Hethar, a planet covered in forests, existed within the Atrivis sector of the Outer Rim Territories'. This world served as the homeworld for the gornts, omnivorous beings whose meat became a dietary cornerstone for the local colonists. In the time leading up to the Battle of Yavin, the Galactic Empire took control of the planet via annexation, establishing a program for gornt breeding and meat production. Sullustan ranchers played a key role, supplying gornt meat to support the Imperial Navy.
In the years that followed, problems began to surface regarding gornt reproduction on Hethar. This prompted Imperial geneticists to visit the world to try and resolve these issues. During the Galactic Civil War, a Rebel Alliance team stationed on Hethar had an encounter with a group of native shredder bats, which they ultimately drove away using the excluder device.
Hethar, a terrestrial planet, was located within the Hethar system, which was part of the Atrivis sector in the New Territories region of the Outer Rim Territories. Its landscape was characterized by forests featuring trees and brown bushes. Hethar was the originating homeworld of the gornt, a species of omnivore that moved on four limbs. The gornt's sensitive reproductive processes helped prevent them from overgrazing the planet's forests.
Hethar was also inhabited by the shredder bat, a flying predator first encountered on Atrisia in the Core Worlds before spreading to over a thousand other planets. The planet also supported life-forms with shell-like structures as part of their biological makeup.
The gornt, indigenous to Hethar, was already known beyond its home planet by 22 BBY. The Galactic Empire annexed the world during the Galactic Civil War, shortly before the Battle of Yavin. The local colonists provided gornt meat, a staple of their own diet, to Imperial suppliers. The Imperial Navy, recognizing the meat's quality, quickly established a gornt breeding and processing operation. Ranches for gornt production were established on Hethar and other planets through deals made by various Sullustan business people.
For many years, wild gornts were captured, fattened, and bred to supply food for naval forces. However, a combination of factors, including forced breeding, excessive harvesting, dietary changes, the use of chemical treatments to alter fertility, and tampering with the gornts' genetic structure, led to changes in their reproductive cycle. This resulted in a gradual decline in both the number and quality of gornt herds on Hethar. Imperial geneticists, intrigued by the problem, traveled to the planet to attempt to find a solution to the gornt fertility issues. During the reign of the Empire, the gornts of Hethar were featured in a holobrochure for the Tagge Holographic Museum on Chandrila.
During the Galactic Civil War, a Rebel Alliance team, including Homack, found themselves stranded on Hethar while carrying out reconnaissance on a small Imperial presence. One night, four Rebels, including Homack, who were on guard duty, encountered a group of shredder bats. Concerned about alerting the Imperials with blasters, the Rebels used the excluder, a sonic animal repellent, to stun the creatures. On the date 45:2:3:47, Homack mentioned the Hethar incident in the illegal database Gundark's Gear Datalog. Between 4 ABY and 12 ABY, Hethar was located within the borders of the Pentastar Alignment, and between 12 ABY and 13 ABY it was situated in territory controlled by the Imperial Remnant.
By the time of the Galactic Empire's annexation, Hethar had already been colonized. During the Imperial era, Hethar was also home to affluent Sullustan gornt ranchers and was occasionally visited by Imperial geneticists.
Hethar was initially mentioned in Creatures of the Galaxy, a 1994 sourcebook published by West End Games for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. Phil Brucato authored the section of the book about the planet, and Mike Vilardi provided the illustrations. The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas placed the Hethar system, and thus Hethar itself, in grid square L-5.