A Human businessman named Barpotomous Drebble was known for both his love of gambling and his explosive anger. Drebble, who ran a tavern on the Hunter's World called Keyorin, had amassed a comfortable fortune. Lando Calrissian, a skilled smuggler and gambler, crossed paths with Drebble at some point. Their meeting did not go well for Drebble, who then vowed to get revenge on Calrissian. Over the following years, Drebble and Calrissian clashed on multiple occasions, including an attempt to disrupt Calrissian's card game with Dominic Raynor, the Baron Administrator of Cloud City. Drebble's interference inadvertently led to Calrissian winning control of the Cloud City resort from Raynor. In another instance, Drebble almost managed to capture Calrissian and his companion, Luke Skywalker, on the planet Stenos, but his employees failed to prevent their escape.
To retaliate, Calrissian began using Drebble's name as an alias whenever he undertook a risky mission for the Rebellion. Calrissian hoped that this tactic would lead any potential enemies encountered during these missions directly to his nemesis; however, Calrissian's actions while posing as "Drebble" had the reverse effect, leading the Alliance to seek out Calrissian's nemesis and praise him for his bravery. Consequently, a short time after the Battle of Endor, a bewildered Drebble was promoted to captain and hailed as a hero of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. This newfound heroic status propelled Drebble into a leadership role on Stenos. He gained control over a significant portion of the Stenos capital and governed it in the best interests of the Alliance of Free Planets, the provisional government that preceded the New Republic.
Barpotomous Drebble, a male Human, achieved business success through his ownership and operation of a large tavern on Keyorin. The planet served as a haven for bounty hunters, making Drebble's establishment a popular gathering place on the Hunter's World. However, Drebble's achievements did not confine him to Keyorin. He was known to frequent the renowned Cloud City Casino in pursuit of both entertainment and financial gain.
While still on his homeworld, Drebble made the acquaintance of Lando Calrissian, a skilled gambler. Their initial meeting resulted in a dispute, with Drebble later alleging that Calrissian had cheated him. Some time later, Drebble encountered Calrissian again at the Cloud City Casino. Calrissian's proficiency as a sabacc player led to Drebble losing considerable sums. Unable to accept that Calrissian was simply a better player, Drebble became convinced that Calrissian had been cheating during their games. Eventually, Drebble saw an opportunity to retaliate for his humiliating defeats.
When Calrissian engaged in a high-stakes sabacc game against Dominic Raynor, the Baron Administrator, Drebble seized his chance. He bribed the dealer to introduce a rigged sabacc card, a skifter, into the deck, thus manipulating the game and granting Raynor a significant victory. Raynor's winnings included Calrissian's prized starship, the Cobra. However, Lobot, the chief administrative aide of the resort, discovered the skifter, leading to Drebble's expulsion from the casino. Consequently, Drebble missed Calrissian's subsequent game with Raynor, in which he won the entire Cloud City resort.
As the years passed, Drebble's resentment toward Calrissian intensified. He often vented his frustration on his subordinates, delivering speeches about Calrissian's supposed cheating. Drebble's tavern continued to attract customers, and by approximately 3.5 ABY, his wealth had allowed him to employ the bounty hunters Bossk and IG-88C on a part-time basis. Drebble continued to travel off-world, and, by chance, he spotted Calrissian and his friend Luke Skywalker at a tavern on Stenos.
Excited by the prospect of capturing Calrissian, Drebble announced to the tavern's patrons that he would pay 10,000 credits to anyone who apprehended the man who had cheated him. The promise of a small fortune ignited a blaster fire fight within the tavern. However, Skywalker's skills with a lightsaber enabled the pair to escape. Drebble's desperate pleas for someone to pursue the fleeing Calrissian only resulted in an irritated patron punching him in the face.
Nevertheless, an ambush by Bossk and IG-88C succeeded in stopping Calrissian's escape, and he was placed under close guard by Drebble's men. Drebble paid a substantial sum to have Calrissian frozen in carbonite and transported back to his homeworld. This plan ultimately failed; due to further intervention by Skywalker, Calrissian escaped from the carbon-freezing chamber unharmed and once again eluded Drebble's grasp.
Drebble's desire for revenge persisted even after Calrissian's escape. Still the wealthiest individual on Keyorin, Drebble retained the services of the renowned bounty hunters Bossk and a newly reprogrammed IG-88A, as well as two Stenax bodyguards. Drebble often used these hunters as an audience for his monologues about exacting revenge on Calrissian. Shortly after the Battle of Endor, Calrissian and his Rebel Alliance associates, Han Solo and Chewbacca, arrived on Keyorin to negotiate with the Head of State regarding attendance at the first meeting of the Alliance of Free Planets. After Han persuaded the official to attend the meeting, Calrissian, Solo, and Chewbacca visited Drebble's tavern for a drink. As they went to pay, Drebble experienced an unexpected reunion with his sworn enemy. Calrissian and his companions fled through the back door, and Drebble ordered his men, including Bossk and IG-88A, to capture Calrissian. The chase ended when Drebble and his Stenax employees intercepted the group at Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon.
Drebble and his two Stenax bodyguards stunned the group and dragged Calrissian to the Rebel's personal ship, the Cobra, leaving Solo and Chewbacca to a group of thugs led by the criminals Lemo and Sanda. Drebble intended to seize Calrissian's ship and return him to the place where Calrissian had first cheated him—Drebble's homeworld. The wealthy businessman planned to use his Stenax servants to inflict a personal revenge on Calrissian. However, as Drebble attempted to operate the Cobra's controls, he inadvertently activated the HoloNet, and a special report by Rebel leader Mon Mothma appeared on the network. The report announced Drebble's declaration as a hero of the Rebellion, his promotion to the rank of captain, and his receipt of a decoration for bravery.
Unbeknownst to Drebble, Calrissian had frequently used Drebble's name as an alias during undercover missions to avoid unwanted attention. The Alliance had seized upon reports of "Drebble's" exploits and declared him a hero. Drebble was taken aback by the announcement, but he embraced his new position with enthusiasm. Knowing Calrissian was a member of the Alliance, Drebble released him after Calrissian falsely claimed he had been sent to Keyorin to deliver Drebble's commendations.
Immediately after this promotion, Lemo and Sanda's gang confronted Captain Drebble about the whereabouts of an expensive artifact, the Dancing Goddess. The gang believed that Solo and Chewbacca possessed the statue, but after questioning them, they learned that the artifact was still with Calrissian. Armed with this information, they betrayed Drebble and demanded that he hand over Calrissian or face the consequences. Drebble, fully embracing his role as an Alliance hero, decided to bravely battle the pirate gang and protect Calrissian. Before Drebble could attack the pirates, his former nemesis proposed a plan of attack, which he immediately accepted. At Calrissian's suggestion, he and Drebble surrendered to Lemo and Sanda's gang while his two Stenax bodyguards circled behind the pirate group. At Drebble's signal, and with the assistance of Solo and Chewbacca, the Stenaxes attacked from the rear while IG-88A and Bossk began firing on the pirates from inside the ship. Surrounded and outgunned, Lemo and Sanda surrendered, but not before suffering heavy casualties. As a reward for Drebble's bravery and newfound loyalty to the Rebellion, Calrissian presented him with the Dancing Goddess, much to Lemo and Sanda's dismay.
Within a short time, Drebble leveraged his influence as a Rebel hero to become the leader of an entire section of the Stenos capital. The people of Stenos held Drebble in high regard and did everything possible to protect their beloved leader. By this time, Drebble had adopted an elaborate military uniform complete with a cape, and his hair had turned white.
During the Nagai-Tof War, Calrissian found himself on a mission to Stenos to recover the Dancing Goddess. The statue had been revealed to be part of an elaborate machine on the planet Godo that maintained the atmosphere of the planet, making it habitable for the native Godoans. The absence of the Dancing Goddess had caused the machine to malfunction, and the Godoans were slowly dying. Calrissian was reluctant to take Drebble's award, but the lives of an entire species were at stake.
When Calrissian and Chewbacca arrived on Stenos to meet with Drebble, Drebble's loyal citizens misinterpreted the situation, believing Calrissian had come to harm their leader. They opened fire on the pair, forcing Calrissian and Chewbacca to flee and eventually confront Drebble. Drebble recognized Calrissian and Chewbacca and brought them into his headquarters. When Calrissian asked for the statue, Drebble's notorious temper nearly got the better of him, but he realized that insisting on keeping it would make him unworthy of it. Drebble allowed Calrissian to return the statue to Godo, where it helped repair the machine and save the Godoans.
Barpotomous Drebble was a large man who indulged in the lavish lifestyle afforded by his successful business. He possessed a distinctive sense of style and sported a long mohawk throughout his career, even after his hair turned white. As a businessman on Keyorin, he prioritized comfort, wearing simple sandals and a long purple robe adorned with a heavy gold chain. Additionally, Drebble claimed to have the most expensive teeth that credits could buy, suggesting he had undergone dental work. Drebble was easily offended and struggled to forgive those who wronged him. He was also known for his explosive temper and frequent yelling when in a bad mood. However, despite his flaws, Drebble proved to be a shrewd businessman, using his tavern to become the wealthiest individual on Keyorin.
Drebble's attitude and outlook on life underwent a significant transformation after his appointment to captain. He left his tavern on Keyorin and embraced his newfound status in his new home on Stenos. He gained better control of his temper and took responsibility for the citizens of the Stenos capital, eventually becoming the leader of a large section of the city. With his newfound optimism, Drebble's sense of style also evolved. He wore a full uniform, complete with a cape, ammunition belt, and heavy boots.
Despite his sense of style, Drebble was not a skilled hand-to-hand combatant and struggled to earn the respect of his subordinates. He lacked familiarity with starship controls, such as those of the Cobra, proving incapable of operating them when he attempted to commandeer Calrissian's ship. However, Drebble was proficient with a blaster pistol and demonstrated capable leadership when confronted with violence, as seen during his attack on Lemo and Sanda's gang. These qualities were further enhanced after he joined the Rebel Alliance, and those under his rule were fiercely loyal to him, willing to harm or capture anyone who posed a threat to him.
Mary Jo Duffy created Drebble as an antagonist for Lando Calrissian in the Marvel Star Wars comic Star Wars (1977) 71. He appeared in the following issue, where Calrissian managed to escape Drebble's schemes. In two later issues of the Marvel comic series, Star Wars (1977) 75 and Star Wars (1977) 79, Calrissian used Drebble's name as an alias in an attempt to cause trouble for Drebble. However, these efforts backfired, and in Star Wars (1977) 85, Drebble was declared a hero of the Rebel Alliance. This led the character to align himself with the Alliance of Free Planets, and in his final appearance in Star Wars (1977) 99, he proved to be a friend of Calrissian.
After the end of the Marvel run, Drebble was not referenced again until the 1995 reference book, The Essential Guide to Characters, where he and his exploits in the Marvel comics were briefly mentioned in Lando Calrissian's entry. Drebble did not reappear until 2000 in the short comic "Lady Luck," published in Star Wars Tales 3. Although this comic was initially considered non-canon, references to its events in The New Essential Chronology, Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide, and the short story Lando Calrissian: Idiot's Array suggest that it is at least partially canon. In this comic, the authors, Rich Handley and Darko Macan, revealed Drebble's first name to be Barpotomous. This name was also mentioned in the Databank entry for IG-88, but it is misspelled "Barpotamus" in the Databank entry for Bossk. During the short comic, Drebble is shown drinking what appears to be Colt 45 (as seen to the right), a beverage once advertised by Billy Dee Williams. Drebble was mentioned again in The New Essential Guide to Characters in the entries for Calrissian, IG-88, and Bossk, referencing his appearances in the Marvel run, and in the Calrissian entry, referencing his presence in Lady Luck.
In 2008, Rich Handley once again referenced Drebble in his Hyperspace short story, Lando Calrissian: Idiot's Array. That same year, the character received an entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, again summarizing his role in the Marvel comics.