Li-Toran, a planet of the Inner Rim Territories, was characterized by its volcanic activity and served as the original homeworld for the Melitto insectoids, a sentient species organized in a hive structure. Its atmosphere was a hazardous mix of noxious gases, perpetual darkness, intense heat, and constant storms. Beneath the surface, networks of tunnels and caverns, filled with even more toxic steam, were carved by rivers of molten rock.
The Melitto hives thrived in these subterranean environments, with females dominating their society. Their existence revolved around harvesting the sap of a coral-like organism known as bleeding rock, which served as their primary source of nutrition. Most Melitto males who survived the intense fighting involved in the periodic creation of new hives became hiveless ronin, often choosing to leave Li-Toran. By the time the Galactic Empire rose to power during the Galactic Civil War, they had established a garrison on Li-Toran.
Located within the Inner Rim Territories region, specifically within the Interior, Li-Toran was a planet found at coordinates M-13 on the Standard Galactic Grid. This world was known for its severe volcanic landscape and a dense, dangerously [toxic](/article/poison], and extremely hot atmosphere that was constantly plagued by powerful storms. The planet's surface was perpetually shrouded in darkness due to thick, poisonous clouds that blocked nearly all sunlight. These harsh conditions made Li-Toran an undesirable destination for visitors from other worlds.
The surface of Li-Toran was crisscrossed by rivers of molten rock, which carved out intricate and ever-changing tunnel systems within the planet's crust. Many of these tunnels expanded into vast [caverns](/article/cave], some spanning several kilometers. These underground spaces were filled with dense steam and contained higher concentrations of the toxic compounds found in the planet's atmosphere. Visitors to Li-Toran's underground were required to wear heavy environmental suits, even for short periods. Despite these hostile conditions, the majority of Li-Toran's flora and fauna, including the coral-like bleeding rock, thrived in this environment.
Prior to the disbandment of the Galactic Republic in 19 BBY, the Melitto species, native to Li-Toran, experienced a period of intense conflict known as the Unending Conflict due to the overexploitation of resources by their hives. The scarcity of suitable locations for establishing new hives in the planet's underground caves led to fierce competition among potential Melitto queens, known as myrmitrices, for the same territories. For centuries, the arrival of new myrmitrices with their soldiers would reignite the violence before any resolution could be reached.
This underground warfare eventually escalated to the point where entire tunnel and cave networks began to collapse. To avert a planetary catastrophe, the largest Melitto hives formed a planetary council with the goal of ending the conflicts and preventing their recurrence. One of the council's initiatives was the beginning of Melitto interstellar colonization, leading to the establishment of settlements on several planets in nearby star systems.
Following the rise of the Galactic Empire, a garrison was stationed on Li-Toran to monitor the Melitto population, even though the planet possessed few valuable resources. The isolationist Melitto hives found the politics of the Empire and its opponents in the Galactic Civil War, the Rebel Alliance, difficult to understand and thus of little concern.
Li-Toran was the homeworld of Sarco Plank, a Melitto male born around 25 BBY, as well as Grelli Cryko, another Melitto. By the time of the First Order's occupation of Batuu in 34 ABY, the pirate Hondo Ohnaka had acquired a stolen identity profile of Plank that mentioned his planet of origin. Li-Toran was also referenced in an entry from an artist's journal dedicated to the Melitto. This journal was later restored, expanded, and displayed at the Graf Archive sometime after 34 ABY.
By 35 ABY, the Artiodac chef Strono Tuggs, undeterred by the planet's harsh environment, briefly visited Li-Toran, an experience that left him breathless. Tuggs' objective was to obtain a quantity of the sap produced by the bleeding rock organism. He subsequently used this sap in his Melitto Sap Cakes dish and documented his experiences on Li-Toran in his cookbook, The Ultimate Cookbook, which was published in 35 ABY.
Li-Toran was the original world of the Melitto, a sentient species of bipedal insectoids. Lacking eyes, they perceived their surroundings through auditory organs and feathery cilia covering their chitin-plated bodies, which allowed them to detect vibrations, scents, and even electrical fields. Melittos primarily communicated using a pheromone-based scent-language.
As cold-blooded creatures, the Melitto favored hot environments, having evolved within the underground tunnels of Li-Toran. They typically lived in caste-based hives, consisting of a ruling queen, younger myrmitrices, and pheromone-controlled males known as myrmites. The myrmites performed almost all of the hive's tasks, including combat, maintenance, and agriculture. The Melitto diet primarily consisted of bleeding rock sap, and their hive society was structured around the cultivation and harvesting of this liquid from bleeding-rock farms.
Periodically, population pressures would trigger migrations of myrmitrices and their myrmite followers, leading to the establishment of new hives. The queen of a new hive was determined through deadly combat among the myrmitrices. Myrmites who survived but whose myrmitrix was defeated became hiveless ronin, with many leaving Li-Toran to seek new lives elsewhere. Rumors persisted of Hive Ronin, a clandestine organization composed solely of ronin that defied the traditional hive structure, operating on Li-Toran. Due to their dependence on the toxic compounds in their homeworld's atmosphere, Melittos traveling off-world required special breathing apparatus as more common galactic planetary air compositions were corrosive to them.
On Li-Toran, the majority of Melittos resided in densely populated hives located within underground caverns. The Galactic Empire established a garrison on the planet, known as Dometown, which housed a contingent of human stormtroopers. Due to the perilous conditions on Li-Toran, this posting became known as a form of punishment.
Li-Toran was first introduced in Star Wars: Aliens of the Galaxy, a reference book written by Jason Fry in 2016. The planet's first comprehensive appearance and visual representation were in the Star Wars: Datapad app, which was released in conjunction with the themed land Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge when it opened at Disneyland Park and Disney's Hollywood Studios in 2019.