Captivator, a bounty hunter and assassin droid, had the mission of locating and capturing Han Solo along with Chewbacca. Jabba the Hutt commissioned Captivator for the task of hunting Solo. He collaborated with a human, a Gran, and a Kubaz who were also bounty hunters. Subsequently, he allied himself with Alecia Beck and the Imperials in their search for Solo.
Captivator's initial appearance occurred in Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure, a junior novel authored by Greg Rucka, which saw its release as a component of the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens collection of books. Some early conceptual artwork created by Dave Seeley depicts Captivator armed with both a Clone Wars-period Z-6 rotary blaster cannon and an Imperial E-11 medium blaster rifle.