Leader of the Son'a people for about a hundred years until 2375.

Born on the Ba'ku planet as Ro'tin, he changed his name to Ru'afo when he was exiled from his world along with other renegades who later called themselves the Son'a. Separated from his homeworld and the rejuvenating effects of its metaphasic radiation field, Ru'afo gradually succumbed to the debilitating effects of aging.

Rebuked in his efforts to return home, Ru'afo allied his people with a Starfleet officer, Admiral Dougherty, who agreed to remove the Ba'ku people from their planet in exchange for sharing with the Federation the benefit of the planet's metaphasic radiation.

When Captain Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E uncovered the plan which would have devastated the Ba'ku people, he and his crew attempted to foil it and succeeded, enraging the Son'a leader.

Ru'afo was killed in a showdown with Picard aboard one of his own particle-collecting spacecraft, but after his death the Son'a were able to begin reconciling with the Ba'ku.