Many episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 1 are set in Kamino’s Tipoca City, whose interiors are uncharacteristically bright and pristine for the Star Wars franchise. The Star Wars movies are renowned for their well-worn appearance, with most worlds, ship interiors, and settlements eschewing the more clean and polished aesthetic seen in most science fiction properties in favor of a more dirty and aged appearance. There are some rare exceptions to this, however, with cleaner environments standing out in the generally rugged Star Wars universes, and the planet Kamino is a notable example.
Introduced in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Kamino is an obscure aquatic world. In addition to being the home planet of the clinical Kaminoans, it is also the birthplace of the Galactic Republic’s Clone Army. The clone troopers were born, raised, and trained on Kamino, and although the elite soldiers lived among the near-emotionless Kaminoan cloning scientists, they understandably saw Kamino as their home. In a tragic and symbolic moment, the fledgling Galactic Empire ended clone trooper production by destroying Tipoca City towards the end of The Bad Batch season 1.
Kamino’s Tipoca City was one of the rare instances of a bright and clean environment in Star Wars. The main reason for this is that Kaminoan eyes could see in the ultraviolet spectrum. While the Tipoca City corridors may appear bright white to human eyes, they may have a variety of colors from a Kaminoan’s perspective. Kaminoans aren’t the only species that could view the ultraviolet spectrum. Umbarans and, in the Legends continuity, the lupine Defel species could see in ultraviolet as well, potentially giving them a similar view of Tipoca City’s interior.
A potential reason for Tipoca City’s bright and pristine appearance is also that it’s both a military base and a cloning facility. The Kaminoans are described as particularly skilled cloners in Attack of the Clones, and the clone troopers’ efficiency and general uniformity prove this. Naturally, as some of the franchise’s best cloners, the Kaminoan scientists keep their facilities sterile, maintaining an ideal environment for growing and modifying the Republic’s elite military force.
Behind the scenes, there are several reasons why Kamino was designed so uniquely. The Kaminoans and their home environment were meant to feel alien by Star Wars standards, highlighting Kamino’s obscurity and removal from the rest of the Star Wars galaxy. In Legends, Kamino is in the uncharted and unexplored region called Wild Space, and in canon, it’s separate from the main Star Wars galaxy. Another reason for Kamino and the clone troopers’ armor aesthetic was to foreshadow the suits of Imperial Stormtroopers, who wore bright white plastoid plating. In Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Kamino’s bright interiors and the new TK Troopers further tease the chronological introduction of Imperial Stormtroopers.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch releases new episodes Fridays on Disney+.
