During the waning years of the Galactic Republic, there existed a Clawdite female who made her living as a bounty hunter: Zam Wesell. Being a Clawdite, Wesell had the natural ability to physically alter her form, a talent she typically used to appear as a human female. Before the Clone Wars began, the bounty hunter Jango Fett sought Wesell's assistance in a plot to assassinate Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo in 22 BBY. However, her attempts were unsuccessful, leading to Wesell's death at the hands of Fett, preventing her from revealing his identity as the would-be assassin to Amidala's Jedi bodyguards.
Zam Wesell, a Clawdite female, was born on the planet of Zolan. She received training from the Mabari, but her desire for wealth led her to Denon, where she used her skills and training as an assassin. At some point, Wesell began collaborating with bounty hunter Jango Fett, becoming his frequent partner. During an operation with Fett on Snugano, she faced a near-death experience.
Sometime before 22 BBY, Wesell took a vacation aboard the Halcyon with Aurra Sing, disguising herself as a human female. While on board, they were hired by Colram Vestig to safeguard him and his son, Wilmar, from the Hutts. When Weequays, in the employ of the Hutts, kidnapped Wilmar, Sing and Wesell journeyed to Numidian Prime to rescue him. During the mission, Sing was attacked by a Predavorexx. After they defeated the creature, Wesell disguised herself as one of the Hutts' Weequay guards, assisting Sing in eliminating the remaining guards and rescuing Wilmar. Subsequently, the duo successfully returned the boy to his father on the Halcyon.
In 22 BBY, Fett employed Wesell to assassinate Naboo Senator Padmé Amidala to prevent her opposition to the Military Creation Act. Later, Wesell bombed the Senator's cruiser upon its arrival at Coruscant. However, Amidala was not on the cruiser; instead, her handmaiden, Cordé, was. Upon learning this, Wesell informed Fett that she had bombed the ship, but it had carried a decoy. Fett then provided her with some kouhuns, cautioning her about their extreme poisonous nature. Wesell dispatched a droid to deliver them, but Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Knight, and his Padawan Anakin Skywalker had been assigned to protect the senator. Skywalker swiftly killed the kouhuns, and Kenobi seized the droid. As the droid sped through an express way, Wesell used her KiSteer 1284 projectile rifle to shoot it, causing Kenobi to plummet through Coruscant's atmosphere.
Wesell quickly escaped in her speeder, but the Jedi pursued her in a commandeered open-top XJ-6 airspeeder. Wesell executed a nosedive, descending 2,670 meters toward the lower levels of Corusca Circus. With the Jedi in relentless pursuit, Wesell flew through the exhaust flames of the Kerdos Company recycling plant, hoping to burn her adversaries in the open-top speeder. Seeing that the pair were unharmed, Wesell fired at the couplings of a nearby electrical plant, subjecting the Jedi's speeder to an electrical shock. The bounty hunter then steered her craft into a network of tunnels, attempting to lose the pursuing Jedi once more. Skywalker chose an alternate route instead of directly entering the tunnel. Wesell navigated through the tunnels, reaching speeds of 400 kilometers per hour. Upon exiting the network at the Cybot Galactica droid research institute, the bounty hunter was surprised when Skywalker jumped onto her airspeeder. During a struggle to dislodge Skywalker, Wesell briefly shapeshifted into her Clawdite form, revealing her species to Skywalker. The Jedi ignited his lightsaber and sliced at the windscreen, disabling the guidance systems. Wesell used her KYD-21 blaster pistol and shot the lightsaber out of Skywalker's hand, but the ensuing struggle caused Wesell to misfire, damaging the control pipes.
After crashing her speeder into Vos Gesal Street in the Uscru Entertainment District, Wesell sought refuge in the Outlander Club. Skywalker was about to enter, but Kenobi reminded him that Wesell had gone in to hide, not to escape. Inside the club, Skywalker informed Kenobi that Wesell was a changeling and a female. Kenobi advised caution in their search. As they split up, with Skywalker searching for Wesell and Kenobi getting a drink, Wesell approached Kenobi from behind, attempting to shoot him. However, Kenobi sensed her and chopped off her arm with his lightsaber. Wesell screamed and fell. Kenobi and Skywalker took Wesell outside and questioned her about the target of her assassination attempt. Wesell admitted that she knew it was a Senator from Naboo. When asked who had hired her, Wesell hesitated, stating it was merely a job, reluctant to reveal her employer's identity. Skywalker pressured her to reveal the name, and as Wesell was about to comply, Fett, who had been observing the interrogation, shot her in the neck with a Kamino saberdart. Wesell's final words were a curse directed at Fett in Huttese, and she died shortly thereafter.
Wesell favored attacking her targets from a distance, employing long-range sniper rifles or remote probe droids. She used her changeling abilities to assume the form of a human female and maintained this disguise while hiding from the Jedi in the Outlander Club. During her capture and interrogation by Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Anakin Skywalker, Wesell initially refused to disclose the names of her employers. However, under pressure from Skywalker, she was on the verge of revealing their identities when her partner, Jango Fett, intervened and killed her to prevent the disclosure.
Being a changeling, she possessed the ability to mimic the appearance of anyone she chose, including her targets. She could assume any humanoid form. As she died, she switched from speaking Galactic Basic Standard to Clawdite, before cursing Jango Fett in Huttese. She was also a skilled markswoman.
Wesell utilized a variety of equipment in her profession as a bounty hunter and assassin, striving to maintain the best arsenal possible. Her helmet featured retractable macrobinoculars to enhance her vision range and included an attached scarf to further conceal her identity. She wore an elastic mesh bodysuit that adapted to her shape changes, along with armored gauntlets, shin guards, and boots. The suit incorporated a breathing system that directly pumped air into her lungs through tubes connected to her rib cage. She also wore an impact energy skirt that collected power. The entire outfit, including the pin on her cloak, was adorned with emblems and script of the Mabari, the warrior-knight order that trained her.
For transportation, Wesell often stole vehicles to avoid being tracked. However, she sometimes preferred her personal Koro-2 Exodrive airspeeder, a forked, green, and exceptionally fast speeder designed for any environment, regardless of its hostility. Wesell's arsenal included a KiSteer 1284 projectile rifle for long-range attacks and a Hadrian alloy KYD-21 blaster for close-quarters combat. She was also known to use ASN courier droids.
Zam Wesell's debut was in Attack of the Clones, where she was portrayed by Leeanna Walsman. Star Wars Jedi Master Magazine 2 incorrectly states her death occurred in 32 BBY.