Hahrynyar was a male Wookiee who worked as a slave for the Galactic Empire during the construction of the first Death Star, where he served as the shift chief on a subsector of Sector N-One on the armored battlestation. In 0 BBY, during the construction, Hahrynyar ordered an extra exhaust port installed, which led him into a confrontation with Teela Kaarz, a Mirialan architect, over the placement of the port. Although the Wookiee took ill with a suspected parasitic infection before any change to the station's blueprints could be made, the exhaust port was ordered and installed as he had planned, a development that presented the Rebel Alliance with the means to destroy the Death Star.