Krellus Barzane, a rogue Arkanian technolord, operated as a trafficker dealing in pre-owned technological items. Around the year 15 BBY, she acquired the protocol droid C-3PO and the astromech droid R2-D2 from researchers located at the planet Manda's Baobab Archives. These researchers had grown weary of the droids' know-it-all and assertive demeanors. Although the droids were assigned to the archives by their owner, Mungo Baobab, the irritated researchers orchestrated the sale to Barzane under the guise of a "mistake," despite the protocol droid's vociferous objections. The droids aided their new owner in evading her adversaries, but Barzane eventually encountered misfortune. By 5.5 BBY, following a series of unremarkable and trivial assignments, the droid duo had entered the employment of Governor Wena Havid of the Kalarba system.
The reference book C-3PO: Tales of the Golden Droid, released in 1999 and authored by Daniel Wallace and Josh Ling, contained the initial, though unnamed, mention of Krellus Barzane. The 2013 article The Droids Re-Animated, penned by Abel G. Peña and Rich Handley for the StarWars.com blog, later identified the character.