Toki Tollivar, a Bimm employed by the Galactic Republic's Ministry of Commerce, was often underestimated due to his diminutive size during the Great Sith War. Consequently, when his Force sensitivity led the Sith Empire to consider him for training, he eagerly embraced the chance to learn the ways of the dark side. By the time the war concluded, Tollivar had only achieved the rank of Sith Acolyte, after which he initiated a personal killing spree throughout the galaxy.
Driven by the ridicule he felt due to his small stature, Tollivar reveled in his role as a Force-strangling serial killer, running rampant. The string of strangled victims eventually led him to Corellia, where he adopted the alias Kelven Garnatrope, but his thirst for murder remained unquenched. Branded the Corellian Strangler by the public, Tollivar fled the planet before authorities could link him to the killings, securing passage aboard the Chancellor Fillorean luxury yacht heading into the Core Worlds.
Several weeks later, Jedi Zayne Carrick and the crew of the Hot Prospect discovered Tollivar hiding among a cargo of corpses on the Fillorean. After attempting to strangle members of the Prospect's crew, Carrick confronted Tollivar, leading to a lightsaber duel. Although the Sith adept defeated Carrick, his own servant droid, K-OB7, restrained him, and he was subsequently killed by Zeltron scientist Demagol, who was secretly disguised as Carrick's crewmate, Mandalorian Crusader Rohlan Dyre.
A Bimm citizen, Toki Tollivar resided within the Galactic Republic. Due to his small stature, Tollivar believed that other beings consistently underestimated him. He discovered, however, that some groups valued power regardless of physical size, as was the case with the Sith. They took note of Tollivar's significant Force sensitivity. When the Sith extended an invitation to Tollivar to receive instruction in the ways of the dark side, the Bimm eagerly accepted. He became a Sith Acolyte and was deployed during the Great Sith War, where he successfully killed numerous Jedi adversaries. He also gained employment within the Republic's Ministry of Commerce, operating as an assassin on behalf of the Sith.
Following the conclusion of the war and the defeat of Dark Lord of the Sith Exar Kun, Tollivar found himself without an Empire to serve and no Order to guide him. Aware that the Jedi Order and the Republic sought to eliminate all traces of Sith influence from the galaxy, Tollivar went into hiding, adopting a series of aliases. He established his own business while maintaining his position at the Commerce Ministry, allowing him to continue his personal vendetta against those he felt judged him based on his small size. Tollivar remained in hiding for the next three decades, during which time he acquired a servant droid named K-OB7. "Kayo," as Tollivar called him, was programmed to protect his Bimm master at all costs. The two formed a bond, with Kayo attending to both Tollivar's personal and professional needs.
Tollivar's droid grew suspicious when it stumbled upon one of Tollivar's business associates, a Rodian, strangled to death on his property. Tollivar was indeed the culprit, having used the Force-choke technique, but he denied any involvement. Instead of reporting the crime and risking negative publicity for his business, Tollivar disposed of the body, keeping the secret between himself and the droid. A year later, another strangled corpse was discovered near Tollivar, and the number continued to rise, all while the diminutive Bimm claimed ignorance. To mislead the authorities, Tollivar assumed the identity of "Kelven Garnatrope" and settled on Corellia.
For a period, Tollivar successfully evaded law enforcement while engaging in a private killing spree. Bounties were issued for the "Corellian Strangler," and holoimages of Kelven Garnatrope changed frequently. Even Kayo, Tollivar's closest companion, questioned the Bimm's innocence, struggling with the idea that someone so small could strangle larger individuals. When the Corellians began to associate Garnatrope with Tollivar, he fled once more, purchasing a ticket on a thirty-passenger cruise through the Core Worlds aboard a luxury yacht called the Chancellor Fillorean.
Tollivar's murderous habits soon resurfaced on the Fillorean. Crew and passengers alike fell victim, each strangled by Tollivar's Force abilities. The ship became stranded and drifted in the Core Worlds nebulae for weeks until Zayne Carrick, a Jedi, and the crew of the Hot Prospect stumbled upon it. Tollivar claimed that an unknown tragedy had befallen all the ship's passengers except for himself and his servant droid. Demagol, a Mandalorian Crusader disguised as Rohlan Dyre, a member of the Prospect's crew, discovered that all of the Fillorean's passengers had died from asphyxiation. The Bimm's droid became the primary suspect, as the Hot Prospect's crew doubted that someone as small as Tollivar could kill larger individuals. Carrick assured Tollivar of his safety while the Jedi and his crew worked to restore the Fillorean's systems and prepare for rescue.
As they investigated the mysterious murders on the Fillorean, Tollivar Force-asphyxiated Slyssk, a Trandoshan crew member of the Prospect, and left him for dead. Jarael, an Arkanian-offshoot, found Slyssk shortly after, and Dyre performed an emergency tracheotomy to save him. Tollivar then appeared, feigning ignorance, and was ordered to remain in Jarael's care while Carrick and Dyre questioned the Bimm's servant droid. Once alone, he attacked Jarael, revealing his Sith affiliation as he levitated and began strangling her. His intention was to seize the Hot Prospect and continue his killing spree, targeting Republic citizens one by one. Tollivar would have succeeded in killing Jarael had Carrick not arrived and incapacitated him with blaster fire. Thrilled to face a Jedi in combat once more, Tollivar ignited his red-bladed lightsaber and engaged Carrick in a duel.
Despite his disadvantage in height, Tollivar quickly gained the upper hand in the brief duel. He ended the fight by using the Force to dislodge a lighting fixture and strike Carrick with it. As the Bimm Sith stood over his defeated opponent, preparing to deliver the final blow, Tollivar's droid, Kayo, restrained him in an attempt to prevent him from further endangering himself. Tollivar resisted the droid's efforts, even striking him with Force lightning, and vowed to continue his murderous rampage. Rohlan Dyre, taking the Bimm seriously, shot Tollivar and the droid, destroying them both. The Corellian Strangler was finally dead, leaving a substantial Galactic Credits bounty to be claimed by Carrick and his companions.
Toki Tollivar was a resentful individual, embittered by those who he believed judged him based on his species' small size and unassuming appearance, rather than his knowledge and skills. He exploited their underestimation of him to advance his Sith-inspired ambitions. Tollivar believed that power should command respect without discrimination.
Following the Great Sith War, Tollivar developed a strong desire to kill. He discovered that taking lives provided him with temporary satisfaction; after his first victim, he realized that his need to kill was insatiable, leading him down a path of serial murder.
Tollivar was also a deceptive individual. He lied to his droid about his involvement in the initial strangling and later to the crew of the Hot Prospect regarding the deaths on the Chancellor Fillorean. To mislead authorities, Tollivar adopted several aliases, hoping to distance himself from any potential investigation into his crimes. When false images of his aliases appeared in the media, Tollivar did nothing to correct the misdirection, instead taking advantage of their ignorance by continuing to kill. To avoid capture, Tollivar fled into space, hoping to erase the trail that inevitably led back to him.
Toki Tollivar possessed considerable Force sensitivity. As a Sith adept, he favored using the Force to choke his victims. He could project bursts of Force lightning, though not with enough power to prevent his droid K-OB7 from attempting to restrain him. He also managed to conceal his identity as the Corellian Strangler for a significant period through deception and quick departures from crime scenes.
Tollivar was skilled with a lightsaber, wielding a smaller shoto-style weapon with a crimson blade, characteristic of the Sith. Tollivar demonstrated talent for Dun Möch, using the Force to hurl debris at Jedi Zayne Carrick during their duel on the Chancellor Fillorean. The Bimm Sith defeated Carrick in their battle, but he was ultimately subdued by his droid Kayo and then killed by Rohlan Dyre, who destroyed both Tollivar and Kayo with his blaster pistol.
Toki Tollivar was a creation of John Jackson Miller for the thirty-eighth issue of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic comic series, titled Faithful Execution. Jackson Miller had previously included reports of a notorious serial killer, the Corellian Strangler, in earlier issues of Knights of the Old Republic: Knights of the Old Republic 14, Knights of the Old Republic 20, Knights of the Old Republic 23. The "Strangler" was mentioned in the Adjudicator holofeeds included in the comics, where the identity and species of the "Strangler" were intentionally obscured. Approximately two years after the initial mention of the "Strangler," Jackson Miller revealed on his website that he felt Faithful Execution was the appropriate issue to reveal Tollivar as the "Strangler," thus resolving the mystery. Jackson Miller also expressed his satisfaction that Dean Zachary was the artist for the issue, as he considered Zachary's "dark and moody" style to be ideal for the storyline.
Upon the release of Faithful Execution, readers believed that the Mandalorian character was indeed Rohlan Dyre, as there was no prior indication to suggest otherwise. It was later revealed in the first issue of the Knights of the Old Republic story arc Demon that Dyre was being impersonated by Demagol, a Mandalorian scientist.