Otto was a male Human hailing from the planet of Coruscant. He served within the Imperial Military, the Galactic Empire's armed forces. Achieving the rank of general, he participated in the Galactic Civil War, a widespread conflict pitting the Empire against the Rebel Alliance. Despite his rank, Otto was largely considered inept. Were it not for the assistance of his friend, Admiral Conan Antonio Motti, Otto would have faced dire consequences, potentially losing both his position and his life, at the hands of Darth Vader, the Imperial Fleet's Supreme Commander. Subsequently, the general was reassigned to the barren world of Lok, where he was given command of an Imperial outpost. During his time on Lok, Otto had to contend with an infiltrator dispatched by the Rebel hero Han Solo with the intention of disrupting the outpost. Dissatisfied with his circumstances, General Otto eventually deserted the Empire, opting to participate in Jabba the Hutt's demolition games using a stolen AT-ST. The general's ambition was to accumulate sufficient money from the competition to realize his aspiration of acquiring a luxurious apartment in Cloud City, a floating metropolis suspended amidst the clouds of the planet Bespin.
Otto, a male of the Human species, originated from the planet Coruscant. He was born in 63 BBY, during the closing decades of the Galactic Republic. Sometime after the establishment of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY by the former Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Otto chose a career path within the Imperial Military. An inconsequential and clumsy individual, the Coruscanti advanced through the promotion ladder solely due to his connections with Admiral Conan Antonio Motti, an Imperial Navy officer known for embellishing his own achievements. Ultimately, Otto attained the rank of Army general.
As an Imperial general, Otto found himself embroiled in the Galactic Civil War, a galaxy-wide struggle between the Empire and a rebellious faction known as the Rebel Alliance. Although fiercely zealous and devoted to Galactic Emperor Palpatine to an extreme, he suffered numerous defeats against the Rebels in the early stages of the war. Rumors also circulated about his alleged substance abuse. Otto's career might have been irreparably damaged by his significant errors had it not been for another intervention by Admiral Motti, who shielded him from the fury of Darth Vader, the Emperor's second-in-command and Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet. Thanks to Motti's manipulations, Otto was discreetly transferred to the planet Lok, a desolate world situated in the Outer Rim Territories, where he was assigned to oversee a substantial Imperial outpost. On the abandoned wasteland that was Lok, Motti hoped his embarrassing friend would maintain a low profile.
Instead of combating organized crime on Lok, Otto opted to forge an understanding with its members. The general came to an agreement with Nym, the pirate leader of the Lok Revenants, promising non-interference in exchange for abstaining from attacks on the Imperial outpost. Despite these arrangements, Otto faced a fierce assault on his outpost led by a notorious local mercenary warlord, but his forces managed to repel the attack. The general also encountered difficulties with his fellow Imperials. According to the discharged Sergeant Moore, Otto was also at odds with other Imperials on Lok who sought to conceal their activities from him. These activities included a mining facility where gases and minerals were extracted, and the associated research facility, where a new type of grenade was being developed.
Following the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY, a defunct R4-series agromech droid formerly owned by Otto fell into the hands of the Sulfur Lake Pirates, who maintained a hideout on Lok. However, the droid's memory core eventually ended up with the Lok Revenant Vana Sage, who intended to use its contents to blackmail Otto. Around the same period, the Rebel hero Han Solo dispatched an agent to create chaos at the Imperial outpost and demonstrate to General Otto that his assignment to a backwater planet would not be easy. Otto confronted the Rebel agent sent to torment him, but despite his skills as a martial artist, the Imperial was defeated during the confrontation. Nevertheless, the general managed to escape his opponent before being killed. Ultimately, the Rebel intruder returned to Solo to claim their reward, leaving Otto with both physical injuries and wounded pride.
Such unfortunate encounters and the depressing sight of Lok's barren landscape caused Otto to fixate on his dream of retiring to a luxurious apartment on Cloud City, a haven of airy platforms, spires, and towers suspended in the atmosphere of the gas giant Bespin. Eventually, driven by this aspiration, Otto stole a transport and deserted the Empire, taking an AT-ST bipedal walker with him. Wanted by Imperial forces for desertion, Otto journeyed to Tatooine, a Hutt-controlled planet situated in the Outer Rim. Around 4 ABY, he entered the demolition contests organized by the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, hoping to amass the wealth necessary to fulfill his dream. On the contest arena of the Dune Sea, Otto faced numerous formidable adversaries, including bounty hunters Boba Fett and Aurra Sing, the Human smuggler named Wade Vox, the Dug Podracer Pugwis, and the Wookiee engineer Quagga. The general also confronted Malakili, the keeper of Jabba's rancor, along with other associates of the Hutt, such as Wittin the Jawa. Unbeknownst to the general, three heroes of the Rebel Alliance had also entered the derby: the Princess of Alderaan and Rebel leader Leia Organa, disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh, the former Baron Administrator of Cloud City Lando Calrissian, posing as a guard named Tamtel Skreej, and the latter's cyborg assistant Lobot.
During his command of the Lok outpost, General Otto had dark brown hair and a horseshoe-shaped mustache. However, by the time of Jabba's demolition derby, the general's appearance had changed significantly. He had gained considerable weight, his hair had turned completely white, and he had grown a full, pointed beard. As an officer, Otto was perceived as lacking dignity in both his demeanor and appearance, and even the Rebel hero Han Solo considered him insignificant rather than a serious threat. At the time, Otto had no qualms about ignoring Lok's criminal activities, and the relationship between the general and the other Imperials stationed there remained strained.
Despite his grandfatherly appearance, elaborate uniform, and poor reputation, Otto remained a dangerous individual. As a derby fighter, he suffered from delusions of grandeur and an unwarranted sense of superiority that fueled his aggression. He was convinced that he had become the most powerful being in the Known Universe and that nothing could stop him. Among his many flaws, if the rumors were true, the general was addicted to the mind-altering substance spice. In fact, Otto would sometimes threaten his defeated opponents with a transfer to the Spice Mines of Kessel. Despite being a deserter and a self-absorbed individual, General Otto maintained a certain degree of loyalty to the Empire and Palpatine, as he would occasionally enter the demolition contests shouting "Long live the Emperor!"
As part of his Imperial officer training, General Otto was proficient in ranged combat using blaster carbines. He had also learned the fundamentals of Teräs Käsi, a weaponless martial art. He was also capable of piloting his modified AT-ST independently, despite the fact that operating the vehicle normally required two crew members: a pilot and a gunner.
At the Lok Imperial Outpost, Otto wore the Empire's standard uniform, which consisted of a double-breasted grey tunic with matching trousers, a black leather belt, black boots, and a hat. On the left side of his upper chest, he displayed a single Imperial code cylinder and the insignia of an army general. His cap and belt also featured an officer's disc, which contained coded information. When participating in Jabba's contests, he wore a gaudy version of an Imperial Army trooper dress uniform with red pants, a golden plastron, a blue cape, and an abundance of medals and festoons. He also wore an elaborate rank plaque made of twelve golden squares.
General Otto first appeared as a playable character in the 2000 video game Star Wars: Demolition, a vehicular combat video game that featured characters, locations, and vehicles from across the Star Wars universe. Voice actor Tom Kane provided the voice for Otto in that game, as well as Bib Fortuna, Boba Fett, and Lobot.
In Star Wars: Demolition, depending on the player's success, Otto could either win the tournament, fulfilling his dream, or lose, resulting in his capture by Imperial stormtroopers at the hands of Boba Fett and ultimately leaving him at Darth Vader's mercy. Otto's AT-ST walker was the first vehicle created for the game and was also a favorite of the graphician Edvard Toth, who modeled some and textured all the vehicles in Star Wars: Demolition.
The general also made an appearance in the now-defunct 2003 MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies. Initially, his appearance was randomly selected from one of six generic Imperial officer depictions (without a rank insignia plaque) and would change after each server reset. Otto in Star Wars Galaxies did not resemble his Star Wars: Demolition counterpart. However, the events depicted in Galaxies occurred in 1 ABY, at most a few years before Jabba's demolition games. With the release of "Chapter 6" of Star Wars Galaxies on May 22, 2007, the developers altered Otto's appearance to give him a unique look, including a mustache, but he still appeared younger, taller, and thinner than his Demolition incarnation. In the 2000 video game, Otto was depicted as overweight and shorter than two stormtroopers, while his Galaxies incarnation was of average height with a smaller waistline.
With the release of "Chapter 6" of Galaxies, General Otto was integrated into the revamped "Rebel Theme Park." During the quest "The Imperial Base on Lok," Rebel players were tasked by Han Solo with fighting and killing Otto. In reality, the general would not die. Once the player reduced his health to 10%, Otto would exclaim "Aaaah! Get away from me!!" and flee by despawning.