Geonosis

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Terrain:
  Rocky mesas, deserts and spires

• 

From the Movies

A harsh rocky world less than a parsec away from Tatooine, Geonosis is a ringed planet beyond the borders of the Galactic Republic. Its uninviting surface is marked by mesas and buttes, and barren stretches of parched desert hardpan. The rocks and sky are tinted in red, and the creatures that evolved on Geonosis are well equipped to survive in the harsh ecology.

The most advanced lifeform are the Geonosians, sentient insectoids that inhabit towering spire-hives. The Geonosians maintain large factories for the production of droids and weapons. Save for attending to clients that venture to the planet to place orders, the Geonosians typically keep to themselves.

The droid foundries and the planet's remote location made it an ideal base of operations for the Separatist movement that spread through the galaxy in the later years of the Republic. The Archduke of Geonosis, Poggle the Lesser, hosted an important meeting of the heads of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The commerce barons in attendance pledged their mechanical military forces to Count Dooku, the charismatic leader of the Separatist movement. The Separatists were ready to wage war, but their plans were overheard by Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The Jedi was taken captive, though he managed to dispatch a distress call to the Jedi Council. With their forces spread throughout the galaxy in an effort to maintain the peace, the Jedi Council was only able to dispatch 200 of their ranks to Geonosis. Obi-Wan, meanwhile, was sentenced to death in a huge execution arena. He and his compatriots, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, had to face down three terrible arena creatures before the Jedi reinforcements arrived.

While the Jedi could easily contend with the Geonosians, they had not counted on the sheer size of the droid army laying in wait. Scores of battle droids poured into the arena, slaying many Jedi. A scant few Jedi remained before even more reinforcements arrived -- in the form of the newly created Republic clone army. With the arrival of these forces, the first battle of what was to become known as the Clone Wars began on Geonosis. The Republic military, led by the Jedi, were able to drive the Separatists into retreat.

From the Expanded Universe

An eerie world, Geonosis is marked by spectacular yet uninviting vistas. Radiation storms occasionally blast the surface, driving lifeforms underground for protection. Dense high-altitude fog produces gloomy, night-like conditions that may last for weeks. Life on Geonosis has adapted for such circumstances, and many creatures are bioluminescent.

A casual glance of the planet's desert plains would suggest the world is uninhabited, so carefully crafted is the Geonosian architecture. Immense, organic spires are actual hive-mounds built by the Geonosians, and upon closer inspection, escaping steam and exhaust vents betray its artificial nature. Geonosians cultivate a parasitic creature called a phidna that excretes raw material that Geonosian artisans mix with stone powders to form a rock paste substance.

The rings that orbit Geonosis are a mixed blessing. Geonosians harvest their rich metallic content for raw materials used in their secretive manufacturing processes, however the asteroids themselves form a security liability. Corporate spies can hide within the ring, and asteroids falling through the atmosphere are so common that cunning pilots can exploit the laziness of Geonosian scanner operators by flying down to the surface with only the most basic of sensor stealth.

Behind the Scenes

Early in pre-production Geonosis was known simply as the "rock planet," a rugged world of red soil and stone, reminiscent of Mars and the desolate buttes and mesas of the American southwest. The tall, organic spires were partially inspired by the towering hives constructed by termites, which lends Geonosis an organic feel.

A variety of visual effects approaches were combined in creating Geonosis for the screen. Some areas, such as Obi-Wan's landing site, were actual sets. These were extended digitally through the use of matte paintings or miniatures. In some cases, reference photography of real world deserts formed the basis of distant backgrounds, though they underwent digital manipulation. For the Clone Wars, the backgrounds typically consisted of an immediate foreground miniature to provide detail, a mid-ground stretch of computer-generated landscape, and a distant background of actual photos, with spires and otherworldly sky added digitally.