Hoth
Encyclopedia
| Distance from Core | 50,250 light years Light Years Light Years is the seventh studio album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. It was released on 25 September 2000 by Parlophone and Mushroom Records. The album's style was indicative of her return to "mainstream pop dance tunes".... |
|---|---|
| Region | Outer Rim Territories |
| System | Hoth system |
| Number of stars | 1 |
| Number of satellites | 3 |
| Interest | (The Old) Echo Base |
| Population | None |
| Notable species | Tauntaun (bipedal herbivore), Wampa (bipedal carnivore) |
| Surface water | 100% (All frozen) |
| Affiliation | Rebellion |
In the fictional universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
of Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
, Hoth is the sixth planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
of a remote system
Star system
A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars which orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction. A large number of stars bound by gravitation is generally called a star cluster or galaxy, although, broadly speaking, they are also star systems.-Binary star systems:A stellar...
of the same name. It is a terrestrial planet
Terrestrial planet
A terrestrial planet, telluric planet or rocky planet is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals. Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets are the inner planets closest to the Sun...
blanketed by snow and ice. Many meteorite
Meteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
s from a nearby asteroid belt
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
pelt the planet's surface, making temporary craters in the planet's ever-moving snow drifts. Hoth has three moon
Natural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
s, all uninhabited. Its native creatures include the wampa
Wampa
Wampas are fictional predators of the Star Wars universe.-Characteristics:Wampas are Yeti-like creatures that live on the sixth planet of the Hoth system. Wampa's hands have five fingers, each with one large claw. They also have a horn protruding from either side of their heads that curves and...
and the tauntaun.
In The Empire Strikes Back, the scenes featuring Hoth were shot at Finse
Finse
Finse is an area in the Ulvik municipality of Hordaland, Norway. The railway station at Finse on the Bergensbanen at 1,222m is the highest station on the entire Norwegian railway system. Since there are no roads to Finse, the railway provides the sole means of transportation to and from Finse....
and the Hardangerjøkulen
Hardangerjøkulen
Hardangerjøkulen is the sixth largest glacier in mainland Norway, and is located in Eidfjord and Ulvik municipalities.Hardangerjøkulen's highest point is above sea level, and is the highest point in Hordaland. Its lowest point is above sea level....
glacier in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
Planet overview
The Rebel Alliance moved to Hoth after their victory in the Battle of Yavin. However, an Imperial probe droid discovered their base, then self-destructed. The Rebels immediately began preparations to leave, but Darth VaderDarth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
's Death Squadron, the 501st legion of the Imperial Army, Blizzard Force, arrived in time to intercept them, forcing the Rebels into a skirmish to cover their escape. Although the Empire won the Battle of Hoth by destroying the Rebel base and capturing many Rebel personnel and equipment, the Rebels didn't attempt a full-scale defense, but rather worked to stall the Empire's forces long enough to stage an effective evacuation, and to allow the deletion of compromising information about the whereabouts of the Rebel Fleet. Since the Rebels did evacuate vital leadership, personnel, and equipment, the Empire failed to do more than stall the Rebels' plans, and the Rebel Fleet remained elusive.
The action on Hoth features prominently in the opening of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan...
and is one of the Star Wars series' most memorable sequences.
Hoth is an example of the science-fictional
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
of a planet that has only one climatic zone. However, some Expanded Universe
Star Wars Expanded Universe
The Star Wars Expanded Universe encompasses all of the officially licensed, fictional background of the Star Wars universe, outside of the six feature films produced by George Lucas. The expanded universe includes books, comic books, video games, spin-off films like Star Wars: The Clone Wars,...
sources show that under-ice caves containing large lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
fields exist on the planet, on which Tauntauns feed.
Echo Base
Echo Base is the Rebel Alliance base established after the Alliance evacuation of Yavin IV. The base, which was featured in the opening sequence of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, is composed of a series of tunnels and caverns cut from the icy mountainside of the planet Hoth.Echo Base was not designed with the means to repel an Imperial assault, but instead relied on its shield generator and its hidden location on a desolate planet in an unoccupied system to protect it from the Empire. Because of this most of its equipment and machinery were able to be taken apart and evacuated at a moment's notice, if the base was discovered.
When the Empire's probe droids found the base, the Rebels fought a holding action to give the transports enough time to evacuate. They used the base's planetary defense shield to prevent an Imperial orbital bombardment, and then used small airspeeders modified for the cold climate of Hoth, called Snowspeeder
Snowspeeder
A snowspeeder is a Rebel Alliance vehicle featured in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and several books, comics, and video games in the Star Wars Expanded Universe...
s, and a small contingent of soldiers, to slow the advance of the Empire's AT-AT walkers. This holding action allowed the Rebels time to use Echo Base's Planet Defender Ion Cannon
Ion cannon
In science fiction, an ion cannon is a beam weapon that fires beams of ions . Due to its power, it is usually classified as a superweapon. An ion cannon is a type of particle cannon; only the particles used are ionized...
to open holes in the Imperial blockade, allowing many transports and their X-wing
X-wing
X-wings are fictional starfighters from the original Star Wars trilogy and the expanded universe. They are depicted as the primary interceptor and dogfighter of the Rebel Alliance and the New Republic...
escorts to escape.
Echo Base suffered a series of attacks by the shaggy and carnivorous wampas soon after Commander Skywalker's encounter with one of the creatures. This is not shown in Empire Strikes Back, but was described in the accompanying novelization.
Expanded Universe
Echo Base is also featured in the video game Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. In the game, the player's character, Jaden, is sent on a mission to Echo Base in order to find out information about the Cult of Ragnos. The player ends up finding the Base occupied by the Imperial Remnant.Dash Rendar lands his snowspeeder in Echo Base soon after the Battle of Hoth to escape on his ship, the Outrider, in Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is a multimedia project created by Lucasfilm Ltd. in 1996. The original idea was to create an interquel, a story set between the movies The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi , and to explore all commercial possibilities of a full motion picture release,...
. He fights snowtroopers, probots, an AT-ST, and wampas on the way to his ship.
In Darksaber, Luke returns to Hoth with his lover, Callista. They find that Echo Base is now occupied by wampa-pelt hunters who have found their prey too much to handle. Luke and Callista try to help them but instead see the entire group killed.
In the queue for Star Tours
Star Tours
Star Tours is a motion simulator attraction currently operating at Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris. The ride is based on the successful Star Wars film series created by George Lucas, making it the first Disney attraction based on a non-Disney produced film.The first...
, Echo Base is advertised as a tourist attraction. Visitors can explore the ruins of the Rebel base. It is there that visitors can ski the "most incredible slopes in the galaxy" or "ride a tauntaun". In the attraction's successor, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue is an attraction located at Disneyland Park and at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It is also set to open at Tokyo Disneyland in Spring 2013. Set in the fictional Star Wars universe, The Adventures Continue updates the two parks' original Star Tours attractions...
, guests can travel to Hoth during one of the randomized ride sequences.
Reception
In 2009, GameInformer ranked the top ten video game adaptations of the Battle of Hoth, ranking Star Wars: Shadows of the EmpireStar Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is a multimedia project created by Lucasfilm Ltd. in 1996. The original idea was to create an interquel, a story set between the movies The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi , and to explore all commercial possibilities of a full motion picture release,...
s first.