BoShek was a Force-sensitive Corellian human male from Corellia who worked as a swoop racer, smuggler, and pilot-for-hire during the Imperial Era. He was present in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina when Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi met Han Solo and Chewbacca prior to the Battle of Yavin, and remained at large in later years, attending Zeva Bliss's summit on Kijimi.
BoShek winning the Malastare Classic, in a cutting from Racing Digest
Hailing from Corellia, BoShek was a Force-sensitive human male who operated as a racer in his youth. He won first place in the , flying a double-barrelled Zephyr-K welded out of junkyard scraps, and his victory was covered in Racing Digest. He also undertook a swoop race through the Agrilat crystal forests, flying a modified Mobquet swoop with an overtuned engine and illegal aftermarket boosters. He drifted into the lead swooper's slipstream, waiting to use his booster to overtake on a wide turn, but his competitor flashed his engine baffles and dumped coolant into the thrust exhaust, causing a fireball that BoShek flew into. He was forced to nose down into the oil slick below, nearly drowning and spending two weeks in a medcenter having slurry pumped out of his lungs. He racked up a debt he was unable to pay, and later raced the ski speeder circuit for a season in the , making enough to pay off his creditors.
During the Imperial Era, BoShek worked as a smuggler and pilot-for-hire. He was often hired to transport spice on the dangerous Kessel Run.
BoShek was friends with Lando Calrissian, and believed that Maz Kanata had romantic feelings for him. He found Maz Kanata's Journal in a chance parlor on Makem Te, with a green sylop card on top bearing a message to Lando from Duchess Reina Sarapinia. BoShek intended on returning it to Maz when he next stopped at Takodana. He received word that his application into the Dragon Void Rally was accepted, and intended to make the week-long journey to compete, hoping to break the streak of no Corellian winning in a standard century. While going through his lockers during the flight, he discovered a clipping from the old Racing Digest coverage of his Malastare Classic win, making him nostalgic. He hoped to win the Dragon Void to fund his next venture; threading the Corkscrew through the Thunderhead during a Kessel Run. However, the race didn't work out as he hoped, and was won by another Corellian—Han Solo—which forced BoShek to return to hauling cargo, passengers, and animals to raise money. He considered heading to Tatooine, but decided to visit Kanata on Takodana, and returned her logbook to her.
BoShek was in Chalmun's Cantina the day Kenobi and Skywalker hired Han Solo.
Although he initially decided against visiting Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina, believing it watered down its drinks, BoShek spent much of his downtime in Chalmun's in Mos Eisley, like many pilots. Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, he was present in the cantina the day Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker were looking to hire a charter for Alderaan. Although BoShek did not take the job, he introduced Kenobi to Chewbacca, the Wookiee associate of Han Solo.
Years later, BoShek attended the summit held by Zeva Bliss, where his life was inadvertently saved by Poe Dameron.
BoShek was proud and boastful of his racing achievements, and looked down on "stick jockeys" and "star-skaters". He believed that a fueled-up engine and an open horizon was all anybody needed. He competed in high-speed swoop races despite the belief that humans were unable to compete at such speeds, putting the opinion down to a fear of the competition. He hoped to be the first Corellian in a century to win the Dragon Void Run, and grew nostalgic for his younger racing years while making the trip to compete. Though he lost the Dragon Void, BoShek sought new challenges and all-time records to beat.
BoShek as he is depicted in Star Wars: Commander
BoShek was portrayed in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope by Basil Tomlin, an uncredited actor who remained unidentified for his role until 2016. According to Jerry Oltion, who named him for his story in the Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina story collection, the name BoShek is a Tuckerization honoring twentieth-century SF writer Robert "Bob" Sheckley, who wrote many spacer tales in the 1950s. He is depicted talking to Saponza in artwork for the 2014 mobile video game Star Wars: Commander.