The Post-Apocalyptic Worlds Of 'Star Wars'

Image Source: Wookieepedia

Star Wars is full of stunning worlds, most commonly identified by their planet-encompassing biomes. One of the more unique world types in Star Wars though is the post-apocalyptic world.

These planets and moons have become wastelands, with only remnants left behind of their former glory, or societies that survive in a greatly altered state. Today at CultureSlate, we’ll run down five of the most intriguing worlds in this category!

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Skeleton Crew.

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5. Gerrigon

Image Source: AIPT Comics

The second-newest post-apocalyptic world on this list, Gerrigon appeared in Inquisitors, a Marvel comic miniseries from the second half of 2024. It was a battlefield chosen by Jedi-on-the-run Tensu Run, who briefly stopped by the planet while traveling across the galaxy. Aware he was hunted, Tensu left a recording for the Inquisitor who would follow his trail, and this would prove to be the Fifth Brother. Returning focus to the location of this eventual confrontation, Gerrigon was a world that fell into a civil war.

According to the probe droid that accompanies the Fifth Brother, the Galactic Republic and Jedi did nothing to stop the conflict, and much of the world’s population was ultimately annihilated. The survivors left, and bandits instead occasionally took up occupation in the abandoned structures that littered the world. The decayed urban landscape, many abandoned vehicles, and everything covered in plant life is a familiar sight to fans of franchises such as The Last of Us. Gerrigon is a very Earth-like world, which suffered a terrible fate at the hands of its inhabitants, with the interpretation of those events and this narrative significant to the Fifth Brother and Tensu.

4. Ghost Moon

Image Source: Wookieepedia

A world which we know a lot less about, the Ghost Moon appeared in the 2015 Star Wars run from Marvel as the site of a conflict between the Rebel Alliance and Task Force 99, better known as Scar Squadron. The Ghost Moon was volcanic and had once held a native population that built at least one great city on its surface before the world was abandoned.

The volcanic eruptions were to blame, and given the city we see in ruins was seemingly built at the foot of a volcano, you have to wonder if some key mechanism or engineering project failed, causing the settlement to fall into danger. Regardless, this represents a world that likely suffered a natural disaster, leading to its current status as abandoned.

3. Carnelion IV

Image Source: Wookieepedia

An interesting blend of two disasters, Carnelion IV was the planet at the center of the Obi-Wan & Anakin Marvel miniseries written in 2016, as one of Charles Soule’s first contributions to Star Wars. The icy world, which fell into a civil war that the Galactic Republic and Jedi once again did not get involved with, resulted in a poisonous gas being released that clouded a great deal of the planet.

Over time, much of the population was mutated into hideous monsters, while two surviving factions, the Open and the Closed, continued the death feud through the skies using blimps and other remnants of their once-advanced technology. Carnelion IV has not returned in Star Wars lore to date, but it was one of the first examples of a pattern later additions to the franchise, like Gerrigon, would follow. It also has a better ending than Gerrigon, with Obi-Wan tricking the Republic to finally intervene and aid the deeply divided population.

2. At Achrann

Image Source: StarWars.com

The newest addition to this list, At Achrann is the strange other-world version of At Attin visited by the Onyx Cinder and its passengers as the quartet of children try to find their way home in the series Skeleton Crew. Part of a set of worlds called the Jewels of the Old Republic, At Achrann and all other Jewels were despoiled, conquered, or raided long ago. At Attin, meanwhile, persists intact into the era of the Mandoverse.

The kids find At Achrann to be so similar to their own home that they initially confuse it for At Attin, but the widespread destruction, poor air quality, and two opposing factions of warriors quickly change their minds. At Achrann is a warzone between the Troiks and the Hattan, with many buildings seeing extensive damage and little of value left any place the kids visit. Curiously, the locals are fully aware the wider galaxy exists but have little interest in exploring it, instead remaining focused on their planetary conflict. Hopefully, better things are in At Achrann’s future though it may remain a war-ravaged settlement.

1. Parnassos

Image Source: Wookieepedia

The ultimate post-apocalypse, the world of Parnassos comes from the novel Phasma, which detailed how the legendary First Order officer encountered the military organization and how she joined it. Parnassos is revealed in the course of the novel to have suffered a terrible industrial accident at the hands of a notable galactic corporation, equal to a nuclear meltdown that dramatically changed the world’s climate and environment. The world became like something out of Mad Max, vast tracts of arid desert with strange enclaves of unique cultures dotted across the wasteland.

Unfortunately, two of them met a terrible fate once a trapped Brendol Hux escaped to orbit, taking Phasma with him for her service in keeping him alive. He then had her watch as, from orbit, he commanded the First Order ship that had rescued him to bombard back along the path that they had spent days traveling. Several of the populations they encountered were likely annihilated, and any survivors subsequently perished. The point of the event was to show Phasma the power she now allied herself with, and while she was horrified, she hid that reaction. Parnassos is sadly the worst-off world on this list, not entirely devoid of life, and with what does survive struggles on as best as it can.

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