Mathus gained renown as a droid expert, bringing him to the attention of the ruler of Mos Shuuta, the cartel crime lord Teemo the Hutt. Teemo invited the Human to work for him, promising Mathus high pay for the position. Mathus initially accepted but, when he realized that the job's requirements exceeded his capabilities, then tried to leave. Teemo—not interested in losing his droid expert—threatened Mathus with Honwoo's well-being, forcing Mathus to reconsider his involvement with the Hutt. He then began secretly planning his departure from Tatooine and enlisted the help of others caught in Teemo's service to carry out the escape.
Mathus at work
Mathus was orphaned at a very young age during the time of the Galactic Civil War. Having no direction for his technical genius, he joined a gang of thugs in the streets of Anchorhead, Tatooine. When he attempted to rob the repair shop of an old Rodian mechanic named Honwoo, the shop owner noticed the boy's interest in a partially stripped repulsorlift array sitting on the workbench. Seeing Mathus' potential, Honwoo offered to teach him how it worked, also promising him the opportunity to be trained as a technician. From that point onward, Mathus abandoned his life as a miscreant on the streets and apprenticed under Honwoo.
Mathus subsequently learned about everything that came through the repair shop—mainly involving repairing and reprogramming droids. Without having had formal academic instruction, Mathus used what he learned—along with his purportedly incredible intellect—to successfully tinker and fix droids through effective use of trial and error. He was particularly interested in refitting and repurposing machines, and even transformed a pair of power converters into shock gloves. This gained him a reputation as a "droid expert," which drew the attention of Teemo the Hutt.
Teemo offered the Human a high-paying position at his complex in Mos Shuuta. Although the amount of credits appealed to Mathus enough to accept the job, he afterward found that his qualifications did not meet the position's requirements. Teemo's main goal in hiring Mathus was to have his stock of old and rusty battle droids reconditioned and reverse-engineered—with schematics developed from their design—in order to build himself a personal droid army. Due to his lack of higher education, Mathus was limited in proficiency to the maintenance and repair of the droids.
When Mathus attempted to excuse himself from Teemo's service, however, Teemo hinted a threat to Honwoo's safety if Mathus refused to continue as an employee. Thus, Mathus resolved to escape and introduced an altered code into Teemo's customized medical and maintenance droid, 41-VEX, in order to encourage it to also escape. 41-VEX subsequently carried out the coded suggestion by first releasing Teemo's gladiator, Lowhhrick, who removed 41-VEX's restraining bolt to allow the droid to follow through with its new imperative. 41-VEX introduced the Wookiee to Pash, a smuggler pilot who was also trying to quit Teemo's service, and the group subsequently fled from Teemo's palace. Mathus additionally befriended a local scout named Sasha and enlisted her help in getting them off-planet.
Mathus was a Human male who had brown eyes and dark skin. He purportedly displayed a great intelligence and overcame educational limitations to develop his skills as a technician. However, he was prone to forgetting immediate concerns when presented with a mechanical problem to solve—even forgetting to rob Honwoo when invited to assist the Rodian in working on a repulsorlift array. He displayed both a tendency to be impulsive as well as an ability to adapt to his environment and circumstances. He was rash in accepting Teemo the Hutt's offer without deliberating enough to understand his lack qualifications. However, when faced with Teemo's use of Honwoo as leverage to coerce cooperation, Mathus obscured his continued efforts to leave, showing that he understood that the importance of his own life—and that of his old Rodian mentor—was tenuous despite his ability.
Mathus also showed resourcefulness in programming the intent to leave Teemo into 41-VEX, as well as courage to go through with an escape, despite threats to prevent him from attempting to do so. He also displayed a gregarious ability, making connections with people who could satisfy his needs, such as when he made friends with Sasha the explorer with the intent of using her talents to safely transport him and 41-VEX off Tatooine.
Mathus was described in a biography written on the back page of "Mathus the Technician," an 8-page character folio published online on December 14, 2012 as a free download for the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game. His image was portrayed on the face of the folio, establishing his physical characteristics. He is also shown in the cover art wearing a pair of gauntlets that apparently represent the shock gloves that the character is equipped with. The biography introduced elements of the continuing adventures of the player's characters outlined in the Beginner Game's second story, "The Long Arm of the Hutt" bonus adventure, as well as identifying him as having sliced a code into 41-VEX to make it also want to leave Teemo's service in the first story, "Escape from Mos Shuuta."