Cherff Maota was a male Jedi Master who lived during the High Republic Era, and trained Avar Kriss as their Padawan. Maota served as a seeker in the Jedi Order and encountered the Force-sensitive infant Aloxian Zint in 230 BBY, when he brought her into the Order. He also encountered a young Sifo-Dyas on Minashee, and brought him to the Jedi Temple so that he could become a Jedi Knight. Maz Kanata owned a bust in Maota's image, which she kept in her castle on the planet Takodana.
The bust of Cherff Maota was one of the props created for the castle of Maz Kanata in Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens (December 18, 2015). In the movie's novelization, the private collection of Kanata notably includes what is described as "a bust of some unknown bearded human." Maota's bust, however, clearly has non-human features.
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary
- Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia
- Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded
- Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary, New Edition
- Star Wars: The Lightsaber Collection
- Star Wars: The High Republic: Chronicles of the Jedi