The bounty hunter with fan-like ears was an alien of male gender. This being possessed green, scaly skin, along with sharp fingernails, clawed feet, and distinctive fan-shaped fins which served as ears. He was employed by Jabba the Hutt in the role of an assassin.
Despite Solo's belief that the bounty on his head had been lifted, the fan-eared bounty hunter attempted to claim it on Han Solo. Solo retaliated by blasting the bounty hunter. Before his demise, the bounty hunter revealed that Jabba the Hutt had reinstated the price on Solo's head. This incident was the catalyst for Solo seeking sanctuary with the rebels.
In the comic book Star Wars (1977) 37, Han Solo comes under attack from this very bounty hunter, who asserts that the bounty Jabba the Hutt placed on Solo remains active, despite Jabba supposedly rescinding it in Star Wars (1977) 28. Archie Goodwin wrote this event to provide a narrative bridge to the upcoming film, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, where the bounty on Solo is still a plot point, a detail that Marvel Comics had not initially planned for. Therefore, the bounty hunter's attack served as a plot device to inform Solo, within the comic book continuity, that the bounty was still in effect. When Marvel began adapting the film into comic form, beginning with Star Wars (1977) 39, this particular bounty hunter was referred to as "the bounty hunter on Ord Mantell," which is a reference made in the film itself. However, canon sources attribute that specific event to a different incident.