A professor of ancient linguistics, he came to Dorlo to study an ancient three mile-long wall excavated there, which SoroSuub executives hoped to discover more resources; the scholar did not agree with the corporation's practices, but he knew that if he refused to cooperate they would just destroy the ruin altogether and all traces of the civilization would be lost, so he thought it best to document whatever he could.
In 5 ABY, Jedi Master Qu Rahn was looking for the mythical Valley of the Jedi and was assembling a team of specialists; he found in the person of Nij Por Ral the expert he needed who would decipher any hieroglyphics or scripts they could find. With him team they came to the planet and approached the scholar, who reluctantly agreed to join them.
However, on their way off the planet, Jerec's Dark Jedi pursued them; Rahn insisted on continuing by foot on their way to Duno Dree's transport. After running with two skimmers on their trail, their companion Cee Norley stopped to rest, and criticised Rahn's suggestion, pointing out that Nij Por Ral was just a linguist not up to the task; the panting scholar reassured that he was still all right.
Eventually the remainder of the team reached the CR90 corvette that was Duno Dree's transport, but it was caught by Jerec's Super Star Destroyer, Vengeance, and was boarded and filled by sleeping gas. The unconscious team were taken to the Vengeance, and when Rahn joined them, Nij Por Ral complained that he was still dizzy. They were brought before Jerec; Por Ral recognised Sariss, Yun and Maw near him, as those who pursued them.
Rolanda Gron refused to cooperate, and was the first to be executed. Jerec forced them to reveal information about the Valley of the Jedi for merciful death. When Rahn refused to cooperate, Yun approached Por Ral to be next, who fell on his knees asking for mercy, crying that he has no knowledge, passing the responsibility to Rahn; unable to do otherwise, Rahn refused to give any information closing his eyes, knowing that he was dooming the linguist.
The young and unexperienced Dark Jedi intended to behead Ral with his lightsaber, but all he could do was hitting the old man's shoulder, and then removing the lightsaber from his flesh as he was screaming in pain, before giving the final blow. Ral's body was badly mangled as it fell on the floor.
Afterwards Yun experienced several nightmares going over the event where Yun, carrying a metallic sword, found himself executing some prisoners including Nij Por Ral again and again. Motivated by status and recognition, he had to ignore Ral's pleas for mercy. In the dream, Yun repeated the flawed blow which shamed him.
In the audio adaptation of Dark Forces: Rebel Agent, he was voiced by . The audio drama credits misspell his name as "Nij Porral."