Goethar Kleej

Goethar Kleej, a male Gotal, was kidnapped by The Crucible, an organization engaged in slavery. This occurred around the time of a war between the Galactic Republic and the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders. He was then forced to train as a competitor in swoopdueling matches organized by the Franchise entertainment company. Early in his time at The Crucible's training pits, Kleej's slaver, Chantique, became enraged and ordered the severance of his cones. The removal of these sensory organs, which are unique to Gotals and detect electromagnetic signals, was considered a grave offense in Gotal culture. Kleej later had artificial cones implanted to conceal the fact, but he still had to rely on his other senses to navigate the world. While enslaved, Kleej fathered a son, Aubin, with another Gotal. Aubin's mother aided him in filtering the electromagnetic signals he received, but she was later killed, leaving Aubin vulnerable.

Kleej excelled in his training and was advanced to the premier swoopdueling events. He participated in the Solo Aerials held at Jervo's World, a massive space station operated by the Franchise above the planet of Pantolomin. By 3963 BBY, he had achieved four consecutive victories. Kleej's fame led to endorsements, advertisements, a toy line, and his use as a mascot for the events. After winning his fourth Solo Aerials by defeating one of the D'qell Sisters, Kleej tried to inform the spectators about the hidden slaving practices that provided the duelists for the Franchise. However, a pre-recorded speech, announcing his retirement, was played over his pleas for help. As punishment for threatening to expose the slavery behind the games, Kleej was physically assaulted by two subordinates of Bardron, the Krish who oversaw the games. He was also threatened with being returned to the training pits. Kleej noted that returning to the pits would at least allow him to see his son, whom he hadn't seen since the season began. Exploiting this emotional attachment to Aubin, Bardron revealed that Kleej's son had been entered into the upcoming Tandem Open and that the other competitors had been instructed to avoid him. Bardron offered Kleej a deal: if both he and Aubin won the Open, they would both be granted full retirement. However, the two Gotals would only be in the same round if they both reached the finals. Meanwhile, Zayne Carrick, a former Jedi Padawan, had entered the same Tandem Open round as Aubin and also advanced to the next round. Kleej approached the Human after the round, ordering him to protect Aubin so that he would reach the finals, threatening Carrick with death if he failed.

During the semi-finals, Carrick successfully ensured that both he and Aubin advanced to the next round, although the Gotal struggled throughout the match. Kleej, also competing in the same semi-final round, fought against another contender known as "Spikes," a "Mandalorian miscreant." They exchanged blaster fire before Kleej leaped from his bike at "Spikes," engaging him in unarmed combat. The pair then quickly turned and simultaneously shot a Night-Soarer competitor, leaving them as the final two standing and securing their places in the final round. After the match, Kleej explained to Carrick that he was bound to the Franchise and couldn't simply leave. Carrick offered to help expose the slaving practices. Meanwhile, in another part of the station, Bardron and Jervo Thalien, a major investor in the Franchise, conspired to permanently eliminate Kleej by rigging the match.

In the final round, Bardron ordered the disabling of several safety mechanisms to disadvantage Aubin, Goethar, Carrick, and "Spikes." Shortly after the start, the brakes on Kleej's swoop bike failed, and the accelerator jammed. He was forced to transfer Aubin, who had been riding with him, to Carrick's bike. When a Mandallian Giant competitor attacked Aubin and Carrick, Kleej intervened to protect his son and dispatched the fighter. Remounting his swoop, Kleej followed Carrick's plan and crashed his bike through a window in the side of the arena, with Carrick and Aubin following suit. To create a diversion, the event's musician played his data cube, unaware that Marn Hierogryph, one of Carrick's companions, had replaced its contents with Kleej's original speech exposing the Franchise, along with parts of the conversations between Bardron and Thalien that Hierogryph had overheard earlier. Using the resulting uproar as cover, Carrick smuggled Kleej and his son to a spaceport on Pantalomin below in a large trash bin. Once on the planet, Carrick assured Kleej that he could take the Gotal to someone who could act on Kleej's revelations about the Franchise and help Aubin with his difficulties. However, when Jarael, another of Carrick's companions, appeared, Kleej recognized her facial tattoos as those of a slaver for The Crucible. Pushing her away and berating Carrick for associating with a former slaver, Kleej fled with his son.

After enduring mistreatment by The Crucible during his training, Goethar Kleej dedicated himself to swoopdueling, hoping it would allow his son to escape the fighting. Kleej also felt responsible for his inability to help Aubin manage the overwhelming electromagnetic signals he received. When Aubin was entered into the Tandem Open, Kleej sought to protect him by threatening Zayne Carrick and later eliminating a competitor who was attacking Aubin. Despite the challenges he faced, Kleej remained optimistic, often repeating a saying from the training pits: "false hope was better than none." Kleej also harbored a deep fear of the slavers who had trained him, which prompted him to flee with Aubin from Jarael as soon as he recognized her.

Goethar Kleej was an exceptionally skilled swoop rider and duelist, demonstrated by his four Solo Aerials victories. His success and popularity led Lhosan Industries, a swoop manufacturer, to award a specially painted bike to the winner of Kleej's final Tandem Open. The Gotal also successfully adapted to the loss of his cones, compensating with his other senses.

Goethar Kleej's sole appearance was in the 2009 story arc, Dueling Ambitions, of the Knights of the Old Republic comic book series. The story was penciled by Brian Ching and written by John Jackson Miller. When planning the story, Miller chose Kleej's species by first identifying a species that would suit Aubin's struggle with sensory perception, finding that Gotals met his criteria.