Kolob was an anchorite who lived an austere life on the planet Jakku. As a member of the Anchorite sect, Kolob believed in the light side of the Force and that life was based on suffering. During the last years of the Galactic Republic, Kolob ran an orphanage at some distance away from the Plaintive Hand plateau and the Valley of the Eremite. He treated the orphans like servants and taught them that life was based on service and suffering. His young charges included Galli, Brev, Narawal, and Kateena.
The young Galli was particularly rebellious and came to resent Kolob's harshness and chores. At the age of twelve, Galli snuck away from the orphanage and ventured into the Plaintive Hand plateau. There, he stowed aboard Sheev Palpatine's luxury yacht Imperialis. After being discovered by Palpatine, Galli was given the choice of death or serving the Sith Lord. Galli chose to serve the Sith Lord by guarding a secret excavation in the Valley of the Eremite.
After returning to Jakku, Galli wooed several of the other children away from the orphanage including Brev, Narawal, and Kateena. He used them to guard the excavation site and later killed them to preserve its secrecy. This site became the Emperor Palpatine's Jakku Observatory, which housed a holographic map of the Unknown Regions, several Sith Empire relics, and a borehole which led into the planet's core. The Observatory was central to the Emperor's Contingency plan. As a reward for his service, the Emperor recruited Galli into the Galactic Empire. Galli adopted the name Gallius Rax and rose to become Fleet Admiral and subsequently Counselor to the Empire.
Kolob did not see Galli again until many years later. Following the Attack on Chandrila, Gallius Rax seized control of the remnants of the Galactic Empire and brought them back to Jakku. As part of the Contingency, Rax planned to lure the New Republic to Jakku for a showdown with the Empire. Rax's rival, the former Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, and the former rebel operative Brentin Lore Wexley visited Kolob's hut during their investigation into Rax's plans for the Empire. When Sloane demanded his help, Kolob willingly complied. From Kolob, Sloane and Brentin learned that Rax's true name was Galli. They also learned that Galli had spent several years guarding a mysterious site in the Valley of the Eremite. Kolob also told the visitors that Rax had hired the Hutt crime lady Niima to guard the way to Plaintive Hand, which led to the Valley of the Eremite.
Prior to the Battle of Jakku, Counselor Rax had Kolob kidnapped and brought to the main Imperial base beyond the Goazon Badlands. Kolob at first did not remember his former ward. When Rax mocked his memory, Kolob responded that his mind was flint-sharp and capable of seeing all of the sufferings of the waking world. Kolob was about to lecture Rax about the Eremite's precepts on torment when Rax interjected. Kolob then recognized Rax as Galli, the boy who had left. Kolob then deduced that Rax was behind the recent spate of child kidnappings on Jakku since had incited the other orphans at the orphanage into rebellion.
Rax responded that he and the other children had found purpose away from his foolish faith. When Kolob demanded to know what had become of the other children, Rax responded that they had fulfilled their purpose. Kolob then questioned why Rax was kidnapping children again. Rax replied that the children would serve a purpose for him. In fact, he intended for them to becoming his new personal guard of child soldiers, who would later become the first in a new generation of stormtroopers. At that point, Rax was joined by the Emperor's former adviser Yupe Tashu, who wore a red Sith mask.
Tashu remarked that Kolob was affiliated with the light side. He recalled that Kolob's predecessors had bound themselves to the Jedi a thousand years ago. When Tashu handed Rax a sacrificial knife, Kolob realized that Rax meant to kill him. He derided his former charge as a little savage who had not grown a whit. In response, Rax told Kolob that he had rejected his teachings of servitude and suffering before plunging the blade into Kolob's middle. When Rax added that no more children would be swept into his hand, Kolob smiled and told him that all life was suffering and that Rax's suffering was just beginning. He warned Rax that he was being hunted and that his plans would unravel before breathing his last.
After Kolob's death, Tashu remarked that his death was a necessary sacrifice to strengthen the dark side of the Force and ensure the success of their mission. Ultimately, Kolob's prophecy came to fruition. Rax was hunted and killed by Sloane with the help of Brentin and his wife Norra Wexley, a New Republic operative. They managed to stop Rax's plan to detonate Jakku and destroy the Imperial forces and the New Republic Defense Fleet.
Kolob was a male human who lived during the last years of the Galactic Republic and the Age of the Empire. By the time of the Battle of Jakku, Kolob was an old man with wrinkled skin and deep lines and blotches on his face, neck, and hands. Despite his age, Kolob's mind was flint-sharp and was capable of seeing all of the sufferings of the waking world. As an Anchorite, Kolob believed that all life was based on suffering and servitude. He was regarded as an austere master by the wards of his orphanage, particularly the young Gallius Rax. Rax hated Kolob for his harsh upbringing and his teachings, which he regarded as foolish. Even in the face of death, Kolob remained defiant towards Rax. Kolob also appeared to have the power of foresight and warned Rax that he was being hunted and that his plans would eventually unravel.
Kolob was first mentioned in Chuck Wendig's 2016 novel Aftermath: Life Debt. He appeared as a secondary character in the book's 2017 sequel Aftermath: Empire's End.