Tresk Im'nel was a Bothan Jedi Knight, part of Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Order. However, Tresk's life was not always devoted to the Jedi lifestyle. When he was younger, Tresk joined the Bothan Diplomatic Corps at the formation of the New Republic and wound up joining Borsk Fey'lya's diplomatic staff, but soon grew disheartened at Borsk's political style fearing it was too selfish for the more important task of building up a strong government. Because of this, Tresk left Borsk's staff and joined a team of diplomats assigned to seek out former Imperial worlds and initiate talks of their joining the New Republic.

This was a job Tresk found very rewarding. Not only did it help to strengthen the New Republic, but Tresk found diplomacy to be very natural for him, as he was successful in many of his meetings with world leaders and ambassadors. Tresk believed that this ability and success was due to his prior experience and training in the political arena. However, a meeting with Leia Organa-Solo, Jedi Knight and diplomat herself, revealed what the sister of Luke Skywalker suspected of Tresk: a natural affinity to the Force, which was used in his work as an ambassador. After some thought, Tresk made up his mind that the reformation of the Jedi Order was just as pivotal as his work as a diplomat for the continuation of a strong government and sought out Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.

On Yavin 4, Tresk received training as a Jedi Knight and honed his Force powers and became very proficient in its use. For the succeeding ten years, Tresk preferred to work alone to protect peace and justice throughout the galaxy. However, the peace was threatened when the extragalactic invaders, known as the Yuuzhan Vong, began their crusade of galaxy-wide conquest. Tresk took up his lightsaber to defend the galaxy alongside his fellow Jedi Knights against the aliens awesome power and incredible cruelty.