Needan existed as a planet within the Wild Space region. This jungle-covered world was home to expansive oceans and a diverse collection of species including both plants and animals. Notably, it served as the original homeworld for the sentient Geelan species. At the dawn of the Geelan's information age, a cataclysmic event occurred: a passing comet collided with Needan, leading to a permanent cold climate shift.
The Geelan managed to survive the subsequent mass extinction event by seeking refuge within specially constructed dome-like habitats. Eventually, a starship, staffed by Arcona providing medical assistance, detected the Geelan's distress signals. This interception led to first contact between the two species and a large-scale exodus of the Geelan from their doomed planet.
Far removed within Wild Space, Needan was a planet situated in the dying Needan system. This terrestrial planet was a beautiful world orbiting a single star that sustained life. Immense oceans, teeming with organisms, covered two-thirds of Needan's surface. The land was covered with jungles which were also inhabited by countless plant and animal species. At one point, a species of canine pack animals lived on Needan, later evolving into the sentient Geelan.
Soon after achieving sentience, the Geelan, driven by their inherent pack instincts, began establishing cities on their homeworld. However, as the Geelan civilization stood on the cusp of the information age, disaster struck. A passing comet impacted Needan, altering its orbit and sending it on a trajectory away from its sun. The resulting permanently cold and winter-like climate caused the extinction of most of Needan's species. The Geelan, however, survived by constructing and retreating into dome-like habitats.
As the Geelan realized that their [fuel](/article/fuel-legends] supply was rapidly dwindling, their scientists began broadcasting distress signals into outer space. These signals were intercepted by an Arcona-crewed medical starship, who then tracked the communication to its source: Needan.
As a consequence of this offworlder visit, the Geelan became acquainted with and adopted galactic technology. The impending doom of their homeworld prompted many Geelan to emigrate and explore the broader galaxy, also instilling in them a strong tendency to hoard possessions.
During the Galactic Civil War, the Geelan holding the title of Great Geel—the supreme leader of the Geelan species—would occasionally visit Zirtran's Anchor, a space station situated near the Outer Rim Territories' Phosphura Belt Nebula. However, in a personal note attached to a document about the space station, the smuggler Platt Okeefe erroneously stated that the Great Geel never left the Geelan homeworld.
The first indirect reference to Needan appeared in "Zirtran's Anchor," a roleplaying game article penned by Anthony P. Russo and featured in the February 1995 fifth issue of West End Games' Star Wars Adventure Journal. Brian Smithson later identified Needan as the Geelan homeworld in the "Alien Encounters" feature of the May 1997 Star Wars Adventure Journal 13. The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas placed the Needan system, and consequently the planet Needan, within grid square I-20.
- " Zirtran's Anchor " — Star Wars Adventure Journal 5 (First mentioned) (Indirect mention only)
- " Alien Encounters " — Star Wars Adventure Journal 13 (First identified as Needan)
- Alien Encounters
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia , Vol. I ("Geelan")
- The Essential Atlas
- Star Wars: The Essential Atlas Online Companion on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)