Karina, also known by the title "Karina the Great," held the position of queen among the Geonosian people. As the final member of her [species](/article/species], she's birth occurred during the Galactic Empire's reign, and the egg from which she hatched miraculously survived the Empire's act of genocide on the planet Geonosis. Before her emergence, her egg was safeguarded by a Geonosian named Klik-Klak, who ensured its protection from both the Empire and the rebel extremist Saw Gerrera. Klik-Klak's hope was that Karina would be able to revive the Geonosian [species](/article/species], but she was infertile and instead connected a mechanical womb to her form. From this artificial womb, she created modified B1-series battle droids exhibiting Geonosian traits, which she considered her children and the future of her planet. These droids were known as droid workers.
During the time of the Galactic Civil War, the Sith Lord Darth Vader discovered Karina's existence and traveled to Geonosis with the intention of seizing her battle droid factory. His goal was to utilize it to construct an army in order to reclaim the authority and prestige he had lost after being held responsible for the destruction of the Empire's Death Star battle station during the Battle of Yavin. Karina, with her droid army, made an attempt to foil Vader's scheme. However, the Sith Lord and his associates—the rogue archaeologist Chelli Lona Aphra and the assassin droids BT-1 and 0-0-0—detached and stole her mechanical womb to manufacture their own battle droids.
During the Imperial Era, the Galactic Empire shifted the construction of the Death Star superweapon away from Geonosis, where Geonosian weapons manufacturers had been working on it. To maintain the secrecy of the Death Star, the Empire exterminated the Geonosian population using poison gas, turning the planet into a desolate wasteland. Only one Geonosian survived, possessing the last known egg containing a Geonosian queen. Klik-Klak understood that the successful hatching of this egg was the only path to repopulating Geonosis, so he fiercely guarded it, hoping to provide his people with another chance at existence. Klik-Klak was compelled to defend the egg when Saw Gerrera, a resistance fighter, led a group of rebels to investigate reports of suspicious Imperial activity on the planet. Unbeknownst to the emerging Rebel Alliance, this activity was related to the remnants of the Death Star project. Gerrera's team examined an energy signature near Klik-Klak's hiding place, leading him to ambush the rebels, killing all but Gerrera.
Another rebel team, known as the Spectres, journeyed to Geonosis in search of Gerrera and his soldiers. They encountered Klik-Klak while investigating the energy readings. They discovered that Klik-Klak was protecting the egg, which Gerrera threatened to destroy if Klik-Klak refused to reveal all he knew about the Empire's activities on Geonosis. The Spectres, especially the young Jedi Ezra Bridger, convinced Gerrera to stand down. After assisting the rebels in uncovering the poison gas used to eradicate the planet's population, Klik-Klak retreated further beneath the planet's surface, hoping that one day the egg would hatch safely. Eventually, the egg did hatch, and the queen born from it adopted the name Karina.
Klik-Klak's aspirations to revive his [species](/article/species] were ultimately thwarted. Karina, who sought refuge in a subterranean lair, lost her biological womb and became infertile. Unable to reproduce naturally, Karina replaced her womb with a portable droid factory that functioned as a mechanical womb. Since biology had failed her, she turned to science to repopulate her species by any means necessary. Instead of Geonosians, she produced numerous B1 droid workers that were modified to resemble her people. She regarded these droids as her children and fiercely protected them, viewing them as a means to rebuild an empire on Geonosis. The Droid Gotra became aware of her existence and developed a strong interest in her and her droid offspring.
Following the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the Death Star, the Sith Lord Darth Vader aimed to establish a new power base after being blamed for the loss of the Death Star. Upon learning about Karina's droid factory, Vader traveled to Geonosis accompanied by the rogue archaeologist Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra and her assassin droids, BT-1 and 0-0-0. Upon arrival, they ventured into the Geonosian catacombs, where Karina's droid children attempted to prevent them from reaching her lair but failed. Vader located Karina and used his lightsaber to sever the droid factory from her body. Though injured, Karina remained alive and unleashed her battle droids against the Sith Lord, determined to prevent the future of her reign and Geonosis from being taken by an Empire that had already taken so much. Vader and his companions defeated the droids and escaped on Vader's starship, taking the droid factory with them. Karina survived the encounter, declaring that her empire would not fall.
Karina was a female Geonosian characterized by black eyes and skin with gray and tan tones. She was recognized as the last Geonosian queen. Her successful hatching from an egg sometime before the Battle of Yavin represented the possibility of restoring the Geonosian species after its near extinction by the Galactic Empire. However, this potential was diminished because Karina was infertile and unable to produce offspring naturally by the time Darth Vader encountered her. Instead, she was equipped with a mechanical womb to produce battle droid offspring. She was extremely protective of these droids, considering them her children and her sole means of reestablishing an empire on Geonosis. Doctor Aphra noted that Karina turned to science when biology failed, ensuring Geonosis could endure.
Karina made her debut in the comic book Darth Vader (2015) 4. The comic was released on April 8, 2015, authored by Kieron Gillen, and illustrated by Salvador Larroca.
The backstory of this particular Karina was revealed in "Ghosts of Geonosis," an episode of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels that aired on January 7, 2017 as part of the third season. Although the character herself does not appear, the egg from which she later hatches plays a crucial role in the episode, as does the concept of preserving the Geonosian race after the Empire's genocide on the planet. Hidalgo later confirmed in the "Rebels Recon" episode for "Warhead" that the egg was indeed intended to contain Karina.