Manpha

Manpha
Astrographical information
Region	Outer Rim Territories Western Reaches
Sector	Seitia sector
System	Manpha system
Grid square	K-20
Trade routes	Corellian Trade Spine
Physical information
Class	Terrestrial
Climate	Humid
Terrain	Marshlands Swamps
Flora	Swamp grasses
Fauna	Fish
Societal information
Native species	Shawda Ubb
Population	10–100 million (Manpha system) (c. 25 ABY)
Major cities	Shanpan (capital)
Major exports	High-grade plastics

"Shawda Clubb sandwich
This popular sandwich boasts sliced Manpha-fowl, nuna bacon, Revwien lettuce and topato."

―Dexter Jettster, menu for Dex's Diner

Manpha was an Outer Rim Territories planet located in the Seitia sector. A humid world with marshlands and swamps on its single continent, it was the homeworld of the amphibian Shawda Ubb species. The Shawda Ubb primarily lived in many small communities scattered across Manpha's swamplands and harvested petroleum bubbling up out of the swamps. The substance was shipped to factories in Manpha's sole spaceport community, the capital city Shanpan, where it was processed into plastics for export offworld.

Atypically for a Shawda Ubb, the Manpha native Rapotwanalantonee Tivtotolon desired to travel beyond Manpha. In order to earn money to fulfill that goal, Tivtotolon played music and carried news to isolated communities across Manpha's continent. Eventually, the Shawda Ubb traveled to Shanpan, where he adopted the stage name "Rappertunie," and when the crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure and the Max Rebo Band visited Manpha at some point by 4 ABY, Rappertunie joined the band and accompanied Jabba and the musicians off Manpha.

Description

Manpha was a planet located in the Manpha system, a part of the Seitia sector in the Western Reaches portion of the Outer Rim Territories. It was situated on the super-hyperroute known as the Corellian Trade Spine, which connected it to the Sil'Lume system as well as the Terminus system of the Kallea sector.

A small world, Manpha had a single continent that featured marshlands and swamps. It constantly rained on the planet, and rich petroleum bubbled up out of its swamps. Manpha's marshes featured swamp grasses and fish. The planet also shared its name with the creature known as Manpha-fowl.

History

Space surrounding Manpha was explored between 3000 BBY and 1000 BBY. By the time of the Clone Wars, the planet was situated outside of the borders of the Galactic Republic, although during the first campaigns of that conflict in 22 BBY the Republic's Nineteenth Sector Army was nevertheless tasked with engaging the military forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems in Manpha's vicinity. By 17 BBY, Manpha was not a part of the territory controlled by the Republic's successor, the Galactic Empire.

The musician Rappertunie was native to Manpha.

From the day he hatched from his egg, the Manpha native Rapotwanalantonee Tivtotolon had an obssessive urge—in contrast to the rest of the planet's Shawda Ubb species—to travel and explore the entire galaxy, one planet at a time. After Tivtotolon learned about the city of Shanpan, Manpha's sole spaceport community, the young Shawda Ubb devoted his every waking hour to earning enough credits to travel there. He traveled extensively through the marsh communities of Manpha's continent, getting paid for playing music and carrying news to isolated villages.

By early adulthood, Tivtotolon had saved enough money to use a planetary shuttle to travel to Shanpan. There, the Shawda Ubb musician played in many bands, taking the more alien-friendly stage name "Rappertunie." In Shanpan's bars and casinos, Rappertunie conversed with visiting alien—predominantly Human—merchants, and for several years, he sought a way to travel off Manpha. At some point by 4 ABY, the crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure and the Max Rebo Band, which formed a part of Jabba's entourage, visited Manpha. Rappertunie infiltrated the hotel suite the Max Rebo Band was staying at and displayed his musical talents, which impressed the band's nominal leader, Max Rebo, and ultimately gave the Shawda Ubb the opportunity to accompany the musicians and Jabba offworld. At some point no earlier than 36 ABY, Manpha was mentioned in a guide to various species of the galaxy that was based on the research notes of sentientologist Mammon Hoole.

Inhabitants

Manpha was the homeworld of the Shawda Ubb species.

Manpha was the homeworld of the Shawda Ubb, a sentient amphibian species originally descended from avians. The Shawda Ubb were well-adapted for their planet's humid conditions, having evolved ridges on their foreheads that kept out rainwater out of their eyes. The population of the Manpha system around 25 ABY numbered between ten and one hundred million. The Shawda Ubb inhabited hundreds of thousands of small towns and villages scattered across the marshes and swamps of Manpha's continent. Those communities utilized a relatively low level of technology. The Growdi Harmonique was a musical instrument originating on Manpha.

Many of the Shawda Ubb communities practiced oil-refining, pumping into barrels the petroleum bubbling up out of the planet's swamps. The substance was sold to national oil companies based in Manpha's capital city, Shanpan, where factories processed the oil into high-grade plastics that were subsequently exported offworld. Shanpan was the only spaceport community on Manpha, and a large network of orbital transports and shuttles serviced the Shawda Ubb oil companies. A significant industry was also in place for transporting Shawda Ubb foodstuffs across the planet.

Behind the scenes

Manpha was introduced in the 1997 Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook, Special Edition, which was published by West End Games for use with Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. The planet was given its first visual depiction in the 2006 reference book The New Essential Guide to Alien Species, which was written by Ann Margaret Lewis and Helen Keier and illustrated by Chris Trevas and William O'Connor. The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas placed the Manpha system, and therefore the planet, in grid square K-20.

Sources

• Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook, Special Edition (First mentioned)
• Alien Encounters
•  Star Wars Customizable Card Game — Special Edition Limited (Card: Rappertunie) (backup link)
• "Who's Who in the Max Rebo Band" — Star Wars Insider 67
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 75 (MAX10, Max Rebo Band)
• The New Essential Guide to Alien Species (First pictured)
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• The Essential Atlas
• Star Wars: The Essential Atlas Online Companion on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)
• Dining at Dex's on Hyperspace (article) (content removed from StarWars.com and unavailable) (in Manpha-fowl's name)
• Star Wars Character Encyclopedia
• Rappertunie in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
• The Essential Guide to Warfare
• Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook
• The Official Star Wars Fact File Collector's Guide & Galaxy Chart
• Star Wars: Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook
• Star Wars: Force and Destiny Core Rulebook

Notes and references

In other languages

• Deutsch
• français
• Nederlands