The Plikh family belonged to the Chiss family structure and held a position as one of the Nine Ruling Families within the Chiss Ascendancy. The Plikh family maintained an alliance with the Pommrio family, a member of the Great Families. Haplif of the Agbui stated that the Plikh family appeared to shift its alliances and loyalties among the other Ruling Families depending on circumstance, sentiment, or "perhaps merely the prevailing solar cycle."
The Grysk named "Jixtus" and his Agbui operative Haplif aimed to cause a civil war inside the Chiss Ascendancy. Their strategy involved manipulating the Plikh family's allied Pommrio family into an armed confrontation with two competing Great Families. Each of the Great Families involved in the scheme had ties to a different Ruling family. The Grysk believed that conflict between the Great Families would escalate to their allied Ruling Families, and then engulf the entire Ascendancy. The alliances the Grysk sought to take advantage of included the Erighal family allied with the Dasklo family, the Pommrio family in league with the Plikh family, and the Xodlak family that was allied with the Irizi family.
The Plikh family was initially introduced in the 2020 novel titled Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising. This novel represents the initial installment of The Ascendancy Trilogy authored by Timothy Zahn.