Lak Sivrak, a Shistavanen male, served the Galactic Empire as both a scout and a hunter. This individual frequented Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina situated within the Mos Eisley spaceport on the planet of Tatooine. During a bar fight, he exited the establishment via a rear entrance. After an encounter with Dice Ibegon, a Force-sensitive Lamproid who also frequented the cantina, he developed romantic feelings for her. Ibegon, as a member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, successfully persuaded Sivrak to join their fight in the Galactic Civil War against the Empire.
In the year 4 ABY, Sivrak took to the skies, flew an X-wing starfighter on behalf of the rebels during the pivotal Battle of Endor. This battle saw the Alliance Fleet clash with the Imperial Navy in the space surrounding the moon of Endor, culminating in the triumphant destruction of the Death Star II. Sivrak's physical characteristics included brown fur, gray skin, and black eyes. His attire consisted of a brown shawl draped over a white shirt, complemented by a black belt, and he wielded a SE-14r light repeating blaster.
The character of Lak Sivrak was brought to life by a female performer in the original trilogy film, specifically Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, which premiered on May 25, 1977. His inclusion in the movie occurred during additional filming sessions dedicated to the cantina scene, which took place on a sound stage at Dovington's Hollywood studio between January 24 and 25, 1977. Due to limitations in both time and financial resources, the mask worn by Lak Sivrak was a readily available Halloween mask, designed by the creature creator Rick Baker. Baker also repurposed a modified version of the same commercially produced mask for another cantina denizen, Arleil Schous. The shawl worn by Sivrak was actually a re-purposed Jawa robe.
The appearance of Sivrak's mask was a long-standing source of dissatisfaction for director George Lucas, as its creation and selection occurred outside of his direct influence, despite his initial approval. Consequently, in the Special Edition of A New Hope, released in 1997, Lucas employed digital technology to replace the character with the intricately designed puppet Ketwol. However, the audio, intended to represent Sivrak's growls, remained unaltered in the updated version.
During production, Sivrak was informally referred to as "Hyena" or "Hyena-Man." However, within the established Star Wars canon, the character's official identification first occurred in the mobile card game titled Star Wars: Force Collection, which was initially launched in 2013. Despite the game's launch predating the Star Wars canon reset of 2014, Leland Chee, a member of the Lucasfilm Story Group, confirmed that the game received ongoing updates to ensure alignment with the established canon. The name "Sivrak" originally appeared in the Star Wars Legends continuity. Sivrak was initially identified in the 1989 Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game supplement titled Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope, authored by Grant S. Boucher for West End Games. The Troig character Jak Sivrak, who was created for the 2018 animated television series Star Wars Resistance, was named as an homage to Lak Sivrak.