Dodz

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Dodz was a small, barren Outer Rim Territories planet located in the Zoraster sector. It featured extensive crystal caverns, and at some point a profitable crystal mining industry developed on the planet, with the local community being governed by the Citizen's Council of Dodz. However, power on Dodz was eventually usurped by the tyrannical Governor Kugg, who used the combat droid Destroyer to coerce the local merchants into paying heavy taxes.

Around 15 BBY, the droids C-3PO and R2-D2, who had been acquired by the merchant Lott Kemp on Dodz, arrived on the planet, only to discover that their new owner had been driven off-world by Kugg and the Destroyer. Instead, they met the young scavenger Jost Ellon, who invited them to the cave where he lived. There, the trio re-activated what was, unbeknown to Ellon, an old Ranger X-1 defense droid. Hopeful that the droid could be used to fight back against Kugg's tyranny, Ellon took the droids to a meeting of the local Citizen's Council of Dodz, albeit missing the appearance of Kugg himself there.

On the following day, however, Ellon revealed himself and the Ranger X-1 to the governor, and the Destroyer was ordered to attack the other automaton. The two droids engaged in a brawl, with interference by R2-D2 ultimately allowing the X-1 to blow up the Destroyer at the cost of all of his remaining energy. The Citizen's Council of Dodz subsequently intended to hand Kugg over to an intergalactic trial, while an Intergalactic Droid Agency shuttle later took C-3PO and R2-D2 offworld due to the latter having sustained critical damage during the battle between the X-1 and the Destroyer that could not be repaired on Dodz.

Description

Dodz was a small^[5] planet^[4] located in the Dodz system, a part of the Zoraster sector^[1] in the Slice portion of^[2] the Outer Rim Territories.^[1] It had a pockmarked,^[4] barren^[5] surface that appeared gray from space, and at least one area of the planet featured rocky cliffs.^[4] Dodz was known for its extensive crystal caverns.^[6]

History

Tyranny on a crystal world

Around 3637 BBY,^[7] an individual affiliated with one of the sides in the ongoing struggle between the Galactic Republic and the reconstituted Sith Empire sent a companion to harvest some crystals from the purported crystal caverns on Dodz.^[6]

At some point, Dodz was settled, with crystal mines being set up on the planet. A Ranger X-1 defense droid eventually came to rest in a deactivated state near the mines. The protocol droid C-3PO later speculated that the unit had been brought to the planet by crystal miners for protection and that he had subsequently been overlooked by the Intergalactic Law Agency^[4]—formed during the final century of the existence of the Republic^[8]—when it was collecting and scrapping any remaining Ranger X-1s after it had terminated the series. According to a member of the Dodz colony, its population at some point was also engaged in a bitter struggle against tyrannical parties to liberate their territories.^[4]

Much later, the alien Kugg usurped the political power on Dodz, ruling it^[4] for a long time^[5] as a tyrannical governor. He imposed heavy taxes on the planet's merchants, and in the case of their refusal to pay them, dispatched the combat droid Destroyer to wreck their property^[4] or even kill them. Kugg also murdered^[9] the family of the young Human Jost Ellon. The youth eventually became a scavenger who lived in a cave and at some point retrieved the deactivated X-1, albeit without realizing its true nature as a droid.^[4]

New arrivals

Around 15 BBY,^[10] the crystal merchant Lott Kemp of Dodz arranged for the acquisition through the Intergalactic Droid Agency of two servant droids, C-3PO and the astromech droid R2-D2. Kugg subsequently sent the Destroyer to Kemp's dwelling, which it destroyed, although the merchant himself escaped^[4] and fled the planet.^[9] Meanwhile, C-3PO and R2-D2, who were unaware of Kemp's plight, were traveling to Dodz aboard an Intergalactic Droid Agency shuttle. Upon the protocol droid mentioning to^[4] his^[9] companion their imminent arrival at their destination, two of the other droids transported by the starship,^[4] who were bound for the Sulphur Pits of Vulcar^[9] on the harsh Mid Rim world Vulcar,^[11] picked up on C-3PO's namedrop of Dodz^[4] and mocked that destination as being backwater,^[9] with one of them quipping about the planet's diminutive size leading to it only possessing "half a moon," and the other droid commenting on the undesirable qualities of Dodz's barren surface.^[4]

Soon after disembarking, C-3PO and R2-D2 traveled to the address indicated for Kemp's dwelling, only to find it a still-smoldering ruin. There, they were confronted by Ellon, who was initially wary of the possibility of the droids working for Kugg. After letting them know of their owner's fate, Ellon offered the mechanical pair work helping him with salvaging and took them on a landspeeder ride to his cave abode. There, C-3PO informed Ellon about the X-1 he had found—with the youth expressing his disappointment over the Intergalactic Law Agency's termination of the droid series potentially depriving the population of Dodz of a defense against Kugg—leading to the trio activating the droid, which only had low amounts of energy available due to power cell corrosion.^[4]

Showdown

Ellon and his three droids then ventured to attend the monthly meeting of the Citizen's Council of Dodz. At the meeting, the councilors, including Head Councilman Althon, expressed their intent to deny Kugg's demands; however, at that moment, the governor also arrived. With the Destroyer beginning to demolish the Council Dwelling, Kugg coerced the council into not only agreeing to his latest tax increase, but to also pay triple the amount of money due. After Ellon and his companions arrived late to the scene, Althon, who was shocked at the youth's discovery of the X-1, attempted to talk him out of using the supposedly dangerous automaton. An old local^[4] man,^[9] however, encouraged the scavenger to keep fighting, reminding him of the previous struggles of the inhabitants of Dodz.^[4]

On the following day, as the councilors met with Kugg at his mansion to hand over the latest tax payment, Ellon, who was surreptitiously observing the meeting, revealed his and the X-1's presence to the governor. Kugg ordered the Destroyer to attack the other droid, leading to a brawl between the two mechanical combatants. When the fight began to favor the Destroyer due to the X-1's lower energy levels, R2-D2 tapped into the power systems of Kugg's droid and transferred power to the X-1, allowing the latter to then use all of his energy reserves to disintegrate the Destroyer.^[4]

The councilors subsequently restrained Kugg, intending to hand him over to an intergalactic trial. Ellon also accepted Althon's apology and gratitude, only asking that the planet's population remember the role the X-1—who had become a motionless standing figure—had played in the liberation of Dodz. A short time later, an Intergalactic Droid Agency shuttle returned to the planet to pick up C-3PO and R2-D2 due to the latter having sustained critical microsynapse damage during the battle between the Destroyer and the X-1 and there not being adequate facilities on Dodz to effect the necessary repairs.^[4]

Inhabitants

Dodz was home to a population that included Galactic Basic Standard–speaking Humans.^[4] It had a profitable crystal mining industry^[5] and was governed by the Citizen's Council of Dodz, led by a Head Councilman. The young orphaned Jost Ellon made a meager living on Dodz by fixing and selling salvaged technology.^[4]

Locations

Dodz was the site of a number of buildings, including the Council Dwelling of the Citizen's Council of Dodz; the mansion of the planet's Governor Kugg, and the dwelling of the crystal merchant Lott Kemp. The crystal mines and the cave where Jost Ellon lived where also located there. After the battle between the Destroyer and the Ranger X-1 near Kugg's mansion, the deactivated X-1 remained standing on a small hill^[4] in a heroic pose.^[9]

Behind the scenes

Dodz first appeared in the first issue of Star Comics' Star Wars: Droids comic book series, which was written by David Manak, penciled by John Romita Sr.,^[4] and published in February 1986.^[12] The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas placed the Dodz system, and thereby the planet itself, in grid square U-13.^[3]

Appearances

Explore all of Wookieepedia's images for this article subject.

• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Shadow of Revan (Mentioned only)
• Droids (1986) 1 (First appearance)
• Droids (1986) 2 (Mentioned only)

Sources

• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• The Droids Re-Animated: Part 1 on StarWars.com (original link is obsolete)

Notes and references