ways of the Ancient Jedi, but were not Jedi themselves. One of the more venerated residents of the Ravine was Lor San Tekka, who was an ally of the New Republic and a friend of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. Lor was in possession of a piece of a map that pointed the way towards where Skywalker had placed himself into exile. As the First Order rose in power, a Resistance faction formed within the Republic with Leia Organa assuming the role of a General. She sent her most daring pilot, Poe Dameron, to Jakku to find Lor San Tekka and recover the map. The First Order learned about this mission and sent several transport ships and a shuttle craft to the Ravine to intercept the Resistance. Lor gave Poe Dameron the map, who secretly placed it inside his astromech droid, BB-8. A dark side Force user of the First Order named Kylo Ren interrogated Lor San Tekka. When Lor proved uncooperative, Kylo cut him down with his lightsaber. Poe tried to escape, but Ren captured him and had him brought back to the fleet. He gave orders to Captain Phasma and her Stormtrooper squadron to kill all of the remaining villagers. Most of the troopers obeyed without hesitation, but for one: FN-2187. It was his first time in battle, but something about seeing innocents being slaughtered enabled him to break his behavioral conditioning. As such, he refused to participate in the slaughter.
- Niima Outpost
- Niima Outpost was a business center on Jakku run by a portly alien named Unkar Plutt. Unkar distributed rations as payment for viable salvage, but was known to offer disappointing portions for common items. He saw operable droids as great value and even offered the generous amount of sixty-four portions for a BB series astromech droid. Thieves and scavengers would often try to take advantage of those they felt were easy prey. Three such individuals sought to rob a young woman named Rey, but she proved more than formidable when it cam to fending them off.
- Tuanul
- Tuanul was a small village located in the Kelvin Ravine on the planet Jakku. It was inhabited by humans who were knowledgeable of the ways of the Force, but did not possess any inherent connection to the Force itself. They were spiritual beings who chose to live in peace and solidarity. One of the more venerated members of their group was Lor San Tekka, who had connections to members of the New Republic, as well as Resistance leader General Leia Organa. General Leia sent her best pilot, Poe Dameron, to Jakku to retrieve a map leading to the location of Luke Skywalker from Lor San Tekka. The First Order intercepted this mission and Dark Force user Kylo Ren slew Lor San Tekka and captured Poe Dameron. Poe managed to hide the map away inside of his droid, BB-8, before being captured however. Kylo Ren then ordered his stormtroopers to massacre everyone else in the village.
Residents of Jakku[]
Notes[]
- The imagery and terrain of Jakku is similar to that of the planet Tatooine. Both locations are the first planets seen in their respective trilogies.
- The Battle of Jakku was made available as a downloadable player mission on the Star Wars: Battlefront video game by Electronic Arts. It could be played as a single player, local multiplayer, or for online play.
See also[]
Media
The World of Star Wars
Star Wars miscellaneous
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens; Information provided in the film itself.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Star Wars Databank; Jakku
- ↑ Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens; Revealed in Rey's Force-vision after making contact with Luke Skywalker's lightsaber.
- ↑ Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
- ↑ Architectural Digest; Slideshow. Star Wars filming locations.
- ↑ IMDB; Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens; Filming locations.