Lathe was a male Kajain'sa'Nikto who served the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure within his criminal empire. As a guard stationed at Jabba's Palace on the planet Tatooine, he accompanied a group aboard a Bantha-II cargo skiff to witness the execution of three prisoners at the Great Pit of Carkoon.
One of the prisoners, the Jedi Luke Skywalker, managed to acquire a lightsaber and began his assault on his captors as they attempted to force him into the maw of the sarlacc residing in the pit. After Skywalker overcame all the guards on the initial skiff, he proceeded to board the skiff where Lathe was positioned. The guards on this second skiff then started firing upon the Jedi. Skywalker then eliminated the guards on the second skiff, including Lathe, using either his lightsaber or by forcing them overboard to become prey for the sarlacc.
Lathe, a male Kajain'sa'Nikto slave, was a guard in Jabba's Palace on Tatooine, serving the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure's criminal empire. In 4 ABY, Jabba decreed that three prisoners—Luke Skywalker, a Jedi, and Han Solo and Chewbacca, both smugglers—would be fed to the sarlacc within the Great Pit of Carkoon. Subsequently, two Bantha-II cargo skiffs and Jabba's sail barge, Khetanna, journeyed to the pit. One skiff transported the prisoners, while the other carried a contingent of guards, including Lathe. Upon arrival, the prisoners' skiff halted above the sarlacc, as the skiff carrying Lathe, piloted by the Skrilling Pote Snitkin, began circling the desert in a display of reckless joyriding.
Aboard his sail barge, Jabba offered the prisoners a final chance to plead for their lives. Solo and Chewbacca declined, and Skywalker issued a threat to Jabba before being chosen as the first to face execution. After being pushed off the plank above the sarlacc, Skywalker rebounded onto the skiff and attacked the guards with his lightsaber, which had been launched to him by his astromech droid R2-D2. Skywalker and his allies dispatched the guards aboard the initial skiff. Snitkin then maneuvered his skiff closer. Lathe stood ready as other guards discharged their blaster pistols at Skywalker, prompting the Jedi to leap onto the second skiff and launch an attack on Lathe and the others.
Positioned near the center of the skiff's deck, Lathe aimed his weapon at Skywalker as the Jedi knocked Brock Starsher and a human guard overboard. The Nikto Yotts Oren moved past Lathe but was also sent into the sarlacc's maw by Skywalker. Skywalker then kicked Lathe, causing him to stumble backward. Lathe met his end when Skywalker defeated the remaining guards. Eventually, the Jedi and his companions also killed Jabba and destroyed the sail barge before making their escape.
Lathe's skin was red in hue.
Lathe's debut was in the 1983 film from the original trilogy, Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. The helmet worn by Lathe was designed to conceal a seam located at the back of the Nikto mask. Within the current Star Wars canon, the character received his initial identification in "The Battle of Hoth and the Second Death Star," a publication within the Star Wars Encyclopedia series by De Agostini on December 11, 2020. The publication erroneously attributes his death to Lando Calrissian, which is actually the fate of Vedain in the movie.
Within the Star Wars Legends continuity, the name originated on a card featured in the 2001 Tatooine Limited set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game; however, the card incorrectly displayed the Kajain'sa'Nikto Nysad. Lathe was subsequently confirmed as the Nikto wearing blue in the "Rogues Gallery" segment of Star Wars Insider 143 on July 23, 2013.
In the 2022 non-canon video game LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Lathe makes an appearance in the level "The Copa-Khetanna," initially being shown on the skiff transporting Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca to the sarlacc pit. The character's model then reappears as one of several generic repeated enemies on the deck of the Khetanna after the player defeats the bounty hunter Boba Fett, with one of the Lathe model enemies shouting at the player characters that they should have left Solo in captivity.