With her husband they visited Carida to attend the graduation ceremony of their son's class in the Academy of Carida; Rissa was scared as their son was assigned as , who would lead his company next to the precarious cliffside.
Following this, with their family yacht they boarded the liner Star of Empire for a cruise. She was introduced to her son's "friend" and classman, the heroic Kyle Katarn. They dined at the ship's Nebula Room where Rissa ate only some leaves with berries on them. When the young officer mentioned that his father was allegedly murdered by Rebels, Governor Donar entered a fit of rage, disturbing Madame Donar, considering that some of the passengers around them, who turned to stare, might be Rebels, or sympathizers. She tried to calm him down but she was ignored.
Soon after her husband was approached by Lando Calrissian who invited him for a game of sabacc; knowing Dol's poor skills, she tried to silently dissuade him with a frown, but Dol was already excited with the offer and accepted. As her husband and son retreated to the Corellia Room, she instead retreated to the family suite, claiming a headache.
The next hours were tense within the Donar family cabin, because, as Madame Rissa feared, her husband had lost a great amount of wealth to Calrissian; the governor only hoped that she hadn't found out that he also had lost the ring she had given him to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of their wedding. To bury her anger, she silently retreated in a corner, pretending to work on her embroidery. The awkward moments were diverted when their family droid announced the arrival of a Rodian bounty hunter; The Rodian's natural body odor (covered by some cologne) forced Madame Donar to cover her nose. The bounty hunter, named Slyder, proved to them that there had been Rebel agents on the ship, and that her son's friend, Kyle, was ready to defect with them.
Later, he husband and son left with Slyder to hunt the rebels, and they all died onboard their family yacht.
She was pleasant but too thin, especially compared to her obese husband. She lectured her son about his drinking habits.
Rissa Donar appears as a minor role in Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire but is absent from the audio drama. Her son Nathan replaces some of her role.