During the Galactic War that pitted the Galactic Republic against the Sith Empire, a figure named Magnus held the position of captain aboard the cruiser known as the Stardream. Prior to his command of the Stardream, he served on Taris. While transporting passengers from Ord Mantell, Magnus and his crew encountered a rakghoul outbreak which resulted in the ship's crash on Tatooine. Transformed into a rakghoul himself, the captain haunted the ship's remains in the Dune Sea until an unknown person brought about his demise.
Magnus's past includes a period stationed on the ravaged world of Taris before he took charge of the passenger vessel. It was there that he first encountered the dangerous rakghouls. At some point, he crossed paths with Yllen, whom he married, and they had a daughter together, named Amy.
By the year 3639 BBY, Magnus had risen to the rank of captain of the Stardream, a passenger vessel. While en route from Ord Mantell with 492 passengers, one of them, Zama Brak, managed to smuggle a risp hatchling on board. This risp, infected with the rakghoul plague by the insane Tionese scientist Sannus Lorrick (who had unleashed the virus on Kaon), then infected Brak and several other passengers on Deck 2.
During the voyage, Magnus communicated with his wife and daughter, mentioning to Amy that a passenger had gifted him a stuffed orokeet for her. By the fifth day, several passengers were experiencing symptoms initially thought to be food poisoning. By the seventh day, however, the illness had spread across passenger decks 1 through 5, with patients displaying feverish symptoms and unusual strength. Recognizing the signs of the rakghoul plague, Magnus cautioned his wife Yllen against alarming their daughter. Two days later, Magnus himself was infected, becoming paranoid when doctors suggested he rest. Accusing the crew of mutiny, he locked himself on the bridge, diverting the Stardream from its course. By day 12, the infected passengers had gathered near the ship's core, prompting the remaining crew to attempt to subdue Magnus and regain control.
However, their efforts were in vain, as the Stardream ultimately crash-landed on the Outer Rim planet of Tatooine. The ship disintegrated over the desert, crashing into the northern part of the Dune Sea, scattering debris across the landscape. Numerous escape pods were launched, but their occupants were already infected. Magnus, along with many other passengers and crew, now fully transformed into rakghouls, survived the crash and terrorized the wreckage, attacking and infecting anyone nearby. Ultimately, Magnus met his death at the hands of an unknown individual, who recovered the captain's access codes and logs from his mutated corpse.
Magnus was originally created for Star Wars: The Old Republic, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game launched by BioWare on December 20, 2011. He made an appearance in the "Rakghoul Pandemic" World Event on Tatooine, a limited-time event, as part of the Daily Area mission "Wreck of the Stardream", accessible to both Imperial and Republic players from April 15 to April 24, 2012.
The player, after obtaining security access codes from infected security personnel, recovering the ship's security logs, and salvaging two power cores from the wreckage, is tasked with luring out and eliminating Captain Magnus, then retrieving his access codes from his remains. Magnus can be summoned by interacting with a security console at the northeastern end of the wreck, and his level will adjust to match that of the player who summoned him. Successfully defeating the captain rewards the player with the Codex Entry "Rakghoul Pandemic 2 - Captain Magnus", which contains a record of Magnus's communications with his wife Yllen and daughter Amy.