Benni Baro was a human male thief and ipsium miner on Ipsidon during the Imperial Era.
After the Techno Union was forced out of Mokkotown following the end of the Clone Wars and the rise of Galactic Empire, the gang boss Mokko took over the mine Baro worked in. Arguing that the ipsium was degrading, Mokko reduced the workers' rations and forced them to work harder. When Clone Force 99 arrived on the desert planet, Baro used a pair of macrobinoculars to spy on them. He approached the clone's ship, the Marauder, on a speeder, and commandeered it, flying away before the squad could stop him. By doing so, Baro hoped he would be made "top earner" by Mokko and thus earn an additional ration.
After Baro helped Clone Force 99 get their ship back, the miners discovered that Mokko had been lying about the Ipsium's state and was keeping the profits for himself. Baro and his coworkers thus confronted him and in an attempt to defend himself, Mokko fell from a walkway over an ipsium mine. He attempted to pull Baro with him but the latter was rescued, causing Mokko to fall to his death.
Following Mokko's demise, Baro declared that he would keep mining ipsium but that the workers would now be getting an equal share of the profits.
Baro managed to steal the Marauder, Clone Force 99's ship.
Around 18 BBY, Benni Baro was an ipsium miner on Ipsidon. During the several months following the dissolution of the Techno Union, a gang boss named Mokko took over the mine Baro was working in and implemented a strict system based on merit, notably via the concept of "top earner." If one wanted to earn an extra ration, one needed to make the most profit. Claiming that the state of ipsium was degrading, Mokko lowered the workers' wages, which convinced Baro to steal a ship, hoping he would achieve a place in Mokko's inner circle and thus improve his condition. Indeed, one day, after scanning an area dozens of kilometers away from his town with a pair of macrobinoculars, Baro found an Omicron-class attack shuttle, which eventually turned out to be the Marauder, a ship belonging to a group of clone deserters Clone Force 99, known as the Bad Batch. After approaching the Marauder on a speeder bike, Baro managed to enter the ship without being noticed by the clones, who were retrieving ipsium inside a mine nearby. After deactivating its transponder, Baro went back to his town aboard the ship to meet with Mokko.
Above the town, Baro contacted Mokko, who initially chastised him for being late. However, Baro explained that he had something that Mokko would like, making the gang boss lower the deflector shield protecting the town. After the Marauder was taken by a conveyer belt into a hangar, Baro told his boss that he had found the ship in the northern territory of the planet. After Baro assumed that the shuttle probably belonged to amateur miners, Mokko answered that it was unusual for miners to travel in modified starships. When Mokko implied that Baro intended to bring trouble to the mine and stated that he was ungrateful, the miner declared that he was only trying to help and did not have such a goal. Mokko relented but concluded that it was best to dismantle and sell the ship piece by piece to avoid drawing attention. When Baro asked if his find would make him the top earner of the week, Mokko simply allowed him to keep the droid of the Bad Batch, Gonky. Baro then requested his water ration and in response, Mokko mockingly sipped a bottle of water, only allowing the miner to drink the remainder.
Baro agreed to help Clone Force 99 regain their ship.
Meanwhile, the Bad Batch had managed to track their droid through his binary code. As Baro was telling Gonky that he would have to sell him for spare parts since he was a defective droid, the miner was surprised by Hunter and Tech. After the former commented that Gonky belonged to the Bad Batch, they demanded to know where their ship was. Baro tried to flee on a speeder bike but was quickly ambushed and knocked to the ground by Wrecker. Restrained by Omega pointing her Zygerrian energy bow at him, Baro explained that the ship now belonged to Mokko. Reluctant to betray his boss claiming that the latter had taken care of him, Baro explained that he would lead the clones to their ship only if Mokko were never to learn of it.
Tech then generated a hologram of the schematic of the mine, which showed that it was protected by a ray shield and guards. When Tech proposed the group infiltrate the mine through the factory stack and its dangerous exhaust cycles, Baro stated they could be burnt alive and wanted to leave. However, the clones reminded him that he had to lead them to the Marauder. After using a grappling hook to descend into the factory and destroy the sentry droid guarding it, the clones and Baro witnessed a group of workers pushing crates of ipsium under the watch of armed droids. Baro explained that the degraded state of the ipsium had forced Mokko to lower wages to keep the mine running. Soon after, Baro told Clone Force 99 that their ship was in the upper garage bay across from the central tower and offered to show them a shortcut. After the clones got their ship back, Omega asked about the ray shield, which, if not deactivated, would prevent them from leaving the town. Baro explained that it could only be deactivated from the central tower and agreed that Omega accompany him.
Baro explained that the only way to enter the tower was to use an access card, something that only Mokko's inner circle had. After he and Omega entered a mess hall and quickly chatted with the workers, Baro managed to steal a card. Mokko then arrived and announced that the miner Drake was the winner of the latest round, granting him an extra ration. After the gang boss promised not to let his crew staff and left them to fight over a bowl of soup, Baro expressed his disappointment at not being made top earner. Inside a control room, Omega started transferring the shield code's data. However, Baro discreetly pressed a button, which informed Mokko of the clones' presence. When Omega said that Mokko did not care about the miners, Baro disagreed and explained that Mokko had said that with more work, their conditions would get better. Baro then explained that he could not leave because the planet was his home. After Omega pointed out that the Marauder was their home, Baro apologized for stealing the ship. However, while searching the data, Omega found reports proving that Mokko had been lying about his ipsium being degraded. Before Baro could answer, Mokko entered the control room with two droids and thanked Baro for catching the clones. Baro informed Mokko that the others were in the garage bay and apologized once again to Omega.
The miners were freed from Mokko's rule.
On the suspension bridge of the mine, Mokko confronted the clones. Meanwhile, Baro returned to the control room and read the data on Omega's mini computer. Before Mokko commended the clones to be arrested, Baro arrived at the bridge and revealed to all the workers present that Mokko had lied about the degraded ipsium in order to keep the profits for himself. After reading the data, Drake confronted Mokko, who stated that without him, the workers would not have survived. Mokko then ordered his sentry droids to attack the miners with electrostaffs but Tech and Wrecker disabled them with their blasters. While trying to defend himself with his cane, Mokko lost his balance and Baro tried to help. The gang boss attempted to drag Baro down with him but the latter was helped by his coworkers, causing Mokko to fall into the mine.
Later, Baro returned the Bad Batch's belongings and explained that the workers could keep mining ipsium, as it was all they knew. However, they now planned to share the profits. Before joining his coworkers, Baro told Omega that if she ever needed a thief, he would assist her.
Benni Baro was a human male with blue hair, blue eyes, and light skin. Although he initially stole Clone Force 99's ship, he eventually helped the clones find the Marauder and even apologized for what he had done, explaining that he only wanted to be part of his boss' inner circle. When he noticed that the Bad Batch were not miners, Baro got scared. However, when told that the workers had been lied to, Baro did not hesitate to confront Mokko for an explaination but also wanted to help him when the latter started to fall down the bridge. After the miners were freed from Mokko's tyranny, Baro enthusiastically celebrated with his coworkers.
Benni Baro's concept art
Benni Baro first appeared in the ninth episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch season two, "The Crossing." He later returned in the next episode, "Retrieval," and was first identified as "Benni Baro" in it. In the episode, he was voiced by Yuri Lowenthal. Early in development, Baro was possibly going to be a Balosar, a near-human sentient species that was initially introduced in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones.