Taris

Taris was an ecumenopolis, or rather, all of its landmasses were covered with a large city. However, in contrast to other ecumenopoleis, Taris possessed an ocean that covered a significant portion of the planet's surface. This ocean once contained vast kelp farms that sustained the planet's enormous population. Tragically, these farms were poisoned by pollution, which led to food shortages throughout the city.

The city's formation spanned over a century of prosperity, a remarkable achievement considering that other ecumenopoleis, such as Nar Shaddaa, took many centuries, even millennia, to develop. The city's towers were tall and gleaming, exhibiting a unique, universally rounded design not found on other ecumenopoleis. However, beneath the planet's seemingly pristine exterior lay the consequences of years of lawlessness and oppression. In Taris's Lower City, the largely non-human population lived in abject poverty and desperation, barred from entering the safer Upper City, which was almost exclusively inhabited by wealthy Humans. Following the bombardment of Taris by Darth Revan's Sith Empire, the city was left in ruins. Although much of the city would be rebuilt in the following centuries, many ruins persisted.

As an ecumenopolis, Taris had relatively little animal or plant life. Nevertheless, there were several important species.

In the upper levels of Taris, feathered dogs were kept almost exclusively as pets. These unique creatures could be seen on leashes as their owners took them out on walks through the promenades of Taris. There were also large lizards that were domesticated and used to pull refuse through the Lower City.

One of the only species of wild animals on Taris was the simian tach. The tach possessed a unique gland in their heads that, when powdered, could be used to make Tarisian ale, a major export of Taris. Given that they were actually native to Kashyyyk, the presence of tachs on Taris may have been due to importation.

The rakghoul, the fiercest and most terrifying species on Taris, inhabited the Undercity. These mutated Humans ruthlessly attacked anything outside of the protective gates of the Undercity. Contact with the rakghouls caused a sentient to contract the rakghoul plague, a terrible affliction that would cause the victim to turn into a rakghoul.

The oceans of Taris once hosted a variety of kelp and marine life that were harvested as food for the Tarisians. Most of these were later destroyed by pollution from Taris' many industries and what was left of them was later consumed to extinction by the Tarisian nobles. Coin-crabs were a species of small crustaceans native to the Tarisian coastlines. Renowned for their delicious taste, the people of Taris would sometimes deep-fry and serve coin-crabs at establishments such as the Horizon Hotel.

During the Manderon Period, a fleet of Human ships of obscure origin colonized the planet. By 5300 BBY, they had constructed an underground city. According to Rukil, this city would become the site of the Promised Land. They were governed by the Taris Civil Authority. By 5100 BBY, the entire surface of the landmass was covered by a giant city that would later become the Undercity, housing the sewers. These sewers existed between the Promised Land and the Undercity and were constructed sometime after. In 4600 BBY, as the population grew, another city was built atop the Undercity, becoming the Lower City. Subsequently, in 4400 BBY, the Middle City was constructed above that, and finally, in 4300 BBY, the Upper City was built. The Promised Land was then abandoned and eventually lost and forgotten. The kelp harvest and the oceanic fauna became the planet's only food source since there was nowhere to grow crops or herd livestock on land.

Eventually different alien species settled or visited Taris. The Republic took notice of the world, and before long it prospered.

Taris was strategically located on a major hyperspace transport hub. Due to its wealth and population, it became known as the "Coruscant of the Outer Rim," as Taris was an ecumenopolis, with all landmasses eclipsed with a world-spanning city. The city's grandeur was once said to rival the galactic capital, Coruscant, for 144 years. However, the planet wasn't truly a planet-wide city because, unlike other city-planets such as Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa, it contained an ocean. Despite this title, the planet suffered from overpopulation, and only the Republic kept it from falling into disrepair.

In 4156 BBY, Taris experienced a sharp decline as the hyperspace lanes crucial to its prosperity shifted with the discovery of newer, shorter routes. The planet then underwent decades upon decades of urban decay. Without the Republic, its business died out, so its population shrank with the Tarisian's diaspora across the galaxy. By this point, the Promised Land had been rediscovered. To maintain the planet's economy, Taris turned to industry, the Tarisian industrialists switching to a new, cheaper power source. It produced toxic waste as a byproduct, which slowly polluted the once-pristine ocean, in a century destroying the kelp farms and most of the marine life. While the issue of of its overpopulation had been lifted, the city was slowly dying, which was an economical urban decay that would last for 200 years. When the Republic had abandoned the planet in 4156 BBY, Taris's population had likely numbered in the tens of billions, but by the time of the Sith occupation in 3956 BBY, the city's inhabitants had dwindled to six billion.

In 4086 BBY Taris received an extremely harsh review in Trampeta's Star Guide, where it was given the lowest possible recommendation. According to the author, T3 droids working in one of Taris' starports stole his baggage. While probably not having any influence on the development of the planet, it was nonetheless a reflection of the decay that Taris was undergoing.

Eventually the rakghoul disease ended up in the Tarisian Undercity by unknown means. This caused the city to be abandoned. The sewer system was left to disrepair and was eventually overrun by rakghouls and Gamorrean slavers, but it still served as the planet's infrastructure. The rakghouls often used the turbolifts from the sewers to ascend to the Lower City and attack its residents, but the locals always won the fights of the disease.

After several decades of Taris's ecosystem dying off from pollution, famine swept the planet. Panicking, the greedy Tarisian nobles hoarded the remaining kelp and marine life for themselves. Around 4056 BBY, a century before the Jedi Civil War, the starving lower class engaged the nobles in a massive civil war, where millions of innocents died and large sections of Taris were destroyed or abandoned. The Promised Land was lost once more and became a legend amongst the lower class. Ultimately, the nobles prevailed.

The Tarisian prisons couldn't hold all the rebels, so the nobles began the tradition of banishing criminals and their descendants to the Undercity, unable to return to the surface under pain of death. These people became the Outcasts. They built a village, but suffered from starvation, rakghoul attacks, and rakghoul infections; all hope for them was lost save for the legendary Promised Land. The remaining kelp along with the remaining oceanic fauna was consumed to extinction by the Tarisian nobles, after which they were forced to rely on imported food. Also, because many of the rebels were aliens, the Human nobles became prejudiced against non-humans, and banished them from the Upper City to the Lower City, punishing any that dared to enter the upper levels without a permit. Thus began the long oppression by the Humanocentric Tarisian nobility of the non-human lower class. The Lower City's conflicts with the rakghouls continued, but the locals continued to emerge victorious. Their hope for improving their lives was to save up until they could leave the world. Naturally, this gave the planet a very bad reputation to off-worlders both Human and alien. The Middle City however was more tolerant of aliens and poor Humans.

The gangs in the Lower City got worse as they fought each other more, and their main vehicle was the swoop bike, where they competed in the Tarisian Season Opener; thus the term "swoop gang" was coined. Many gangs oppressed the common Lower City citizens. It was here that swoop racing captured the imagination of the galaxy around 4000 BBY. Using an intricate system of hyperspace beacons, Tarisian race organizers broadcast the results of their swoop races throughout the galaxy, which eventually gave rise to a huge and profitable gambling operation and was funded by Czerka Corporation. The planet also began to export Tarisian ale that was made from a gland from a tach. Taris remained a hub for swoop racing for decades, becoming the center of the Galactic Swoop Racing Circuit. At this time the Exchange based itself on Taris, and the Taris Civil Authority only accepted bribes to keep quiet or collaborate in their operations. The Hidden Beks were the main authority of the lower levels and policed various other gangs, most notably the Black Vulkars, with whom a Swoop Gang War had begun in 3976 BBY.

In 3976 BBY the Jedi Tower was constructed in the Upper City shortly after the outbreak of the Mandalorian Wars and the local Swoop Gang War. In a 3966 BBY secret backroom deal, Haydel Goravvus helped install Lhosan Industries on Taris, and in exchange, Jervo Thalien bribed Taris into the Republic and installed Goravvus as its Senator. Lhosan Industries replaced Czerka Corporation in funding the Swoop Races.

Around the year 3964 BBY, Captain Saul Karath commanded the Republic fleet that protected Taris during the Mandalorian Wars, during which they built themselves a base in the Upper City. Due to Taris' proximity to the Mandalorian War front, it had been granted Republic membership in 3966 BBY, and it became the heart of the Republic's defense for the region. The planet served as a staging point for dissident Jedi who were led by Revan and his apprentice Malak and their allies for campaigns against the Mandalorians who based themselves in the Jedi Academy. Many Exchange members sold their slaves to the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders; among them was the slaver Xor and the slave Juhani in the Lower City. They dissolved the Taris Civil Authority and drove the Exchange off the planet. The Jedi Order freed the slaves, but the Mandalorian presence did not lift.

Meanwhile, Taris had compensated for its decaying importance to trade routes by negotiating with Lhosan Industries, which employed over half of the Lower City residents in its mining activities. However, due to increasing swoop gang activity, Lhosan was considering pulling out, and moving its operations to a world with less crime. The local authorities assured Lhosan Industries that they had the swoop gangs fully under control, and would take care of them with the assistance from the local Jedi. However, after a fugitive Jedi Padawan named Zayne Carrick was accused of murdering the entire graduating class of new Jedi Knights and escaped twice from Jedi custody in the Jedi Tower, Lhosan made its decision, and abandoned Taris.

This left many Tarisians unemployed, and angry citizens rioted all over Taris, setting entire sections of skyline on fire. The riots soon spilled up into the Middle City. Crime enveloped Taris. The Chancellor of the Republic became suspicious of Taris' quick entry into the Republic and sent Jedi Master Raana Tey to retrieve Goravvus. Jervo Thalien, head of Lhosan, became frantic since it was Goravvus who had installed Lhosan on the planet and Jervo had arranged a Senate seat in the Grand Convocation Chamber of the Senate Building on Coruscant for him in return. He hired Marn Hierogryph and the Moomo Brothers to retrieve the Senator. He promised Hierogryph a reprieve of the Massacre charges and most of the bounties on him lifted, but also secretly ordered the Moomo Brothers to kill Goravvus, as he had become a liability. Haydel Goravvus, the Senator who represented the planet in the Galactic Senate, disappeared, and the constable's family was kidnapped. Due to the political anarchy, the Jedi based on Taris were recalled to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, abandoning the Tarisians to their fates. Taris was also largely abandoned by the Republic military. It maintained only a small military base on the planet's surface. Without the protection of the Jedi and the Republic military, Taris was left open to a Mandalorian invasion.

The Mandalorians, led by Cassus Fett, used Taris to make their first direct strike at the Republic and captured the Jedi Tower and to a lesser extent the Military Base, which was used as the Mandalorian base. The Tarisians formed a small resistance movement led by the swoop gangs, such as the Hidden Beks, which employed guerrilla tactics to assist them.

Hierogryph met up with the Beks and was soon reunited with Zayne Carrick. The Beks wished to join with the Resistance but had nothing of value to offer them. However, Carrick found the constable's children, who were being held hostage by Brejik and Griff Vao. The Beks then took the children to the Resistance, where they were reunited with their mother. Together, they sought to take out the Mandalorian commander, Cassus Fett. Cassus was defeating the Resistance, driving them into the Undercity, and eventually they left the planet aboard The Last Resort, their ship that was based in the Undercity. The Mandalorians then used Taris as a stronghold in their conquest of the galaxy. For this, Cassus became the most wanted person in the galaxy.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Malachor V, the Mandalorians presumably abandoned the planet or were driven out by Revan and Malak in the aftermath of the war. The Jedi Tower and the Military Base were left deserted, only for the Exchange to regain its presence and became the main authority of the planet. Czerka Corporation reclaimed its position in funding the Swoop Races.

Though the Republic maintained a small military presence on Taris to once again desegregate the world, the planet had not been viewed with any military importance since the Taris Siege. This changed when the Sith overran nearly the entire Outer Rim, leaving Taris as the last valuable planet in that region still under Republic control.

In 3956 BBY the galactic senators decided to make a stand there, and the Endar Spire soon arrived above the planet to bulk up the existing garrison. Several important members of the Republic war effort were on board the Endar Spire, including Carth Onasi, Bastila Shan, and an amnesiac Revan (who was currently under the impression that he was a Republic soldier).

While on a mission over Taris, the Endar Spire was ambushed by a Sith warship. Bastila Shan was famous for her affinity to the Force and her skill with battle meditation, but she was unable to use her powers during the ensuing battle. The Sith troops quickly seized the ship in an attempt to capture Shan to use her Jedi powers for their own goals. Shan and several other crew members including Carth and Revan escaped the ships in escape pods. The Sith then destroyed the Endar Spire.

Shan's escape pod landed outside the Undercity of Taris, while others crashed in the Upper City. Many Upper City citizens gave over injured Republic soldiers to the local healer, Zelka Forn. The Black Vulkars, a swoop gang of the Lower City, swarmed over the Republic escape pods that landed in the Undercity, salvaging what was left of them. Shan had been unable to exit her escape pod in time due to being separated from her lightsaber and was captured by the Vulkars. Their leader retrieved her weapon for himself but was unable to use it because he wasn't Force sensitive. Revan and Onasi's pod had landed in the Upper City, and they found an abandoned apartment to hide out in while they planned Shan's rescue.

The Sith fleet quickly descended upon Taris, initiating the deployment of their troops to the planet's surface. Encountering minimal opposition from the Tarisians, the Sith forces swiftly seized control of the Republic military base and, with relative ease, the Jedi Tower, thereby completing their conquest of the planet.

Darth Malak, at the helm of the Sith armada, imposed a strict planet-wide quarantine, effectively prohibiting any vessels from either landing on or departing from Taris. To enforce this quarantine, the Sith reprogrammed their orbiting fleet to automatically target any unauthorized ships attempting to breach the blockade. This strategic maneuver was integral to Malak's overarching objective: the capture of Shan. Under the declaration of martial law by the Sith Governor, Sith troopers restricted inter-level travel to Sith personnel exclusively. These troops interrogated Upper City residents regarding the escape pods that had landed in their district, actively searching for any surviving members of the Endar Spire's crew. Simultaneously, Malak dispatched Sith patrols into the Undercity in pursuit of Shan, utilizing the rakghoul serum to shield them from the contagious disease spread by rakghouls, which transformed infected individuals into rakghouls.

The imposed quarantine stranded numerous off-worlders who were conducting business on Taris. Due to the prohibition of aliens in the Upper City without proper authorization, these individuals were relegated to the slums of the Lower City for the duration of the quarantine. However, the Sith's enforcement of this decree was lax, allowing off-world aliens to venture into the Upper City with little consequence.

The ongoing gang conflict between the Hidden Beks and the Black Vulkars further complicated the Sith's efforts to locate Shan. Brejik, the leader of the Black Vulkars, sought to bolster his gang's recruitment and establish dominance over the Lower City by securing victory in the swoop season opener. To this end, he orchestrated the theft of a prototype accelerator from the Beks, which would grant the Vulkars a decisive advantage in the race. He even raised the stakes by offering Shan as a prize.

This situation presented Onasi and Revan with an opportunity to rescue Shan. By collaborating with the Hidden Beks, Revan successfully retrieved the swoop accelerator and emerged victorious in the Taris swoop championship. However, Brejik, reluctant to relinquish his prize, withdrew Shan from the prize pool. In response, Shan liberated herself, triggering a violent confrontation. Ultimately, Brejik and his racers were killed, and Revan recovered Bastila's lightsaber from Brejik's body. Following this, Revan and Shan escaped to the Upper City apartment before reinforcements arrived.

After Revan, Carth, and Bastila departed from the apartments, they were met by a male Twi'lek who informed them that Canderous Ordo wished to meet with them at the Upper City Cantina. Canderous, a Mandalorian enforcer working for Davik Kang, the local crime lord and member of the Exchange, was impressed by Revan's skill and audacity during the race and subsequent brawl. He proposed a plan to Revan for escaping Taris and directed him to Janice Nall's shop to acquire a droid, T3-M4, capable of bypassing the security system of the Sith Military Base. This would enable them to infiltrate the base and steal the codes necessary to circumvent the Sith blockade. After obtaining the codes from the Sith Governor, the trio proceeded to the Lower City Cantina to rendezvous with Ordo, who then escorted Revan and Bastila to Davik Kang's estate to steal his ship, the Ebon Hawk.

Growing increasingly impatient with the search for Shan, Darth Malak, aboard his flagship, the Leviathan, feared her potential escape and ordered his fleet to bombard the entire planet. This act represented arguably the most devastating event of the Jedi Civil War. The destruction of Taris was an unnecessary act of violence, especially as Revan and his crew, including Shan, successfully escaped the bombardment aboard the Ebon Hawk, a fact that would ultimately contribute to the downfall of Malak's Sith Empire. The Upper City, Middle City, and Lower City were utterly obliterated, with the resulting debris crushing much of the Undercity and severely damaging the Promised Land beneath it. The vast majority of Upper City residents, including Davik Kang, were presumed dead, with only a handful of individuals, most notably Calo Nord, surviving the cataclysm despite sustaining injuries.

During the Sith occupation, Taris had an already dwindling population of six billion. After the destruction, the population was closer to six hundred, with the Outcasts of the Undercity being the only survivors, who were at their time making their months-long exodus from their village to the entrance of the Promised Land, through what was left of the sewers.

Paradoxically, the planet's destruction and the mass slaughter of its inhabitants resolved many of Taris's long-standing issues, including the decaying infrastructure, the Bek–Vulkar gang war, the oppression of other violent gangs, the Sith occupation and the Exchange influence, the Czerka Corporation funding as well as the species and class oppression of Taris and the Gamorrean-enforced slavery in the sewers. Thus, after two centuries of gradual decline following the loss of its "Coruscant of the Outer Rim" status, the city met its end in a brutal bombardment.

Recognizing the unlikelihood of immediate assistance from the weakened Republic and the lack of viable survival options in a world reduced to rubble, the surviving members of the Tarisian government and intellectuals retreated to a long-term storage facility near one of Taris' underground transport stations, shielded from the bombardment. There, they entered carbonite stasis, programming a nearby droid to reactivate the facility once Taris was once again under Republic control. The facility was later discovered during Republic's reconstruction efforts, but there is no record of whether any of the people inside actually survived three centuries of stasis.

The Outcasts, in their search for the Promised Land, were the sole survivors. Upon reaching their destination, the underground city was vastly different from the legends, or at least after Taris's destruction. They had made it safe and saw that the realm was sheltered from the bombardment, but found that the buildings, equipment, generators and possibly droids had been destroyed, and therefore the Outcasts had to start over. Whilst difficult, they had survived the bombardment. However, many generations had passed since then—each having a "Promised One," who would keep the memories of the terrible apocalypse and be in charge of the colonists.

The rakghoul serum which Revan had previously discovered was enough to protect the first few generations, but after the Rakghouls evolved to an advanced level, it was obvious the serum became useless and that babies couldn't be born immune as many Rakghouls learnt to use weapons such as blasters. Some even evolved into the sentient Nekghouls, but unlike the Rakghouls, the Nekghouls couldn't spread infection. The Outcast later left the Promised Land and recolonized the by then sky-filled Undercity and renamed themselves the Tarisians. This, however, was in vain, as the Tarisians continued to die out on the surface, from starvation, disease, and rakghoul attacks. It was also shown, in the last successfully preserved time recording, that the last generation alive had lost so much information about the world, they didn't even know how or what brought them there, where they had then likely numbered close to a dozen. One by one, the twelve remaining Tarisians quickly dwindled, until not a single Human on Taris had remained. This was due to toxic waste in the water they drank from, which ultimately resulted in their extinction like the rest of the planet's population many years earlier.

Following the death of the last generation of the Outcast, Taris was inherited by the Nekghouls. By then their population was likely close to a hundred thousand, and they were, for an unknown period of time, the planet's sole sentient species.

During the Cold War, 315 years after the bombardment, the Republic undertook the arduous task of recolonizing Taris. The initial objectives included establishing a spaceport, a military base, and settlements. The Republic viewed the rebuilding of Taris as a significant symbolic victory against the Sith Empire. Reconstruction efforts centered on the city of Olaris, which housed government buildings, the spaceport, and primary resettlement areas. Under the leadership of Governor Leontyne Saresh, the recolonization progressed favorably.

The Rakghoul plague posed a major obstacle to the rebuilding efforts. To mitigate the threat of rakghoul attacks, a Republic Resettlement Zone was established around Olaris and eventually found the cure in the wreckage, that was created over three centuries ago. Protected by the Republic Armed Forces, the Resettlement Zone was deemed safe from the rakghoul plague.

These settlers were renowned for their shipbuilding prowess. They reconstructed some of the planet's former cities, although much of the surface remained in ruins. Historians endeavored to excavate the planet-wide ruins in search of evidence that the swoop bike originated on Taris shortly after Taris was connected to the Hydian Way Route, the sole route that passed through the entire galaxy.

However, the Empire, under the command of Darth Gravus, sought to undermine the reconstruction project. Establishing a central base in the Brell Sediment area, the Sith Empire engaged in acts of sabotage against Republic projects, primarily through guerrilla warfare and covert operations.

Governor Saresh struggled to eliminate corruption within the military and civilian forces on Taris. Her efforts and dedication to the cause resulted in greater progress than had been achieved in the previous decade. However, with the assistance of various members of the Empire, Gravus successfully halted the project, and Taris was subsequently occupied by Imperial Forces for an indeterminate period, despite the best efforts of the Jedi and Republic to defend the world.

By the time of the Golden Age of the Old Republic, much of Taris had been rebuilt, and the planet was once again an ecumenopolis. During the final days of the Republic and the Clone Wars, Taris was considered a "faded" city-world and was represented in the Galactic Senate by the Human female Kin Robb. When she found the battlefronts getting closer to Taris, she joined the Council of Neutral Systems under Duchess Satine Kryze, hoping it would keep her world out of the fighting. Nevertheless, Taris became the headquarters of the Republic's 10th Sector Army under the command of Moff Tanniel, guarding the neutral coalition against a Separatist incursion.

By 3 ABY, much of the city had been rebuilt, but never to its extent prior to the Jedi Civil War, with the then population of one billion.

In the years following the Battle of Endor, Taris was part of the Imperial Warlord Zsinj's Empire. Zsinj lost the planet after a combined New Republic/Imperial raid on Taris in 7 ABY. The world returned under the control of the Galactic Empire after this battle and stayed under Imperial control until the fragmentation of the Empire following the final death of Emperor Palpatine, in 11 ABY. It later joined the New Republic.

Near the end of the Galactic Civil War, Gilad Pellaeon, leader of the Imperial Remnant, conquered Taris. However, the planet was quickly recaptured in a New Republic counterattack. Taris, along with the Taris system and indeed the entire Ojoster sector, rejoined the New Republic.

Taris was conquered by the invaders during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, but it wasn't reduced to rubble for a second time. After the Yuuzhan Vong were defeated the planet was presumably liberated by the Galactic Alliance.

In 40 ABY, during the Second Galactic Civil War, Taris remained affiliated with the Galactic Alliance and during that time, the famed bounty hunter Boba Fett owned a private residence on Taris. He had once taken a bounty down in the Lower City and retained bad memories of the experience. He returned to the planet to research the possible whereabouts of the Kaminoan Taun We, and unwittingly met his granddaughter.

The city of Taris was divided into four levels: the Upper City, the Middle City, the Lower City and the Undercity. Each possessed unique inhabitants, lifestyles and problems. However, it was believed that there was a fifth level, that lacked any significant conditions.

The Upper City, a realm of beauty, served as the abode of the wealthy and influential. Inhabiting the towering, spire-shaped skyscrapers that defined the planet's skyline, the privileged indulged in the trappings of prosperity, detached from the suffering of those dwelling below. Despite restricted access, notable non-Humans in the Upper City included Twi'lek droid merchant Janice Nall, Ajuur the Hutt, and a Rodian duelist named Twitch.

Prior to or during the Mandalorian Wars, the Jedi Order established a satellite training academy on Taris, ostensibly to prepare students for Outer Rim patrols. The Jedi-Tarisian relationship was mutually beneficial, with the planetary constabulary seeking more Jedi. The Mandalorian threat rendered this untenable, with enclave graduates earmarked for combat. During the Mandalorian invasion, the academy, under headmaster Lucien Draay, was partially destroyed in a Tarisian Resistance attempt to kill Cassus Fett.

The Upper City boasted a cantina famous for its dueling ring owned by Ajuur the Hutt, and Zelka Forn's medical facility, renowned for healing all diseases except the rakghoul plague. During the Second Great Sith War, a Sith military base was established, and its roads were heavily patrolled by Sith troopers.

The Middle City, the most populous level of Taris, housed the planet's Human middle class and working citizens. Small-business owners resided there, and most average people conducted business in the Middle City. Swoops and air speeders navigated the air-traffic ways that crisscrossed the city's avenues. The Middle City was also the largest area, since a large portion of buildings were included in the jurisdiction of the "middle area." After the second escape of fugitive Jedi Zayne Carrick, massive riots rocked the Middle City, causing extensive damage. Though not devoid of crime, the Middle City was notably more peaceful than the lower levels of Taris.

The Lower City was home to the lower-class people who had not been born into the privileged classes of Tarisian society. Aliens were common there, as it was one of the few areas on Taris where they were legally allowed to live. A popular Lower City attraction was Javyar's Cantina. Here, another Hutt named Zax placed bounties and rewarded successful bounty hunters on behalf of his de facto boss, Davik Kang.

Control over the Lower City streets was the subject of rivalry between swoop gangs. These gangs had pilots who competed in swoop racing, a popular sport on Taris and other planets (among them Tatooine and Manaan) since 4000 BBY. The most notable swoop gangs were the Hidden Beks, led by Gadon Thek, and the Black Vulkars, led by Gadon's protégé Brejik, from 3976 BBY to 3956 BBY.

As one descended into the slums of the Lower City, the signs of urban decay became undeniable. Filth and refuse littered the streets. Burned-out vehicles and shattered windows served as stark reminders of the violent wars of the swoop gangs fighting for control. Denizens of the Lower City struggled to survive amidst the violence and filth of the urban wasteland.

The Undercity was a mechanical wilderness built on the original surface of the planet many centuries ago, on the ground level beneath the immense skyscrapers of Taris, which was right above Taris's sewer system. It was a dark, wild area inhabited by the Outcasts, people who were, or whose predecessors had been, banished for their crimes. The Outcasts never saw the sky in their miserable lives, and nobody had hope that their lives would ever turn for the better. Rukil was the exception. He was an old man who was considered crazy by the rest of the village because of his stories about the Promised Land, a self-sufficient colony built long before the founding of the Undercity. No one else believed in these stories, and most of the villagers considered them tales created to give people false hope. The amnesiac Revan assisted Rukil in discovering the alleged location of the Promised Land, allowing a great number of the Undercity's people to undertake the dangerous journey to improve their lot.

The area outside of the Undercity village gate was extremely dangerous because of rakghouls, semi-humanoid beasts that could infect Humans with the rakghoul disease. The Outcasts had to keep infected people isolated from the rest of the society because they would inevitably mutate into rakghouls. Few ventured outside of the gate, and many of the ones who did perished.

The Promised Land was a underground city located beneath the Undercity of Taris. It was where the first Tarisians first discovered and settled on the planet, several centuries before the Jedi Civil War, when the world was still forest and oceans. It was governed by the Taris Civil Authority. It was before the Tarisian Civil War turned the portion of the planet's surface that was not covered by an urban sprawl into a wasteland. Once someone entered the colony, they were unable to exit, thus protecting the Promised Land's secret. According to Gendar, it would have taken weeks or even months to reach the entrance, and the traveler had to cross many rakghoul-infested areas.

The inhabitants of the Undercity believed in the Promised Land, and many died searching for information regarding its location. The amnesiac Revan found evidence of its location and gave this to Rukil, who would later lead the Outcasts to it, who began their months-long exodus thorough the sewers, from their village in the Undercity, to the entrance of the Promised Land.

Taris was a very segmented society, naming the layers of the cities where each class of citizen lived, Middle City, etc. After the Civil War, the Humans on Taris banned all but a select few non-humans from the Upper City, making it exclusive only for the wealthiest citizens. Most aliens that ventured into the Upper City without a permit were arrested. The Middle City had mostly Humans in it as well, but had many aliens there too. Conversely, the Lower City was mostly aliens, and crime was rampant. The Undercity was avoided at all costs, and only the Outcasts dwelt there. The underground city beneath the Undercity known as the Promised Land was long forgotten except for in legends amongst the outcast and visitors of their village.

Tarisian society exhibited a pronounced stratification, evident in the city's tiered structure where each class resided—Upper City, Middle City, and so forth. Following the Civil War, Tarisian Humans restricted non-Human access to the Upper City, reserving it for the wealthiest citizens. Unauthorized aliens venturing into the Upper City faced arrest. While the Middle City was predominantly Human, it also accommodated a significant alien population. Conversely, the Lower City was predominantly alien, characterized by rampant crime. The Undercity was universally avoided, inhabited solely by the Outcasts. The Promised Land, an underground city beneath the Undercity, was largely forgotten, existing only in legends among the Outcasts and visitors to their village.

Justice on Taris was both rapid and severe; those found guilty were either put to death or exiled to the Undercity, with the punishment determined by the seriousness of their offenses. Although rife with criminal activity, the lower districts were subject to intermittent patrols by automated security units.

The Taris Civil Authority, led by a Constable, served as the planet's official law enforcement agency. Records indicate that the Civil Authority maintained several patrol vessels in orbit during the Mandalorian Wars.

Swoop racing provided one of the few forms of entertainment for Tarisian citizens. Widely considered the origin of the swoop bike, swoop racing enjoyed immense popularity on Taris, producing some of the most skilled racers in the galaxy. The Galactic Swoop Racing Circuit commenced annually on Taris with the Tarisian Season Opener. The Sith bombardment during the Jedi Civil War resulted in the deaths of numerous top racers, as many were in attendance for the Season opener.

Taris was initially developed as a location for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, a detailed Star Wars RPG available on the Xbox and PC. It serves as the initial location for the player's journey and uniquely restricts the player's use of personal Force powers, as they have not yet become Jedi.

Taris also appeared frequently within the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic comic book series. The pronunciation of Taris differs among characters in Knights of the Old Republic. Some pronounce the initial syllable as "tar," while others use "terr," resembling "terra."

Taris is a playable planet in the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. Republic aligned players encounter it early, following their departure from Coruscant, while it remains under Republic control. Imperial players encounter it much later in their storylines, after the Empire has established a significant presence.