Trantor
Encyclopedia
Trantor is a fiction
al planet
in Isaac Asimov
's Foundation Series and Empire Series
of science fiction
novel
s.
Trantor was first described in a short story by Asimov appearing in Early Asimov Volume 1. Later Trantor gained prominence when the 1940s Foundation Series first appeared in print (in the form of short stories
). Asimov described Trantor as being in the centre of the galaxy. In later stories he acknowledged the growth in astronomical
knowledge by retcon
ning its position to be as close to the galactic centre as was compatible with human habitability. The first time it was acknowledged in novel form was in Pebble in the Sky
.
, mentioning the five worlds of the Trantorian Republic growing into the Trantorian Confederation and then Trantorian Empire (evidently modeled on the Roman Republic
, originally ruling only part of central Italy, developing into the vast Roman Empire
).
At the time when Currents takes place, Trantor controls about half of the worlds in the Galaxy, while the other half is divided into innumerable independent worlds and miniature empires – which naturally makes a Trantorian Ambassador a person of great consequence on any of the still-independent worlds.
Later on, conquest of the entire galaxy made the Galactic Empire, with Trantor as its capital planet, a reality; the planet no longer sending out ambassadors, but only governors to royal subject worlds. This situation had already existed for thousands of years at the time of Pebble in the Sky
, the next chronological book on this timeline.
Trantor is depicted as the capital of the first Galactic Empire
. Its land surface of 194,000,000 km² (75,000,000 miles², 130% of Earth land area) was, with the exception of the Imperial Palace, entirely enclosed in artificial domes.
It consisted of an enormous metropolis
(an ecumenopolis
) that stretched deep underground, and was home to a population of 45,000,000,000 (45 billion
) human inhabitants at its height(although the Second Foundation
mentions a figure ten times that of administrators alone), a population density of 232 per km² (600 per mile², in comparison, New York City
in real life possesses an estimated 27,147.4
people per mile²). Its population was devoted almost entirely to either administration of the Empire or to maintenance of the planet itself.
The Encyclopedia Galactica states further on Trantor: "As the centre of the Imperial Government for unbroken hundreds of generations and located, as it was, toward the central regions of the Galaxy among the most densely populated and industrially advanced worlds of the system, it could scarcely help being the densest and richest clot of humanity the Race had ever seen."
A Trantorian day
lasted 1.08 Galactic Standard Days.
One of the prominent features of Trantor was the Library of Trantor (variously referred to as the Imperial Library, the University of Trantor Library, and the Galactic Library), in which librarian
s index the entirety of human knowledge by walking up to a different computer terminal every day and resuming where the previous librarian left off.
Around 260 FE, a rebel leader named Gilmer attempted a coup, in the process sacking Trantor and forcing the Imperial family to flee to the nearby world of Delicass, renamed Neotrantor. After the sack, the population dwindled rapidly from 40 billion to less than 100 million. Most of the buildings on Trantor were destroyed during the sack, and over the course of the next two centuries the metal
on Trantor was gradually sold off, as farmers uncovered more and more soil
to use in their farms. Eventually the farmers grew to become the sole recognized inhabitants of the planet, and the era of Trantor as the central world of the galaxy came to a close. It began to develop a dialect very different from Galactic Standard Speech, and the people unofficially renamed their planet "Hame", or "home."
As revealed to the reader at the end of Second Foundation
, not all these farmers were what they seemed, with the now-rustic Trantor serving as the centre of the Second Foundation. From Trantor, the Second Foundationers secretly guided the development of the Galaxy (roughly parallel to the city of Rome becoming, after the fall of its empire, the headquarters of the Papacy, with its enormous influence on the development of Medieval Europe). Indeed, their self-perception as leaders of the future Second Empire is captured in the Second Foundationers' use of the word "Hamish" to describe the farmers despite reserving for themselves use of the word "Trantorian." It is noted that it was the Second Foundation which ensured that the famed library would survive the sacking to Trantor and the destruction of its urban culture – especially significant, considering that the library was vital to the Second Foundation itself.
In the Asimov canon, where events of this time are depicted mainly from a Foundation perspective, the Fall of Trantor is mentioned only as a piece of faraway news and in various later short references. However, Harry Turtledove
attempted to fill in the details in his "Trantor Falls", focusing on the efforts by the Second Foundation to survive during the sacking of Trantor (published in the 1989 Foundation's Friends
, where various writers took up the Foundation universe).
), "... the impossibility of proper administration... under the uninspired leadership of the later Emperors was a considerable factor in the Fall." To support the needs and whims of the population, food from twenty agricultural
worlds brought by ships
in the tens of thousands, fleets greater than any navy ever constructed by the Empire. "Its dependence upon the outer worlds for food and, indeed, for all necessities of life, made Trantor increasingly vulnerable to conquest by siege. In the last millennium of the Empire, the monotonously numerous revolts made Emperor after Emperor conscious of this, and Imperial policy became little more than the protection of Trantor's delicate jugular vein..." (Encyclopedia Galactica)
In Prelude to Foundation
(1989), Asimov indicates that this was not always so: originally, most of Trantor's basic food needs were fulfilled by Trantor's "vast microorganism farms.". Yeast
vats and algae
farms produced basic nutrients, which were then processed with artificial flavors into palatable food. The subterranean farms, however, depended entirely on care provided by tik-toks (lesser robots), and their destruction following an abortive uprising (chronicled in Foundation's Fear
) left the Imperial capital largely dependent upon food brought from other worlds. Hindsight observers might recognize that it was therefore the tik-tok uprising, perhaps more than any other single event, that set the stage for Trantor's sack and the final collapse of the Galactic Empire. Foundation's Edge
mentions algae growing on Trantor, which is called a totally inadequate source of food, so it is possible some of the later Emperors attempted to rectify the situation with limited success.
as the creative basis for the Foundation series, so Trantor is in some sense based on Rome
at the height of the Roman Empire. Trantor also illustrates the mentality of human beings that was first encountered in Asimov's The Caves of Steel
, wherein human technology
will ultimately result in a complete encapsulation of a population, and that population will eventually suffer psychosis
associated with that total encapsulation. Asimov did once say that these encapsulated cities represented the kind of place in which he'd like to live (in real life, Asimov was an agoraphobic
individual who spent virtually all his time writing inside his New York City apartment; he seldom travelled and when he did, only by train and never by airplane). He did not even realize how distasteful some people found this until someone asked him about it.
film
s by George Lucas
, the first being Coruscant
(which was in some early sources called "Jhantor", in homage to Trantor). Coruscant is one of the more convincing images on screen we have today of Isaac Asimov's conception of the world-girdling city of Trantor. Coruscant is a planet-covering open-air city, while Trantor's buildings are all subterranean or under domes. Asimov's Trantor thus differs from Coruscant in that Trantor is more practically adapted to inclement weather, although weather control
devices are used on both planets. It should be noted that there is a planet called Trantor in the Star Wars universe, and it is also an ecumenopolis
.
The planet Helior in Harry Harrison
's Bill, the Galactic Hero
satirises Trantor, highlighting the problems of atmosphere, waste disposal and navigating about a world-sized city.
In the Runaway series of adventure games, Trantor is home planet of this universe's alien species. However, no connection besides the name are made to the original.
Trantor Systems, Ltd., a computer parts manufacturer now part of Adaptec
, was presumably named for Asimov's planet.
"TrantorCon 23309" was proposed by Larry Niven
at Worldcon
in 1976.
, according to Asimov, in the Galactic Empire as a whole as well as on Trantor itself, there were still some recognizable populations primarily descended from the original races on Earth. What we call Caucasian
s were called Westerners (except Blonds who were called Northerners), what we call East Asians were called Easterners, and what we call Black people
were called Southerners. No one could remember why these names were used because no one remembered human origins on Earth.
Each planet in the Galactic Empire is divided into administrative sectors. Trantor had over 800, averaging 50,000,000 people each, in 240000 km² (92,664.5 sq mi), about the size of Uganda
or the U.S. state of Kansas
. The known sectors are:
Dahl—One of the poorer sections of Trantor. The main job of the lower class is heatsinking, where workers supervise the conversion of heat from the planet's core directly into electric power
by sinking extremely long rods into the inner core of the planet (the three other major sources of electric power were hydroelectric dams on the underground rivers, fusion energy, and solar energy from Trantor's sun, both from rooftop solar arrays and from solar energy satellites orbiting Trantor that beamed microwave energy to the surface); 'heatsinkers' were generally looked down upon by other Dahlites. Naturally, most Dahlites hated the Empire, and the soldiers of the Empire ('sunbadgers'). Dahlites were dark skinned
, black-haired, and fairly short. Dahlite males wore a large, thick mustache, and all carried knives (then very backward). Rather than using 'Mr.', 'Mrs.', or 'Dr.', as forms of address, Dahlites always used 'Master' and 'Mistress' (never 'Doctor'). The name Dahl may be reference to the Indian dalit
or untouchable caste. Known Dahlites: Yugo Amaryl
, Mother Rittah, Raych Seldon
.
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al 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,...
in Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
's Foundation Series and Empire Series
Isaac Asimov's Galactic Empire Series
The Galactic Empire Series is a science fiction series containing three novels and one short story by the American author Isaac Asimov...
of science fiction
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...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s.
Trantor was first described in a short story by Asimov appearing in Early Asimov Volume 1. Later Trantor gained prominence when the 1940s Foundation Series first appeared in print (in the form of short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
). Asimov described Trantor as being in the centre of the galaxy. In later stories he acknowledged the growth in astronomical
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
knowledge by retcon
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
ning its position to be as close to the galactic centre as was compatible with human habitability. The first time it was acknowledged in novel form was in Pebble in the Sky
Pebble in the Sky
Pebble in the Sky is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in 1950. This work is his first novel — parts of the Foundation series had appeared from 1942 onwards, in magazines, but Foundation was not published in book form until 1951...
.
Geography and history
The earlier history of Trantor is recapitulated in The Currents of SpaceThe Currents of Space
The Currents of Space is a science fiction novel by the American writer Isaac Asimov. It is the second of three books labeled the Galactic Empire series, though it was the last of the three he wrote...
, mentioning the five worlds of the Trantorian Republic growing into the Trantorian Confederation and then Trantorian Empire (evidently modeled on the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
, originally ruling only part of central Italy, developing into the vast Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
).
At the time when Currents takes place, Trantor controls about half of the worlds in the Galaxy, while the other half is divided into innumerable independent worlds and miniature empires – which naturally makes a Trantorian Ambassador a person of great consequence on any of the still-independent worlds.
Later on, conquest of the entire galaxy made the Galactic Empire, with Trantor as its capital planet, a reality; the planet no longer sending out ambassadors, but only governors to royal subject worlds. This situation had already existed for thousands of years at the time of Pebble in the Sky
Pebble in the Sky
Pebble in the Sky is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in 1950. This work is his first novel — parts of the Foundation series had appeared from 1942 onwards, in magazines, but Foundation was not published in book form until 1951...
, the next chronological book on this timeline.
Trantor is depicted as the capital of the first Galactic Empire
Galactic Empire (Asimov)
In Isaac Asimov's Robot/Empire/Foundation series of novels, the Galactic Empire is an empire consisting of millions of planets settled by humans across the whole Milky Way Galaxy. Its symbol is the Spaceship and Sun logo.-Author's creation of the empire:...
. Its land surface of 194,000,000 km² (75,000,000 miles², 130% of Earth land area) was, with the exception of the Imperial Palace, entirely enclosed in artificial domes.
It consisted of an enormous metropolis
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
(an ecumenopolis
Ecumenopolis
Ecumenopolis is a word invented in 1967 by the Greek city planner Constantinos Doxiadis to represent the idea that in the future urban areas and megalopolises would eventually fuse and there would be a single continuous worldwide city as a...
) that stretched deep underground, and was home to a population of 45,000,000,000 (45 billion
1000000000 (number)
1,000,000,000 is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001.In scientific notation, it is written as 109....
) human inhabitants at its height(although the Second Foundation
Second Foundation
Second Foundation is the third novel published of the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, and the fifth in the in-universe chronology. It was first published in 1953 by Gnome Press....
mentions a figure ten times that of administrators alone), a population density of 232 per km² (600 per mile², in comparison, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in real life possesses an estimated 27,147.4
Largest Cities in the United States by Population by Decade
]This entry tracks and ranks the population of the largest cities in the United States by decade, starting with the 1790 Census. For 1790 through 1990, tables are taken from "Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990." For year 2000 rankings,...
people per mile²). Its population was devoted almost entirely to either administration of the Empire or to maintenance of the planet itself.
The Encyclopedia Galactica states further on Trantor: "As the centre of the Imperial Government for unbroken hundreds of generations and located, as it was, toward the central regions of the Galaxy among the most densely populated and industrially advanced worlds of the system, it could scarcely help being the densest and richest clot of humanity the Race had ever seen."
A Trantorian day
Day
A day is a unit of time, commonly defined as an interval equal to 24 hours. It also can mean that portion of the full day during which a location is illuminated by the light of the sun...
lasted 1.08 Galactic Standard Days.
One of the prominent features of Trantor was the Library of Trantor (variously referred to as the Imperial Library, the University of Trantor Library, and the Galactic Library), in which librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
s index the entirety of human knowledge by walking up to a different computer terminal every day and resuming where the previous librarian left off.
Around 260 FE, a rebel leader named Gilmer attempted a coup, in the process sacking Trantor and forcing the Imperial family to flee to the nearby world of Delicass, renamed Neotrantor. After the sack, the population dwindled rapidly from 40 billion to less than 100 million. Most of the buildings on Trantor were destroyed during the sack, and over the course of the next two centuries the metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
on Trantor was gradually sold off, as farmers uncovered more and more soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
to use in their farms. Eventually the farmers grew to become the sole recognized inhabitants of the planet, and the era of Trantor as the central world of the galaxy came to a close. It began to develop a dialect very different from Galactic Standard Speech, and the people unofficially renamed their planet "Hame", or "home."
As revealed to the reader at the end of Second Foundation
Second Foundation
Second Foundation is the third novel published of the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, and the fifth in the in-universe chronology. It was first published in 1953 by Gnome Press....
, not all these farmers were what they seemed, with the now-rustic Trantor serving as the centre of the Second Foundation. From Trantor, the Second Foundationers secretly guided the development of the Galaxy (roughly parallel to the city of Rome becoming, after the fall of its empire, the headquarters of the Papacy, with its enormous influence on the development of Medieval Europe). Indeed, their self-perception as leaders of the future Second Empire is captured in the Second Foundationers' use of the word "Hamish" to describe the farmers despite reserving for themselves use of the word "Trantorian." It is noted that it was the Second Foundation which ensured that the famed library would survive the sacking to Trantor and the destruction of its urban culture – especially significant, considering that the library was vital to the Second Foundation itself.
In the Asimov canon, where events of this time are depicted mainly from a Foundation perspective, the Fall of Trantor is mentioned only as a piece of faraway news and in various later short references. However, Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
attempted to fill in the details in his "Trantor Falls", focusing on the efforts by the Second Foundation to survive during the sacking of Trantor (published in the 1989 Foundation's Friends
Foundation's Friends
Foundation's Friends, Stories in Honor of Isaac Asimov is a 1989 festschrift honoring science fiction author Isaac Asimov, in the form of an anthology of short stories set in Asimov's universes, particularly the Robot/Empire/Foundation universe. The anthology was edited by Martin H...
, where various writers took up the Foundation universe).
Food production
According to the original Foundation Trilogy (1951), Asimov states (by way of the Encyclopedia GalacticaEncyclopedia Galactica
The Encyclopædia Galactica is a fictional or hypothetical encyclopædia of a future human galaxy-spanning civilization, containing all the knowledge accumulated by a society with quadrillions of people and thousands of years of history...
), "... the impossibility of proper administration... under the uninspired leadership of the later Emperors was a considerable factor in the Fall." To support the needs and whims of the population, food from twenty agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
worlds brought by ships
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
in the tens of thousands, fleets greater than any navy ever constructed by the Empire. "Its dependence upon the outer worlds for food and, indeed, for all necessities of life, made Trantor increasingly vulnerable to conquest by siege. In the last millennium of the Empire, the monotonously numerous revolts made Emperor after Emperor conscious of this, and Imperial policy became little more than the protection of Trantor's delicate jugular vein..." (Encyclopedia Galactica)
In Prelude to Foundation
Prelude to Foundation
Prelude to Foundation is a Locus Award nominated 1988 novel written by Isaac Asimov. It is one of two prequels to the Foundation Series. For the first time, Asimov chronicles the fictional life of Hari Seldon, the man who invented psychohistory and the intellectual hero of the series.-Plot...
(1989), Asimov indicates that this was not always so: originally, most of Trantor's basic food needs were fulfilled by Trantor's "vast microorganism farms.". Yeast
Yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
vats and algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
farms produced basic nutrients, which were then processed with artificial flavors into palatable food. The subterranean farms, however, depended entirely on care provided by tik-toks (lesser robots), and their destruction following an abortive uprising (chronicled in Foundation's Fear
Foundation's Fear
Foundation's Fear is a science fiction novel by Gregory Benford, set in Isaac Asimov's Foundation universe. It is the first book of the Second Foundation trilogy, which was written after Asimov's death by three authors, authorized by the Asimov estate....
) left the Imperial capital largely dependent upon food brought from other worlds. Hindsight observers might recognize that it was therefore the tik-tok uprising, perhaps more than any other single event, that set the stage for Trantor's sack and the final collapse of the Galactic Empire. Foundation's Edge
Foundation's Edge
Foundation's Edge is a science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov, the fourth book in the Foundation Series. It was written more than thirty years after the stories of the original Foundation trilogy, due to years of pressure by fans and editors on Asimov to write another, and, according to Asimov...
mentions algae growing on Trantor, which is called a totally inadequate source of food, so it is possible some of the later Emperors attempted to rectify the situation with limited success.
Symbolism
Trantor represents several different aspects of civilization. At once it is both the centre of power in the galaxy, and also the administrative head. It is also an illustration of what could eventually happen to any urbanized planet. Asimov used the Roman EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
as the creative basis for the Foundation series, so Trantor is in some sense based on Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
at the height of the Roman Empire. Trantor also illustrates the mentality of human beings that was first encountered in Asimov's The Caves of Steel
The Caves of Steel
The Caves of Steel is a novel by Isaac Asimov. It is essentially a detective story, and illustrates an idea Asimov advocated, that science fiction is a flavor that can be applied to any literary genre, rather than a limited genre itself. Specifically, in the book Asimov's Mysteries, he states that...
, wherein human technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
will ultimately result in a complete encapsulation of a population, and that population will eventually suffer psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
associated with that total encapsulation. Asimov did once say that these encapsulated cities represented the kind of place in which he'd like to live (in real life, Asimov was an agoraphobic
Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder defined as a morbid fear of having a panic attack or panic-like symptoms in a situation from which it is perceived to be difficult to escape. These situations can include, but are not limited to, wide-open spaces, crowds, or uncontrolled social conditions...
individual who spent virtually all his time writing inside his New York City apartment; he seldom travelled and when he did, only by train and never by airplane). He did not even realize how distasteful some people found this until someone asked him about it.
Inspired by Trantor
There have been some serious attempts to illustrate a planet like Trantor in the Star WarsStar 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...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s by George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
, the first being Coruscant
Coruscant
Coruscant is a planet in the fictional Star Wars universe. It first appeared onscreen in the 1997 Special Edition of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, but was first mentioned in Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel Heir to the Empire...
(which was in some early sources called "Jhantor", in homage to Trantor). Coruscant is one of the more convincing images on screen we have today of Isaac Asimov's conception of the world-girdling city of Trantor. Coruscant is a planet-covering open-air city, while Trantor's buildings are all subterranean or under domes. Asimov's Trantor thus differs from Coruscant in that Trantor is more practically adapted to inclement weather, although weather control
Weather control
Weather control is the act of manipulating or altering certain aspects of the environment to produce desirable changes in weather. Weather control can have the goal of preventing damaging weather, such as hurricanes or tornadoes, from occurring; of causing beneficial weather, such as rainfall in...
devices are used on both planets. It should be noted that there is a planet called Trantor in the Star Wars universe, and it is also an ecumenopolis
Ecumenopolis
Ecumenopolis is a word invented in 1967 by the Greek city planner Constantinos Doxiadis to represent the idea that in the future urban areas and megalopolises would eventually fuse and there would be a single continuous worldwide city as a...
.
The planet Helior in Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
's Bill, the Galactic Hero
Bill, the Galactic Hero
Bill, the Galactic Hero is a satirical science fiction novel by Harry Harrison, first published in 1965.Harrison reports having been approached by a Vietnam veteran who described Bill as "the only book that's true about the military."...
satirises Trantor, highlighting the problems of atmosphere, waste disposal and navigating about a world-sized city.
In the Runaway series of adventure games, Trantor is home planet of this universe's alien species. However, no connection besides the name are made to the original.
Trantor Systems, Ltd., a computer parts manufacturer now part of Adaptec
Adaptec
Adaptec is a computer hardware brand owned by PMC-Sierra that is used on some of its host adapters for connecting storage devices to computers. The production line of Adaptec is in Indonesia. Products are made to interface with SCSI, Serial ATA, and Serial attached SCSI. Some of its host adapters...
, was presumably named for Asimov's planet.
"TrantorCon 23309" was proposed by Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
at Worldcon
Worldcon
Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention held each year since 1939 . It is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society...
in 1976.
Races on Trantor
Although by 22,500 years in the future, there had been much racial intermarriage and most people were multiracialMultiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
, according to Asimov, in the Galactic Empire as a whole as well as on Trantor itself, there were still some recognizable populations primarily descended from the original races on Earth. What we call Caucasian
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
s were called Westerners (except Blonds who were called Northerners), what we call East Asians were called Easterners, and what we call Black people
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
were called Southerners. No one could remember why these names were used because no one remembered human origins on Earth.
Administrative sectors
Streeling University (also known as SU) is a fictional university in the Foundation Universe, modeled after Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
Each planet in the Galactic Empire is divided into administrative sectors. Trantor had over 800, averaging 50,000,000 people each, in 240000 km² (92,664.5 sq mi), about the size of Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
or the U.S. state of Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. The known sectors are:
Dahl—One of the poorer sections of Trantor. The main job of the lower class is heatsinking, where workers supervise the conversion of heat from the planet's core directly into electric power
Electric power
Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...
by sinking extremely long rods into the inner core of the planet (the three other major sources of electric power were hydroelectric dams on the underground rivers, fusion energy, and solar energy from Trantor's sun, both from rooftop solar arrays and from solar energy satellites orbiting Trantor that beamed microwave energy to the surface); 'heatsinkers' were generally looked down upon by other Dahlites. Naturally, most Dahlites hated the Empire, and the soldiers of the Empire ('sunbadgers'). Dahlites were dark skinned
Human skin color
Human skin color is primarily due to the presence of melanin in the skin. Skin color ranges from almost black to white with a pinkish tinge due to blood vessels underneath. Variation in natural skin color is mainly due to genetics, although the evolutionary causes are not completely certain...
, black-haired, and fairly short. Dahlite males wore a large, thick mustache, and all carried knives (then very backward). Rather than using 'Mr.', 'Mrs.', or 'Dr.', as forms of address, Dahlites always used 'Master' and 'Mistress' (never 'Doctor'). The name Dahl may be reference to the Indian dalit
Dalit
Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...
or untouchable caste. Known Dahlites: Yugo Amaryl
Yugo Amaryl
Yugo Amaryl is a fictional character in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. Amaryl, along with Hari Seldon, worked on psychohistory until his death at age 52....
, Mother Rittah, Raych Seldon
Raych Seldon
Raych Seldon is a fictional character in Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series. Raych is the adopted son of Hari Seldon and Dors Venabili, the primary characters in the first two books of the series...
.
-
- Billibotton—A slum in Dahl, on the lower level. This was where Mother Rittah lived, and where Hari SeldonHari SeldonHari Seldon, a fictional character, is the intellectual hero of Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series. In his capacity as mathematics professor at Streeling University on Trantor, he developed psychohistory, allowing him to predict the future in probabilistic terms...
and Dors VenabiliDors VenabiliIn Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series, Dors Venabili is a good friend, protector and later wife of Hari Seldon, the primary character of Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation. At face value, Dors is an attractive woman, two years younger than Seldon...
met their future adoptive son, Raych SeldonRaych SeldonRaych Seldon is a fictional character in Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series. Raych is the adopted son of Hari Seldon and Dors Venabili, the primary characters in the first two books of the series...
. Billibotton was famous for its complete lawlessness. Without the help of Dors, Seldon never would have left it alive.
- Billibotton—A slum in Dahl, on the lower level. This was where Mother Rittah lived, and where Hari Seldon
- Ery—The sector in which Wanda SeldonWanda SeldonWanda Seldon is a fictional character in Isaac Asimov's science fiction Foundation series. The daughter of Raych Seldon and Manella Dubanqua, Wanda played a key role in creating the two Foundations....
and Stettin Palver met Bor Alurin. - Imperial—The sector in which the Imperial Palace and the Galactic Library lie. When Seldon first visited Trantor to deliver his speech at the Decennial Convention, fashion in the sector called for bold, bright colorColorColor or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
s and wearing hatHatA hat is a head covering. It can be worn for protection against the elements, for ceremonial or religious reasons, for safety, or as a fashion accessory. In the past, hats were an indicator of social status...
s without chinstraps. According to Asimov, many of the inhabitants of this sector were tall Northerner yellowhairs, implying that they were people of what we call NordicScandinaviansScandinavians are a group of Germanic peoples, inhabiting Scandinavia and to a lesser extent countries associated with Scandinavia, and speaking Scandinavian languages. The group includes Danes, Norwegians and Swedes, and additionally the descendants of Scandinavian settlers such as the Icelandic...
ancestry. - Mandanov
- Millimaru—The sector Raych claimed to be (and maybe was) born in when he infiltrated the Joranumite movement.
- Mycogen— As Asimov explains in Prelude to Foundation, their name is formed from the Greek stems myco- (meaning 'yeast' or other types of fungi) and -gen (meaning 'maker' or 'producer'), which matches the description of the Mycogen as specialized in breeding and exporting yeast, or "microfood," to other portions of Trantor. It kept the best for itself; the food eaten by Seldon in Mycogen was the best he had ever had. Mycogenians were descendants of the ancient SpacerSpacer (Asimov)In Isaac Asimov's Foundation/Empire/Robot series, the Spacers were the first humans to emigrate to space. About a millennium thereafter, they severed political ties with Earth, and embraced low population growth and extreme longevity as a means for a high standard of living, in combination with...
world AuroraAurora (planet)Aurora is a fictional planet in Isaac Asimov's Robot Series. It was the first world settled by the Spacers, originally named 'New Earth'; it was located 3.7 parsecs from Earth.-Origins & development:...
, and revered the use of robots and the lost past. They lived by a strict religionReligionReligion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
(to Mycogenians, 'history'). The 'high priest' was the leader of the council of elders, the government of Mycogen. During a rite of passage, all Mycogenians are completely depilated, so they can tell the difference between themselves and non-Mycogenians. Because hair is considered so repulsive, most Mycogenians shriek at its appearance; foreigners must wear skincaps at all times. The sight and feel of hair was considered similar to pornographyPornographyPornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
lewdness by Mycogenians. By tradition usually wear a cloak called 'kirtle', men always wear a white kirtle; women, a gray one. Mycogenian names are given by 'cohort', and number in the series. Known Mycogenians: Mycelium 72, Raindrop 43, Raindrop 45, Sunmaster 14, Skystrip 2. - Nevrask— One of the last sectors to hold out against Gilmer during the Great Sack
- North Damiano— A sector with a prominent University, involved in co-operative NephelometryNephelometryNephelometry is a technique used in immunology to determine levels of IgM, IgG, and IgA.It is performed by measuring the turbidity in a water sample by passing light through the sample being measured...
with Streeling University. North Damiano University operates Jet-downs equipped with sensory electronics. - Streeling—At the time Hari Seldon first arrived on Trantor, fashions in Streeling were not quite so boldly colorful as in the Imperial Sector. It was the site of Streeling University, a prestigious university noted for being almost completely out of the hands of the Empire. It later gained fame for housing Hari Seldon and his "Seldon Psychohistory Project."
- Wye—The ancient Dacian Dynasty of Emperors are the direct ancestors of the hereditary Mayoralty of the sector of Wye. Located by the South Pole, Wye exercised a good deal of political power, because it was the site where excess heat across the planet was released. If it shut down those systems, the heat would build up and destroy Trantor. During the time of Seldon's flight, Wye was preparing an Army for a coup. This action was stopped by Eto DemerzelR. Daneel OlivawR. Daneel Olivaw is a fictional robot created by Isaac Asimov. The "R" initial in his name stands for "robot," a naming convention in Asimov's future society...
, and the military of Wye disbanded. Known Wyans: Mayor Mannix IV, Mayor Rashelle I. - Ziggoreth— A sector with a prominent University. Ziggoreth University is involved in co-operative Nephelometric research with Streeling University, and operates Jet-downs equipped with sensory electronics.
Retroactive continuity
- In the original Foundation Trilogy, there is no indication of Trantor being divided among wildly diverse cultures, likewise, the surface is described as covered with towers rather than domes; its depiction in Prelude to FoundationPrelude to FoundationPrelude to Foundation is a Locus Award nominated 1988 novel written by Isaac Asimov. It is one of two prequels to the Foundation Series. For the first time, Asimov chronicles the fictional life of Hari Seldon, the man who invented psychohistory and the intellectual hero of the series.-Plot...
and Forward the FoundationForward the FoundationForward the Foundation is a novel written by Isaac Asimov. It is the second of two prequels to the Foundation Series. It is written in much the same style as the original novel Foundation, a novel composed of chapters with long intervals in between...
may be considered another example of retconRetconRetroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
ning.
- Although some have been confused by the apparent conflict between Trantorian self-sufficiency in terms of food supply in Prelude and the subsequent characterization in Encyclopedia Galactica of the planet as dependent upon twenty agricultural worlds for food, there is no conflict. Prelude depicts an earlier period of Imperial history, and as subsequently explained in Foundation's Fear, the food situation on Trantor changed precisely because its subterranean farms were shut down in the wake of the abortive tik-tok rebellion. That book directly establishes that it was this decision that made Trantor dependent on the produce of twenty agricultural worlds—ironically, the same worlds over which Neotrantor would hold its last, feeble sway.