Gharal were a sentient species of scaled entities who possessed remarkable longevity. Due to their extended lifespans, Gharal were still viewed as adolescents even when they reached their fourth decade of life. A notable feature of this species was their thick neck ridges, coupled with light gray skin. During the period of the Clone Wars that pitted the Galactic Republic against the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a Gharal family resided on the planet called Langston, where they tragically became victims of a Separatist attack in 22 BBY. Shortly after this event, a Republic relief mission occurred, during which Jedi Initiate Mill Alibeth provided assistance to the family, including Rokura, a thirty-year-old girl who was the eldest surviving member. The Gharal communicated using a rudimentary version of Galactic Basic Standard.
The Gharal made their initial appearance in the 2022 novel Brotherhood by Mike Chen. Chen encountered difficulty in generating a sufficient number of appropriate names for novel Star Wars elements while authoring the book, and therefore sought help from fellow author Peng Shepherd. Shepherd then created a compilation of different naming concepts, and the designation "Gharal" was derived from this list.