A young Human male named Jost Ellon resided on Dodz during the Imperial Era, making his living as a scavenger. Kugg, the planet's governor, was responsible for the death of his family, ruling the population with an iron fist via a killer droid known as the Destroyer. Armed with a blaster pistol, Ellon consistently opposed Kugg's oppressive regime, striving to survive by repairing salvaged materials. One of his finds was an obsolete Ranger X-One defense robot, though he initially didn't recognize it as a defensive unit.
Around 15 BBY, Ellon encountered C-3PO and R2-D2, two droids who had arrived on Dodz to serve Lott Kemp, a crystal merchant. With Kemp having fled Kugg's rule, Ellon decided to employ the droids, tasking them with lifting heavy salvaged items. C-3PO identified Ellon's X-One unit, and R2-D2 managed to activate it, despite its degraded condition limiting its functionality. With R2-D2's assistance, Ellon then used the X-One to confront and defeat Kugg's Destroyer. The damage sustained by the R2-series astromech droid during the battle, however, was beyond repair on Dodz, forcing Ellon to relinquish his newly acquired droids.
Jost Ellon was a young Human male who was raised on Dodz, a remote planet existing during the Imperial Period. Governor Kugg held dominion over the planet, and his taxes imposed a heavy burden on the merchants of Dodz. The governor's rule was absolute, and he employed a killer droid called the Destroyer to inflict severe harm on those who refused to comply with tax demands. Ellon's family were among the initial casualties of Kugg's governance, leaving the young Human orphaned and alone.
The loss of his family fostered an anti-establishment sentiment in Ellon, making him suspicious and violent towards those working for the governor. He chose to live in isolation within a cave, far from any settlement, where he scavenged materials from abandoned junkyards and similar locations. Ellon would repair the items he found and sell them, earning enough to sustain himself. However, he struggled to identify all the items he recovered, including a large box labeled "X-1" in High Galactic. The box's weight required him to use a sled to transport it back to his cave.
Around 15 BBY, Jost Ellon drove his landspeeder to the property of Lott Kemp, a crystal merchant who had recently abandoned the planet to escape Kugg's oppressive rule. Ellon hoped to find valuable salvage on Kemp's lot. There, he stumbled upon two droids seeking to serve Kemp: the astromech droid R2-D2 and the protocol droid C-3PO. Suspecting them of being agents of Kugg, Ellon aimed his blaster pistol at the newcomers, demanding to know their identities. C-3PO complied, confirming their intention to serve Kemp. Satisfied, Ellon put the droids to work loading salvaged materials onto his landspeeder, all while criticizing Kugg's administration. Ellon explained Kemp's departure to C-3PO before preparing to leave in his landspeeder. However, a thought struck him, and he quickly offered the stranded droids a job involving heavy lifting. Eager to help, the droids accepted and joined Ellon as he left the area.
The trio soon arrived at Ellon's cave, and the droids began bringing in the salvaged materials. The young Human proceeded to explain the loss of his family and his small scavenge-and-repair business, expressing his frustration at not being able to identify certain objects. C-3PO and R2-D2 offered to assist in this regard. Pleased, Ellon asked them to clarify the nature of the "X-1" box. Upon seeing it, R2-D2 retreated into a nearby crate, while C-3PO explained that it contained a Ranger X-One defense robot, which the protocol droid believed had been used by crystal cave miners for defensive purposes, as the unit was designed to repel hostile activity.
Ellon was thrilled, hoping the X-One could match Kugg's Destroyer. C-3PO elaborated on the defense robot's history, noting that they had become obsolete around the time of the Intergalactic Law Agency's establishment, and speculating that the recall of Ellon's unit had been ignored. Ellon explained that the Intergalactic Law Agency had taken no action against Kugg and asked R2-D2 to activate the robot. The astromech attempted to do so but found that the X-One had corroded power cells. Frustrated, Ellon kicked the large box, which then transformed into the active X-One defense robot. The young Human was overjoyed, but C-3PO speculated that the unit had exhausted most of its remaining energy during the transformation.
Despite the X-One's dilapidated state, Ellon was determined to pit the robot against the Destroyer and prepared to disrupt a meeting of the Citizen's Council of Dodz. Upon reaching the Council Dwelling, Ellon, R2-D2, C-3PO, and the X-One discovered that one of the building's walls had been breached. Ellon quickly consulted with Althon, the Head Councilman, who revealed that Kugg and the Destroyer had just terrorized the Citizen's Council. Ellon argued that it was time to resist the governor's rule and fight back with the X-One robot, but Althon refused, telling the young Human to get rid of the defense unit lest Kugg learn of it and retaliate. However, an old man countered Althon's argument, urging Ellon to carry out his intention of ending Kugg's reign, as their forefathers had done to similar tyrants in years past.
The following day, Ellon, C-3PO, R2-D2, and the X-One observed from a distance as Althon and the councilmen met with Governor Kugg and the Destroyer outside the governor's mansion and paid the required taxes. Ellon then revealed himself, directly challenging Kugg and summoning the X-One. Althon was outraged by Ellon's defiance, and Kugg, furious, ordered the Destroyer to destroy the young Human's defense robot. The two units engaged in a violent struggle atop a hill, with the X-One initially gaining the upper hand before exhausting his remaining energy. The Destroyer managed to subdue X-One, prompting Ellon to draw his blaster and open fire on Kugg's killer droid.
The Destroyer turned on Ellon and struck him, briefly rendering him unconscious. Upon regaining consciousness, Ellon urged C-3PO and R2-D2 to save the X-One and stop the Destroyer. R2-D2 responded by directly engaging the Destroyer, firing cables into both the Destroyer and the X-One, draining power from Kugg's droid and transferring it to Ellon's robot. The fight resumed, causing an energy overload in R2-D2. Ellon, recovered from the earlier blow, had C-3PO move out of harm's way as R2-D2's efforts resulted in an explosion. As the smoke cleared, the X-One remained standing, but the Destroyer and R2-D2 were nowhere to be seen. C-3PO and Ellon were soon alerted to R2-D2's presence by the astromech itself and recovered the damaged droid.
Kugg, now defenseless, was attacked by Althon and the other councilmen, who intended to subject him to an Intergalactic trial. Althon then apologized to Ellon for doubting his intentions earlier, but the young Human only wanted acknowledgment of the X-One unit, which still stood idle atop the hill where it had battled the Destroyer. The councilman agreed. However, R2-D2 had sustained significant microsynapse failure during the encounter, and it was determined that the repairs could not be performed on Dodz. As a result, Ellon was forced to part with the droids, who departed the planet to be cared for by the engineer Lonn Idd.
Jost Ellon, even at a youngful age, harbored a deep resentment for Governor Kugg's rule on Dodz, having been orphaned by the administration. He was quick to resort to violence when dealing with the governor's agents. This animosity towards Kugg led him to be suspicious of newcomers, as evidenced by his drawing his weapon on R2-D2 and C-3PO shortly after their arrival on Dodz. He was unafraid to denounce the governor's actions, particularly his taxation policies and their enforcement. Ellon also directly challenged Kugg and played a key role in his deposition. Despite the significance of his actions, Ellon did not seek personal recognition, instead hoping that his X-One robot would be acknowledged.
Ellon was also an enterprising young man, always looking for ways to profit from salvaged materials. He recognized an opportunity when C-3PO and R2-D2 were stranded on Dodz without a master, quickly hiring them to assist with his scavenging work. He also saw a chance to end Governor Kugg's rule upon discovering that he possessed an X-One defense robot, a prospect that excited him so much that he was willing to present his ideas directly to the Citizen's Council of Dodz. Ellon made good use of his cave dwelling, filling it with scavenged material. Although he admitted that it was not aesthetically pleasing, he valued it as his home.
Jost Ellon's sole appearance to date was in the first issue of the Marvel Comics Star Wars: Droids series, The Destroyer (1986), written by David Manak and penciled by John Romita Sr. The events of the comic and the character of Ellon were later referenced in Part 1 of "The Droids Re-Animated," (2013) a series of articles on the StarWars.com blog by Abel G. Peña and Rich Handley.