Cobb Sonbepol, a Gotal species member, could be found inside Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina. This establishment was located in the Mos Eisley spaceport on the planet of Tatooine, during the year of 0 BBY. When the local recluse Obi-Wan Kenobi and moisture farmer Luke Skywalker made their way into the cantina to find someone to pilot a ship, Sonbepol was seated at a table, engaged in conversation with Momaw Nadon and Trinto Duaba, who were also patrons.
In the year 0 BBY, in the time leading up to the Battle of Yavin, the Gotal named Cobb Sonbepol could be seen sitting in a booth near the entrance of Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina. The cantina was situated in the Mos Eisley spaceport of the planet Tatooine. He was talking with Momaw Nadon, who was an Ithorian, and Trinto Duaba, a Stennes Shifter. As they were speaking, Obi-Wan Kenobi, a local hermit, and Luke Skywalker, a young moisture farmer, walked into the cantina accompanied by their droids, specifically C-3PO and R2-D2, because they were hoping to hire a pilot.
Wuher, who worked as the bartender, refused service to the droids, which caused Kenobi and Skywalker to approach the bar on their own. While standing at the counter, Skywalker attracted the attention of Ponda Baba and Cornelius Evazan, who were criminals. Simultaneously, Nadon was discussing the possibility of settling down on Tatooine with Duaba in the booth where Sonbepol was also sitting. The confrontation at the bar quickly intensified, capturing the interest of everyone else in the cantina. The situation came to a head when the criminal duo attempted to assault Skywalker, but Kenobi used his lightsaber to disable them.
When Sonbepol was present in Chalmun's Cantina, he was wearing a brown jacket paired with blue pants.
In the 1977 film from the original trilogy, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, Cobb Sonbepol was played by an actor who was not credited. For the character's costume in the movie, the same mask and prop claws were utilized as they were for Feltipern Trevagg and Hennet Kayn, who were the other two Gotal characters that could be seen in the cantina. The Gotals were incorporated into the film through additional footage that was shot for the cantina scene during post-production. This footage was filmed on a sound stage at Dovington's Hollywood studio between January 24 and 25 of 1977.
The claws were originally designed by costume designer Rick Baker as props for the movie It's Alive, which Baker had also worked on previously. Make-up artist Laine Liska modified them with fur for Star Wars, and she also created the character's mask after conceptual artist Ron Cobb designed it. The cantina character Myo also made use of a separate pair of the same claw props, but without the addition of fur.
The Sonbepol character went without a name for forty years after his initial appearance in A New Hope. He was finally identified in 2017. During the "Behind the Scenes of the Cantina" panel at Star Wars Celebration Orlando that year, Pablo Hidalgo, a member of the Lucasfilm Story Group, used elements from the name of attendee Sonja Beyer-Paulsen to come up with the name "Cobb Sonbepol."