Tanus Spijek, an Elom male who operated as a spy, was employed by the Alliance to Restore the Republic to deliver crucial communications between the planet Alderaan and the moon Yavin 4 throughout the Galactic Civil War. In the year 4 ABY, Spijek found himself on the planet Tatooine, spending time within the palace belonging to the crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure. There, he observed Luke Skywalker's arrival to parley with Jabba, and he also witnessed the Jedi slay Jabba's beloved rancor, Pateesa. Subsequently, this Elom was among those who accompanied the Hutt on the sail barge Khetanna to the Great Pit of Carkoon, where they were to witness the execution of Skywalker and his companions. However, Skywalker liberated himself, and with the assistance of his allies, he eliminated the Hutt and obliterated the barge.
Hired by the Alliance to Restore the Republic to function as a messenger and intelligence operative during their conflict with the Galactic Empire, the Elom male named Tanus Spijek was a spy for hire from the planet Elom. He transported messages between Alderaan, a Core Worlds planet and homeworld of Alliance founder Bail Organa, and the Alliance base situated on the moon of Yavin 4. In the year 0 BBY, the Empire destroyed Alderaan, and shortly thereafter, in 0 ABY, the Alliance was compelled to evacuate Yavin 4 following the Battle of Yavin.
Spijek then started working for the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure as an extortionist, but he didn't interact with many others while at Jabba's palace on the desert planet Tatooine. In 3 ABY, Boba Fett, a bounty hunter, had plans to bring the smuggler Han Solo to the palace after Solo was frozen in carbonite, so he could get the bounty that Jabba had put on Solo. However, the Crimson Dawn crime group stole Solo before Fett got to Tatooine, which made Jabba put a bounty on Fett instead. When Fett got to the palace to face Jabba, he was met by Bib Fortuna, Jabba's majordomo.
Fortuna told Fett that Jabba wasn't on Tatooine because he had gone to a auction for Solo held by Crimson Dawn. The majordomo then told Fett to leave, as Spijek and other people who worked for Jabba appeared behind him, with many of them pointing weapons at Fett. Instead of leaving, Fett reminded everyone about his dangerous reputation and asked if it was really worth dying to fight him just for Fortuna's sake. The crowd silently lowered their weapons, and Fett walked past Spijek as he and Fortuna went into the palace to see the invitation.
During a nightime performance of the song "Jedi Rocks" by the Max Rebo Band in 4 ABY, Spijek was in one of the booths in Jabba's throne room. He was seated in front of the Whiphid J'Quille and watched Jabba demand that the band play the song again. However, the second time they played it, the Twi'lek dancer Oola was dropped through a trapdoor into a pit beneath the throne room and eaten by Jabba's pet rancor, Pateesa. While other people rushed to watch, Spijek stayed in his booth and raised a glass as she was eaten, while others cheered.
Right after the performance, Princess Leia Organa, disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh, created a disturbance when she entered the throne room with the Wookiee Chewbacca. Spijek recoiled in fear as she stood in front of him to face Jabba. Organa—whose actual goal was to rescue Solo from Jabba—argued with Jabba about the bounty price for bringing him the Wookiee, and she activated a thermal detonator to scare Jabba into raising his offer. Spijek and many others in the room cowered in fear at the explosive, but they were relieved when Organa deactivated the grenade after Jabba agreed to her price. Later, Spijek sat next to Jabba and saw Organa get caught trying to free Solo from carbonite.
The court celebrated Organa's capture late into the night, and in the morning, Spijek was resting in a booth with the Kadas'sa'Nikto Wooof in the throne room. He woke up when Luke Skywalker, a Jedi Master, arrived and demanded to see Jabba. The Jedi wanted to convince Jabba to release Solo, Organa, and Chewbacca. Spijek stood up to watch them talk and saw Skywalker threaten Jabba with a DL-18 blaster pistol that he had taken from the guard Nizuc Bek before being dropped into the rancor pit below the throne room.
After Jabba's pet rancor, Pateesa, ate the Gamorrean Jubnuk, who had fallen into the pit with Skywalker, the Jedi killed the rancor, which horrified Jabba and his court. Spijek and the crowd then watched as Skywalker and his friend Han Solo were brought before Jabba and sentenced to be eaten by the sarlacc at the Great Pit of Carkoon. The Elom then boarded Jabba's sail barge, the Khetanna, to go to the pit and watch the executions. While traveling across the Dune Sea on the barge, Spijek talked to the Ugnaught Yoxgit. Once they were above the pit, Skywalker freed himself and boarded the barge from the Bantha-II cargo skiff that he had been transported on. Skywalker's ally, Princess Leia Organa, then killed Jabba by strangling him, and together, Skywalker and his allies destroyed the sail barge and escaped Tatooine.
Spijek was mentioned in a artist's journal, which was restored, expanded, and displayed at the Graf Archive at some point no earlier than 34 ABY. The journal noted how the spy had made a name for himself in the galaxy, which was unusual for his species as they rarely left their caves.
Tanus Spijek, unlike the majority of Eloms, displayed a lack of empathy for the rebellion, despite his employment by them, and was characterized as a despicable opportunist. This extortionist possessed black eyes, rough gray and pink skin, and a dense, oily pelt marked by a mix of gray, brown, and white hues.
In the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi from the original trilogy, Tanus Spijek was played by mime artist Graeme Hattrick. During production, the character was referred to as "The Mole," and its mask was inspired by a maquette depicting Spijek with lighter gray fur. Although the character was unnamed in the film, its initial identification within the current canon occurred in the mobile card game Star Wars: Force Collection, which was initially released in 2013. Despite the launch of Force Collection predating the Star Wars canon reset of 2014, Leland Chee, a member of the Lucasfilm Story Group, verified that the game was consistently updated to align with canon.
The name originated from a card in the Jabba's Palace Limited set of the Star Wars Legends Customizable Card Game released by Decipher in 1998.