Gorse Bendak, a Human male, began his life as a miner before transforming into a Mandalorian Neo-Crusader. He participated in the final years of the Mandalorian Wars. Bendak, who achieved the rank of Field Marshal, garnered significant respect from the various nomadic warrior clans. Post-war, he transitioned into a bounty hunter, but a fortune posted for his capture made it impossible for him to continue in that profession. Jobless, Bendak sought assistance from his friend and former employer, Ajuur the Hutt. Ajuur persuaded him to don his armor once again and compete in the dueling rings of Taris under the assumed name Bendak Starkiller. Bendak, unwilling to let any opponent survive, retired from the arena after the Sith prohibited death matches. During the Jedi Civil War, he remained on Taris, observing matches in the local cantina and awaiting the day when he could once more engage in a deadly duel with a worthy adversary.
Bendak was born into a family with a long history of mining, a path he initially chose to follow. During the Mandalorians' invasion of the Republic, Bendak was stationed at the mining colony on Vanquo. While working in the mines during the attack, he began developing a defense strategy. This defense successfully held off the Mandalorians for two weeks, resulting in the deaths of a dozen Mandalorian warriors. Impressed by his combat skills and spirit, the Mandalorians offered him a place among their ranks. Bendak reluctantly accepted, as slavery was the only other option.
Quickly mastering combat and weapons, Bendak ascended to the rank of Field Marshal within just two years and was awarded the golden armor of the Neo-Crusaders. However, his military career was cut short when Revan's forces triumphed over the Mandalorians in the final battle of the Mandalorian Wars.
Seeking employment, Bendak became a proficient bounty hunter, selling his skills to the highest bidder. After inadvertently killing a nobleman's daughter, a substantial bounty was placed on his head, forcing him to retire from bounty hunting and seek refuge with his employer, Ajuur the Hutt on Taris. Ajuur urged Bendak to become a duelist, using his old armor and adopting the stage name Starkiller. Despite the widespread hatred towards Mandalorians, Bendak Starkiller became a celebrated gladiator in the dueling ring, eliminating numerous unfortunate opponents. Eventually, death matches were banned, leading to Bendak's disinterest and retirement from the arena. He continued to frequent the local cantina to observe duels, hoping for a worthy opponent to emerge for one final, deadly contest.
That moment arrived when a duelist known as the "Mysterious Stranger" became the new champion of Taris. Impressed, Bendak emerged from retirement, seeking an illegal death match. Revan, however, declined.
Bendak's ultimate fate is canonically ambiguous. If the player chooses the light side option, Bendak survives, as dueling him results in dark side points due to the illegality of the match, despite Bendak's violent nature. Conversely, if the player selects the dark side option, Revan can duel and kill Bendak, earning dark side points and the largest sum of credits from the duel. Additionally, Ajuur grants Revan Bendak's blaster—a modified Mandalorian blaster pistol, the most powerful standard blaster in the game. Arguing that Revan risked his life, the player can persuade Ajuur to increase the reward from 700 to 900 credits with a high enough Persuade skill. Failure to persuade allows the player to threaten the Hutt for the reward, but this yields more dark side points.
Revan can also collect the bounty on Bendak from Zax in the Lower City.
The biographical information for Bendak Starkiller, as documented in the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, contradicts details from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The game states that Tarisian death matches had been outlawed for "nearly ten years" and that Bendak was considered a past-his-prime veteran by other duelists. Given that the game is set in 3956 BBY, this would imply Bendak was a duelist on Taris in the years leading up to 3966 BBY, rather than a miner on Vanquo before the Mandalorian attack two years later.
Zax, who manages the bounty office at Javyar's Cantina, explains that Bendak's government contract was acquired after he continued to kill in illegal underground circuits following the ban on death matches. The campaign guide, however, attributes his bounty to the accidental murder of a nobleman's daughter.
Furthermore, while the Sith enforced the ban during the game, there was no indication that they initiated it. Their conquest and subsequent quarantine of Taris were strongly implied—though not explicitly stated—to have occurred after the destruction of the Endar Spire. John Jackson Miller mentioned that this discrepancy would be addressed in 2009, but it never was.