The revelation that Tatooine was once an oceanic world changes how we view the most famous planet in Star Wars . It shifts Tatooine from a "natural" wasteland into a monument of ancient war crimes. By understanding its Legends history, the desert becomes more than just a setting; it becomes a character defined by loss, reminding us that even the most barren landscapes in the galaxy may be hiding a drowned, beautiful past.
The biological impact on the Kumumgah was equally profound. Legends lore suggests that the survivors of the bombardment were forced underground to escape the heat and radiation. Over thousands of years, they diverged into two distinct species: the (who became the nomadic, territorial Tusken Raiders ) and the Jawas . The revelation that Tatooine was once an oceanic
The Rakata sought to enslave the Kumumgah and harvest Tatooine’s resources. However, the Kumumgah were not easily broken. They launched a fierce rebellion against their Rakatan overlords, even managing to strike back at other Rakatan-held worlds. The Glassing of a World The biological impact on the Kumumgah was equally profound
The Rakata’s response to this defiance was absolute and genocidal. To punish the Kumumgah, the Infinite Empire initiated a massive orbital bombardment. They "glassed" the planet, using powerful weaponry to heat the surface to such extremes that the soil turned to glass and the vast oceans boiled away into the atmosphere. The Rakata sought to enslave the Kumumgah and
This cataclysmic event fundamentally altered the planet's ecology. The once-lush biosphere was incinerated, leaving behind a scorched rock that eventually broke down into the fine sand we see in the films. The moisture that didn't escape into space remained trapped in the atmosphere, which is why "moisture farming" became the primary means of survival for later colonists—they were essentially harvesting the remnants of Tatooine’s lost oceans. The Evolution of a People
Millennia before the rise of the Empire, Tatooine was the homeworld of a technologically advanced civilization known as the . During this era, the planet was a vibrant world of sprawling oceans and dense jungles. The Kumumgah were a seafaring and spacefaring people, eventually catching the attention of the Rakata , a cruel and scientifically superior race that led the "Infinite Empire."
Here is an essay exploring this transformation and the lore behind it. The Lost Oceans of Tatooine: A Legends Transformation