Yavin 4

"This sure wasn't on the visitor's guide..."

- Luke Skywalker

Yavin 4 was the fourth moon of the gas giant planet Yavin Prime. Covered almost entirely with dense jungles and shallow, bountiful seas. From as far back as 5,000 BBY, Yavin 4 would be among a select group of planets and moons that everybody in the galaxy and their brother would want to either visit, conquer, liberate, or obliterate.

History
"Kriff, kriff, kriff, kriff, kriff! Ship, get me the kriff outta here!"

- Naga Sadow, running away to Yavin

Yavin 4 was first colonized by the ancient Sith Lord Naga Sadow, when he fled the ass-kicking that the Sith received at the hands of the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order. A thousand years later, the surface would be dotted with many ancient temples, built by native Massassi who labored as slaves for Dark Lord of the Sith Exar Kun. After the moon was practically leveled by the Jedi and Republic at the end of the Great Sith War, not much happened there for the next four millennia, unless you count the interminable screaming from Kun's disembodied spirit.

Rebels and rodents
"It...it...it is green."

- C-3PO, upon arrival at Yavin

Over time, Yavin's jungle fever returned, and it was once again lush with life, most of it eager to either annoy the piss out of or eat travelers and explorers. The temples, cursed "blessed" with Sith magic, remained as intact and complete as they were when the Massassi finished building them. The moon's features made it seem like a great place to plant a secret base when the Rebel Alliance arrived there in 0 BBY. Of course, someone had to go and ruin the fun by letting the Galactic Empire find the place through a tracking device mounted on the Millennium Falcon. Next thing you know, this huge Big Ball Planet Destroying Thing shows up packing a superlaser, and the Rebels have to go and beat them off. Luke Skywalker, naturally, lands the lucky shot, the day is saved, but now the Rebels have to get the kriff out of there.

Blissfully unaware that the Dark Side of the Force infested the place like an oily stain, Luke went back to Yavin ten years later to set up his Jedi Academy. Ipso facto, ergo, et. al., the whole place goes to hell in a handcart when first Gantoris goes up in smoke, then Kyp Durron goes all angsty and blows up some suns, after first knocking Luke out of his own body. Corran Horn ends up having to save the day (and getting none of the credit, the bastards), and all is seemingly well after Exar Kun's aforementioned spirit is liquidated.

Thus spoketh the Vong
And so, the moon meets its final end when the Yuuzhan Vong invade the galaxy and take the place over. More angsty teenagers do battle alongside muscle-bound and brainless warriors, more blood gets spilled, and the entire moon is basically turned into a snack for biots and bloated beasts. Needless to say, no one was going back there any time soon.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * About every third Star Wars-related media