The Hiromi were a sentient, two-legged insectoid species. Despite possessing a powerful self-preservation drive and a marked reluctance towards anything dangerous, the Hiromi considered themselves a magnificent race of powerful warriors. Their governing body was known as the Hiromi Empire, and they held membership in the Alliance of Free Planets. The Hiromi harbored secret ambitions of galactic domination. In pursuit of these goals, shortly following the Battle of Endor, they attempted to instigate conflict between the Lahsbane and the Ewoks to fracture the Alliance, but their scheme was thwarted. Subsequently, they attempted to conquer Zeltros, only to be defeated once more when the planet was later conquered by the Nagai, and subsequently the Tofs. Abandoning their dreams of conquest thereafter, they aided the Alliance and the Nagai in their fight against the Tofs.
Hiromi were a green, insectoid sentient species that stood around 1.5 meters in height. They possessed yellow eyes, a pair of lengthy antennae on their heads, and, unlike many insectoid species, they had tongues.
Every Hiromi member within their invading forces sported a uniform consisting of red berets and boots, with the exception of Captain Hookyr, who instead wore a red hat. Their attire consisted of red, tan, and purple colors.
The most defining characteristic of the Hiromi was their strong instinct for self-preservation. One of their most cherished activities was, in their own words, "avoiding a beating." The Hiromi exhibited extreme fear when faced with potential danger, and they were quick to propose alternatives to direct combat, such as requesting reinforcements to fight on their behalf, seeking refuge, or simply returning home. Nevertheless, when genuinely needed, the Hiromi would bravely undertake any required task, though their fear remained palpable.
The Hiromi held an inflated perception of themselves, proclaiming to be "glorious conquerors," yet their limited attention spans often led to their ambitious long-term plans, such as galactic dominance, being disrupted by thoughts of food or leisure. The Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker noted their enjoyment of the act of conquest itself. Other terms they used to describe themselves included "glorious", "ruthless", and "supreme". Hiromi believed themselves to be ruthless masters of interrogation, a claim they supported by swiftly breaking subjects through relentless barrages of "Talk!" shouts.
Another activity that the Hiromi enjoyed was cheering. They would cheer and praise themselves whenever they achieved some form of victory. They considered this to be a very important part of any activity. When Luke Skywalker wanted to get them motivated, he appealed to their love of cheering by leading them in one.
The Hiromi also possessed a deep love for food. Immediately after "conquering" Zeltros, they prioritized having lunch, and they expressed nothing but admiration for the quality of Zeltronian cuisine and desserts. The Hiromi only knew of the Jedi and the Force through stories.
Roughly 2000 years prior to the Battle of Endor, the Hiromi Empire initiated the planning phase for their galactic conquest. Over the ensuing two millennia, they observed the evolving landscape of galactic affairs while remaining hidden. They heard tales of the Jedi Knights and their powers, but it was not until their invasion that they witnessed one, Luke Skywalker, in action.
In 4 ABY, shortly following the Battle of Endor, the Hiromi mothership Kuratcha was deployed as part of the advanced force for the invasion of the galaxy, and the Hiromi operative Hirog infiltrated the command staff of the Alliance of Free Planets as Admiral Ackbar's aide. Hirog's objective was to destabilize the Alliance in preparation for the Hiromi invasion, which he attempted by inciting conflict between the Lahsbee and Ewoks, as they were considered the two least threatening members of the Alliance.
The initial stage of his scheme involved fabricating a scenario in which a Lahsbee appeared to be having an affair with the Ewok Princess Kamida. The Ewok Tippet, who was courting her, was enraged, and began rallying his people to fight the Lahsbee. The second phase of the Hiromi plan was to plant a bomb near the Alliance leadership; when it detonated, it would kill all the participants in the conflict, leaving the rest of the galaxy to assume it was the fault of either the Lahsbee or the Ewoks. With the leaders of the Alliance dead, their worlds would presumably split and wage war on each other.
The situation never reached this point. A stray blaster shot, accidentally fired during an honor duel between the Lahsbee and Tippet, disabled the timing mechanism on Hirog's bomb, causing it to tick uncontrollably towards detonation. Hirog ran screaming from his hiding place, yelling to everyone present about the plans of the Hiromi and their impending doom. As it happened, one of the Lahsbee had transformed into their animalistic form, the Huhk, and when the creature flung a rock at Hirog and missed, it accidentally disabled the bomb. The Hiromi forces on the mothership chose to abandon Hirog and retreated, the Ewoks and Lahsbee made peace, and Hirog was chased from the scene by the enraged Huhk. He somehow escaped, and later rejoined the Hiromi forces.
Undeterred, the Hiromi then turned their attention to the world of Zeltros, the home of the Zeltrons. Captain Hookyr, the leader of the invasion force, concluded that Zeltros, with its pleasant climate and abundant pleasures, was the ideal world for their people. Upon arriving in orbit aboard the Kuratcha, they dispatched a force to the royal palace. Members of the Alliance of Free Planets had also arrived on Zeltros, and King Arno and Queen Leonie were hosting a party for them. With the king and queen occupied with revelry, and many Zeltros drunk, Hiromi scout Ensign Phoebe reported that they had been neutralized, and recommended the Hiromi strike. The rest of the invasion force, meanwhile, "captured" Luke Skywalker and the Hoojib Plif, though in fact Skywalker had allowed himself to be taken to see whether the Hiromi had the backing of any stronger allies.
With this accomplished, the invaders then stormed into the empty throne room, and, with the Hiromi declaring him "Hookyr the First", the ruler of Zeltros, Captain Hookyr took his seat on the Zeltron throne. By his order, the first act of the Hiromi was to go to the royal kitchen and have lunch. Unfortunately for them, two other parties had arrived on Zeltros, the Nagai and the Tofs, each of them determined to conquer the world first. The Tof broke their way into the kitchen and took the Hiromi invaders captive. Altogether, the Hiromi conquest of the palace kitchen was the shortest successful invasion of Zeltros ever recorded.
Skywalker and the Hoojibs, although taken captive by the Tof, did not remain so for long, and after defeating their captors they freed the Hiromi. Four Zeltron friends of Skywalker had been captured by the Tof, and Skywalker enlisted the help of the Hiromi to rescue them from the Tof ship. Though initially frightened, the Hiromi saw it as another chance to fulfill their destiny. Skywalker then turned their interrogation skills against a Tof prisoner, who quickly cracked and told them the codes to infiltrate the Tof vessel in orbit.
Taking the Kuratcha to the Tof Wayfarer, the Hiromi waited in the ship until Skywalker had dispatched the guards in the hangar. While they wanted to stay beside Skywalker as he sabotaged the Tof ship, Skywalker heaped praise upon, as he said, "that dauntless, matchless, legendary Hiromi spirit", and thus inspired the Hiromi to charge off to rescue the prisoners. However, it was not as simple as they expected; the Zeltrons believed the Hiromi were working with their captors and assaulted them, and only the timely arrival of Skywalker saved them. A Tof, meanwhile, began sneaking up on Skywalker; Hirog shouted a warning and shot the Tof, killing him. Having killed a Tof in a fair fight for the first time, the Hiromi were very pleased with themselves, and the gathered party let out a loud cheer. Later, the Hiromi would muse that Skywalker had only helped a little, and that it had been them who had truly helped defeat the Tofs.
In the wake of their victory. the crew of the Kuratcha put in a request to return home. They believed they could best serve the Alliance and the Hiromi while safely hidden—though they were careful to explain that this did not mean they were afraid.
Despite the Hiromi having plotted conquest for two millennia leading up to the time of the Rebellion, they didn't activate these plans until after the Battle of Endor. However, the Rebel Alliance had known of the Hiromi for long enough that Hirog had time to cultivate a trusted position as Ackbar's aide.
Even after their scheme was discovered, the Alliance still did not consider the Hiromi a serious threat. During their invasion of Zeltros, Luke Skywalker even allowed himself to be captured by them, not fearing that they could do him or anybody any harm, and finding their attempts at conquest humorous. After their unsuccessful bid at galactic domination, the Hiromi made peace with and briefly fought alongside the Alliance of Free Planets, before retreating to their homeworld to wait out the rest of the Nagai–Tof War.
Author Mary Jo Duffy conceived the Hiromi while serving as the primary writer for Marvel Comics' ongoing Star Wars series of comics in 1985. Duffy named the Hiromi after Japanese musician Go Hiromi. Hiromi skin color varies between reddish-brown and green throughout their appearances in the comics. By the end of their run in the Marvel series, they were green, and as their most recent appearance this is assumed to be the most accurate portrayal. An alien resembling a Hiromi appears in the thirteenth issue of the Knights of the Old Republic comic series, published in 2007, but it is unclear if it is in fact a Hiromi.