The Zhug brothers were a group of bounty hunters of the Duros species, with Azanti and Dezanti Zhug at the helm. This organization, numbering in the hundreds, was unified by a common goal: to seize control of the planet Duro. They saw themselves as a "family," having been banished from Duro for acts of violence against a politically influential rival family. After establishing a base on the moon Nar Shaddaa, the Zhug brothers began accumulating credits through bounty hunting, all while scheming to reclaim their former homeworld.
During the Dark Wars era, specifically in 3951 BBY, the Exchange crime lord G0-T0 residing on Nar Shaddaa, offered a bounty for the capture of Meetra Surik, the former Jedi Knight also known as the Jedi Exile. This opportunity greatly excited the Zhug brothers, though their pursuit of the Jedi ultimately led to their downfall. G0-T0 had forbidden them from engaging Surik while she remained on the moon after she and her allies arrived there. However, once G0-T0's forces captured and imprisoned the Exile, the bounty hunters considered the agreement void and initiated their hunt. Three Zhug brothers, including their leader Azanti Zhug, confronted Surik's companions at the landing pad of their freighter, the Ebon Hawk, where all three were killed in a firefight. Shortly after, eight more Zhug brothers attacked the Jedi aboard the Visionary, G0-T0's vessel, with similar results. Eventually, Dezanti Zhug, another leader, tracked Surik to Dxun, a moon of Onderon, where their final confrontation resulted in the deaths of the three Zhug brothers present.
The Duros bounty hunters known as the Zhug brothers were exiled from the planet Duro following an attempt to eliminate a politically connected, rival ruling family around the time of the Jedi Civil War. Numbering in the hundreds and led by Azanti and Dezanti Zhug, the Zhugs were united not by blood ties but by their shared objective, viewing themselves as a newly formed "family." They eventually made their home on Nar Shaddaa, the moon of Nal Hutta often called the "Smuggler's Moon," and began hunting in the ecumenopolis's slums, seeking to earn enough credits to take control of Duro.
As the Dark Wars drew to a close, G0-T0, the local Exchange crime lord of Nar Shaddaa, placed a significant bounty on Jedi, and the Zhug brothers were eager to claim the reward. In 3951 BBY, Meetra Surik, the former Jedi Knight known as the Jedi Exile, arrived on the "Smuggler's Moon" and soon encountered Vossk, a former bounty hunter and leader of the Bounty Hunters' Guild. Vossk cautioned the Exile about the bounty hunters seeking to collect the bounty on her head, highlighting the Zhugs as a major threat. Meanwhile, G0-T0 invited all bounty hunters on the moon to his yacht, the Visionary, and explicitly forbade them from harming the Jedi Exile while she was on Nar Shaddaa. Upon hearing this restriction, the Zhug brothers' representatives loudly proclaimed G0-T0 as insane for preventing them from hunting her when she was within reach.
Eventually, Surik arranged a meeting with Visquis, a Quarren overseeing G0-T0's operations on the moon, to discuss the bounty; however, she was instead taken prisoner. The bounty hunters interpreted this as the end of the truce, and when G0-T0 transported the now imprisoned Surik to the Visionary, three Zhug brothers pursued the Jedi Exile's companions: the Zabrak Bao-Dur, the former Jedi Master Kreia, the Ebon Hawk's pilot Atton Rand, and the Echani handmaiden Brianna, at the landing pad of their freighter, the Ebon Hawk. Instead of ambushing them, the Zhug brothers opted for ultimatums and threats, which Surik's companions deemed unwise. The three hunters, including their leader Azanti Zhug, were swiftly killed in the ensuing exchange of fire, without any casualties among Surik's group. Following the fight, two of the Jedi Exile's companions infiltrated the Visionary to rescue her. After the Exile's companions found and freed her, eight Zhugs boarded the crime lord's ship and attempted to kill the trio, but again failed.
The final confrontation between the Zhug brothers and Surik occurred on Dxun, the moon of Onderon, where the Zhugs followed her after she departed Nar Shaddaa. Upon entering the Japrael system, they encountered an Onderonian blockade above the planet. As they attempted to approach the spaceport of Iziz, the capital city of Onderon, they were intercepted in space by the planet's fleet. Shortly after the arrival of Surik and the Zhug brothers, the blockade ships opened fire, forcing both the Zhug brothers' Heraklon-class transport ship and the Jedi Exile's Ebon Hawk to crash-land due to damage sustained in the opening space battle of the Onderon Civil War against separatist forces. After crash-landing their ship, Dezanti Zhug led two surviving Zhug brothers in a confrontation with Surik in the moon's jungles. They sought to claim the Exile's bounty, vowing to succeed where Azanti and the other "brothers" had failed. However, the trio met a similar fate, defeated in a brief but intense battle.
Comprising hundreds of Duros, the Zhug brothers functioned as a "family," sharing the common goal of seizing their former homeworld, Duro. In contrast to their politically connected rivals on Duro, the Zhug brothers' violent actions led to their exile from the planet. They considered themselves renowned and formidable bounty hunters, with their leaders, Azanti and Dezanti Zhug, asserting their importance to Surik. The leaders also prided themselves on their ability to make deals and despised those who broke them.
The Zhug brothers numbered in the hundreds, all members of the Duros species. In 3951 BBY, Azanti and Dezanti Zhug served as leaders, representing the entire organization. Both ultimately perished during their pursuit of the bounty on the Jedi Exile.
Azanti Zhug was an arrogant leader within the Zhug brothers. Displaying little respect for other bounty hunters, he regarded himself and the other Zhugs as significant and dangerous figures. During Meetra Surik's time on Nar Shaddaa in 3951 BBY, he eagerly anticipated the opportunity to collect the bounty on her head. Azanti Zhug's life ended when he led the Zhug brothers' initial attack against Surik and her companions on Nar Shaddaa.
Dezanti was another leader within the Zhug brothers. Mirroring Azanti's arrogant attitude and disrespect towards other hunters, Dezanti Zhug claimed to be even more dangerous than Azanti and the other Zhug brothers. While other Zhug brothers chose to attack Meetra Surik and her companions on Nar Shaddaa without him, Dezanti waited for his chance, ultimately dying in a battle with Surik after pursuing her to Dxun in the same year.
The Zhug brothers appeared as minor antagonists in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, a video game created by Obsidian Entertainment and released in late 2004. In the game, the player, controlling the Jedi Exile, can visit various planets after leaving Telos IV. This article assumes that the Jedi Exile visits Nar Shaddaa first, as presented in Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords: Prima Official Game Guide.
Cut content of the game showed numerous Zhug brothers attacking the Jedi Exile's companions on the Nar Shaddaa Docks before the companions fought through a nest of Gand bounty hunters while attempting to rescue her from Visquis and G0-T0.
"Message to Spacers 9," an article by Patrick Stutzman released in 2007 as an online supplement for Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars RPG, provided details about the events leading to the Zhug brothers' crash-landing on Dxun, including the history and specifications of their ship model, identified as the Heraklon-class transport ship.