33

Have any references ever been made to the existence of Earth, our solar system, or the Milky Way anywhere in Star Wars Legends?

EDIT:

Following @Trader's answer, I wanted to point out that "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...." in the starting scroll is a very obvious answer, but not the one I'm looking for.

5
  • 5
    Would a reference to an Earth animal count? In the Alan Dean Foster novelisation of A New Hope, you can read the following exchange between Obi-Wan and Luke. OW: "I understand you're quite a pilot yourself. Piloting and navigation aren't hereditary, but a number of the things that can combine to make a good small-ship pilot are. Those you may have inherited. Still, even a duck has to be taught to swim." L: "What's a duck?" OW: "Never mind. [...]".
    – jub0bs
    Jul 29, 2014 at 15:31
  • 2
    Does an inverse reference suits you? m5.paperblog.com/i/41/410381/…
    – Flamma
    Jul 29, 2014 at 16:59
  • 1
    I always imagined one day there'd be a sequel trilogy about how Luke's descendants abandon The Galaxy Far, Far Away (probably due to some black hole incident) to crash on Earth and mingle with the local Homo Erectus of old times: Episode VII - The Fall, Episode VIII - Earth, 2M BC, Episode IX - 1977
    – Zommuter
    Jul 29, 2014 at 18:03
  • Strongly related: scifi.stackexchange.com/a/45842/2242
    – Izkata
    Jul 29, 2014 at 18:56
  • @Zommuter That would be awesome
    – Suman Roy
    Jul 30, 2014 at 6:44

3 Answers 3

36

There are multiple, though not particular common, references to Earth and its surrounds in Star Wars EU material.

Probably the best-known is the cancelled, and therefore non-canon novel, Alien Exodus, which would have used both space and time travel to link George Lucas' previous films, American Graffiti and THX 1138, set on Earth, to the Star Wars films. This project never went ahead, but would have changed a lot of subsequent EU material, such as making Corellia the homeworld of humanity in the Star Wars galaxy, rather than Coruscant as was eventually (probably) established as the case.

The second best-known example is the previously-mentioned Into the Great Unknown. This would have had Indiana Jones finding the Millenium Falcon, crash-landed here on Earth. This was published, but considered non-canon.

Christmas in the Stars implies that Christmas is celebrated in the Galaxy Far Far Away, which implies contact with Earth.

The single best example from the EU, one with a decent degree of canonicity, is Monsters and Aliens from George Lucas. While Leland Chee has stated that it is non-canon, there are several sources mentioned in the book which are treated as canon, notably the gossip columnist Dyslogia Twang, who mentions Earth in a column.

By far the best example, however, is the fact that in The Phantom Menace, several members of the same species as the alien from E.T., the Extra Terrestrial are onscreen. Later EU material expanded on this.

EDIT: I've already had my answer accepted (that was quick) but I felt I should add a link to this question, which is related to this one. It lists several mentions of animals that originated on Earth being mentioned in Star Wars media, as does the first page I linked to above. This question and this question are also related. I do not feel this question is a duplicate of those questions though, so I won't vote to close this question on those grounds, and I would suggest that no-one else do so either.

4
  • 1
    Well your answer is about as concise an answer as is possible considering how large the EU is. I did read those questions and that's when this one came into my head
    – Suman Roy
    Jul 29, 2014 at 11:32
  • 1
    @James Sheridan also in ET is the fact that ET starts walking towards someone dressed as Yoda, saying "HOME HOME HOME!!!"
    – Mikasa
    Sep 12, 2015 at 11:46
  • I'm not sure the mention of Christmas implies contact with Earth. I mean, if you believe in that stuff, then surely there would need to be Christs on other planets too. Jul 29, 2019 at 19:46
  • Excellent answer. I think it is important to note that in "Into the Great Unkown", Chewbacca survives the Falcon crashing and begins wandering the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Yes. Chewbacca is Bigfoot.
    – Steve3p0
    Aug 16, 2019 at 21:55
19

Yes, we do have a time/space reference relative to Earth:

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...."

9
  • 4
    very funny. HAHAHA.. But I meant other than that.
    – Suman Roy
    Jul 29, 2014 at 10:39
  • I actually think that is the only one, so that would be the correct answer. More people need to confirm this anyway...
    – Trader
    Jul 29, 2014 at 10:42
  • 45
    That opening crawl could have been written for the inhabitants of any galaxy. To assume otherwise is just another example of the Milky Way-centric behaviour one has come to expect from this administration. Jul 29, 2014 at 11:25
  • 2
    I've upvoted. It's clear from the scroll that the events are taking place a long way from here in the Milky Way; youtube.com/watch?v=hou0lU8WMgo
    – Valorum
    Jul 29, 2014 at 11:35
  • 3
    @JamesSheridan - I assumed you were joking. You Milkywayians are far too sensitive.
    – Valorum
    Jul 29, 2014 at 15:32
0

While not a direct reference, they do use similar units when it comes to measuring the size of a Thermal Exhaust Port - 2 meters.

Evidently the Empire must be Euros - otherwise they might have used feet.

4
  • 2
    The script actually says "two meters" which is the American way of spelling the word, not the European way (e.g. Metres).
    – Valorum
    Jul 29, 2014 at 20:25
  • And either way that still doesn't clarify exactly what that unit of measurement equates to in "a galaxy far, far away".
    – Monty129
    Jul 29, 2014 at 21:09
  • 1
    Sorry, @Richard, I didn't know how they spelled it in the movie. Judging from the exhaust ports relative size to an X-Wing, I would say it's about 6 feet. Jul 29, 2014 at 21:40
  • 13
    Since they're actually speaking Galactic Common or whatever, and it's understood to be being translated into English for the benefit of a Terran audience, I always assumed the units were simply converted as part of a more contextual than literal translation, providing a measurement in Earth-recognizable units that closely approximated whatever number and unit the characters actually referenced. This would be important from a translator's POV because the audience's ability to connect the terms to an actual size is relevant to the scene, thus making "7 liskfels" or some such, problematic. Jul 29, 2014 at 22:41

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.