Merri Shen Doshun was a female Human residing on the Outer Rim planet of Aduba-3, specifically in the modest farming community of Onacra. As the daughter of Oncho Shen, the village's leader, and the granddaughter of the Old One, the village's mystic, Shen was known for her beauty. This made her the object of desire for Serji-X Arrogantus, who commanded the Cloud-Riders, a bandit group that often preyed upon Onacra. In the year 0 ABY, the Rebel icon Han Solo spearheaded a posse which successfully put down the Cloud-Riders, thus liberating Onacra from their oppressive presence. During this conflict, Shen found herself drawn to the bravery of Jimm Doshun, one of Solo's Star-Hoppers. Jimm, a local Onacra man, had harbored feelings for her for a long time. Soon after the events, they were married, establishing their home in Onacra and starting a family with two children.
Merri Shen, a female Human with blonde hair and blue eyed, hailed from the remote Outer Rim world of Aduba-3, where she resided in the small maze-stalk farming village of Onacra. Being the offspring of Oncho Shen, the leader of the village, and the granddaughter of the "Old One," a local mystic, Shen's upbringing occurred in a vulnerable setting. Onacra was a frequent target of raids by the merciless swoop gang known as the Cloud-Riders, who demanded a substantial yearly payment to avoid plundering the village. Shen herself became the focus of attention from the group's leader, Serji-X Arrogantus, a former professional swoop racer. Captivated by her beauty, Arrogantus became infatuated with Shen and resolved to win her affection. Arrogantus considered himself a refined individual and planned to charm Shen, even if it meant resorting to kidnapping.
The Cloud-Riders' demands placed a heavy burden on the impoverished farming community. By 0 ABY, the residents of Onacra had reached their limit. In that year, a villager named Ramiz journeyed to the city of Tun Aduban to seek a champion who could liberate Onacra from the menace of the Cloud-Riders. He encountered the infamous smuggler and Rebel hero Han Solo, who consented to address Onacra's plight and assembled a posse to rescue the village. While the "Star-Hoppers" initially came to Onacra to save the town as a whole, their arrival soon had a direct impact on Shen when she was caught in an attack by a pack of high-hounds, creatures that fed on the town's maze-stalk crop. Although one of the creatures specifically targeted her, Solo arrived on a bantha and fought them off, safely returning her to her father in Onacra.
As the Cloud-Riders approached, Solo's Star-Hoppers and the people of Onacra readied themselves for a confrontation. Among them was Shen's grandfather, the Old One, who claimed he possessed the ability to summon a monstrous, mythical beast to fight against the Cloud-Riders. Despite Shen's attempts to dissuade her grandfather from bothering Solo with such an absurd proposition, he proceeded anyway. Solo rejected his offer, leading a frustrated Old One to instruct Shen to hide before Arrogantus and his henchmen arrived. The Cloud-Riders descended soon after, with Arrogantus declaring that he desired Shen as part of his yearly tribute. The Star-Hoppers refused to yield, and the two factions engaged in a chaotic battle, which was interrupted by the sudden appearance of an enormous, lizard-like monster. Against all odds, Shen's grandfather's claims were validated, and he had indeed summoned the legendary Behemoth from the World Below to attack the Cloud-Riders.
The Behemoth swiftly dealt with the remaining Cloud-Riders, before Solo and his Star-Hoppers were forced to band together and put an end to the rampaging beast—Shen's grandfather was among those killed in the fighting. Although Shen remained sheltered in the village during the battle, she took notice of one member of Solo's posse, Jimm Doshun, a native of Onacra. Doshun had long had a crush on Shen, and had joined the Star-Hoppers in part to impress her. Although Shen had previously shown little interest in Doshun, she was impressed by the "Starkiller Kid's" courage, and started a relationship with him after the battle. The two were married not long after, and just several months after the battle between the Star-Hoppers and the Cloud-Riders, the pair were expecting their first child.
The two settled down into a domestic life as farmers, but the peace that had come to Onacra did not last forever. Later that year, two old members of Solo's Star-Hoppers—the Lepi smuggler Jaxxon and his quick-triggered partner, Amaiza Foxtrain—sought out the Doshuns on Aduba-3. The pair had had a recent encounter with a group of bounty hunters who were after an unnamed "farmboy" whom they presumed to be Jimm Doshun. Although exactly why anyone would be hunting for Doshun was unclear, Jaxxon and Foxtrain proceeded to Onacra to warn and protect him and Merri. Not long after, the rest of the bounty hunters arrived over Aduba-3. The pursuers were the bloodthirsty and battle-tested crew of the Kill Switch, led by a vicious and unhinged former stormtrooper commander named Beilert Valance.
Fearing that they would soon be in for a fight, the Doshuns and their old friends came up with a plan of action Jaxxon and Foxtrain went up to engage the approaching hunters in their ship, the Rabbit's Foot, but their vessel was damaged and sent hurtling down to the planet's surface. Valance and his men gave chase, only to find that they had taken up position on the plains outside Onacra—on their signal, Jimm prompted a bantha stampede that trampled most of Valance's raiders. Valance himself was among the only survivors, and after the stampede's end came face to face with Doshun, only to realize that he was not the farmboy he was looking for. Valance departed soon afterward to continue his search, leaving the Doshuns behind in peace to continue their life as a family. Not long after, Merri and Jimm had their first child, a daughter named Hanna, and they were expecting a second child as of 2 ABY.
By that time, the battle between Star-Hoppers and the Cloud-Riders had become a legend throughout the galaxy, and was featured in a popular TriNebula Entertainment holo-doc called Eight for Aduba-3: The Saga of the Starhoppers. Thinking the version of events portrayed in the holo-doc was exaggerated—the idea of a giant lizard-like monster suddenly appearing in the middle of the battle just too bizarre to be believed—Rebel historian Voren Na'al traveled to Aduba-3 to attempt to unravel what really happened. Na'al briefly interviewed Merri during his stop in Onacra, but was dismayed when her take on the events closely matched that of the holo-doc. Needing to catch his transport off-world, Na'al had to cut the interview short, and left the planet feeling that he was no closer to uncovering the true circumstances around Han Solo's trip to Aduba-3.
Still relatively young by 0 ABY, Merri Shen was, first and foremost, a striking beauty—although Han Solo and Serji-X Arrogantus were enemies in the battle for Onacra, both were entranced by her looks and hoped to win her affection. However, she instead turned her eye towards the "Starkiller Kid," Jimm Doshun, who grew up with her in the same small village but to whom she had previously given no attention. Shen fell for the scrappy youth after witnessing his bravery during the fight with the Cloud-Riders, and it was all she needed to convince her to pursue a relationship with him. Shen struck Voren Na'al as a sweet girl who was relatively unintelligent, and as her version of the events surrounding the Star-Hoppers' battle with the Cloud-Riders closely matched the holo-doc Eight for Aduba-3, Na'al believed her to be very credulous.
Merri Shen first appeared in Star Wars (1977) 9, written by Roy Thomas and released in 1977, and appeared in two other installments of the original Marvel Star Wars comic series. During her comic appearances, Shen was illustrated by Howard Chaykin and Walt Simonson.