# Are the "Star Wars" movies set in our Universe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947 "2019-09-09T18:38:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/1 "2019-09-09T18:38:21Z")
Are the Star Wars movies set in our Universe, at some future point in time, or in a fantasy Universe? Is this topic addressed in the movies? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/2 "2019-09-09T18:41:30Z")
Welp, it takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/3 "2019-09-09T18:41:39Z")
Given that the first movie opens with this line: > [@](#): > > “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” it’s clear that they are set in our Universe, but in the distant past, not future. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/4 "2019-09-09T18:43:46Z")
Of course since the opening is a riff on the traditional opening of fairy tales, “Long long ago in a country far far away,” one could conclude that it’s just a fantasy too. But as far as what is said, it’s our Universe. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/5 "2019-09-09T18:47:58Z")
> [@](#): > > “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” I forgot that bit. So Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and “Ben” Kenobi are “humanoids”, but not humans? And they are not, technically, speaking English? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/6 "2019-09-09T18:57:34Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > I forgot that bit. > > So Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and “Ben” Kenobi are “humanoids”, but not humans? And they are not, technically, speaking English? According to non-movie sources, they’re human, and they speak “Galactic Basic”. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/7 "2019-09-09T19:11:43Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > I forgot that bit. > > So Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and “Ben” Kenobi are “humanoids”, but not humans? And they are not, technically, speaking English? To - kinda - misquote Harrison Ford: “Kid, this ain’t that sorta movie.” ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/8 "2019-09-09T19:20:54Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > According to non-movie sources, they’re human… This raises a lot of questions. It might have been more prudent for them to be humanoid, but since it’s non-movie, it’s not official and can be disregarded at one’s personal discretion. If one accepts the _Star Wars_ humanoids as being “human”, then that surely means that they are related to the humans on Earth. The logical conclusion of that would be that the _Star Wars_ universe is not the same as our Universe, since science shows that humans on Earth developed from bipedal apes as part an evolutionary process taking millions of years, and not as a space colony of some distant intergalactic species of humans. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > …and they speak “Galactic Basic”. Do the _Star Wars_ humans/humanoids have a species name? A home planet? What script/alphabet system does the Galactic Basic language use? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/9 "2019-09-09T19:22:06Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > it’s clear that they are set in our Universe, but in the distant past, not future. The story is definitely set in _a_ distant past, which could be _our_ future. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/10 "2019-09-09T19:24:49Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > What script/alphabet system does the Galactic Basic language use? This is the script they use: > **[Languages in Star Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_in_Star_Wars#/media/File:Star-Wars-aurek-besh-alphabet-chart.svg)** > > The Star Wars space opera universe, created by George Lucas, features some dialogue spoken in fictional languages. The lingua franca of the franchise is known in-universe as "Galactic Basic", used to refer to the language of the film or work itself, be it English or a language that the work was dubbed or translated into. > Characters often speak languages other than Basic, notably Shyriiwook spoken by Chewbacca and other Wookiees, droidspeak spoken by R2-D2 and BB-8, Ewokese spoken by Ewoks, and... ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/11 "2019-09-09T19:27:26Z")
Given that stormtroopers rock out to Jefferson Starship, it must be in our universe. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/12 "2019-09-09T19:37:16Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > The story is definitely set in _a_ distant past, which could be _our_ future. 🙂 Yes, or possibly they’re descendants of colonizers who where thrown back in time somehow when the migrated. Those colonizers brought only English with them which then became the new basic. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/13 "2019-09-09T19:37:46Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > Given that stormtroopers rock out to Jefferson Starship, it must be in our universe. [Good point!](https://youtu.be/MmpJ9zQvEVA?t=127) The song Jefferson Starship played was “Light the Sky on Fire”, which was included as a bonus 45 rpm single in the Jefferson Starship greatest hits collection _Gold_ - in _our_ Universe. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/14 "2019-09-09T19:50:32Z")
There weren’t any signs or labels in english, were there? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/15 "2019-09-09T20:04:41Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Of course since the opening is a riff on the traditional opening of fairy tales, “Long long ago in a country far far away,” one could conclude that it’s just a fantasy too. But as far as what is said, it’s our Universe. Are fairy tales, or urban fantasy, or superhero stories, set in our Universe? Or are they set in an alternative universe that is _like_ ours except for some significant differences (e.g. magic works)? ---
**Author:** ![Nauplius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nauplius/32/51_2.png) [@Nauplius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nauplius)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/16 "2019-09-09T20:20:25Z")
[Even though it looks like it’s the future, it’s really a long, long time ago](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9tgLnI0fFc) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/17 "2019-09-09T20:21:52Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Are fairy tales, or urban fantasy, or superhero stories, set in our Universe? Or are they set in an alternative universe that is _like_ ours except for some significant differences (e.g. magic works)? When you talk about an “alternative universe,” you are kind of assuming that place is real in some sense, or might be real. While these stories borrow real elements, they take place outside of reality. People sometimes suggest that _Game of Thrones_ takes place on a “different planet.” Actually, it takes place in a different (un)reality. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/18 "2019-09-09T20:23:36Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Are fairy tales, or urban fantasy, or superhero stories, set in our Universe? Or are they set in an alternative universe that is _like_ ours except for some significant differences (e.g. magic works)? Exactly. These kinds of questions miss the point of what fiction is. A fictional movie is not a documentary about a nonexistent setting. It’s fiction. There is no logical connection between it and reality. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/19 "2019-09-09T20:34:37Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > There weren’t any signs or labels in english, were there? There were originally. When Obi-Wan deactivated the tractor beam in ANH, the labels were in English. The modified editions changed this to gibberish space text. You can find examples of each on YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/20 "2019-09-09T21:29:16Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Do the _Star Wars_ humans/humanoids have a species name? A home planet? They are called humans. Very human-like species (most, if not all, of which are offshoots of humans), such as the Chiss, are referred to as hear-human. Humanoid includes humans, near-humans, and a lot of not-at-all human species who happen to adhere to basically the same bauplan as humans, such as the Twi’leks. Beyond ‘human’, humans are usually referred to by their homeworld - Corellians, frex. It’s not known for sure where Humans originated, but it’s generally assumed to be Coruscant. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947.md?page=2)