Tanis was born to a merchant family on Bakura, six years before the Battle of Yavin. His parents, owing much of their success to the rise of the Empire, were staunch supporters of imperial rule and policy. Tanis began to disagree early on, eventually even joining a pacifist political movement, and strongly supported the New Republic when Bakura changed to their side. Eventually, he was disowned for being a "disgrace" to his family when he joined the New Republic Starflight Academy, where he graduated with success.