Canonhaus was a male human who held the rank of midshipman while serving on a ship within the forces of the Galactic Republic. As time went on, he would later serve in the Galactic Empire's navy with the military rank of captain during the Galactic Civil War against the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
During the reign of the Empire, Canonhaus achieved the rank of lieutenant and was involved in the insurrection on Haruun Kal. He later took part in an attack targeting a convoy of Alderaanian refugees, where, as a test, he intentionally submitted false data in his report to see if the Empire truly cared about the issues. By 3 ABY, this Imperial officer was serving within Death Squadron, which was the personal armada of Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith. He participated in the pursuit of the Millennium Falcon following the Battle of Hoth, while stationed aboard the Ultimatum, an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer.
During this pursuit, Squadron Death was compelled to enter the Hoth asteroid belt, resulting in substantial damage to the fleet. Eventually, Canonhaus, along with other officers from the fleet, communicated with Darth Vader via holograms, only to be killed during this meeting when an asteroid destroyed the bridge of the Star Destroyer on which he was serving.
This officer first appeared as a hologram in the Star Wars saga movie Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, though he was not identified by name. In the movie, the officer is played by special effects cameraman Jim Veilleux. Stephen Buchanan also claimed the role, even though he did not portray the character. In the 2020 collection of short stories, From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back, the character was identified as Canonhaus in the installments "The Final Order," penned by Seth Dickinson, and "Lord Vader Will See You Now," penned by John Jackson Miller.