Shon-Ju, a former Padawan who had fallen from grace, was a towering and powerful figure who became a cult leader. Instead of fighting with a lightsaber, he mastered the art of channeling the Force directly through his hands. Subsequently, he sought out and find taught his unique techniques to other Force-sensitives whom he found. During the Clone Wars, Shon-Ju's Force school traveled to Cavamina Minor with the intention of confronting the war profiteer Attuma Duum. While there, they rescued the Jedi Knight Aayla Secura from Duum's mercenaries, and Shon-Ju pledged to assist the Twi'lek Jedi in stopping Duum. However, Shon-Ju betrayed Secura, resulting in her severing his hands and allowing Duum to escape. Shon-Ju fled into the collapsing headquarters, eventually reuniting with his students and accepting advanced prosthetic hands that surpassed his original ones.
Shon-Ju's earliest memories involved instruction at the Jedi Temple located on Coruscant. Nevertheless, the Jedi considered Shon-Ju's focus on utilizing the Force as a weapon to be excessive, and they denied him the rank of Jedi Knight. Ultimately, he aged out of the training program and was informed that he would never achieve knighthood. Enraged and disheartened, Shon-Ju made the decision to leave the Jedi Order.
Upon departing the temple, Shon-Ju encountered Count Dooku, also known as Darth Tyranus, who encouraged him to build upon his Padawan training and continue his studies independently.
Taking Dooku's words to heart, Shon-Ju entered into self-imposed exile, dedicating himself to strengthening his connection to the Force. During this period, he came to believe he had achieved balance and discarded his lightsaber, instead teaching himself to channel the Force through his hands for combat. Subsequently, he sought out and find established a school for other Force-sensitives who had been rejected or overlooked by the Jedi Order, where his new students could learn his unique methods of utilizing the Force.
During the Clone Wars, Jedi Knight Aayla Secura encountered Shon-Ju on the Mid Rim moon of Cavamina Minor after her initial attempt to capture Attuma Duum ended unsuccessfully. Secura's starfighter had been shot down, and she was fleeing from the mercenary Sabat. Shon-Ju and his students rescued Secura; Sabat chose to engage Shon-Ju directly after being given the option to fight or flee. After Shon-Ju defeated his men, Sabat fled, leaving Shon-Ju to assist the injured Secura.
Secura later awoke in Shon-Ju's castle. Venturing outside, she observed Shon-Ju's students practicing their unique style of Force manipulation. Secura requested assistance, but Shon-Ju explained that they lacked a comm-unit and that it was too late to investigate Sabat's ships. He then shared a portion of his history as a Jedi with her. The following morning, they agreed to cooperate in bringing down the war profiteer Attuma Duum and commandeered two of Sabat's bombers to reach Duum's hidden base located in the nearby asteroid field.
The two Force-sensitives infiltrated Duum's facility stealthily. Shon-Ju intentionally triggered the alarm to gain further access by surrendering to the guards. Secura used Force-pushed the guards and fired upon Attuma Duum's security droid. However, Sabat took Shon-Ju hostage in an attempt to force Secura to surrender. Both were restrained and confronted by Duum himself, who informed them that they would be ransomed and confiscated Secura's lightsaber.
Duum then departed to oversee his plan's execution. He had lured a Galactic Republic and Separatist fleet under false pretenses and ambushed them with a massive minefield. As Duum observed the resulting destruction, Shon-Ju revealed to Secura his intention to kill Duum in order to humiliate the Jedi Order. Shon-Ju used his hands to break free from his restraints and then propelled Sabat into a turbine, resulting in his death and an explosion.
Shon-Ju instructed Secura to remain behind to avoid interfering with his plans before proceeding to Duum's control center. Duum revealed his true form, a cyborg body, and directly challenged Shon-Ju. Meanwhile, Secura freed herself and arrived to take Duum into custody, stating that he was now under her authority. Shon-Ju then attacked Secura, asserting that she had made her choice and must follow through with it. After knocking her down, he lifted her up, vowing to end her life. She summoned her lightsaber using the Force and severed Shon-Ju's hands to demonstrate his helplessness. Ignoring him, Duum escaped. In tears, Shon-Ju lamented that the Jedi continued to take from him, questioning how much would be enough, before fleeing into the flames. Secura then escaped the doomed station and returned to Coruscant.
Unbeknownst to Secura, Shon-Ju survived the destruction and received prosthetic hands. Dissatisfied with merely being restored, he considered himself superior, using his new hands to tear through the 2-1B droid that was attending to him.
During his time at the Jedi Temple, he demonstrated an exceptional ability to channel the Force that surpassed his peers. However, he was ultimately denied knighthood due to his emphasis on using the Force as a weapon. Embittered, he left the Order and pursued his studies independently, eventually achieving inner peace. Subsequently, he abandoned the use of a lightsaber and instead channeled the Force through his hands. He developed an alternative form of Force combat, which he shared with others, instructing them personally and thereby rejecting the Order's exclusivity. He told Aayla Secura he was learning as much from his trainees as they were from him.
Despite his claims, he harbored resentment towards the Jedi Order for rejecting him. He deceived Aayla Secura and attempted to kill Attuma Duum in order to humiliate the Order, whose agent had failed to capture the mercenary. He believed that the Order had taken everything from him. Following his injuries at Secura's hands, he felt that his cybernetic replacement hands did not simply restore him but made him superior.
He enjoyed engaging in combat and taunted Sabat.
Shon-Ju is the central figure in the 2010 graphic novella titled The Clone Wars: Deadly Hands of Shon-Ju.