Ket Maliss, hailing from the Dashade species, was a male assassin active during the Great Sith War. Following the near-extinction event that decimated his species, he underwent cryogenic freezing for almost 4 millennia. As a highly skilled Shadow Killer, Maliss initially served as an enforcer for the Falleen House Sizhran. He was revived several decades before 3 ABY to work for their descendant, Prince Xizor. While in Xizor's service, Maliss made at least two visits to Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina in Mos Eisley, a city on Tatooine. During his second visit, which occurred in 1 ABY, the Imperial authorities enforced a curfew across the entire Tatoo system. Only after Ackmena, the bartender, encouraged the cantina's patrons to leave with her rendition of the song "Goodnight, But Not Goodbye," did Maliss reluctantly depart.
By 3 ABY, Xizor had risen to lead the criminal organization known as Black Sun. In that year, Maliss eliminated the leadership of the Disac pirates on behalf of Sprax, a Vigo of Black Sun. Subsequently, he became part of a team of mercenaries and bounty hunters assembled by Xizor with the task of locating Limna Yith, a mercenary who had stolen a datacard containing a comprehensive list of all Black Sun operatives within the Verde system. The team pursued her to the planet Sedri, where they discovered her destination was an underwater village. Maliss and his team arrived there first and massacred the inhabitants. However, they were soon confronted by Yith, held captive by a group of smugglers who were their adversaries. A lightfight erupted, resulting in the deaths of many of Maliss's allies, leading the Dashade to attempt an escape to survive and fight another day.
Ket Maliss, a male Dashade, lived during the Great Sith War, a massive conflict that saw the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order clashing with the Brotherhood of the Sith. Throughout the galaxy, the Dashade were infamous as terrifying assassins and mercenaries, known for their deadly skills. Maliss distinguished himself as one of the species' most exceptional Shadow Killers, an honorary title bestowed upon the most accomplished Dashade assassins. Due to their combat prowess, the Jedi, Sith, and various cultures like the Falleen species frequently hired them. Maliss specifically served as an enforcer for the Falleen House Sizhran.
In 3996 BBY, at the height of the war, the Cron Cluster of [stars](/article/star-legends] underwent a supernova, leading to the destruction of Urkupp, the Dashade homeworld located nearby. The species faced near annihilation, but members of House Sizhran placed Maliss and their remaining thirty-seven Dashade enforcers into cryogenic suspension to preserve their skills for future Falleen leaders. Roughly every century, a new enforcer was awakened to serve House Sizhran. Maliss, the thirty-eighth and final one, was revived several decades before 3 ABY to serve Prince Xizor, a Falleen member of the Black Sun criminal syndicate. For those intervening decades, Maliss faithfully served his master as the last Shadow Killer.
Toward the end of 0 BBY, Maliss found himself on Tatooine to carry out a deadly mission in Mos Eisley. While present in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina, a local establishment, a conflict arose between Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Master, and the outlaws Ponda Baba and Cornelius Evazan. Maliss revisited the cantina one evening around the middle of 1 ABY, when an officer from the Galactic Empire appeared on the wallscreen to announce a system-wide curfew. Despite the encouragement of Ackmena, the bartender, none of the patrons were eager to leave, and Ackmena reluctantly offered everyone a final round of drinks free of charge. As she poured the drinks, she sang the song "Goodnight, But Not Goodbye," prompting Maliss and the other intoxicated patrons to dance out the door. The events of that evening were recorded and broadcast throughout the galaxy as a program entitled "Life on Tatooine," mandatory viewing for all members of the Imperial forces, aimed at instilling a sense of superiority over the cantina's low-life occupants.
Over the subsequent years, Maliss continued his service to Xizor, who had become the head of Black Sun by 3 ABY. In that year, Sprax, a Black Sun Vigo, hired Maliss to address the issue of the Disac pirates, who had long plagued the star systems surrounding the Sisar Run hyperlane. When Sprax attempted to subtly dissuade them, the pirates responded by effectively shutting down the Sisar Run for three weeks, severely impacting Black Sun's profits in the region. Within a matter of days, Maliss eliminated Stano Hapin, the group's leader, along with several other high-ranking Disac pirates. Consequently, Sprax's agents were able to drive the leaderless group from the Sisar Run, but Morturr Heth, a Disac survivor, vowed vengeance against both Maliss and Black Sun. Shotarr Kass, Sprax's personal bodyguard, also developed a strong dislike for Maliss, viewing him as a threat.
Shortly thereafter, Maliss joined a team of bounty hunters and mercenaries assembled by Xizor to locate the Barani List, which contained the identities of every Black Sun operative operating in the Verde system. The datacard containing the list had been stolen by Limna Yith, a mercenary who left a trail of destruction across the Sisar Run while evading a team of smugglers hired by Vigo Sprax. When Commander Surlev of the Imperial forces tracked her to the Abek's Station shadowport and destroyed the station after Yith was not handed over, Xizor assembled Maliss's team to work in opposition to Sprax's agents, aiming to expedite the chase and prevent further Imperial interference in Black Sun affairs. Maliss boarded the Arc Razor, the bounty hunter Gyran's ship, and idly waited in the passenger compartment with most of the team while Gyran and the assassin droid ERYX-4 tracked Yith to the planet of Sedri.
After identifying an abandoned Imperial Garrison Base as Yith's most likely hideout, Gyran landed his ship outside of the base's sensor range. The team then rafted to their destination and scaled the walls of its vehicle bay. When ERYX-4 detected a large heat signature, Maliss and the others followed it to an armory and discovered a large gweld creature, which they killed. The room also contained an empty lock box, raising concerns about a potential trap set by Yith. EYRX-4 concealed a listening device inside the box in case she returned. While waiting aboard the Arc Razor, the device eventually picked up a conversation between Sprax's team of smugglers and a captive Yith, who revealed that they were headed for a nearby Sedrian village. As the native Sedrians were an aquatic species, the team donned wetsuits and breath masks before pursuing. The team swam to the submerged village, massacred its residents, and began searching for the datacard in the adjoining underwater caves, where they had to fend off blood-frenzied razorts.
Yith and Sprax's team soon arrived in the caves with a group of Sedrian warrior monks and were attacked by four surviving villagers. Maliss and his team joined in the fray and lobbed grenades at both groups. Gyran and two others then provided covering fire while Maliss and ERYX-4 charged in to kill anyone who had been stunned by the explosions. They wanted Yith alive, but she proceeded to kill several members of Maliss's team with discarded Sedrian weaponry.
The surviving villagers were armed by Sprax's agents and joined in the lightfight on their side. Maliss eventually realized that the battle was hopeless, and he attempted to escape in order to fight another day.
After winning the battle, Sprax's agents continued their search. They soon recovered the datacard, which they were able to return to the Black Sun agent Kalend Thora.
Ket Maliss was a ruthless warrior and a Dashade Shadow Killer, recognized as one of the most accomplished assassins of his kind. During the Great Sith War, the title "Shadow Killer" was whispered with dread, causing involuntary shivers. Nearly 4,000 years later, Prince Xizor continued to use the title to refer to Maliss. As one of Xizor's top operatives, Maliss served the Prince effectively for decades, and swiftly eliminated the leadership of the Disac pirates. While hunting Limna Yith, he and his team perpetrated a massacre in a Sedrian village that stood between them and their target.
Maliss was the most feared member of Xizor's team assembled to hunt for Yith. En route to Sedri, he warned Gyran with a snarl not to wake him without good reason. Upon waking, he remained detached from his companions, staring forward with unwavering determination. While at Chalmun's Cantina, Maliss was among the patrons reluctant to leave during the Imperial curfew, yet he joined the line of patrons who danced out the door to Ackmena's song. Maliss possessed dark green skin, red-orange [eyes](/article/eye-legends], and a hairless head. As a Dashade, he could control his body's heat emissions, making him difficult to detect with sensors.
Ket Maliss made his debut as an unnamed alien drinking in the Mos Eisley Cantina in 1978's The Star Wars Holiday Special, portrayed by an uncredited actor. While several alien masks from the scene were reused from 1977's original Star Wars film, Maliss's mask was newly constructed for the Holiday Special under the guidance of makeup artist Rick Baker. The Cantina scene required twenty-four hours to film, and some actors in alien suits fainted due to oxygen deprivation. One year later, Maliss appeared in the background of a drunk driving public service announcement set in the Mos Eisley Cantina.
Maliss was first identified by name in the 1995 Premiere Limited set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. The "Ket Maliss" card provided a brief backstory and included a digitally altered photo that made it appear as if he was present in the Mos Eisley Cantina during the events of the original Star Wars film. Maliss's backstory was significantly expanded in the 1997 sourcebook Secrets of the Sisar Run, written by Craig Robert Carey, Shane Hensley, and Pablo Hidalgo for West End Games's Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. In The Barani Conspiracy, one of the book's roleplaying scenarios, Maliss opposes the player characters in a lightfight that they must win, but his fate is only hinted at: he attempts to escape if the battle appears hopeless.