Gantu was an Ogre who hailed from the forest moon of Endor, situated within the Outer Rim Territories. His existence coincided with the era of the Galactic Civil War. Gantu was not inclined towards labor, typically acting out of pure selfishness. He possessed a volatile temper, yet ironically, he harbored a fear of darkness. The Ewoks and Zandor Rockers perceived this Ogre as a significant threat and nuisance. He had a penchant for attacking Bright Tree Village to pilfer the Ewoks' honey, and even consumed some of them. Furthermore, he plundered all the sunnydew nectar from the Zandor Rockers' village.
One of the rare instances of his defeat occurred at the hands of Wicket W. Warrick and his comrade Teebo. They managed to steal his sunnydew nectar to rescue their friend, Princess Kneesaa, from a debilitating illness. Despite Gantu's attempts to thwart them, the two Ewoks triumphed by exploiting his avarice for the Rainbow Crystal. By tossing the crystal back and forth, they diverted his attention, ultimately leading to its destruction. Deprived of the Rainbow Crystal, Gantu could not traverse the Gorge of Fire and ceased his attacks on Bright Tree Village.
Gantu, an Ogre, made his home on the forest moon known as Endor. Sometime either before or during the time frame of the Galactic Civil War, he stumbled upon a cave within the region of Zandor, where he remained for the duration of his life. It was also around this period that he acquired a unique rainbow crystal. When directed toward Endor's sun, Ibleam, the crystal could conjure a bridge seemingly composed of rainbows. This proved advantageous for Gantu when attempting to cross the Gorge of Fire, a natural barrier that separated Zandor from the rest of Endor.
After obtaining the crystal, the Ogre gained the ability to raid the settlements of the Zandor Rockers, a race of sentient rock beings inhabiting Endor. Gantu was able to seize sunnydew flowers from the Rockers, from which he extracted sunnydew nectar, a substance highly prized for its medicinal qualities. However, Gantu had a different purpose in mind for the nectar—he utilized its luminous properties to provide illumination during the night, driven by his fear of the dark.
Gantu, by using the bridge to cross the Gorge of Fire, eventually discovered another part of Endor referred to as Happy Grove. It was here that he came across Bright Tree Village, the settlement of the native Ewoks. For reasons that remain unclear, Gantu harbored animosity towards the Ewoks and would attack their village at every opportunity. He earned the villagers' enmity by stealing honey and other provisions. As time passed, the Ogre even resorted to eating the Ewoks themselves. Chirpa, the young Chief of Bright Tree Village, followed the Ogre back to his cave, using the rainbow bridge as a guide, and uncovered the Ogre's secrets. While the Ogre was asleep, Chirpa managed to steal the crystal and some of the nectar, although he was unaware of the nectar's unique properties at the time.
Upon awakening the next day, Gantu realized that his possessions were missing. He was unable to cross the Gorge of Fire, as Chirpa now possessed the crystal that allowed passage. Chirpa returned to the Ewok village and distributed the crystal among his fellow villagers, who placed it in the Council Hut, where it was guarded by the Ewok Ebab. Over the course of several years, Gantu faded into little more than a legend among the Ewoks.
When Princess Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka, Chief Chirpa's daughter, was poisoned by a lethal Nightshade thorn, the young Ewoks Wicket and Teebo embarked on a quest to find a cure. Sunnydew nectar, a scarce substance, was the sole known antidote to Nightshade. The supply that Chirpa had pilfered from Gantu years ago had been depleted, compelling the two young Ewoks to seek an alternative source. After learning about Chirpa's daring raid on Gantu's lair from Logray, Wicket pilfered the rainbow crystal from under Ebab's watch, and together with Logray, set out for Zandor.
After traversing Zandor, they encountered the Zandor Rockers, who guided them to Gantu's cave. The Ogre was absent from his dwelling, so Wicket rushed in to steal the nectar and save Kneesaa. However, Gantu soon returned from his errands, wielding a club and prepared to eliminate the Ewoks. Gantu guarded the nectar, which he called "light water", to prevent the Ewoks from stealing it. However, when Wicket diverted the Ogre's attention by brandishing the rainbow crystal, Gantu dropped the nectar and lunged to reclaim the crystal. Wicket threw the crystal to Teebo, who caught it.
However, Gantu was resolved not to lose the crystal again, and he grabbed Teebo. The Ewok dropped the crystal, shattering it. Following this, the Ogre prepared to devour the two young Ewoks. As Wicket and Teebo fled, a Zandor Rocker inflicted a distracting wound on Gantu's foot. Gantu inadvertently spilled the sunnydew nectar on himself, causing him to glow. The spilled nectar started the creation of new sunnydews. However, sunnydew flowers had a long life cycle before blooming, and the two Ewoks did not have the time to save Kneesaa. The Zandor Rockers constructed a tunnel to transport the Ewoks under the Gorge, and small enough that Gantu could not fit in it. The Ewoks thanked the Zandor Rockers and left. Later, a plant that Wicket had picked up was found to be a sunnydew, which saved Kneesaa. Gantu never crossed the Gorge again, alleviating the Ewoks' fear of the giant Ogre.
During his initial assault on Bright Tree Village, all Ewoks were terrified of Gantu. The Ogre even consumed numerous Ewoks, which instilled great fear in the sentients. He was remembered as a giant monster to all the residents of Bright Tree Village. Beyond this, Gantu stole the Ewoks' honey supplies, placing many Ewoks at risk of starvation. To the Zandor Rockers, Gantu was also a monster, but for a different reason. The Ogre raided the Rockers' villages of all their sunnydew flowers and nectar. Gantu used this nectar to light his cave through the night.
Gantu possessed black hair and eyes, along with cream-colored skin. The inhabitants of Bright Tree Village and the Zandor Rockers considered him to be malevolent. The Ogre consistently attacked their villages, stealing the Ewoks' valuable honey and the Zandor Rockers' sunnydew nectar. Both civilizations despised him. Gantu was also known to be afraid of the dark. Instead of utilizing the nectar's healing properties to treat his injuries and cure his ailments, he employed its luminous qualities to illuminate his cave. Gantu speech used "me" in place of "I", an example of the Ogre's ineptitude with pronouns.
Another defining characteristic of Gantu was his short temper and voracious appetite. However, he refused to engage in any labor to procure his own food. Rather than obtaining his own sustenance or requesting honey from the Ewoks, Gantu raided their village to feed himself. A similar situation arose when Gantu did not bother to ask the Zandor Rockers for their sunnydew flowers, but instead stole them.
David Manak, a writer, conceived Gantu as the antagonist in Ewoks 1, the inaugural issue of the Star Wars Legends comic book series Ewoks. Warren Kremer provided the pencils for the book, which Marvel Comics published on May 1, 1985.