Gerd Gerd was a Human male miner who lived during the time of the New Sith Wars . Gerd worked in a cortosis mine on the Outer Rim planet Apatros , where he stayed for nearly twenty years . He was good friends with a miner named Hurst and often bullied Hurst ' s son , Dessel . In 1003 BBY , Gerd , drunk on Corellian whiskey , got into a fight with Dessel over the right to mine a cortosis vein . Even though Dessel was tired from working six hours in the mines , he defeated Gerd after having a flash of Force precognition . Dessel anticipated one of Gerd ' s attempted strikes and bit off the man ' s thumb . Biography . Gerd , a Human male miner , worked in an Outer Rim Oreworks Company cortosis mine on the Outer Rim Territories planet of Apatros nearly a millennia prior to the fall of the Galactic Republic . During his time at the mine , Gerd became good friends with another miner named Hurst . Hurst ' s son , Dessel , began working in the mines at age thirteen . He was often tormented and bullied by some of the bigger , stronger miners , Gerd included . However , the bullying eventually stopped when Dessel grew older and became just as strong as the others . In 1008 BBY , Hurst died of a massive heart attack , leaving Gerd as one of the more senior miners in the Outer Rim Oreworks mine . By 1003 BBY , Gerd had worked in the mine for nearly twenty years , and the physical toil of working in the mines had turned his body into a mass of hard , knotted muscle . Due to debt accrued over his time working for Outer Rim Oreworks , Gerd , like many others , was stuck working in the mines until he could get enough money to pay them off . In 1003 BBY , on the five - year anniversary of Hurst ' s death , Gerd went to work for his six - hour shift in the mines while he was drunk on sour Corellian whiskey . He came across Dessel working a cortosis vein deep in the mine , and saw the man ' s mining equipment fail . As the custom in the mine was that someone else was allowed to move in on a vein if the being currently mining it stopped working , Gerd ordered Dessel to move out of the way . When Dessel didn ' t budge , Gerd berated Dessel for having no respect for his father by not referring to him as " Dad . " Dessel tried to ignore Gerd , but the argument quickly turned into a fistfight when Gerd tried to force Dessel to move . Dessel , who was tired from working in the mines , was able to gain the upper hand on Gerd , flipping him to the ground , but he quickly collapsed due to sheer exhaustion . Gerd taunted Dessel for trying to fight after having worked six hours in the mines , but Dessel was able to get up , and their combat turned into a wrestling match on the mine floor . Gerd obtained the upper hand this time , and attempted to gouge one of Dessel ' s eyes out . However , Gerd ' s opponent had a flash of Force precognition , allowing Dessel to sense what Gerd was going to do before he did it . Dessel anticipated Gerd ' s move , and bit off Gerd ' s thumb , ending the fight . The on - site medic was able to reattach Gerd ' s thumb with a vibroscalpel and synthflesh , and with kolto treatments , he was able to return to work within a few days . Dessel was suspended without pay until Gerd was healed and returned to work . Dessel would soon leave Apatros and join the Sith army fighting in the New Sith Wars against the Republic . Dessel later became Darth Bane , one of the most important and influential Dark Lords of the Sith in galactic history . Personality and traits . Gerd was a callous man , one who did not have problems bullying and tormenting a thirteen - year - old boy like Dessel . Corellian whiskey was a favorite of Gerd ' s , and he was drunk on it when he fought Dessel . He was good friends with Hurst and was angered when Dessel disrespected his friend . Behind the scenes . Gerd appeared in Drew Karpyshyn ' s novel " " , released in 2006 by Del Rey . The book was the character ' s only appearance in the " Star Wars " Legends canon .