Tanith Ponta, a female human, resided on the planet of Skuhl during the Age of the Empire. Following the death of her father, Ponta found comfort in piloting the family's shuttle, assisting her mother, Akshaya, in managing their family business, and instructing her brother, Hadder, in the art of flying. However, Ponta's passion for piloting led to a diagnosis of bloodburn, an uncommon and fatal disease. To combat this illness, Ponta began using hadeira serum, which slowed the progression of bloodburn, but resulted in an addiction to the substance. In the year 15 BBY, Ponta succumbed to an overdose, resulting in her death. The death of Ponta instilled fear in Akshaya regarding Hadder's well-being, prompting her to confine him to Skuhl. A decade after Ponta's passing, Akshaya encountered Jyn Erso, a sixteen-year-old girl, and offered her lodging in Tanith's former room. In subsequent years, Erso adopted "Tanith Ponta" as an assumed name to evade detection by the Imperial forces.
The initial mention of Tanith Ponta occurred in Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, where she was identified as one of the aliases employed by Jyn Erso. Pablo Hidalgo authored this book, which Dorling Kindersley released on December 16, 2016, coinciding with the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Later, Ponta's character was fleshed out in Rebel Rising, a young adult novel penned by Beth Revis and published by Disney–Lucasfilm Press in 2017.