Dawson, a demolitions expert of the Tynnan male species, teamed up with the thief Cecil Noone around the time of 0 ABY. In his [youth](/article/youngling/legends], he reveled in playing water-wall and concocting and detonating bombs, showcasing his expertise in explosives. To escape the bureaucracy on his homeworld of Tynna after being selected by lottery to fill a position in the Tynnan government, Dawson fled. Before joining Noone, he hired himself out to various underworld figures as a bomb maker. His skills proved invaluable to Noone's crew as they faced off against assassins and crime lords spanning from Nar Shaddaa to Kabal.
As a key member of Noone's mission to the Ithorian Herdship Song of the Clouds, Dawson played a pivotal role in obtaining a mysterious box for Guttu the Hutt. He bravely infiltrated a crime lord's yacht docked at the Herdship to locate the treasure, putting his life at risk. Noone's group absconded with the yacht and the treasure from the box, which turned out to be a Hapan Gun of Command. Dawson, along with the others, accompanied Noone to Kabal, where Noone attempted to sell the Gun to Krish business tycoon Tyro Viveca. During their time there, Dawson's obsession with collecting quay novelty toys proved beneficial to Noone, who needed rescuing from Viveca's estate when Viveca began hunting him. Dawson ingeniously crafted a detonator from one of the toys, setting off a powerful bomb that killed Viveca. With Noone safe, Dawson tended to the ailing thief as they escaped the planet.
Dawson, a male of the Tynnan species, was born on Tynna, a world located in the Expansion Region. Throughout his initial eighteen [years](/article/standard_year-legends], a group of wealthy uncles tried to steer Dawson toward a career in the stock market, but he demonstrated little interest. Instead, Dawson preferred engaging in water-wall and discovering innovative methods to create explosions.
However, one day, Dawson received a notification informing him of his selection via lottery to fill a position within the Tynnan government. Appalled by the idea of spending his life in community meetings and orbital platform control legislation, Dawson abandoned his homeworld, never to return. He began offering his demolition expertise to various underworld clients. Eventually, he joined forces with the Human thief Cecil Noone and his crew of professional criminals aboard the bulk freighter Borogove.
Four years into Dawson's tenure with the group, around 0 ABY, the crime lord Guttu the Hutt approached them with a job: Noone's crew was tasked with stealing a valuable box from Guttu's rival, the Bimm Ritinki, during a meeting between Ritinki and Rodian kingpin Vop. The heist was scheduled to occur on the Ithorian herdship Song of the Clouds, situated near the Outer Rim moon of Nar Shaddaa. Dawson expressed dismay upon learning the timeframe for the job: two days, during which traffic to and from the herdship would be restricted.
As the meeting was being catered, Noone's crew disguised themselves as staff from the foodservice providers Estimable Epicures to gain access to the herdship. Dawson and Sluissi team member Hass Sonax were concealed within a metal handcart, purportedly containing charbote root in gumbah pudding. Once inside, Dawson was assigned the task of breaching the safe containing the prize. He successfully accomplished this using a combination of a fusion cutter and four pellets of Nergon-14 explosives, only to be horrified upon discovering the safe empty.
Despite this setback, Dawson reasoned that the box was likely aboard Ritinki's yacht, the Asaari Wind. He crammed himself into an Ithorian vacsuit and assisted Sonax into an equipment sled. Together, they breached an airlock near the Asaari Wind's docking location and launched into space. Despite nearly losing control of the suit and sled, Dawson managed to cut through the hull and board the yacht. The plan became complicated when the ship began to power up, but Dawson and Sonax seized control of the vessel and crashed the meeting. Noone and the others were able to board the yacht and escape with the box, which was revealed to contain a Hapan Gun of Command.
Following the heist on the Song of the Clouds, Noone's group traveled on the Asaari Wind, now known as the Spiraling Shape, to the coastal community of Palisade on the Outer Rim world of Kabal. Noone had attempted to sell the Gun of Command to an agent of the Rebel Alliance. When the deal fell through, Tyro Viveca, a Krish business magnate, expressed interest in the item. While in Palisade, Dawson argued with a Squib trader over a quay novelty toy, hoping to acquire it for his growing collection. When Kels Turkhorn, a Human female member of the group, dismissed the toy and left it behind, Dawson was disheartened and consoled himself with a bundle of maraffa twigs. He eventually managed to obtain the device in exchange for three blasting caps and a copper spindle.
When the group traveled to Viveca's mansion to rescue Noone, who was negotiating with the crime lord and being hunted by Viveca for sport, Dawson's detonators were damaged by a security droid's blaster. Despite this, and despite sustaining a rib injury in the chaos, Dawson managed to adapt his undamaged quay novelty toy into a detonator and kill Viveca with the resulting bomb, enabling them to save Noone. Back aboard the Spiraling Shape, Dawson struggled with a medkit to treat Noone as the yacht made its escape from Kabal.
Dawson carried timers, triggers, detonators, putty, raw baradium, thermite gel, shaped detonite, and vials of Nergon-14, along with other gadgets, in a satchel. Dawson also possessed a datapad and safe-cracking tools. To compensate for his poor eyesight, Dawson wore an ocular enhancer over his eyes. He was also capable of using an Ithorian vacsuit when necessary.
Dawson made his debut in Daniel Wallace's short story, "The Great Herdship Heist," featured in Star Wars Adventure Journal 15 and published on November 1, 1997. The illustrations of Dawson in the issue were created by Will Warren.