Chal, an Ardennian of non-binary identity, came into existence sometime before approximately 401 BBY. During the High Republic Era, they became a member of the Path of the Open Hand cult situated on the planet of Dalna. After the Path's departure from Dalna in 382 BBY, Chal accompanied the rest of the group aboard their starship, known as the Gaze Electric.
The Mother, who served as the Path's leader, assigned Chal, along with fellow members Fel Ix and Severn, the task of sabotaging communications buoys located within the Galactic Frontier. The trio set off on the stealth shuttle Way of Clarity to carry out this mission, briefly crossing paths with the Republic vessel Felicitations. Later, within the Tybal system, Chal and their companions attempted to seize control of the prospecting ship Brightbird's crew, consisting of Padawan Rooper Nitani, aspiring prospector Dass Leffbruk, and pilot Sky Graf. However, Graf utilized their blaster to fire upon the Ardennian, compelling them to abandon the Brightbird alongside Severn, leaving Ix behind.
Born sometime before 401 BBY, Chal, a non-binary Ardennian, lived through the High Republic Era. At some point in their life, they became a member of the Path of the Open Hand cult, residing on the planet of Dalna. In 382 BBY, the Path of the Open Hand departed Dalna and began their travels aboard the Gaze Electric starship, under the command of their leader, the Mother. Upon the Mother's instructions, Chal, along with fellow Path of the Open Hand members Fel Ix and Severn, prepared to sabotage communications buoys throughout the Galactic Frontier, with the aim of restricting their use to only the Path.
After committing the necessary Graffian codes to memory, the trio boarded the Way of Clarity stealth shuttle, equipped with a map indicating the buoys that would be most effective in disrupting frontier-wide communication. Chal and their team embarked on a mission to visit as many of these buoys as possible for the Mother, prioritizing those in proximity to Dalna. At the second buoy they modified, Chal collaborated with an astromech to extract and replace crucial components of its coding with the memorized Graffian codes. Chal acknowledged Fel Ix upon completing their alterations and prepared to release the technology into space.
However, a nearby Republic ship, the Felicitations, inquired about the team's activities. Fel Ix falsely claimed that they were repairing the buoy, while Chal and their astromech hastily loaded it into the Way of Clarity's airlock for redeployment. Once released into space, the crew of the Felicitations tested the buoy and confirmed its functionality, much to the relief of Chal and their colleagues. The Ardennian then distributed water bottles to those in their ship's cockpit, signaling that the encounter had been a close call.
Subsequently, the team journeyed to the Tybal system to replicate the same alterations on another buoy from the Path's list. Upon the arrival of the hyperspace prospecting ship Brightbird, Ix decided to attempt capturing its crew, driven by the Path's hatred of the Jedi after discovering that Jedi Padawan Rooper Nitani was aboard. Chal and Severn assisted him in holding Nitani and the aspiring prospector Dass Leffbruk at blaster-point, with the Ardennian confiscating one of the Padawan's lightsabers. Although the pair began searching the galley and lounge of the Brightbird for supplies, they were forced to halt their search when Nitani used her other lightsaber to threaten Ix.
When Chal made a disparaging remark about the Jedi's lack of knowledge of the Force, Sky Graf, the Brightbird's pilot, shot the Ardennian with their blaster, causing them to cry out in pain. Ix reluctantly instructed Chal to return Nitani's other lightsaber, which they rolled across the floor to Leffbruk. Following this, Chal and Severn departed the Brightbird, while Ix remained on board with Nitani and the others, instructing his colleagues to continue their mission. The Path of the Open Hand dissolved not long after, and its members dispersed.
During their time with the Path of the Open Hand, Chal demonstrated loyalty to the Mother and held a strong belief in the group's ideals. They possessed a cold demeanor, displaying agitation upon encountering Nitani due to their intense aversion to Jedi. Despite working efficiently with their crew, they showed little emotion when interacting with Ix and Severn. Chal had gray skin and a stocky build.
Chal demonstrated the ability to memorize sets of Graffian codes while working for the Path, enabling their team to efficiently insert coding into comms buoys, completing the task in approximately an hour's time.
Chal made their debut in the 2023 young-readers novel The High Republic: Quest for Planet X, penned by Tessa Gratton as a component of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project's Phase II. Within the novel, the character is predominantly referred to as Chal, with two instances where the name is spelled "Char." This article assumes that the former spelling, which is used more consistently, is the correct one.
When questioned about the use of singular "they/them" pronouns for Chal in the novel, Gratton clarified that she intended this usage to indicate a non-binary gender identity for the character. The author further explained that the character might not personally identify as non-binary and could instead identify with a gender specific to their species that translates to the use of "they/them" pronouns in the Galactic Basic language. For the purposes of Wookieepedia, the free-to-edit, unofficial online Star Wars encyclopedia, Gratton was comfortable with designating Chal—along with several other characters who did not fall within the binary genders of male and female—as non-binary.