The Core Faction represented a splinter political group operating within the Galactic Republic's legislative body before the Separatist Crisis outbreak, an event orchestrated by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. This faction's adherents championed the expansion of centralized governmental authority, promoting initiatives like tax-funded projects. These projects aimed to elevate the Republic's civilization and extend its influence across the galaxy, modeling other regions after the Core Worlds.
Conversely, the Rim Faction in the Republic Senate held fundamentally contrasting views, opposing taxation and centralized power to protect the autonomy of individual star systems. Despite the Rim Faction's opposition, the Core Faction frequently found support from the Militarists, a third group that eventually prioritized re-establishing a unified military force for the Republic.
The faction known as the Core Faction made its inaugural appearance in current Star Wars canon through Rise of the Separatists, a 2019 addition to the Star Wars Roleplaying game line by Fantasy Flight Games. Within the Star Wars Legends timeline, the Core Faction was initially presented in Cloak of Deception, a 2001 novel penned by James Luceno. Luceno's later work, the 2012 novel Darth Plagueis, further elaborated on this faction.