Zadawi was an Arkanian Offshoot female who lived on the outskirts of the city of Adascopolis, ancient capital of the planet Arkania, during the time of the Mandalorian Wars. Owing to Arkania's segregationist policies that separated Offshoots from pureblood Arkanians, Zadawi was forced to live with her father and grandmother in a small hut on the site of a derelict mining camp just outside Adascopolis, which they were forbidden to enter. Rebellious and infuriated by the discrimination against her people, Zadawi often sneaked into Adascopolis with her friends in disguise.
In 3963 BBY, Zadawi met an Offshoot named Jarael, an offworlder who was unfamiliar with the plight of the Offshoots and was attempting to procure a medical diagnosis for an ailing friend. When Jarael was barred entry to Adascopolis, Zadawi took it upon herself to educate Jarael about what life was like for Offshoots on Arkania and took Jarael back to her home. Zadawi eventually helped Jarael disguise herself as a pureblood Arkanian and sneak into Adascopolis.
An Arkanian Offshoot female, Zadawi lived on the planet Arkania during the era of the Mandalorian Wars. Zadawi's people, the Offshoots, were a sub-species bioengineered by pureblood Arkanians to be more efficient miners and faced significant discrimination on Arkania. By 3963 BBY, Zadawi lived in a hut on the site of a deserted mining camp on the outskirts of the city of Adascopolis, ancient capital of Arkania, with her father and grandmother. Zadawi, like other Offshoots, was not allowed to enter the city, but over the years, she and her friends made a habit of dressing up in disguise and sneaking into Adascopolis. The mistreatment of the Offshoots at the hands of the pureblood Arkanians, along with what she saw as a defeated attitude amongst the rest of her people, sometimes drove Zadawi to want to run away. One day in 3963 BBY, she decided to go to the Adascopolis spaceport to perhaps look for a way offplanet. There, she collided with another Offshoot, Jarael, who had come from offworld and was unfamiliar with her surroundings. Jarael's goggles were knocked off in the collision, leading spaceport security to notice that she was an Offshoot and force her onto the shuttlebus leading back to Zadawi's settlement outside the city.
Zadawi became acquainted with Jarael on the shuttlebus—the offworlder had come to Arkania to obtain a medical diagnosis for her friend, an elderly Offshoot called Camper. Shocked by Jarael's lack of knowledge about the plight of her people, Zadawi brought her back to her home for dinner. Wanting to show Jarael what life was really like for Offshoots on Arkania, Zadawi began arguing with her grandmother when the other woman defended the House of Adasca, the rich and powerful pureblood Arkanian family that ran the biomechanical corporation known as Adascorp, and Arkania's segregationist policies. Frustrated, Zadawi decided to help Jarael sneak into Adascopolis in order to "put one over on the purebloods." Zadawi aided Jarael in acquiring a passable pureblood Arkanian disguise, which succeeded in getting her safe passage into Adascopolis.
A rebellious girl, Zadawi was disgusted by the treatment of her people on Arkania and deeply desired to help solve the problems facing the Offshoots. She and her friends were also always willing to break the rules and cause trouble for the purebloods, including dressing up in disguise to sneak into Adascopolis. Zadawi was dismayed by the forgiving attitude toward Adascorp and the purebloods that she saw amongst many of the Offshoots, including her grandmother. Believing that they had become party to their own degradation, Zadawi often wanted to leave them all behind but realized that escaping would not do anything to help.
Zadawi held Adascorp in little esteem, believing that they would rather help strangers for money instead of aiding Offshoots suffering in their own backyard. Zadawi felt that it was her responsibility to show Jarael, an offworlder unfamiliar with the situation on Arkania, what life was really like for Offshoots on their homeworld. Zadawi was initially shocked by the extent of Jarael's ignorance but befriended her anyway and eventually helped her sneak into Adascopolis. Zadawi had white hair, white skin, and blue eyes and wore four earrings on each ear.
Zadawi first appeared in the sixteenth issue of the Knights of the Old Republic comic series. The issue was written by John Jackson Miller, illustrated by Brian Ching, and published by Dark Horse Comics on May 2, 2007. Ching came up with the design of Zadawi after being tasked by Miller with designing a character who would "hold up a mirror" to Jarael and reflect what life would have been like for her had she grown up on Arkania.