Jack Raven (—9 ABY) was born and raised on Coruscant during the might of the Galactic Empire. He was apolitical in his views, spending most of his time and energy on hunting trips throughout the known galaxy, instead of getting involved in "the war". He made a name for himself as a collector and hunter of rare, exotic creatures. Notably, he had become one of the galaxies most respected Rancor experts, traveling to Dathomir and other exotic worlds for the dangerous beasts on a regular basis. He sold the Hutts many of their favorite pets and guard animals throughout his career, and began building a large and unique collection of various beasts... some nearly extinct.
While on Selene, Jack entered a high stakes game of Sabacc with several of the patrons. Fortunately for him, the cards were lucky and he won a large warship from a mysterious woman who refused to give her name. Retrofitting the ship as a luxury cruiseliner he soon christened the Angry Rancor, Jack began transporting his animals to it and setting them up in custom built habitats onboard. His dream of creating a travelling zoo where guests could relax as well as enjoy the exotic creatures, had become a reality. He soon began cruising the space lanes with his guests, making periodic stops to capture more animals for the holding pens, and even selling a few along the way. Notably, he sold a Dianoga and Lava Dragon to Simone "Piper" Drake for the Reckless Abandon Swoop Arena on Corellia, and a Wampa for the Battlestar Casino Arena on Selene to Sean Dillon. His collection of creatures quickly became sought after by wealthy patrons and entertainment corporations.
Jack hired an intriguing young woman as Cruise Director of the ship. Rhea Zuri became much more. His friend, confidant, lover and competent assistant soon became inseperable from him. The two travelled to Tatooine with their pilot to capture the elusive Krayt Dragon, a legendary beast Jack had spent his lifetime researching. Despite a hair raising experience where the Krayt nearly had them for dinner, they were sucessful in capturing it. The Dragon was lovingly installed in the ship as the piece-de-resistance of the cruiseliner's collection. Jack Raven soon developed an attachment to the beast which would become shortlived, unbeknownst to him. A representative of the Emperor visited the Angry Rancor and offered to purchase the Krayt on behalf of the Imperial leader. There was a thinly veiled threat implied -- that one does not turn down a request by the Emperor himself, and Jack was forced to sell his most prized possession.
Despite the vague warnings of Luke Skywalker, Jack and Rhea travelled to Dreven to deliver the beast and were made guests of Emperor Valak himself aboard the Palpatine, the Emperor's flagship. They were soon surprised that the Emperor wanted to show them something he himself prized more than Jack did the Dragon -- his new Battle Station, the Death Star III. Jumping to the secret construction site, Jack and Rhea were impressed, and intimidated by the enormous station. It had been developed in secret so they worried that their knowledge of it would be short lived. Fortunately, the knowledge would not stay with them for long.
Assisted by one of the Emperor's personal agents, their worries were negated by a case of amnesia instilled mysteriously in both of them just before they left. For weeks the two couldn't recall the exact details of the trip or what they had witnessed there. They continued with their lives, coordinating a cruise to Gastus IV for various invited guests. While orbiting Gastus IV, Jack and Rhea went down to the planet to capture a small deer-like animal named the Dektu Nalis. While on planet, the unthinkable happened. Emperor Valak, in his quest for galactic domination had ironically chosen the same planet for his show of strength and a test of the new Death Star's weapon systems.
Jack Raven and Rhea Zuri were killed in the destruction of Gastus. Their crew, aboard the Angry Rancor, was chased out of the system by the swarms of TIE fighters roiling out of the innards of the behemoth station. Weeks later, and with the galaxy in turmoil over these shocking events, Jack's nephew Ethan Katana arrived in Caspian space to take possession of his inheritance -- the Angry Rancor cruiseliner and all of the animals it contained.