Tao was a Human male from the world of Shumari who trained as a Jedi Knight. He was part of a small group of Jedi that avoided Order 66 and the immediate decimation of the Jedi Order. Tao and his companions were eventually discovered by the Galactic Empire, however, and they were attacked by a taskforce led by Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith. Tao was the only Jedi to survive the assault, personally spared by Vader who took him on as an apprentice.