The group known as the Five was a secretive, evil-worshipping cult. They made their home on a warship located deep within the Hellhoop, a region of space inside the Expansion Region. The cult consisted of five umans who had survived for centuries far removed from the rest of the galaxy. To entertain themselves, the Five would torment and kill any travelers unfortunate enough to fall into their clutches. A particularly significant captive was Wutzek, the last of the Force demons, an incredibly powerful being whom the Five held prisoner in their recreation room. Their terror came to an end during the Galactic Civil War when Chewbacca, a leader of the Alliance to Restore the Republic and one of their final prisoners, freed Wutzek, who then slaughtered the Five.
In the centuries preceding the Galactic Civil War, a small cult of five humans, known as the Five, turned their backs on the concerns of the greater galaxy. Instead, they dedicated themselves to the worship of evil in its many forms. Among the dark deities they revered were the Left-Handed God, the Soulworm, and the Lady with the Locust Heart. Despite considering themselves enlightened, the members of the Five—Suzal, Mavin, Chell, Chokla, and Koobaree—found amusement in acts of brutal violence. They resided on a large, triangular warship that lay hidden in the Hellhoop, a region of space within the Expansion Region close to Attahox, waiting for unsuspecting travelers.
The warship itself was a bizarre construction, featuring almost impossible geometries and angles. It possessed the ability to seemingly vanish at will into a realm the Five referred to as "beyond the dimensions." The Five would trap approaching ships using a large hole in the warship's center. Once they had captured their prey, they would torture and kill their captives in agonizing ways, finding amusement in the process. They especially enjoyed psychologically breaking their prisoners through incredibly realistic illusions before destroying their bodies with obscure, powerful weapons known as black fireclaws. However, the Five did not kill every living being they encountered. They maintained a recreation room on their warship, where they kept creatures they considered amusing curiosities, deeming the torture of unintelligent beings beneath them.
Formed centuries before the Galactic Civil War, the Five retreated to their interdimensional warship within the Hellhoop. There, they dedicated their lives to the worship of evil and the desecration of any unfortunate travelers who crossed their path. Over the years, they amassed a considerable collection of captive creatures in their recreation room, the most formidable of which was Wutzek, the last known living Force demon. Wutzek, a member of a species that had once ruled the galaxy in its early days, was tricked and imprisoned for decades within a device called an angle trap, becoming a prized exhibit in the Five's zoo. Over generations, the Five's presence gave the Hellhoop a dark reputation among spacers. Although the cult itself remained largely unknown, stories circulated about a region of space where ships frequently disappeared, and most advised avoiding the area at all costs.
The Five's reign of terror in the Hellhoop continued until sometime between 0 and 3 ABY, when the cultists welcomed their final guests. Torgaigne gangsters from nearby Attahox, pursuing Rebel leaders Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Leia Organa into the Hellhoop over a smuggling dispute, were ensnared by the Five along with their pursuers. The Torgaignes were immediately put to death, while Solo and Organa were subjected to psychological torture. However, the Five made a critical error: they failed to recognize the Wookiee Chewbacca as a sentient being and placed him, believing him to be a simple ape, in their recreation room with the other curiosities. Chewbacca easily broke free and was telepathically persuaded to release Wutzek. Wutzek then rampaged through the ship, killing all five members of the cult. He absorbed their souls into his body, allowed the Rebels to escape, and then utterly destroyed the cult's ship, erasing all traces of their existence.
The Five were featured in The Pandora Effect, a comic story written by Alan Moore in 1981, and published in The Empire Strikes Back Monthly 151.