Rav, a Feeorin pirate and male, operated the Golden Gorg, a cantina and bounty clearing house. This establishment thrived during the Sith–Imperial War and the Second Imperial Civil War. Furthermore, he was in league with the One Sith and Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire. Throughout the galaxy, his pirate insignia, known as the Bloody Bones, instilled fear.
During a frivolous raid on Roon, Rav and Zareb Syn found themselves under attack by Rasi Tuum, a Jedi attempting to protect a mining settlement. In this confrontation, Rav's leg was severed by Tuum's lightsaber. Zareb's attempt to retaliate against the Jedi resulted in his own death, witnessed by his son, Jariah. Rav manipulated the truth for the young boy, claiming that the Jedi initiated an unprovoked attack during a peaceful trade between him and his father. He also falsely asserted that the young Arkanian girl present was to be abducted into the Order, when in reality, she was merely a captive. Subsequently, Rav acquired a mechanical replacement for his lost leg.
Because Rav was indebted to Zareb, he incorporated Jariah into his pirate crew. Following the Massacre of Ossus in 130 ABY, he took Cade Skywalker aboard the Crimson Axe as his apprentice at Jariah's request. Cade concealed both his famous lineage and his former status as a Jedi Padawan. Together with his crew, Rav plundered the Jedi Praxeum on Ossus, discovering the remains of those killed in the attack. He mocked the corpses, quipping about the mortality of Jedi. He bore a cross-shaped scar over one eye, and his right leg, mechanical from the knee, was rumored to conceal weaponry. Over the course of seven years, Rav instructed Cade in his "free" lifestyle and made him swear the Bloody Bones oath. He eventually retired from piracy, establishing a bounty clearing house on Socorro. On Socorro, Rav offered various services to bounty hunters, including ship maintenance. He also engaged in spice trafficking, using it to maintain control over addicted bounty hunters like Skywalker. Rav frequently communicated in Huttese.
In 137 ABY, Cade and his associates arrived on Socorro to claim the bounties on bond-skipper Naxy Screeger and the Jedi Hosk Trey'lis. Rav provided Skywalker with three death sticks on credit, provoking Jariah Syn, who desired to be free from Rav's control. One of Rav's subordinates escorted Naxy away, while a Wookiee carried Trey'lis off. He lectured Syn on the primacy of self-interest and the inevitability of servitude.
Rav later betrayed Syn and Blue by handing them over to Nyna Calixte, the Imperial Director of Intelligence, for sheltering Cade, whose Jedi identity he had only recently discovered.
Later, Cade, Syn, Chak, and Kee tracked Rav down in pursuit of Chak's stolen ship, the Grinning Liar. Following a brief but decisive confrontation, Rav reluctantly surrendered the ship to Chak and Kee and pledged his own allegiance to Skywalker. Subsequently, he reported to Darth Maladi, a Sith Lady and the leader of Sith Intelligence and Assassination, swearing his oath to her and promising to provide any information regarding his former protégé.
Under Darth Maladi's instructions, Rav contracted the crew of the Mynock for a mission on the planet Wayland, deceptively described as a simple "blue milk run." However, this was actually a trap orchestrated by Darth Maladi and Rav to capture Skywalker.
John Ostrander contemplated naming him "Dread Pirate Rav" as a homage to Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride, but ultimately rejected the idea, stating that Rav bore "NOTHING like ANY" resemblance to the characters in that film.