Gor Koresh, an Abyssin criminal, gamester, and businessperson, originated on the world RTK111. During the New Republic's era, he both managed combatant competitions at his venue, known as Gor Koresh's Honky Tonk, located on RTK111, and pursued surviving Mandalorians to acquire their beskar armor. In 9 ABY, at his arena, the Abyssin encountered Din Djarin, a Mandalorian pursuer of bounties, along with the young Grogu. The Mandalorian sought information about others like himself, but Koresh suggested the prize hunter enjoy the show first.
Koresh tried to deceive the Mandalorian into a wager to take possession of the bounty hunter's beskar armor, but when Djarin declined, the Abyssin and his accomplices threatened the bounty hunter with firearms. Despite this, Djarin overcame Koresh's associates and caught Koresh outside the battle area, questioning him to get the details he needed. After Koresh yielded, the Mandalorian left him to be confronted by feral canines.
During the New Republic's rule, Gor Koresh, an Abyssin, resided on the world RTK111 and came from there. As a mobster, bettor, and entrepreneur, Gor Koresh made money from different illicit operations, which included putting together underground fighter contests at his own arena, Gor Koresh's Honky Tonk, situated in the industrial sector of a desolate settlement on RTK111. Furthermore, he was after Mandalorian survivors to get their beskar armor, which was becoming increasingly valuable. At some point, Koresh became aware of a supposed Mandalorian on the planet Tatooine. This individual was actually Cobb Vanth, the lawman of the Tatooine extraction town Mos Pelgo, who had obtained a Mandalorian armor set from Jawas in 4 ABY. Koresh also found out about Din Djarin, the Mandalorian seeker of bounties, who carefully watched over the young orphan Grogu.
In 9 ABY, Djarin made his way to Koresh's arena, having been informed that the criminal possessed knowledge of the locations of additional Mandalorians. Koresh was seated by the ring at his arena, gambling on one of the Gamorrean fighters participating in the competition, when Djarin and Grogu came up to him. Noticing the pair, the gambler commented that the pit was not a suitable environment for a child like Grogu, but the Mandalorian made it clear that the orphan accompanied him everywhere. Djarin told Koresh that he was seeking information on other Mandalorians in the galaxy as part of his mission to return Grogu to his own species. Koresh, more interested in the fight, suggested the bounty hunter enjoy the show rather than immediately discussing business.
The Gamorrean that Koresh had placed a bet on was forced to the ground, which caused the unhappy gangster to yell at the other Gamorrean to eliminate their adversary. As the injured Gamorrean was struggling to survive, Koresh proposed that the information Djarin needed would be the prize in a bet on whether the losing Gamorrean would die within the next ninety seconds. The Abyssin, in return, wanted the Mandalorian to stake his beskar armor in the wager. Djarin refused, so Koresh used his blaster pistol to shoot the winning Gamorrean, and his heavily armed associates quickly encircled the Mandalorian with their blasters ready, as part of Koresh's planned ambush.
The audience at the arena quickly evacuated the premises, and Koresh boasted about not having to search for Djarin to get his armor and told his new prisoner how much he had grown to appreciate the increasingly valuable beskar. The gangster demanded Djarin's armor in exchange for not killing the Mandalorian, but Djarin responded by threatening to kill Koresh if he did not reveal where other Mandalorians could be located. After Koresh commented that he had not thought Djarin was a gambler, the Mandalorian employed his whistling birds to take out the Abyssin's armed associates and battled the arena's personnel. Koresh ran away from the arena as Djarin defeated the rest of the gambler's crew.
Koresh fled outside and down the street, but Djarin, coming out of the arena, ensnared the gangster with his fibercord whip, pulling him across the ground and suspending him from a lamppost. Attempting to befriend his captor, the Abyssin frantically offered Djarin the information he was looking for in exchange for his life. He disclosed what he knew about the supposed Mandalorian on Tatooine, guaranteeing the truth of the information by a gotra. Djarin then started to leave, and Koresh pleaded to be released from the grappling line, claiming it was part of their agreement. Instead, the Mandalorian used his blaster pistol to shoot out the light post, allowing several local feral dogs to approach the gangster and attempt to kill him as he screamed in fear.
Gor Koresh was a 1.73-meter-tall (5 feet, 8 inches) Abyssin characterized by green skin, thinning gray hair, and a single brown eye. The deceptive entrepreneur had a tendency to betray or kill anyone who got in the way of his operations. To protect his enterprise, Koresh required that visitors to his arena have either an invitation from him or a password. He developed an appreciation for beskar as its value increased and hunted Mandalorians to steal their beskar armor. The Abyssin observed Grogu's arrival at his arena with a mix of amusement and disapproval, believing it was not a suitable place for the child.
Koresh tried to persuade Djarin to bet for information in an attempt to trick him into surrendering his beskar armor. When Djarin did not fall for the gambler's trick, Koresh and his accomplices held the bounty hunter at gunpoint, with Koresh chuckling as he taunted the Mandalorian. After Djarin defeated all of Koresh's allies and captured him, the Abyssin divulged information about a potential Mandalorian in an effort to save his life, his voice trembling as he tried to maintain composure while hanging from a lamppost. Koresh's voice became raspy and breathless as he swore the truth of his information by a gotra.
Gor Koresh made his first appearance in "Chapter 9: The Marshal," the opening episode of the second season of the Disney+ live-action series The Mandalorian. The episode was directed by show-runner Jon Favreau and broadcast on October 30, 2020. John Leguizamo provided the voice for Koresh, and John Rosengrant portrayed him in costume.
Koresh was initially hinted at in the official trailer for The Mandalorian Season Two, which was released on YouTube on September 15, 2020. On YouTube, the trailer's captions originally identified the character as "Gore Keresh," but they were later edited to remove the name and simply identify the character as an extraterrestrial. The subtitles on the Disney+ version of the trailer spelled the name as "Gor Koresh" but were also subsequently removed. The "Launchpad" section of the 202th issue of Titan Magazines' Star Wars Insider, published on April 27 of 2021, used the spelling "Gor Keresh," as did the "Jedi Master's Quiz" section of Star Wars Insider's 203rd issue, published on June 22 of that year.
In the initial drafts for "Chapter 9: The Marshal," written by Favreau during the holiday break at the close of 2018, Koresh was described as a "disgusting cyclops" with a pair of earrings and a nose ring. The director also communicated the idea that the character would be seated among a crowd of spectators on basic bench seating with bodyguards, rather than being a distant spectator or on a throne. Arts director Doug Chiang described Koresh to concept artists as similar to an emperor of the Colosseum, stating that he would determine the destinies of competing Gamorreans. Working from another description of Koresh as a "small-time crime boss," artist Brian Matyas gave the character a design influenced by the "old-school" work of animator Ray Harryhausen with a retro-style color scheme.
In another concept, Matyas worked from Chiang's emperor idea, giving Koresh a very simple costume. One of Matyas's other concepts for the character included a helmet with a monocle visor, playing on the idea of an Abyssin "killer-hitman-henchman with a helmet." Matyas chose to make later designs resemble a classic mob boss, drawing inspiration from Tony Soprano, a character from the television series The Sopranos, which resulted in the final design of Koresh. Some additional concept art that included Koresh was created by artist Khang Le.
During Leguizamo's rehearsal for Koresh's voice, Favreau advised the voice actor to come across as a "high status mob boss" similar to Don Corleone, a character from The Godfather film series. Lines about Koresh referring to his Gamorrean as the best in his stable were included during the rehearsal but did not make it into the episode. Filming for "Chapter 9: The Marshal," including Koresh's scenes, occurred over thirteen days during November 2019.
Joe Schreiber's 2022 young adult novelization of The Mandalorian Season Two describes Koresh as having a nose ring, aligning with the initial drafts of "Chapter 9: The Marshal." However, his appearance in the completed episode did not include a nose ring. The novel also presents some of Koresh's lines differently than how they are spoken in the episode or presented in the subtitles. In addition, the novelization describes Koresh standing up when shooting the Gamorrean, while the episode shows him remaining seated until the second Gamorrean attacks Djarin. This article uses the information from the episode when it differs from its novelization.