Merri Shen Doshun was a Human female who lived in the small farming village of Onacra on the Outer Rim planet Aduba-3. The daughter of village leader Oncho Shen and granddaughter of the village mystic known as the Old One, Shen was a noted beauty who in her youth became the target of Serji-X Arrogantus, the leader of a bandit gang called the Cloud-Riders that frequently targeted Onacra. In 0 ABY, Rebel hero Han Solo led a posse that put down the Cloud-Riders, freeing Onacra from their menace. During the battle, Shen was impressed by the courage of one of Solo's Star-Hoppers, Jimm Doshun, a young man from Onacra who had long been enamored with her. The two were married not long after, settling in Onacra and having two children.
A blonde-haired, blue-eyed Human female, Merri Shen was a native of the isolated Outer Rim world of Aduba-3, making her home in a small maze-stalk farming village known as Onacra. The daughter of village leader Oncho Shen and the granddaughter of a local mystic known only as the "Old One," Shen grew up in a community at risk: Onacra was frequently raided by a ruthless swoop gang known as the Cloud-Riders, who demanded a hefty annual tribute in exchange for not pillaging the village. Shen herself became a subject of personal interest to the group's leader, a former pro swoop racer by the name of Serji-X Arrogantus. Struck by the girl's beauty, Arrogantus became completely smitten by Shen, and became determined to win her over. Arrogantus saw himself as a gentleman and decided that he would seduce Shen with his charms, even if he had to kidnap her first.
Han Solo rescues Merri Shen from a high-hound.
The Cloud-Riders' demands were onerous to the poor farming community, and by 0 ABY, the people of Onacra finally had enough. That year, a villager named Ramiz made his way to the city of Tun Aduban in order to find a champion to help free Onacra from the specter of the Cloud-Riders. He found notorious smuggler and Rebel hero Han Solo, who agreed to take up Onacra's plight and put together a posse in order to save the village. Although the "Star-Hoppers" traveled to Onacra to save the town as a whole, their arrival swiftly paid personal dividends for Shen after she was caught up in an attack by a flock of high-hounds, who had come to feed off the town's maze-stalk crop. Although she was personally targeted by one of the beasts, Solo arrived on the back of a bantha and fought off the beasts, bringing her home safely to her father in Onacra.
With the Cloud-Riders approaching, Solo's Star-Hoppers and the citizens of Onacra prepared for a showdown. Among them was Shen's grandfather, the Old One, who claimed that he could summon a monstrous, mythical beast to battle the Cloud-Riders. Although Shen attempted to convince her grandfather not to bother Solo with the preposterous proposal, he proceeded anyway. Solo turned down his offer, and a frustrated Old One ordered Shen to hide before Arrogantus and his goons arrived. The Cloud-Riders swept in soon after, with Arrogantus proclaiming that he desired Shen as part of his yearly tribute. The Star-Hoppers refused to budge, and the two groups engaged in a frenzied battle, only interrupted by the sudden appearance of an enormous, lizard-like monster—against all odds, Shen's grandfather's claims were true, and he had in fact summoned forth the legendary Behemoth from the World Below to lay siege to the Cloud-Riders.
Merri and Jimm Doshun as a married couple.
The Behemoth swiftly dealt with the remaining Cloud-Riders, before Solo and his Star-Hoppers were forced to band together and put an end to the rampaging beast—Shen's grandfather was among those killed in the fighting. Although Shen remained sheltered in the village during the battle, she took notice of one member of Solo's posse, Jimm Doshun, a native of Onacra. Doshun had long had a crush on Shen, and had joined the Star-Hoppers in part to impress her. Although Shen had previously shown little interest in Doshun, she was impressed by the "Starkiller Kid's" courage, and started a relationship with him after the battle. The two were married not long after, and just several months after the battle between the Star-Hoppers and the Cloud-Riders, the pair were expecting their first child.
The two settled down into a domestic life as farmers, but the peace that had come to Onacra did not last forever. Later that year, two old members of Solo's Star-Hoppers—the Lepi smuggler Jaxxon and his quick-triggered partner, Amaiza Foxtrain—sought out the Doshuns on Aduba-3. The pair had had a recent encounter with a group of bounty hunters who were after an unnamed "farmboy" whom they presumed to be Jimm Doshun. Although exactly why anyone would be hunting for Doshun was unclear, Jaxxon and Foxtrain proceeded to Onacra to warn and protect him and Merri. Not long after, the rest of the bounty hunters arrived over Aduba-3. The pursuers were the bloodthirsty and battle-tested crew of the Kill Switch, led by a vicious and unhinged former stormtrooper commander named Beilert Valance.
Fearing that they would soon be in for a fight, the Doshuns and their old friends came up with a plan of action Jaxxon and Foxtrain went up to engage the approaching hunters in their ship, the Rabbit's Foot, but their vessel was damaged and sent hurtling down to the planet's surface. Valance and his men gave chase, only to find that they had taken up position on the plains outside Onacra—on their signal, Jimm prompted a bantha stampede that trampled most of Valance's raiders. Valance himself was among the only survivors, and after the stampede's end came face to face with Doshun, only to realize that he was not the farmboy he was looking for. Valance departed soon afterward to continue his search, leaving the Doshuns behind in peace to continue their life as a family. Not long after, Merri and Jimm had their first child, a daughter named Hanna, and they were expecting a second child as of 2 ABY.
By that time, the battle between Star-Hoppers and the Cloud-Riders had become a legend throughout the galaxy, and was featured in a popular TriNebula Entertainment holo-doc called Eight for Aduba-3: The Saga of the Starhoppers. Thinking the version of events portrayed in the holo-doc was exaggerated—the idea of a giant lizard-like monster suddenly appearing in the middle of the battle just too bizarre to be believed—Rebel historian Voren Na'al traveled to Aduba-3 to attempt to unravel what really happened. Na'al briefly interviewed Merri during his stop in Onacra, but was dismayed when her take on the events closely matched that of the holo-doc. Needing to catch his transport off-world, Na'al had to cut the interview short, and left the planet feeling that he was no closer to uncovering the true circumstances around Han Solo's trip to Aduba-3.
Still relatively young by 0 ABY, Merri Shen was, first and foremost, a striking beauty—although Han Solo and Serji-X Arrogantus were enemies in the battle for Onacra, both were entranced by her looks and hoped to win her affection. However, she instead turned her eye towards the "Starkiller Kid," Jimm Doshun, who grew up with her in the same small village but to whom she had previously given no attention. Shen fell for the scrappy youth after witnessing his bravery during the fight with the Cloud-Riders, and it was all she needed to convince her to pursue a relationship with him. Shen struck Voren Na'al as a sweet girl who was relatively unintelligent, and as her version of the events surrounding the Star-Hoppers' battle with the Cloud-Riders closely matched the holo-doc Eight for Aduba-3, Na'al believed her to be very credulous.
Merri Shen first appeared in Star Wars (1977) 9, written by Roy Thomas and released in 1977, and appeared in two other installments of the original Marvel Star Wars comic series. During her comic appearances, Shen was illustrated by Howard Chaykin and Walt Simonson.
- "The Starhoppers of Aduba-3" — Star Wars Gamer 4
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia