Tuz, a towering and portly Mon Calamari, made his living as a pirate and trader during the time of Emperor Palpatine's rule. Although initially uninvolved in the Galactic Civil War, he was reluctantly pressed into service for the Alliance to Restore the Republic due to the forceful persuasion of Rebel Admiral Gial Ackbar. Under the watchful eyes of Vice Admiral Wirriz and Commander Fortune, Tuz engaged in clandestine operations against the Galactic Empire, providing the Rebels with stolen goods. In the days leading up to the Battle of Yavin, Tuz played a role in delivering Imperial supplies from the captured BFF-1 bulk freighter Sidral II to the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Independence. Alliance High Command hoped this would lead them to the contractors working on the Empire's Death Star battle station.
During Emperor Palpatine's reign, Tuz, a male Mon Calamari, made his living as a pirate and trader. He took advantage of other spacers and profited from their misfortunes. Over the years, Tuz had a complicated history with Gial Ackbar, another Mon Calamari who rose to the rank of admiral in the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War. While Tuz held no affection for the Galactic Empire, he was equally indifferent to the Rebellion. However, months before the Battle of Yavin, Ackbar contacted Tuz and used his influence to convince him to aid the Rebel Alliance. To ensure the reluctant pirate's compliance, Ackbar assigned the Quarren Vice Admiral Wirriz and the Corellian Commander Fortune to oversee him. In the months that followed, Tuz allowed the Rebels to exploit his Imperial connections and participated in covert operations, acting as a privateer against the Empire and providing the Rebels with stolen goods.
After discovering the Empire's construction of the Death Star, a battle station capable of destroying entire planets, the Alliance sought to identify the contractors involved. Shortly before the [Death Star](/article/death_star-legends]'s completion, Tuz assisted in the capture of the Imperial BFF-1 bulk freighter Sidral II, which was transporting military hardware, including timers and fusion shells. Hoping to analyze the equipment and discover the Death Star's builders, the Alliance dispatched the CR90 corvette Frazier to meet the freighter and transfer its cargo. The Imperial-class Star Destroyer Immortal interrupted the operation, but the Rebel forces successfully completed the transfer before escaping into hyperspace.
Following the transfer, Tuz delivered the stolen equipment to the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Independence. After landing his small freighter on the Rebel cruiser, Tuz disembarked with Wirriz, Fortune, and two of his Gamorrean guards. Their arrival drew the attention of three Rebel pilots—Captains Keyan Farlander, Samuel Raider, and Puck Naeco—who approached to investigate. Raider recognized Tuz from previous dealings and was suspicious of the pirate, but Tuz accepted Naeco's invitation to join the Rebels for drinks in the pilots' lounge. During their drinks, Raider voiced his disapproval of Tuz's business practices, leading one of the pirate's bodyguards to attack the pilot. Raider knocked the bodyguard down, but Tuz stopped his second guard from intervening, threatening to send them back to the ship. The pirate admitted his past misdeeds and claimed to have changed, but Fortune, on Wirriz's orders, revealed the truth about Tuz's reluctant involvement to the pilots. After finishing their drinks, the Rebels escorted Tuz and his companions back to their ship.
Part of the stolen shipment had passed through an Imperial repair dock near Coruscant, the Imperial capital. Alliance High Command decided to launch an attack on the facility to cripple the infrastructure servicing ships working on the Death Star. Before leaving the Independence, Tuz provided Commanders S'man and Hamo Blastwell with information on the facility to aid in planning the raid.
As a pirate, Tuz readily exploited naive traders for personal gain, earning a reputation as a cheat and swindler. He initially showed little interest in the Rebellion until Admiral Ackbar used his influence to persuade him to work against the Empire. Never fully trusted by the Rebels, Tuz operated under the supervision of Wirriz and Fortune. Tuz later claimed to have developed an admiration for the Rebels' commitment and dedication, despite his initial lack of interest. However, the Alliance remained skeptical of his claims. Despite working under the Rebels' direction, Tuz maintained the appearance of being in charge. A tall, obese Mon Calamari with three scars on his face, he typically wore a military tunic adorned with commendations and battle patches, a long cape, and an iridescent headband. While aboard the Independence, he loudly complained about the Alliance's negotiators not paying him a fair price for his cargo, but he deferred to Fortune's command in the pilot's lounge at Wirriz's prompting.
Rusel DeMaria created Tuz for the 1993 book X-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide. The book, which offered strategies for the LucasArts video game Star Wars: X-Wing, was presented as the story of Keyan Farlander, the game's player character. Tuz makes a brief appearance in the book's story, linking him to the capture of the Sidral II in the "Guard Weapons Transfer" mission and crediting him with providing the intelligence that led to the "Destroy Repair Dock" mission.