DAGOBAH

A distant, mist-shrouded swamp planet, Dagobah does not appear in any modern starcharts. It is a forgotten world, and it was the home of the last remaining Jedi Master and Council member from the waning days of the Republic.

The planet is covered in gnarled trees and fetid swamps. Huge lagoons are home to fearsome snakes and other creatures that swim in the murky waters. Leathery-winged avians take to the fog-filled skies. Though the planet has no signs of technology, its life form readings register as massive.

Following the scourge of the Jedi by the emergent Empire, the Jedi Master Yoda fled to Dagobah and went into hiding. A world plagued with overgrown jungles, creatures, and constant rain, it was a perfect place to hide. Few would ever come to such a planet willingly.

The young Jedi initiate Luke Skywalker journeyed to the bog planet, prompted by a message delivered by the spectral image of his late master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Though Luke lacked the navigation data to journey to Dagobah, he was able to puzzle its location through the Force.

Upon arrival in the upper atmosphere of the planet, Luke's X-wing starfighter was buffeted by strong winds and fierce electrical storms. His instrumentation died, and Luke crashed into the swamps. Perhaps it was a natural phenomenon. Perhaps Yoda coaxed the storm from the skies. Either way, Skywalker had landed close to Yoda's simple mud hut, and soon began his training.

The constant rains and teeming wildlife made Skywalker's grueling training all the more arduous. A vision of his friends in pain prompted Luke to abandon his training, and he left Dagobah. He would return months later, to discover an ailing Yoda and to learn more about his destiny as the son of Anakin Skywalker.

EXPANDED UNIVERSE

Dagobah is located in the distant Sluis sector of the Outer Rim Territories. The numerous failed colonization attempts of Dagobah have given it a reputation of being cursed or haunted. Its gloomy surface does little to dispel such notions.

During the days of the Republic, a scouting expedition spearheaded by the scout Halka Four-Den was met with recurring hazards from the swamp world. After thirteen weeks of roughing it in the wilderness, the expedition was declared a failure and Four-Den sent out a distress signal. Rescuers arrived too late. Though Four-Den's records were found, there was no trace of her or her crew.

Years ago, a group of Jedi in the neighboring Bpfasshi star system went rogue and succumbed to the dark side. Jedi Masters were sent to stop the Dark Jedi insurrection, and one of the fallen Jedi escaped to Dagobah. There in the swamps, the Jedi Master Yoda and the Bpfasshi Dark Jedi fought a terrible battle. The Dark Jedi was killed, and the local flora absorbed his twisted energies.

In the first year of the Empire, the scout Keog Boorn continued in Four-Den's footsteps. The superstitious scout barely had time to complete a standard survey, as he fled the fearsome planet, marking it as not worth the effort of colonization.

From these scattered attempts comes the official names of Dagobah's bizarre wildlife. The gnarltrees that cover much of the planet's land have a fascinating life cycle, beginning as ambulatory knobby white spiders which take root to grow into trees once achieving a certain point in their lifespan. Other creatures include the butcherbug, which spins deadly razor-sharp webs, the dragonsnake, and the swamp slug.

Years ago, during the Bpfasshi Dark Jedi insurrection, one of the fallen had escaped to Dagobah by commandeering a vessel piloted by smuggler Jorj Car'das. The Jedi Master Yoda tracked down the fugitive Jedi, and the two battled on the swamp planet. Yoda was victorious, and the dead Dark Jedi's hateful energies were absorbed into his surroundings.

A nearby tree which grew over a cave became a nexus, a concentration of the dark side. This domain of evil became a deciding factor in Yoda's choice of Dagobah as his refuge during the Empire's ascent. The dark energy of the tree, when viewed from a distance, cancelled out the light energy of Yoda, thus keeping him hidden for decades.

Dark side nexuses are a rare but not entirely unheard of occurrence. On the murky planet of Trinta, the insane Jedi Halagad Ventor's dark side spirit similarly corrupted a swampy cave. Ancient Sith worlds such as Korriban, Ruusan and Yavin 4 are said to contain similar concentrations.

Once within a dark side nexus, hallucinatory images are common. Luke Skywalker experienced a vision of a possible future when he entered the tree during his Jedi training. Years later, when he returned to Dagobah after the Empire's fall, he saw an alternate past. A vision of the sail barge battle over the Great Pit of Carkoon revealed to him that a Force-sensitive agent was present at that event. He would later learn that it was Mara Jade.

YODA'S HUT

Located near a lagoon and a fearsome looking twisted tree in the swamps of Dagobah is a simple mud hut that housed the last known Jedi Master of old in the galaxy. It is a far cry from the towering spires of the Jedi Temple, but when the Jedi were slaughtered during the turbulent political changes that wracked the galaxy, such austerity is understandable.

Inside the hut, Yoda lived a simple existence. He had no items of technology, and instead relied on the wildnerness of Dagobah to provide him his needs. He would cook on an open fire, preparing meals from the surrounding plants, such as his rootleaf stew.

Growing near the hut is a twisted tree strong in the dark side of the Force. It is a domain of evil, though how it came to be this way is unknown. Beneath the tree's gnarled root system is a mysterious cave. When Jedi initiate Luke Skywalker entered the cave as part of his training, he experienced a chillingly surreal image.

In the dank cavern, an image of Darth Vader appeared before Luke, brandishing a lightsaber. The two dueled, their motions slow and dream-like. Skywalker succeeded in beheading the dark form. When the severed head landed at his feet, he saw its faceplate suddenly explode. There, behind the metal mask, was Luke's face. The terrifying image of Luke's possible future marked one of several failures during his training on Dagobah.