Gul Zarale was an infamous leader among the Cardassian military stationed on Bajor during the occupation. Zarale gained notoriety for the massacre of half a dozen Bajoran villages.

Sometime prior to 2360, Zarale was bathing in a lake in his underwear when resistance fighter Li Nalas encountered the Cardassian after stumbling from an embankment. When Zarale reached for his phaser rifle, lying on his nearby clothes, Li shot and killed him with his own phaser. Zarale's body fell upon Li, and when Li's compatriots arrived moments later, they recognized Zarale and assumed Li had killed him a savage struggle. Despite Li's best efforts, the story would spread across Bajor, making Li a hero of the Bajoran Resistance.

Years later, Li would recall the look on Zarale's face as he died and that "he was so embarrassed." (DS9: "The Homecoming", "The Circle")