Tag: Expanded Universe

Star Wars Legends – Remembering the Expanded Universe – Characters

This is the last entry in this week of Star Wars. It’s strange, I had never before attempted a multi-part feature, didn’t know how to structure them. It took a new Star Wars film, a new continuity and the loss of the one I loved to bring this out of me. Guess I have to be thankful to Disney then.

This is the article I’ve been waiting to write, where I tell you about the characters in the Expanded Universe that made it such as special place for my imagination. Reading their adventures, following them on their journeys and controlling their actions in video games were a blast. I saw these people grow, evolve, become better men and women, or fall to the depths of depravity. These characters showed that the Star Wars saga is not about black and white good and evil but the millions of shades of gray that exist in the galaxy. From Sith falling in love with Jedi to good men going on a rampage for vengeance, the characters in the Star Wars Expanded Universe made it all relatable, believable and sparked new stories or continuations in my mind.

Some of these you’ll remember. Some are very familiar to you, but if you don’t know your Star Wars Expanded Universe, you won’t know them as I do. So sit back, grab a drink and let’s go meet some scum and villains! Continue reading Star Wars Legends – Remembering the Expanded Universe – Characters

Star Wars Legends – Remembering the Expanded Universe – Life, Technology and The Force

Before we begin this look into what the Star Wars Expanded Universe had to offer with species, technology and The Force, I’ll first explain a common term used to describe many of the different beings in the galaxy: Near Human. The easiest way to describe what the term means is the phrase: “They’re human but…” for example, the Zabrak (Darth Maul) are human but they have horns. The Cerean are human but they have two brains and cone heads. The Chiss are human but they have blue skin and red eyes. If it’s not near human but is still bipedal and more or less shaped in a human form, it’s Humanoid. Then there’s the rest, like the Hutts. Continue reading Star Wars Legends – Remembering the Expanded Universe – Life, Technology and The Force

Star Wars Legends – Remembering the Expanded Universe – Worlds and Locations

The Star Wars Expanded Universe not only had new stories, new characters and new concepts. It didn’t just kill off major characters, set others on the warpath, down the super fun slide of evil into the Dark Side or blow up countless worlds with the Suncrusher. It also gave us new and wondrous worlds, mysterious locations with deep histories that not only affected the characters in their stories but also influenced events in the distant future, sometimes even explaining possible plot holes in the films and even works by other authors.

Today, as part of this look into the wealth of information and lore in the Star Wars Expanded Universe that just isn’t official anymore, I’m going to take you to new worlds you might never have heard of. Some you might but not in the right context, nor would you know more than their name. Finally, there’s a weird one, but we’ll get to Zonama Sekot later. Continue reading Star Wars Legends – Remembering the Expanded Universe – Worlds and Locations

Star Wars Legends – Remembering the Expanded Universe – History and Society

As mentioned yesterday, this week I’m talking about the now non-canon Star Wars Expanded Universe, the collection of media that made this universe we all love a much bigger and more interesting place than it would’ve been with only the films. With the announcement of the Disney merger and the plans to have new episodes of the film saga, the Expanded Universe lost its canonicity and was rebranded to Star Wars Legends. Today I’m focusing on Galactic History.

When it comes to the Star Wars Expanded Universe, most sources will agree that it detailed, in one way or another, over 36.000 years of the Star Wars galaxy. The Galactic Republic, the setting for many of the stories, characters and locations we see in the various media, existed for about 25.000 of those years, with the Jedi Order coming into existence over 10.000 years before that. The Infinite Empire of the Rakata predates both by several thousand years and their technology driving the technological evolution of future species, particularly the Humans and Duro, who adapted their Hyperdrive technology.

I’ve thought long and hard on how to write this piece and ultimately decided against giving you a complete and rather dull timeline and talking about all the different planets, customs and cultures, from the decadent lifestyle of the upper Coruscanti to the hard living on Nar Shaddah and the physical and spiritual balance ideologies of the Matukai.

Instead, I’ve decided to tell the story from four points of view, from the perspectives of four recurring ‘peoples’ in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Their actions and ideologies shape the galaxies and drive most of the conflicts in the Star Wars saga. It beats covering every single war…there are way too many and I admit I don’t know about them all. Continue reading Star Wars Legends – Remembering the Expanded Universe – History and Society

Star Wars Legends – Remembering the Expanded Universe – Foreword

Star Wars: The Force Awakens released last week. I have yet to see it, having learnt in the past never to go to a premiere. I’ll be watching it in the coming days and I’m as excited as every other fan of the saga. But to me it’s all been a bittersweet experience, one that started with the announcement of the buyout and the plans to make new films, and I’m sure it’s the same for many fans. The reason is that with a single announcement, over thirty years of Star Wars lore became non-canon.

Yes, I’m talking about the Expanded Universe, the continuity formed by both the films and all the material published in one media or another that served to complement it. A fun detail that very few know is that the EU predates the films, with the official novelisation of A New Hope releasing months before the first Star Wars film. Continue reading Star Wars Legends – Remembering the Expanded Universe – Foreword