As a human male and a prisoner of the Galactic Empire, Ham found himself confined on the moon Narkina 5, within an Imperial Prison Complex. His sentence: eight Standard years for the crime of "self defence." Assigned to Unit Five-Two-D, he toiled on Table Five alongside six others, tirelessly assembling intricate EP-N5 fasteners for the Empire during grueling twelve hour shifts. In the year 5 BBY, their table gained a new member: Cassian Andor, a prisoner using the alias "Keef Girgo," who replaced a departed inmate. During Andor's initial shift, the table's performance lagged, resulting in collective electric shocks as punishment before their return to their cells.
The table, over numerous shifts, developed a synchronized workflow with their new member, even showing promise of achieving top scores. However, Ham and the others grew increasingly worried as Ulaf, their elderly tablemate, struggled with the demanding labor due to his deteriorating health. Tragedy struck when Ulaf collapsed mid-shift from a severe stroke and was subsequently euthanized. In the wake of Ulaf's passing, Andor and Kino Loy, the shift manager of Unit Five-Two-D, delivered a grim revelation: the Empire intended to indefinitely cycle them through prisons rather than release them upon completion of their sentences. Consequently, Ham and his fellow inmates began devising a plan for their escape, viewing it as their only path to freedom.
On the subsequent day, the unit commenced their shift as usual, awaiting the arrival of Ulaf's replacement. Once the new prisoner was escorted into the room, Ham and the inmate Xaul orchestrated a staged altercation to divert the attention of the Imperial guards. This allowed Andor to sabotage the lift mechanism bringing the new prisoner down. Ham and the other prisoners then initiated an assault, bombarding the Imperials with components. When the Imperials attempted to deploy electric shocks against the prisoners, a short circuit occurred due to a deliberate flood in the rest room. Xaul was subsequently killed by the guards, prompting Ham to ascend towards the Imperial control room.
After gaining control of the control room, Andor armed Ham, who then spearheaded a group of prisoners to seize another control room located on Level 5. Ham rallied the prisoners within the room to join their escape effort before proceeding to eliminate several Imperials who were attacking a group of prisoners led by his tablemate Ruescott Melshi. Following Andor and Loy's successful takeover of the prison's command center and the subsequent shutdown of the entire facility's power, Ham and numerous others joined them on Level 8, where he was among the first to dive into the waters surrounding the prison, seeking liberation.
By 5 BBY, Ham, a human male, had been handed an eight-years sentence as a prisoner of the Galactic Empire for the act of "self defense." This led to his confinement within the Imperial Prison Complex situated on the moon Narkina 5. Within the prison walls, Ham was designated to Table Five in Unit Five-Two-D, specifically the day shift within the second room on Level 5. Each day, he and his six tablemates dedicated twelve-hour shifts to assembling EP-N5 fasteners, intricate components of Imperial machinery. Unbeknownst to the inmates, these parts were destined for use in the construction of the clandestine Imperial Death Star superlaser.
During 5 BBY, the remaining duration of Ham's sentence was doubled, mirroring the fate of every other prisoner under the Empire's newly implemented Public Order Resentencing Directive. The subsequent month witnessed the loss of a member from Table Five, resulting in a decline in their performance within the ongoing competition against other tables in the room. Cassian Andor, a new arrival using the alias "Keef Girgo," was assigned to fill the vacant position on Table Five. An hour before the shift's conclusion, Andor was escorted in by the guards. Ham and the rest of the unit ceased their work, entering the designated on program posture: hands behind their heads, feet firmly planted, and eyes focused forward. Once Kino Loy, the unit manager for Unit Five-Two-D, signaled the resumption of work, Ham returned to his machinery as Loy explained the system to Andor.
As Andor approached the table, Jemboc introduced him to Ham and the other members of Table Five: Xaul, Taga, Ulaf, and Ruescott Melshi. Ham remained silent as the others discussed the possibility of Loy granting them leeway for being ten points behind, but after the others paused due to Melshi reminding them of Andor's name, Ham abruptly urged them to resume work. Following a call from the guards, Loy announced a sprint segment for the room, lasting the final thirty-nine minutes of the shift. Upon the shift's end, Table Five received an electric shock via the facility's tunqstoid steel floor for their subpar productivity. After the shift, Ham and his tablemates appeared exhausted as they traversed the skybridge back to their living quarters.
Back in their cells, Ham listened in silence, arms crossed, as the rest of Table Five questioned Andor about the external reaction to the Public Order Resentencing Directive. Andor's admission of ignorance regarding the directive shocked the others, prompting Loy to order everyone back into their cells for the night. Thirty shifts later, Ham and his unit underwent mass decontamination before acquiring fresh uniforms and commencing a shift characterized by smooth teamwork and the potential for victory.
In the shift following the death of the prisoner Veemoss, Table Five again worked in sync, discussing the possibility of striving for the highest score, which would bring them flavoring in their food as a reward. Ulaf, the table's oldest member, requested assistance due to hand problems, leading Andor to offer a switch. When Taga questioned the switch, Ham pointed out Andor's superior speed, prompting Taga to criticize Ham's bluntness. Ham and the unit later had to stop and go on program when Veemoss's replacement arrived.
With an hour remaining in the shift, the group discussed their next steps. Two minutes later, Ulaf repeated the question, prompting a concerned Ham to remind him that he had already been informed. Ulaf became defensive and urged the table to continue working, but as they did, Ham exchanged a worried look with Xaul. After the shift, the unit experienced an unusually long delay on the skybridge, with Taga reporting that other units were signaling an incident on level two. As Ham and the others grew uneasy, Loy called for quiet, but as he did, the lighting dimmed due to a momentary power drop. After Loy's second call for quiet, an alarm blared, and Ham and the others went on program before being allowed to return to their cells. At the next shift change, rumors spread that unit two-five had been killed by the Empire, causing tensions to escalate. Ham had to step back when Loy attacked Melshi for suggesting that the dead prisoners had been liberated.
Loy instructed everyone to disregard the rumor and work as usual on the next shift, but Ulaf continued to struggle. At the end of the shift, Ham and the others went on program as table one was summoned for punishment due to their low score, but Ulaf was unable to stand and collapsed against the table. Xaul and Andor quickly shielded the ailing prisoner as he continued to suffer. As the shifts crossed back across the skybridge at the shift's end, Ulaf collapsed again, prompting Loy to summon a medtech, and he and Andor remained with Ulaf while Ham and the others returned to their cells. However, by the time the medtech, Doctor Rhasiv, arrived, it was already too late for Ulaf, who had suffered a severe stroke, leading the medic to euthanize him.
After Andor and Loy returned to the cells, they informed Ham and the others of Ulaf's death while also revealing Rashiv's explanation for the deaths on level two: the Empire had mistakenly returned a released prisoner from Level 4 to level two, informing the prisoners there that they would never be released and would only be transferred to another prison. Realizing that escape was their only means of ever leaving prison, the entire unit began planning an uprising based around the arrival of Ulaf's replacement the next day. They were ordered to cross the skybridge in silence and then worked as normal at their tables until the replacement arrived. Shortly before the replacement's arrival, Ham prompted Andor to take a toilet break, during which Andor sawed through a water pipe that would flood the room. Nervous, Taga inquired about Andor's whereabouts, but Ham and Xaul reassured him.
As preparations were made to bring out Ulaf's replacement, Xaul and Melshi began distributing parts to Ham and the others. As the replacement was lowered into the room on a lift, Andor, having returned from the flooding rest room, signaled to Xaul and Ham. The pair then staged an altercation, with Xaul attacking Ham and drawing the guards' attention. Capitalizing on the distraction, Andor jammed the lift halfway through its descent, and Loy ordered the unit to begin damaging their equipment. Ham and Xaul ceased fighting and began hurling the metal components at the Imperials as the prisoner Birnok and Ulaf's replacement attacked the guard on the lift.
As the Imperials ordered the electrification of the floor, Ham and the others scrambled onto tables as Loy shouted a warning. Once the electricity was activated, the water from the flooding rest room caused a short circuit, plunging the room into darkness. With the floor now safe, Loy gave the order to attack, and other prisoners began charging the lift. Ham and Xaul remained in cover behind a table, but after stepping out to hurl a rivet, Xaul was shot dead. Ham cried out as his fellow prisoner fell and then charged at the lift.
Andor eliminated the three Imperials above as Ham climbed, and the prisoners soon took over the control room. After killing two more guards as they arrived, Andor threw Ham a DH-17 blaster pistol from the guards' weapon rack. Ham led a group of armed inmates, including Jemboc and Taga, away from the control room, separating from Andor, Loy, and Melshi. His group attacked the Imperials in the control room of another unit's room on Level 5, and once the Imperials were dead, Ham rushed out onto the balcony overlooking the room and shouted for its occupants to join the escape attempt. He then ran back inside the control room and lowered the lift for the other unit, who began cheering and climbing up. Ham continued with his team, coming upon a trio of Imperials that were attacking Melshi's group in a separate control room. Ham shot the three foes in the back and then led his team up another stairway without stopping.
Meanwhile, Andor and Loy had captured the command center for the entire prison and forced the Imperials there to shut down the hydro power for the building. Loy announced the uprising over the comms to the entire prison, causing the remaining units to rise up. Ham and the others then reached Loy and Andor on Level 8 and together the prisoners ran to a ledge looking out over the ocean surrounding the prison. As the others stared down, Ham yelled to the rest before leaping over the edge and down into the water, with the others soon following, bar Loy, who could not swim. Ham and the others then began to swim to freedom, with at least some making it to shore safely.
During his imprisonment on Narkina 5, Ham cultivated the skill of remaining silent amidst the chatter of other prisoners and kept his fellow inmates focused on their tasks, speaking directly about efficiency. The death of Xaul elicited a cry from him, and he took the lead in the prison break, being among the first to plunge into the water and towards freedom. Ham possessed light skin, dark brown hair, blue eyes, and spoke basic with an accent.
As an inmate on Narkina 5, Ham was clad in thin, white-and-orange prison scrubs without footwear. He employed a riveting tool and a laser solder gun while working at Table Five. During his escape, he wielded a stolen DH-17 blaster pistol.
Ham's portrayal was by Clemens Schick in the television show Andor. His debut was in the first season's eighth episode, "Narkina 5," which aired on October 26, 2022. Before the show's release, Ham was featured in an Andor teaser trailer released on May 26, 2022. The Narkina 5 prison sequences marked the final scenes filmed for Andor's first season, with Ham's scenes all shot at Pinewood Studios in London.
Director Toby Haynes intentionally had the actors playing the members of Table Five rehearse together without Diego Luna, who played Cassian, to foster a bond that Luna would not share, mirroring Cassian's outsider status. Luna then met them for the first time on the first day of filming. During filming, Haynes instructed Schick to improvise, leading him to curse and scream loudly upon action being called, resulting in laughter from everyone present when the director called cut due to the language's inappropriateness for the format.