Dithanune, a planet, existed within the Dithanune system. This system resided within the Bortele sector, which itself was part of the Slice region of the Mid Rim. Famously, it served as the homeworld of the needle beast, a deadly predator. This creature was encountered by Thar'quan, a Defel miner working undercover as a spy and saboteur for the Rebel Alliance, around the time of the Galactic Civil War.
The name of Dithanune first appeared in Cracken's Rebel Operatives, a 1994 sourcebook from West End Games for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, in reference to the "Dithanune needle beast". Craig Robert Carey and J. Michael Denbo were the authors of the section that mentioned the creature. Later, in 2008, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia officially recognized Dithanune as its own planet. The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas specified the location of the Dithanune system, and consequently the planet, as grid square R-8.