Chad

Chad was a planet that orbited the blue-white star Chad in the Chad system of the Outer Rim Territories region of the galaxy and was within the area known as the Slice. Chad occupied an unusual elliptical orbit, which caused uncertainty as to whether it was the third or fourth planet from its star. Chad's day lasted twenty standard hours and its year lasted 380 local days. Chad was a terrestrial world that possessed a breathable atmosphere, a hot climate, a moist hydrosphere, and standard gravity and was orbited by nine small moons, which created a complex, gentle, and pulsing system of tides.

Water covered three-fourths of Chad's surface, and its terrain featured bayous, marshes, and bogs. Large oceans and ridge-like, mountainous continents divided by broad band of tidal marshes dominated the planet's geography, and long, broad currents existed in the deep oceans of Chad. Narrow mountains were the only areas on the planet that were considered dry; even the highlands experienced regular rainfall and were covered in clinging foliage. On Chad, depth and height were considered to be more meaningful terms than land and water. Wetlands appeared beginning in foothills and lowlands, bogs appeared at moderate elevations, and deep swamps were present along coasts. Tens of thousands of square kilometers of shallowly-submerged land tapered off into moderate seas, then into deep ocean.

Rays from Chad's sun warmed the planet's surface to an average of 89 standard degrees, though recorded temperatures ranged from 20 to 122 standard degrees. The relatively high mean temperature on Chad, combined with nearly absent axial tilt, allowed the planet's climate to remain fairly uniform with little variation through seasons, although polar areas froze in winter and equatorial oceans steamed in summer. Its sky was turquoise in color and its seas were volatile, with hurricanes and tsunamis occurring frequently; hurricanes moved through the deep ocean on a nearly monthly basis.

Only a few areas of land on Chad were considered habitable, and fauna of note was scarce even in those areas. The world's government consisted of anarchistic clans and local ranches. A pre-industrial world, Chad was rich in methane fuels, and although scouts and traders brought some high technology to Chad, the world was considered to be technologically primitive. It exported bildog meat, proop meat, and unusual mechanisms while importing homestead supplies.

The native Chadra-Fan, an arboreal race, dwelt in simple dwellings in the tops of the bayous' cyperill trees. They did not bother to make elaborate homes, as they knew their dwellings could be destroyed at any time by the hurricanes and tsunamis which their planet was prone to. Callista grew up on Chad with her family, who worked as deep-sea ranchers on the world's algic current, herding and cultivating wander-kelp, until Jedi Master Djinn Altis arrived around 25 BBY to educate her in the ways of the Jedi.

Chad was not a member world of the Galactic Republic. In 9 BBY, the fifth "death wave" to be recorded in Chadra-Fan history occurred when ocean floor quakes on Chad created massive tidal waves. Hundreds of thousands of Chadra-Fan were killed and much of their civilization was destroyed. By 5 ABY, Chad was the dairy capital of the galaxy, due to the large herds of milk-producing lactils on the planet. However, because the lactils produced so much methane, Chad's atmosphere was often subjected to intense storms as a result of the greenhouse effect it produced.

Chad had no known permanent local landing facilities and no landing facilities that were sanctioned by the Galactic Empire, but the Chadra-Fan would occasionally erect landing platforms in hopes of attracting traders from off-world.

Chad was the only inhabited planet in its system, with a population that included twenty million Chadra-Fan and 15,000 Humans. It was the homeworld of the Chadra-Fan, a rodentine species whose tendency to emigrate to and gravitate towards drier worlds and fear of water-related death stemmed from the violent nature of Chad's seas. Many Chadra-Fan were aware of the existence of life beyond Chad, although they lacked detailed knowledge on the subject. Series of natural disasters on Chad forced the Chadra-Fan to focus on the necessity of survival. An unchartered colony of loosely-connected, hardy, and individualistic homesteaders and ranchers lived on Chad's oceans. These mostly Human groups gathered in small, nomadic fleets of barges and herded semi-domesticated bildogs and proops. The Jedi Knight Callista Ming was one of the Humans born on Chad. The Human colonists lived in oceanic ranches aboard large ranch-arks.

Chad's first mention in Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races calls places the planet in the fourth position in its system, while the later novel Children of the Jedi calls it Chad III. The Essential Guide to Alien Species later resolved the problem by introducing Chad's eccentric orbit, which makes it either the third or fourth planet in the system at different times in its year.

Play It Again, Figrin D'an: The Tale of Muftak and Kabe refers to the Chadra-Fan Kabe as a native of the planet Chadra. This may be an alternate name for Chad, or a separate Chadra-Fan colony. This would have to be in another system, since Galaxy Guide 4 points out that Chad is the only inhabited planet in its system.

The nineteenth issue of De Agostini's The Official Star Wars Fact File magazine mistakenly refers to Chad as "Chadra-Fan."