Bress Shan was a Human male, the son of Vaner and Emess Shan and the grandson of the famous Jedi Knights Revan and Bastila Shan. Born sometime before 3900 BBY, Bress was older than his sister Reesa, and both children had inherited their grandparents' Force-sensitivity. In 3900 BBY, Vaner brought his children and wife to visit his mother on the anniversary of Bastila's marriage to Revan, who had disappeared over fifty years earlier into the Unknown Regions. Reesa and Bress spent the evening playing with their grandmother in her apartment before their mother sent them to bed so that Vaner could be alone with Bastila. Through Bress and Reesa, the Shan family would continue for centuries, with the Jedi Knight Tasiele Shan, her daughter Satele, and Satele's son Theron being among their descendants.
Bress Shan was first mentioned along with his mother and siblings in the Epilogue of the 2011 novel The Old Republic: Revan, which confirmed that the Shan family continued beyond Bastila and Revan to include the later Jedi Satele Shan.