During Roan Novachez's time as a student, a Dathomirian Jedi Master named Mr. Garfield served as an instructor at the Jedi academy situated within the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. This male Jedi was highly proficient in constructing lightsabers, engaging in lightsaber combat, and piloting starfighters. He imparted his knowledge and skills to the academy's students through various courses, demanding excellence from them. Furthermore, he supervised extracurricular activities centered around lightsaber duels. Initially, he also led extracurricular classes in home economics, but in Roan's second year, the chef Gammy took over this subject, teaching it as part of the regular curriculum.
Mr. Garfield possessed a personality that could be described as occasionally harsh and sarcastic, leading Roan to suspect that he was being unfairly targeted, even before classes had formally begun. He frequently found fault with Roan's answers during lessons and assigned him low grades on assignments and tests, often for reasons that Roan considered unjust. Despite these challenges, Roan managed to achieve passing grades in all of Mr. Garfield's courses, ranging from A to C+. However, there was at least one instance where Mr. Garfield initially gave a grade of C-, but was convinced by Jedi Grand Master Yoda to revise it. At the conclusion of his second year at the Jedi academy, Roan was dismayed to discover that Mr. Garfield had been chosen to be his personal Jedi Master, meaning he would be training as his apprentice in the upcoming term. Mr. Garfield showed a gentler side at the school's Satine Hawkins dance, where he danced with Kitmum, the Wookiee gym instructor, though he seemed hesitant at first. As Novachez continued to learn under Mr. Garfield's tutelage, Mr. Garfield started to acknowledge Novachez's abilities, and it became clear that he was challenging his student to perform at his highest potential.
The character of Mr. Garfield draws inspiration from Severus Snape from the Harry Potter novels. Additionally, he is based on a teacher of Jeffrey Brown, the author of the Jedi Academy series, named Mr. H., who was known for his strict demeanor and dry wit. Mr. H's critiques of Brown's artwork often bruised his ego, but he would sometimes display a broad smile upon seeing his work. The character's name pays homage to Garfield, the main character of the comic strip Garfield, created by Jim Davis.