Griff Vao was a male Rutian Twi'lek, the elder brother of Mission Vao. Griff was always getting loans for his schemes of easy enrichment. They failed, of course, and he was never able to repay his debts. His debts soon became enormous, so he and his sister had to leave their home planet. Years later, his sister remembered their trip to Taris—hiding inside a packing crate on a freighter, barely having enough supplies.
Griff once ran around with Marn Hierogryph but nearly got arrested five times for being unable to subtly con a mark.
Griff in 3963 BBY.
Around 3963 BBY, Griff was a member of the swoop gang known as the Hidden Beks. Taris was in shock over the murders of four Jedi Padawans, apparently by their friend Zayne Carrick. It was around this time that Griff and his fellow Bek Brejik kidnapped the children of Constable Noana Sowrs. It was their intent to ask for a ransom, but chaos broke out on the planet when Zayne escaped and the Jedi left the planet outright.
Not too long afterward, the Mandalorians invaded Taris and the Beks, under the leadership of Gadon Thek, became resistance fighters. Soon, the desperation of the circumstances caused the Beks to ally themselves with some people they wouldn't have otherwise, including Marn Hierogryph and supposed murderer Zayne Carrick.
One day, Griff was bringing food to Sowrs' kids, named Nahk and Tallie. Griff's sister Mission had developed a crush on Zayne and showed him where her brother was going. Eventually, Brejik, Gryph and the Ithorian bounty hunter Del Moomo also converged at where they had hid the children. A small fight broke out, but soon everyone found out what the two Beks had done. Griff tried to deflect some of the blame away from Brejik, but Gadon was still angry at the two. Soon afterward, the kids were reunited with their mother.
In the years that followed, Griff often visited the Lower City cantina to play pazaak. There he met Lena, a Twi'lek dancer, and fell in love with her. Lena, however, was used to dating Tarisian nobles, and Griff was not nearly wealthy enough to provide her with the expensive things she wanted. Eventually, Griff had to leave Taris, escaping his debts once again. This time, he left with Lena, leaving his twelve-year-old sister behind—although he promised her he would return as soon as they earned enough credits to live like royalty. Since then, Mission always thought it was Lena who made her brother forget about her. Later, after meeting Lena, she realized that Griff was not entirely innocent either.
Griff had left for Tatooine where he became a Czerka employee, but his colleagues thought that his disloyalty brought only trouble with him. Eventually he was captured by a Sand People tribe.
Some time later, when Mission helped Revan on his quest for the Star Forge, she came across her brother on Tatooine. After she and Revan rescued him from the Sand People who had captured him, Griff accepted a job offer from Greeta Holda. When Revan and Mission arrived to check on him, Griff asked Revan to lend him some help for a dubious scheme involving synthesizing Tarisian ale, which required tach glands as an ingredient. Tach could only be found on Kashyyyk now that Taris was gone. Revan retrieved the tach glands for him, but Griff made a mistake with synthesizing the ale and had to flee Anchorhead before his contact from the Exchange arrived. By 40 ABY, Tarisian ale had once again become available on the open market.
Griff (as well as the whole secondary quest) appears in KOTOR only if the player talks with Mission about her past and family; consequently, the player must visit a spaceport with Mission in the groups, where they are both informed by Lena about his whereabouts. If none of this happens, the player won't come across Griff.
The quest to help Griff is an optional quest in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The player may elect to help Griff or leave him to his own fate. Another option is to kill Griff in the Sand People Enclave if Mission is not present. For Dark Side points, the player may tell Mission that Griff left her to die on Taris, and deserves no sympathy. Mission will agree, and state that Griff broke any bond he ever had with her.
In the event that the player has not yet spoken to Mission regarding Griff, or has not met Lena yet, and travels to the Sand People Camp, Griff will not be present.
Griff Vao was voiced by Robin Atkin Downes.