Rango Tel was an exceptionally dense Human male character originating from the Outer Rim planet of Sernpidal. He spent his formative years as a street thug, and a stroke of sheer, dumb luck convinced him that his true destiny was to become a bounty hunter. After accidentally defeating an inebriated individual during a chaotic bar fight, Tel unknowingly collected a bounty and gained the loyalty of Pa'lowick smuggler Aneesa Dym. With Dym by his side, Tel ventured into the galaxy aboard the starship Dusty Duck. He was quickly tricked into donning an ill-fitting vac-exposure suit, believing it to be authentic Mandalorian armor, which led to the unflattering moniker "Tank Head."
Seeking assistance from a childhood acquaintance, the criminal Orin Nyell, Tel received his first bounty: the Fluggrian Kam Nale, whose family posed a threat to Nyell's smuggling activities on Ploo IV. Eager to establish himself as a reputable bounty hunter, Tel, accompanied by Dym, began tracking Nale, eventually finding him on Tatooine. The Fluggrian had become involved in the local podracing scene in Mos Espa, leading Tel to ambush him in an alley shortly before the Boonta Eve Classic. Overestimating the protective capabilities of his vac-exposure suit, Tel was fatally shot by Nale, abruptly ending the short career of the Sernpidal native.
The Human male known as Rango Tel was born and brought up on the Outer Rim world of Sernpidal, and his early years were spent as a disaffected street urchin in the planet's underbelly. During his youth, Tel had associations with the local racketeer Orin Nyell, performing minor tasks for him. After a number of years, as a young adult, he became embroiled in a cantina brawl where he accidentally subdued a patron who had a bounty placed on their head for the murder of Pa'lowick smuggler Neeamesh Dym. Although Tel was initially unaware of the bounty, he ultimately decided to claim it and began to believe that it was his destiny to enter the bounty hunter profession. The client was Neeamesh Dym's daughter, Aneesa, but unfortunately for Tel she had already spent all of her savings pursuing the killer across the galaxy. As an alternative to payment, Aneesa Dym offered Tel both her father's freighter, the Dusty Duck, and her services as the ship's pilot as he embarked on his new career as a ruthless bounty hunter. Tel accepted, eager to pursue his career away from Sernpidal—as the partnership commenced, Dym became smitten with her new Human companion.
When seeking inspiration for his new persona as a fearsome bounty hunter in the criminal world, Tel looked to the imagery of the Mandalorians, specifically the Basilisk war droid-riding warriors who had served Mandalore the Indomitable against the Galactic Republic, rather than the pacifist New Mandalorians who had recently ascended to power on Mandalore following the Great Clan Wars. Hoping to secure his own set of Mandalorian armor, Tel traveled to Feriae Junction, and came across a junk dealer of ill-repute and sought to purchase equipment for his new endeavor. Based on the direct request for Mandalorian armor, the junk dealer doubted Tel's intelligence. Passing off a vac-exposure suit as the genuine article, the dealer gleaned a handsome sum from Tel, and Tel, due to his ungainly appearance, earned the nickname "Tank Head." He did not realize that the nickname was meant to be insulting.
Anxious to start working, Tel contacted his old acquaintance, Orin Nyell, hoping to gain support for his bounty hunting career. Nyell, either feeling sympathetic towards Tel or simply humoring him, provided "Tank Head" with a target: Kam Nale, a Fluggrian whose father, Borzu had competed with Nyell on the spinward world of Ploo IV, specifically around the racketeer's water smuggling operation. Borzu had recently been assassinated by the Glymphid Aldar Beedo, and Nyell feared that Kam would take over his late father's business. Tel, eager to impress, accepted the job.
Accompanied by Aneesa Dym, Tel commenced his pursuit of Nale. As Nale had no desire to follow in his father's footsteps and enter into illegality, he used a series of aliases to elude capture and death, evading Tel for months. Although Tel eventually learned that Nale had no ill intent toward his employer, he persisted, locating Nale—or "Elan Mak," the pseudonym that Nale was operating under—on the Outer Rim world of Tatooine in 32 BBY. "Mak" was to participate in the Boonta Eve Classic podrace, and it was there that Tel hoped to corner and kill Nale.
Leaving Dym behind to oversee repairs to the Dusty Duck, Tel set off into the city of Mos Espa in search of his mark. During his search, Tel wandered into the Poodoo Lounge and attended the Pre-Boonta Concert featuring podracer Boles Roor in the hopes that "Elan Mak" would show. After hunting for several days, Tel arrived at the Boonta Eve Classic early, in the hopes of finally achieving something for the first time in his life. Tel was able to corner Nale in a back alley, hoping to kill the elusive Fluggrian and claim his second bounty. Tel placed his faith in his faux-Mandalorian armor, believing that it would protect him against any retaliation in the inevitable quick-draw duel between him and Kame Nale. However, Nale was too fast, his heavy blaster pistol making short work of Tel and his substandard equipment. Tel was killed before his career had even begun, and Nale walked away unscathed, continuing to podrace under the "Elan Mak" alias. Dym never learned of Tel's fate, as she was murdered shortly after by the Sith Lord Darth Maul in an unrelated incident. Tel's attempted hit on Nale did have its repercussions, however–the Fluggrian, more cautious after the attack, returned to Ploo IV and took up his father's mantle as Nyell had feared.
Rango Tel stood 1.7 meters tall and had fair skin. He grew up in a harsh environment, living as a street ruffian on Sernpidal who was prone to violence. Tel originally had no desire to become a bounty hunter, and it was sheer happenstance that caused him to decide upon his career. He also lacked prior knowledge going into the bounty hunter trade, and was of the belief that Mandalorian armor was easy to come by. Tel's ignorance led him to pay a copious amount of credits for a suit that was clearly not of Mandalorian make. Not only clueless, he was additionally overconfident, in that he thought himself capable of murdering Kam Nale. That overconfidence, however, proved to be his fatal weakness. Particularly dim-witted, Tel did not realize that the nickname "Tank Head" was an insulting one, and could not pick up when the racketeer Orin Nyell was toying with him.
Although he lacked the requisite skill to succeed as a bounty hunter, Tel did enjoy a streak of luck, not only being able to call on a contact from his youth in Nyell to give rise to his prospective bounty hunting career, but also in chancing upon his first quarry in a drunken brawl, without even realizing what he was doing. Tel also understood, to a degree, the importance of image in the bounty hunting trade, drawing upon the imposing and intimidating elements of the defunct Mandalorian warrior culture, without having the proper understanding of how to execute such an image.
During his brief bounty hunting career, Tel worked alongside the pilot Aneesa Dym. When her father was fatally stabbed by a dissatisfied customer, Aneesa Dym relentlessly hunted the murderer, although she also placed a bounty on his head. The bounty was claimed by Tel, and as a result, Dym fell in love with the Sernpidal citizen. Together they pursued Tel's one and only bounty, Kam Nale, in the Dusty Duck, with Dym providing her services as a pilot of her late father's ship. Their relationship persisted until 32 BBY, when both perished on the same day in unrelated killings.
Rango Tel first appeared in George Lucas's 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace as an unnamed background extra seen briefly during the film's introduction to the city of Mos Espa. He was played by an uncredited actor. Tel was later one of the first characters to have his backstory elaborated on through the Hyperspace "What's The Story?" feature on the website StarWars.com. An entry on Tel in the site's official Databank was written by Aaron Sinner, who originally named the character "Ip Numeth." The organizers of the competition instead chose "Rango Tel," a name contributed by the contestant "Captain Daultay Dofine," and additionally created the nickname "Tank Head."
Sinner chose Sernpidal as Tel's homeworld due to having located it on a map of the Star Wars galaxy and found it "sufficiently backwater." After watching Tel's lone scene in The Phantom Menace, Sinner was reminded of Mandalorian armor, and he used the armor as the basis of the entire article. He felt that the story which he crafted necessitated the dim-witted character's death. Star Wars author Abel G. Peña has named Tel's Databank entry as the most hilarious and endearing of any "What's The Story?" character.