Onara Kuat held the leadership position within the Kuat family and served as the primary executive of Kuat Drive Yards during the era of the Clone Wars. Possessing the authority to determine the representative of the Kuat sector in the Galactic Senate, Onara acted to ensure benefits for both her family and her shipyards through her selections. Senator Risi Lenoan initially performed admirably, but was compelled to vacate her position following inquiries into her financial practices related to Kuat Drive Yards. When choosing Lenoan's replacement, Onara sought an individual who would be politically compliant. However, her chosen candidate, Giddean Danu, defied expectations by opposing the consolidation of authority and advocating for the Jedi Knights.
Upon recognizing her misjudgment, Onara unsuccessfully attempted to instigate Danu's removal. Her relative, Kuat of Kuat, alongside others, believed Danu to be a powerful proponent of Kuati autonomy, thus ensuring his continued presence. Furthermore, he launched an investigation into the Kuat family as part of his planned overhaul of Kuati governance. Concerned about the potential exposure of her carefully guarded secrets, Onara began exploring alternative strategies to oust Danu. During a showing of Squid Lake at the Galaxies Opera House in 19 BBY, shortly before the Clone Wars concluded, she engaged in conversation with Tannon Praji's protector, Ottegru Grey. Grey assured her that all her concerns would be addressed if she maintained allegiance to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Eventually, Onara's successor was her nephew's father.
In the closing years of the Galactic Republic, Onara Kuat functioned as the chief director of Kuat Drive Yards, a shipyard which had been providing the government with warships for millennia. Onara herself was a descendant of a family that ranked among the original Core Founders. By the time Onara rose to the position of principal director of Kuat Drive Yards and leader of the Kuat family, her office possessed the power to select the Kuat sector's representative within the Galactic Senate. Onara consistently ensured that her selections would be advantageous to both the shipyards and her family. In 31 BBY, Onara was given a secret order for KDY worth billions of credits, to produce starships, vehicles and equipment for a clone army that was being developed in secret on the planet Kamino.
Senator Risi Lenoan served Kuat effectively during her tenure, but was removed from her position following inquiries regarding her bookkeeping practices related to Kuat Drive Yards funds. For Lenoan's replacement, Onara selected an individual she assumed would be easily influenced: Giddean Danu. This decision proved unwise for the principal director, as Danu emerged as a fervent supporter of the Jedi Knights, and voiced opposition to the centralization of power. When the Clone Wars began in 22 BBY, Danu advocated for the role of Jedi as supervisors of the conflict.
Displeased with this, Onara made an attempt to have him ousted, but other members of her family, including her nephew, Kuat of Kuat, considered Danu to be an effective representative and proponent of Kuati independence. Consequently, Onara's motion failed, and to compound her issues, Danu intended to initiate a reformation of Kuati politics. Initially, he intended to scrutinize the Kuat family. This caused Onara considerable worry, and she feared that certain confidential matters related to her would be brought to light.
Seeking to regain control of the situation, Onara started looking into alternative methods for removing Danu. Soon after the Battle of Coruscant, she went to a showing of Squid Lake at the Galaxies Opera House—an event also attended by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Seated in Galaxies owner Romeo Treblanc's private box alongside several other dignitaries and Treblanc himself, she spoke about her situation with Tannon Praji, First Minister of the Coruscant Ministry of Ingress. Praji, showing sympathy, introduced her to his bodyguard, Ottegru Grey. Grey, who in reality was an agent working for Chancellor Palpatine, assured Onara that the issue with Danu would be taken care of. While he didn't go into detail, he told the principal director that all that was required of her was loyalty to Palpatine. Eventually, Onara was succeeded by the father of her nephew, who was then succeeded by the younger Kuat of Kuat himself.
During her time in office, Onara was viewed as a perfect example of the competitive and complex nature of Kuati politics, as well as the merging of aristocrat, politician, and business executive roles. Onara made an effort to ensure that her choices for the role of the Kuat sector's senator always benefited her family and her work, even though her choices of Lenoan and Danu both turned out to be problematic. Onara did not accept Danu's views on political influence and the Jedi Order, leading her to react impulsively by attempting to have him removed. When that didn't work, she became worried about his investigation of her family, which had the potential to uncover secrets about her operations.
The character known as Onara Kuat initially appeared as an unnamed background character in the "Galaxies Opera House" scene within George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. She was portrayed by visual effects executive producer Denise Ream, and is seen within one of the boxes at the Opera House. Accompanying Ream, cameos were also made by visual effects supervisor John Knoll as Tannon Praji, animation director Rob Coleman as Romeo Treblanc, visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett as Ottegru Grey, and visual effects producer Jill Brooks as Gem Sirrom.
In 2006, the character of Kuat was given a name and more details by Aidan Hennessy, through the StarWars.com Hyperspace feature, "What's The Story?" Noting that the character wore elaborate headgear similar to characters from Kuat, such as Giddean Danu, Risi Lenoan, and Kuat of Kuat, he decided to connect Ream's character with the planet. Since he felt the time period had been underused in the Expanded Universe, Hennessy loosely connected Kuat's entry to the New Sith Wars that had originated in Terry Brooks' Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace novelization.
Furthermore, he made use of the characters Risi Lenoan from the HoloNet News website, and Giddean Danu from Revenge of the Sith, blending them with the narrative of Kuat. Certain minor details that he had written about the characters were removed, relating to Danu's origins and fate, as well as Lenoan's embezzlement of funds. Kuat of Kuat originated in K. W. Jeter's Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy, who had been used sparingly in the Expanded Universe outside his initial appearances in those books. As an additional link, he wrote Ottegru Grey, who had also been fleshed out through "What's the Story?" into his entry.