Torben was a member of the Scyre clan and one of the warriors led by Phasma. At some time, he assisted Phasma when defending the Scyre's only child Frey from the Claw clan led by Balder. Sometime later, a First Order ship carrying Brendol Hux was shot down by Parnassos' automated defense system, and Brendol and three stormtroopers landed near the Claw territory in their escape pod. Torben assisted Phasma and her warriors as they intervened with Balder's negotiations with Brendol, and they killed Balder and a dozen Claw warriors. They brought Brendol and his troopers back to the Scyre to show what Brendol had to offer about getting them off the planet in turn for escorting him to his ship. Unfortunately, their leader Keldo refused to escort him, as he saw it as too big of a risk. So that night, Phasma, Torben, his best friend Carr, his love Siv, and Gosta left with Brendol and his troopers for the ship.
The group passed the Claw territory and into the desert on the other side. Upon entering the desert, Carr was bitten by a Parnassos beetle and fell ill from it. As they continued over the dunes, Carr condition grew worse, and when they were attacked by several bandits on lizard sleds, Carr exploded into a black liquid which the Parnassos blood beetles feasted on. With Carr no longer a burden, they continued through the desert and came across a large mass. Brendol shot at the mass and a swarm of creatures flew away, revealing the mass as a carcass being feasted on by weird skin wolves covered in warts. The troopers made short work of them despite the efforts of Torben and the others. Unfortunately, Brendol was infected by an injury from the attack and was soon dying. Before they could lose him, they were saved by the droid TB-3 and led to a Con Star Mining Corporation facility. Droids at the facility saved Brendol but charged for it, and the gang was forced to work for them until Brendol awoke and helped them deactivate the droids.
The gang stole a Ground Assault Vehicle (GAV) and drove it until they fell into a trap near Arratu Station, and the inhabitants captured them and made them fight for entertainment. During their time there, the fellow prisoners ate one of the stormtroopers, LE-2003, who was fatally injured when they fell into the trap. On the second battle to entertain the Arratu leader, Phasma and Torben took down a large warrior, and Phasma used Torben as a boost to jump into the leader's booth and behead him. Phasma then claimed leadership of the city and used it to get them out. They travelled on two stolen GAVs and came across a wide fence surrounding the dead lands and guarded by a Gand named Churkk. While they were talking to Churkk, the remaining Scyre and Claw clan members led by Keldo attacked them and killed Gosta. Torben and the others managed to escape through the fence.
They continued travelling until they got to the ship. They were attempting to gain access to the cockpit when Keldo and the two clans attacked again. They engaged the group, and Torben got into a one-on-one fight with his brother. Despite several opportunities to kill his own brother, Torben didn't take the opportunity, and in the end Torben's brother killed him. Phasma and the remaining gang went on to kill Keldo and the last of the attackin clan members, with the exception of the child Frey. The First Order arrived and brought Phasma, Brendol, and Frey off world, leaving Siv on the surface being the only survivor in the area. Siv soon bore a child in Calliope Station near the site of the crashed ship, whom Siv named Torbi after her lost friend and love Torben. Either Torben or Keldo was the father of the child.
Torben first appeared in Delilah S. Dawson's 2017 novel Phasma. Dawson was inspired by actor Jason Momoa when creating the character. Later, a male individual was pictured during a flashback sequence in the third issue of the miniseries Star Wars: Captain Phasma. It was later confirmed by Dawson that the individual was indeed Torben.
- Star Wars: Timelines