Fondorian

Last Updated: 1/10/2024

Name: Fondorian

Humanoid: Yes

Classification: Near-Human

Homeworld: Fondor

Coloration: Peach, Tan, or Brown

Biology: Fondorians were a species who were nearly indistinguishable from baseline Humans. They had the same general appearance, being bipedal humanoids with a pair of arms and legs, possessing the same general height, weight, build, and frame as an average, healthy Human. They also possessed many of the same Human features such as numbers or fingers and toes, facial structure, and reproductive anatomy, as well as many of the same internal organs. The primary differences came from the fact that they were always completely hairless from head-to-toe, and internally, they possessed distinct purple blood. The species’ primary language appears to have been Galactic Basic. It seems the species had the average capacity to be Force Sensitive, and it was possible for Fondorians to interbreed with Humans, producing practically unidentifiable hybrid offspring, as they usually possessed both hair and Human-colored blood.

Lore: Fondorians were known as the native species of the well-known planet, Fondor, believed by some to have been distant offshoots of ancient Human settlers. They had integrated themselves into the greater galactic landscape since at least 8,000 – 7,000 BBY, although it’s possible they had become well-known many millennia earlier. They were longtime members of the Galactic Republic, being influential and powerful members of the galactic government for some time. Fondor being located within the Tapani Sector, they were also a member of the Tapani Empire at some point between around 7,000 and 1,500 BBY, although we have no idea how that conflicted with their Republic membership, or if they were mutually exclusive. They were also seemingly a “Freeworld,” meaning they were associated with the “Freeworlds Territory” and later “League of Tapani Freeworlds,” quite possibly up until they were dissolved by the Galactic Empire.

All of this meant that Fondorian allegiances were frequently shifting, and as such, Fondor governances changed hands which may have been confusing for the native population. The Galactic Republic and Tapani Empire imposed differing galactic calendar systems which, at the very least, would have been interesting to transition between for the Fondorians. One of the reasons why all of this happened came down to the immense influence Fondor held, as well as the resources they provided. You see, Fondor was an incredibly advanced world, with technological advancements leagues ahead of most other species and planets. Their mineral-heavy world meant that they could design and manufacture various complex technologies, weaponry, and especially vehicles from the safety of their home. They were able to do this thanks to the various orbital shipyards orbiting their homeworld, where they produced a number of galaxy-famous vessels over the years.

There was never one primary Fondorian manufacturing company, instead devoting the shipyards to various local companies as well as leasing them out to offworld corporations who utilized the shipyards quite frequently. Towards the end of the Republic’s existence, Fondor even became the third largest ship manufacturing world in the known galaxy, only beaten out by Kuat and Corellia. The Galactic Republic took advantage of this, commissioning a number and official vessel lines and eventually warships as the Clone Wars reared its ugly head. For a short period of time, it would seem the majority of Fondor sided with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, although it would appear this rebellion did not last for long. The Hutt Empire also attempted to exert some influence over Fondor at some point prior to or during the Clone Wars, but again, these exploits were quickly shut down by the Jedi Order and Republic.

At some point prior to the fall of the Republic, Fondor had opened its border to swathes of immigrants and settlers, with quite a few true Humans taking up residence on the world, and as of at least one census, over 10% of the planet’s immigrants belonged to the whale-like Herglic species, although the reason for this remains unclear. When the Empire rose to power, they quickly established their dominance over Fondor, removing its status as a “Freeworld,” and immediately utilizing the shipyards to construct their new fleet of Star Destroyed, Super Star Destroyers, and other various capital ships. There is some vagueness surrounding what the Fondorians felt regarding this newfound occupation, although the general consensus is that many Fondorians were in favor of the Imperial presence, with certain members of the species even able to join the Empire as they were close enough to baseline Humans as to not warrant a strong xenophobic response from the regime.

Still, a number of Fondorians did not see their new overlords as pleasant, but there was little they could do as the Imperial presence was so immense that Fondor was considered one of the most well-protected and well-armed Imperial strongholds in all of the galaxy. The shipyards, of course, made the planet a high priority, and contingents from all branches of the Empire’s military were dispatched to guard the planet as such. In fact, as the Galactic Civil War raged on, the planet grew only more and more fortified, to the point where it became one of the last public Imperial bastions left after the regime had all but collapsed. The Rebellion conducted a number of raids on various orbital stations during the course of the conflict, although the Empire was so dug in, possessing countless well-trained, elite units of ground troops, that freedom would not come to the surface for at least a while after the Emperor’s (first) demise.

Still, once the New Republic had turned their full attention to the world, it fell relatively quickly, much easier than a world like Kuat. However, the Fondorian shipyards were not allowed to rest, instead utilized almost immediately to provide the New Republic (and later Galactic Alliance) with their own warships and Star Destroyers, being a key reason why their influence was able to spread as quickly as it had. By this point, much of the planet’s surface had been ravaged due to mining efforts, and it was, in part, a shell of its former glory, although a large portion of the populus and numerous grand cities still remained. Unfortunately, when the Yuuzhan Vong invasion began, they led a dedicated effort to consume the planet, understanding its strategic importance to their opposition.

Fortunately, the Alliance was able to repel their first invasion, even still at a great cost, and the planet continued churning out vessels until it was eventually overrun for a short time by a second, even larger Yuuzhan Vong wave. While it was liberated shortly thereafter, Fondor then became a prime target during the second Galactic Civil War, resulting in a major and bloody conflict that overtook the planet once again, leading to the loss of even more Fondorian lives. Their utter defeat and conquest was intended to serve as an example to the galaxy of what would happen should a planet resist the influence of the organized Imperial Remnant and their allies. This wouldn’t totally happen, although the devastation was still great. In the end, the galaxy once again entered into a temporary era of peace, Fondor free to rejoin the Galactic Alliance, although it was likely their cycle of suffering would continue once Darth Krayt’s reemergence was enacted.

The Fondorians themselves were known for their intelligence and technical expertise, but also their often air of elitism and semi-standoffishness. They were generally welcoming to outsiders, especially when it came to Humans, although there always seemed to be a sense that they kept to their own close-knit Fondorian communities. The Fondorians relied heavily on a traditional caste system, with lower castes wildly less fortunate than those of the highest societal tiers. Family and reputation primarily dominated this hierarchy, although it was possible, through hard work, for a member of a lower caste to climb the ranks and eventually reach a much higher social standing. Interestingly, Fondorians of the lower castes simply did not take first names, instead all going by only their familial name. It was only after achieving great success (or being born into it) that a Fondorian living on Fondor would take a secondary, individual “first name.”

Most Fondorians had a passion for technologies, engineering, design, and machining, with many striving to get into any of the various prestigious universities found on Fondor, and the highest honors going to those who achieved apprenticeships with longstanding “Fondor Guild of Shipwrights.” Many other species envied the Fondorians for their wealth and brains, and the more privileged Fondorians wore this jealousy as a badge of pride, seeing themselves as some of the greatest individuals in all of the galaxy. These high-class Fondorians had a reputation for being incredibly manipulative, able to exercise a shrewdness in their business interactions that most others could barely fathom. If someone made a deal with a powerful Fondorian, they were almost assuredly getting the short end of the stick, whether they knew it or not.

Continuity: While Fondor and its inhabitants are Canon, there is a huge distinction, that being native “Fondorians” are simply a purely Human culture (with hair and Human blood, like we see with Luthen Rael). This happened a lot with other Human-passing EU species as well (i.e. the Chalactans, Ming Po, Japan (possibly), etc.), meaning the Fondorian “species” technically remains relegated to Star Wars Legends. That being said, some of Fondor itself’s lore did transition into Canon, such as their shipbuilding prowess and allegiance to the Empire, however, with all of the information detailed above, what elements are in-continuity remain fairly few and far between.

Unexplored: There’s been quite a bit established about the Fondorians in the past, especially in regards to their extended history, although much of their lore was simply about Fondor itself and their inclusion was made by proxy. Still, within Canon there is room for much exploration into the world and people, even if, at present, they are not a distinct species at all but simply a subsect of the galaxy’s Human race with their own unique culture. So below are a few questions posed with their EU existence in mind, followed by a handful specifically relating to Canon events, which, if answered, would help us even better understand what it would mean to be “Fondorian.”

For starters, when would the Fondorians have developed sentience and what sort of creatures might have they evolved from, if they weren’t just a distant offshoot of baseline Humans or even the Zhell? When were they first discovered and at what time did they rise to prominence? Were they always intelligent, advanced, prosperous, and ambitious, or was there a turning point in their history when they decided to push for these things? What sort of alliances might they have formed in the past, and what was the exact timeline of their involvement with the Galactic Republic, Tapani Empire, Freeworlds, and even the CIS as it was always very ill-defined and messy within the EU? Is it possible they were members of both the Republic and Tapani at the same time, or was that not possible? And what sort of early conflicts could they have been involved in as they established themselves, their own influential political system, and the numerous shipyards around their home planet?

Additionally, what sort of allegiances did they hold during the Galactic Civil War, as well as the further conflicts with the Imperial Remnant. We rarely saw Fondor through a Fondorian perspective at the time, so were they generally supporters of the Imperial regime, or was there an ever-present rebel movement stirring on the world? And of course, did the planet suffer once again at the hands of the Fel Empire or Darth Krayt, and was there much left of the world to even salvage by that point? Moving into a few questions related to Canon, what does Fondor’s timeline look like now in the condensed canonical historical landscape? Is it still possible that some natives of Fondor were considered near-Human, or has that concept been completely wiped clean? How did their dealings with the CIS differ in Canon versus the EU around the time of the Clone Wars? Was Fondor itself heavily affected by the Empire’s drastic “Operation: Cinder?” And during the the Cold War era, due to established events, why did Fondor refuse to help the Resistance AND seemingly the First Order, and how might they have dealt with the aftermath of the Order’s forceful occupation and utilization of their prized shipyards?

Additional Notes: There’s an interesting concept here, I suppose, and Fondor (or at least the space stations that orbit it) are already iconic within the franchise. However, it’s hard to say their design, inside and out, was the most inspired or creative, and I can understand the motive in folding them into the greater classification that is “Humanity” within Canon. Of course, I would love to see more of Fondor’s canonical history someday as they have always had a reason to be prevalent within the universe, and maybe someday we’ll even see more of it in more mainstream media, with one of their biggest appearances as of the initial writing of this article simply being within Star Wars Battlefront II (and some mentions within Andor and Star Wars: Squadrons).

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