Quinlan Vos was based on a background character who appeared in the streets of Mos Espa in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, written and directed by Star Wars creator George Lucas. The character was created, based on this appearance, by author John Ostrander and artist Jan Duursema. Ostrander created the character's name by patterning it off of Qui-Gon Jinn's name, as Ostrander wanted a name with the same number of syllables. Vos went on to prominently appear in a number of Star Wars Legends stories, including Star Wars: Republic. The background character was officially retconned as being Vos in the official Star Wars canon.

The character, as fleshed out in the Expanded Universe, eventually caught Lucas' eye. The director was intrigued by Vos and decided to include him in the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. The character was scripted to appear on the planet Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld, during the execution of Order 66, but the scene was cut before the scene was shot or an actor was cast. An animatic featuring Vos was developed, however, that featured him with a squad of clones on a HAVw A6 Juggernaut at the time of Order 66. Another A6 approaches Vos and his squad and proceeds to fire at the Jedi's tank, resulting in the crew's demise. Ultimately a passing reference to the character remained in the final film.