Desert

Deserts are dry environments unable to sustain much life. Deserts can be hot or cold, their defining feature being the lack of water.

Life-forms native to deserts have usually evolved to live as efficiently as possible due to the limited resources.

Deserts in Science Fiction

The harsh environments of deserts are frequent settings in science fiction. Science fiction tends to have many single-biome planets, many of which are entirely desert.

• Tatooine is a desert planet in the Star Wars universe featuring the Dune Sea, the Sarlacc, Tusken Raiders, Jawas, and Jabba's Palace.
• Captain Kirk fought the Gorn in a desert on a planet chosen by the Metrons in Star Trek.
• The planet Arrakis from Frank Herbert's Dune novels is entirely a desert (for most of the series, anyway).